Who feels like the DDP should be stopped??

[kadesha]

I find it very irritating that so many "locals" hate the dining plan. I scratch and save to be able to visit once a year, and the dining plan saves us money. There is no way we'd have been able to pay out of pocket for all of the wonderful meals we had last week. We had excellent service everywhere we ate! The dining plan is wonderful.

[illini]

Meeeowwww. I'm half afraid to post to this one.

I see both sides. We used the DDP in april 2005 shortly after it started. It worked well, though at that time we still encountered many who didn't even know what it was. I can't comment on how the food has changed because that was the last time we were there. It's a great value, though, and we're using it for our next trip.

BUT, and this is a big BUT, I agree with the OP. 3 days into my 180 and I was getting odd times when I tried to change my dining plans. 9pm dinner (heaven for me, not for me with my kids). C'mon! Something has got to give. It's making it exceedingly difficult to plan meals. I'm still not sure where I'm going to be on what day, but I'm pretty much stuck with my meals and I'm well over 5 months away.

And yet another but. The fact is, Disney's goal is to fill its restaurants. So, the DDP is working. It's not going anywhere, except maybe up in price.

[crazeedizneefinatic]

I agree with other posters that say the DDP has no effect. People will make ADR's wether they are on the plan or not. This is the first year we are doing the plan. Even though people say you save I probably would not buy the plan anyway. We are getting it free in September. Cannot beat free. We do not typically eat a sit down dinner when in Disney. Maybe 1 or 2 character meals for my son during our stay but other than that no. It's breakfast around 10:00a.m. and we don't eat again till 5 or 6 and usually something quick and a snack in between somewhere. We are not big eaters. If the plan was not free in September we would not be eating at sit down places. I thought it ludacris to make dinner reservations so far in advance, but it was necessary, I glad I took others advice.

[Genie1953]

I wish they would revise the rules for the DDP. It would be really great it if they allowed you to substitute a counter service for a table service occasionally...especially helpful if you were unable to find an ADR for a table service restaurant.

[rnin02]

If I not mistaken (and I may be!) you can redeem a CS for a TS, but you have to use 2 CS for 1 TS. I know it works in reverse, that you can use 1 CS for more than one snack. Our last day last year we loaded up on bottled drinks and snacks before heading to MCO, it was fun. I love the DDP, I hate making ADRs 180 days in advance. I hate making them 90 days in advance. I hate making them more than 1 or 2 days in advance...so for the majority of our meals, we chance it and try walking up, or calling in the morning before we leave to go to the parks. We've never had problems with this...except sometimes eating dinner at 5pm, lunch at 2pm, things like that. For important meals, that I really, really want, I will make ADRs, but I'm flexible with times/days when I call. Maybe going in September makes a big difference in being able to walk up?

[Genie1953]

I forgot to mention that this would be especially helpful in freeing up ADR's. I can't say that I would substitute a counter service for a table service if I had paid for the DDP but if I got it free as I did on our last trip I would definitely substitute occassionally.We did ask about doing this but were told...no...didn't make any sense to me as Disney would have saved money by allowing us to substitute a counter service for a table service....go figure...!

[Seasonscraps]

I wish they would revise the rules for the DDP. It would be really great it if they allowed you to substitute a counter service for a table service occasionally...especially helpful if you were unable to find an ADR for a table service restaurant.

Last year during the free dining period, Disney did offer a trade similar to this. I don't remember the details but I want to say you got a CS, a snack and a something else tangible in exchange for a TS credit.

And I found this from a thread last year...

Yes, you can. I've done it once before, and my parents have done it once before.

When my parents tried to, they were informed that they would have to have it changed on their card at their hotel. Luckily, they were at their hotel, so it worked out.

My fiance and I were able to do it at a counter service location in the MK, where we were purchasing our food.
The cast member thought we were nuts, but they did it. haha

[Genie1953]

Gosh...I am soooooo glad to hear that they are allowing the substitution now! This is great! There were times that we wanted to but like I said...we asked and were told no...but that was back in Sept/Oct 2005.

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

People will make ADR's wether they are on the plan or not.

Some will, some won't. We only made one ADR for our upcoming trip so that our DD can have dinner with the Princesses at Akershus. We knew that if we did not make it at 180 out we would not get it. We are not on the DP at this point. If we can budget and add it before our trip we will, but we know that by that time there will be no TS available, so what's the point? Especially since we are there during FD.

There are lots of people that would love to be able to walk up and get seated for dinner once they are at the parks. With the DP (more so FD) that will very rarely happen. I don't mean literally walk up. I mean if I go to my local TGIFriday's on a Saturday night I am looking at a 30 minute wait or so. I give them my name and get comfortable. That option in WDW would be great for some people.

