Feelings on the 2008 Dining Plan/Will You Purchase The Dining Plan in 2008? [Merged]

[Clotho]

I also believe that the new DDP is a lost of value for the CS as well. If you don't take your

Actually, no. You can use your TS for a CS, yes, but it doesn't translate into two. It's one-for-one. You can also use a CS for a snack, but not two snacks...just one snack.

[The Bookseller]

Looks like I was wrong on that one. Thanks for pointing it out.

[magicman]

Just a note for the furture- If you children don't like what is on the 3-9 menu you can tell the CM that and you can kid size a adult menu item.

Wow! Are you sure? If so, this is a GREAT tip! Thanks.

[Figment!]

... You can use your TS for a CS, yes, but it doesn't translate into two. It's one-for-one. You can also use a CS for a snack, but not two snacks...just one snack.

While this may work sometimes, it is not guaranteed. The Dining Plan Guidelines do not contain any standard procedure for "trading down" credits.

Some Guests have reported success of talking to Guest Service at their hotel near the end of their trip and having unused credits transfered down on a one to one basis--but again the ability to do so is not guaranteed.

Just a note for the furture- If you children don't like what is on the 3-9 menu you can tell the CM that and you can kid size a adult menu item.

Wow! Are you sure? If so, this is a GREAT tip! Thanks.

Some Table Service locations do offer this, others do not.

It is up to individual locations what they put on their Children's menu and it may vary from seating to seating depending on availability, so just be sure to check with your server when ordering.

[grumpycajun]

What!!!??? No appetizer? A whole dollar decrease? No Gratuity included? Frankly, I think it's pathetic and I am very dissapointed. Scratch that. Make it extremely annoyed. I'd have no problem with a reasonable increase in price to keep it the way it was, but these changes ruin the whole spirit of the thing. We've always found a Disneyworld vacation to be a good value with the DDP included, but now, I don't think so. I'm sure there are plenty of families that can afford to blow tons of money on food, but ours isn't one of them. It's been a special treat to be able to enjoy great meals, INCLUDING appetizers and desserts, without having to worry about it. I look forward to that as much as I do the parks. Dining is a big part of the whole event. I wonder which hairbrained executive came up with this gem. For the first time in years we will be considering a different vacation for 2008 and that really stinks. Yep, I'm that aggravated.

[Clotho]

While this may work sometimes, it is not guaranteed. The Dining Plan Guidelines do not contain any standard procedure for "trading down" credits.

Sorry, didn't mean to mislead. I had heard only that people had done this. Never heard anyone who tried and failed, so it was my assumption. Well...we know what assumin' does.

[*BJTDancer2*]

I purchased the deleux plan for our upcoming January trip. We have scheduled character breakfasts and nice table service for dinner. Plus the 2 snacks and a quick service lunch it pays for us. Plus it keeps us on a budget to not go overboard on extra stuff.

[bigbabyblues]

I only made it through the posts on page 1, but it looks like we're in the minority.....we're going to get the deluxe ddp for our 2008 trip. It's not a cost savings, but it adds up to what our food budget would be if we were paying oop (except the tip) and we'll have flexibility to do ts or cs, instead of being limited to one ts per day.

[J.T.Toad]

No
This will be my last year on the DDP
Just Curious Michael Eisner isn't back is he?
Toadie

[mjaclyn]

I'm also very disappointed in the changes. It's SO irritating that they took out the appetizer and gratuity!!! I would gladly pay the extra $1 for it!

[Mousefever]

We are going to use the DP for one last time in January, only because my husband loves it (even without the appetizer and tip) and my son is still 9. Once my son turns 10 there is no way we will be purchasing the DP. We could never come close to breaking even when all he wants to eat are hotdogs, cheeseburgers, and PB&Js.

[Clotho]

Just got back and wanted to throw out a little related piece of info I saw while I was there.