I know that the DP is a great deal for a lot of people. Free dining even better. I don't think they should get rid of it, I just wish we didn't have to book a dinner reservation 6 months before a vacation. I don't know what I am having for dinner 6 days from now!!

[PirateLover]

Very Interesting thread.

I have used DDP 2x now. Both times it was thoroughly researched and debated on with the help of my magical journey's rep, and it was clear both times that DDP was indeed the better deal. Especially on our last trip, with 6 adults... to imply that we are all being duped into spending more money is faulty. I concede that for some situations, depending on who is going, what their eating habits are, and what other discounts are available, DDP might not always be the way to go. But I can say with all certainty that we DID save money with it on both our trips.

And, we did not "pig out." We ate until we were full. I think we may have had 1 CS meal left over this last time around. Those of you who are concerned about my indulgence and and my health will be happy to know that I actually lost 5lbs on this trip, as did my boyfriend.

[rnin02]

I wish they would revise the rules for the DDP. It would be really great it if they allowed you to substitute a counter service for a table service occasionally...especially helpful if you were unable to find an ADR for a table service restaurant.

I think I read this backwards earlier and that's how I responded. I have a vague memory last year that you could trade in a TS for a CS and something "tangible" like another poster said. I can't remember details. For us, that wasn't an issue, as we tried to find a couple signature dining places to use up our TS, we had extra CS and maybe a snack or 2 left over as well.

[Minnie4me]

I guess I still don't see why you have such "sour grapes" over the dining plan...if you're close enough to be able to use Annual Passes, then why complain? If you are lucky enough to be able to get off work, pay for airfare, and spend a few days at WDW, why in the world would you are you fussing about not being able to eat at a sit down restaruant? Cripes, if I could afford go at the last minute, I'd eat counter meals and make the best of it. I guess when you have family, are on a tight budget, and have to scrimp and save for two years to take a vacation, then you get a little irritated to hear people complain about dinner reservations.

I Guess Tygger7 didn't see my previous post #58.

By the way...I don't live that close, my family does. I live in Virginia.

[Minnie4me]

I'm going to have to back-up Minnie4me about some comments that seem to be running through this topic regarding how people should feel lucky to make a spontaneous trip to WDW and not complain about not getting into specific restaurants they want. Not only are the comments off topic, but sometimes having the "luxury" of going there "on a whim" doesn't mean that you can afford to eat at the best restuarants if the options were available to you. Just because I live close enough to where I could wake up tomorrow morning and drive over doesn't mean I have the luxury of being able to afford to get in, much less eat anywhere. I save and I work two jobs to make my trips. I've even considered working a second job at Disney to get tickets for free. My reasons for disliking the DDP is becuase I don't have the option to use it since I only "go on a whim". If I could afford to stay a week or two then yes...I probably would use the DDP. But I can't afford more then a day or two (which makes all my meals OOP) therefor I probably haven't ate at a quarter of the restaurants that most people on this board has even though I've been going at least once a year for the past 20 years. My family just can't afford places like Coral Reef and Le Ceiller and I grew up on CS. I could make my ADR's 180 days out just like the rest of you but since I live so close and we only go over for a day or two, our trips aren't normally planned out like people that live 500+ miles away. To those of you who are lucky enough to be able to afford to spend two weeks (or even a week) at WDW and can take advantage of the DDP, I'm very happy for you. But please don't knock the people that "have the luxury" of "going on a whim".

Thank you for your support and understanding!!

[BritCody]

I have to disagree. I like the fact that it saves you money, but the main reason I like it is that it forces me to make all of the ADR for the TS Credits. What do I mean by that, well now I'm guaranteed a nice relaxing table at a restuarant without the hassle of trying to find a table. I can plan around my ADR and not waste time that can be spent in the park. I know CS is different but how many times have you and your family had trouble finding a table at a counter service restaurant. We usually split up and half of the group looks for a table while the other half gets the food and sometimes we are still battling to find a table. I just like the fact that I know at least one of my meals in the park, I will be able to relax and enjoy. Plus saving $$$ is always a bonus.

[big blue and hairy]

I completely disagree....

1. Just because you live close enough to "go on a whim" doesn't mean you can never plan a WDW vacation. (I know this doesn't apply to Minnie4me)

2. This is the first time I've ever used DDP and I've always called early to make my ADR's.

3. This trip (in July!) I've called back and changed my ADR's several times and I've yet to run into a probelm getting the time and restaurant I want.

4. It seems the majority of people who use it, love it, so....

[SurferStitch]

Just my thoughts on this....for all you people that think you're saving a bunch of money on the DDP...you're really not.

Actually, in our case, you couldn't be more wrong.

I did an apples to apples comparison in Excel. I compared a reduced rate room at Pop (via Disney discounts or AAA), and paying OOP for everything we ate to a DDP package. We didn't change our dining habits AT ALL on the DDP. We still ate at signature restaurants, and got appetizer/main course/dessert like we always did before we used DDP. It's just me and DH, and on an 11 day trip, we saved over $800 using the DDP.

This took into account that we paid more for our room at Pop. We also still had to pay for some TS meals (4), CS meals (2) and snacks (about 6) OOP, plus all of our alcohol (we have wine/beer/mixed drinks with every dinner and some lunches, too). After I crunched everything 4 times over in Excel (just to make sure it was correct), we came out to an $824 savings overall using the DDP.

So, while some don't save much, especially those staying at a mod or deluxe (where you actually can lose some money on the DDP), and some don't save much because of their dining choices, we saved a ton, and will be using the DDP on our next trip in December.

I really wish they would go back to the 90 day window, though. With our trip starting on 12/6, and the potential delay in December park hours being published, it's highly possible I'll only have a couple days to hammer out all of our dining.

[irish1967]

I think that like everything else at Disney World - the "dining system" benefits those who first take the time to learn the system and second take the time to work the system (by this I mean, the way it is designed, not finding loopholes or cheating the system.)

Something I do think might help is a penalty for no shows. I get the impression that a lot of people make ADRs without really intending to utilize them or don't bother to cancel them if something else comes up. Obviously, it is a system that would have to be worked out (what happens to people who miss an ADR for a valid reason, for example.)

I'm not sure if the situation is really as bad as you think it is - although I cannot comment on Free Dining times since we only go during the summer.

We are going down in a couple of weeks.

Two weeks ago (35 days out) I was able to make an ADR for 4 of us at Chef Mickeys for breakfast.

My sister-in-law as able to make a ADR for 25 (yes that is twenty-five) somewhere in EPCOT for dinner one night (Alfredo's, maybe?)

Neither meal is during prime-time mealtime, but neither meal is at an outrageous time either (breakfast is at 7:00 a.m. and dinner is at 4:30 pm.)

[lightyearfan]

well this will be the first year that we've done the DDP, and we already love it simply because it's going to save close to $300! Yup that's right $300, and now it's just me and dw. we eat 3 meals a day while at WDW, as normally we would only eat 2 while at home, so with that in mind, here is a little breakout of expenses

breakfest everyday $20 x 7 days =$140
lunch everyday $20 x 7 days= $140
dinner (TS) $75 x7 days= $525
not incuding drinks and snacks the grand total is $805 and the DDP came out to $550

now we feel that WDW has terrific TS resturants, so we look forward to the nice TS meals, as apposed to the same cs meals. in previous years we still made our ADR's 3 months ahead of time even without the DDP, because we have our intenary well planned out so we know on each day which park will be in and where we want to eat. now for the spur of the moment guy and gal, you know at least you have that option to go sour of the moment, if we wanted to go spur of the moment the airfair alone would be $456,because we already tried to arrange something for an extended weekend

Victor

[lightyearfan]

Without a doubt it's gotten harder to get an ADR and get into a sitdown restaurant "on the fly" than before DDP started....no one can argue that.[/QUOTE]

well im not sure about that comment, back in 95 it was our first ever trip to WDW and we were as green as green could be on how too's of WDW, so we didn't make any reservations, waited on long lines simply not knowing what to attack first and so on, if my memory serves me right the DDP wasn't around in 95, and we were only able to get into Alfredo's for dinner and Mexico simply because we hung around waiting to see if people didnt come up as there names were called, this happend at both places so we were lucky enough to get a seat. for some reason this is a real messy subject , lets keep in mind that were in the most magical place in the world(imho), so lets just enjoy that!

Victor

[Marker]

Gosh, such hostility. And all from discussions of a place that's suppose to bring happiness. Kind of sad.

Personally, I don't think it would be a very wise business decision to discontinue a program that results in the restaurants being fuller.

It appears to me, and this us just my opinion, that if summarized, the biggest complaint about the DDP is "I can't have my way as easily".

Yes, it does seem as though the restaurants are fuller, that's a good thing for the business. Yes, it is more difficult to get ADRs if you don't plan ahead, but that's no surprise, just plan ahead. Yes, it does make it more difficult for last minute trips, and for people who haven't planned, and for people who change their mind.... but again, that's no surprise, it's just the way it is.

If you don't plan ahead, or if you make a last minute trip, it may be more difficult to get a room at the resort you want too; and it may be more difficult to get he flight times you want. It's just part of the deal. You wouldn't (at least I wouldn't) expect the resort to save rooms just in case I decided I might show up; or an airline to save me a seat just in case.

As for the comments on DDP causing reduce menu options. I still fail to associate the resaurants being busier to cutting back on menu uniqueness, and selection. I would much more suspect it to just be economic realities and efforts to cut costs. Perhaps without the DDP, and the restaurants being fuller, they might have been forced to make even deeper cuts in the menus.

But that's just my opinion.