On the TV at the Poly, there was the usual resort television info, including a constantly scrolling list of info about resort times, events, points of interest, etc. One thing caught my eye. It said that if you now had the option of trading in a TS credit for a "Quick Service" meal (CS to us), and you would also receive either an additional TWO snack credits -OR- a lanyard with trading pins.

I think the overbooking on the free DDP had caused a lot of angry people who had not made adequate ADR's, and were being forced to use their TS at CS locations. This was a way to appease them. I wonder if it worked... It was just a blip on the screen, and the few people I ended up chatting with on this trip about the DDP didn't seem to know about this. So it wasn't widely advertised by any stretch. I also wonder if this is an ongoing offer, or if it was just related to the free DDP promotion going on now causing extra crowds.

[GoinGoofyPlanninThisTrip]

I also wonder if this is an ongoing offer, or if it was just related to the free DDP promotion going on now causing extra crowds.

I believe they started this last Fall during the free dining period along with doing a bunch of quickly added dining locations.

[Goes4FastPass]

... the option of trading in a TS credit for a "Quick Service" meal (CS to us), and you would also receive either an additional TWO snack credits -OR- a lanyard with trading pins...

Yep, they offerd this last year to people when they couldn't meet the TS demand caused by the included Dining Promotion.

There isn't enough pixie dust in Neverland to make this seem like a good deal.

[Samtastic]

I did the number crunching, I still save about 15_20%. I go to disney for disney, not for value. Plus i'm a foodie and I enjoy the TS and I don't travel with kids. Now I think the Deluxe DDP is a better deal, but I can't see eating that much food. Maybe if it was a special occasion and Ii'd eat at the 2 dining credit places, but I enjoy other TS and Cs locations.

If I still save money, it's worth it. Plus I'm an individual who enjoys the planning. and doing math...

[Spaceship Tigger]

Whenever I did the math for our upcoming trip, I found that using any halfway decent discount (AAA, AP, PIN) was at least a little better than paying for the DDP. And this was calculated even by predicting the appetizers, entrees, and desserts we were likely to get while on the DDP and getting those same items if we were off the DDP. We are only using the DDP next week because it is free. With the changes to the plan after this trip it is unlikely we will ever use it again.

And unlike some people, I don't see the convenience of having meals pre-paid anyway. With added things to think about like signature dining, breakfasts, kids meals, and so forth, I think it can be more compilcated than just paying out of pocket.

[DizneyRox]

...I don't see the convenience of having meals pre-paid anyway. With added things to think about like signature dining, breakfasts, kids meals, and so forth, I think it can be more compilcated than just paying out of pocket.

I never understood the pre-paid rationale either. I'd rather have money in my pocket as long as possible making interest, etc. I feel I have a lot more control when I'm the one in control of the dollars, maybe the furnace goes, maybe someone needs a little help, etc. I use one card on my vacation and I pay it off next month when the bill comes in. The reward dollars start to pile up even while I'm on vacation!

I've heard a lot of stories about people being charged more credits than they were expecting, or the staff not ringing it up as expected (maybe you want to OOP this meal and not use the credits you might have).

Oh well, I guess everyone has their own reasoning...

[TheRustyScupper]

Just a note for the furture- If you children don't like what is on the 3-9 menu you can tell the CM that and you can kid size a adult menu item.

1) I have seen this at 2-TS Signature restaurants.
2) I have not heard of it being done at normal TS restaurants.
3) I would not count on it.

[Samtastic]

Whenever I did the math for our upcoming trip, I found that using any halfway decent discount (AAA, AP, PIN) was at least a little better than paying for the DDP.

Where do you get these discounts and what are they??

[drhama]

We will be at WDW in a week and plan to book the promotional package with the free dining and upgrade to the deluxe package. Many people have mentioned that you just can't eat that much food. If you ate everything on your plate at 3 sit down meals that is probably true. We plan to use the abundance of TS credit to try some of the Signature dinning restaurants. I feel that the $32 cost is well worth it to try some restaurants that we probably would not have done without the plan.