Meal Program

Originally Posted By disney2268

So we are planning our trip and have read about the dining option. I remember reading on here some things about it but I swear they were not positive. Is it worth it?

 

Originally Posted By maryt01

we always use ddp. it is well worth the cost. allows you to enjoy some of the fine dining that you may not otherwise try.

 

Originally Posted By goofy5-22

My family goes to WDW twice a year and I always get the dining plan. We think it's wonderful it gives us a chance to eat at places we normally would not, and you get so much food. Get it make priority seating all over WDW and enjoy.

 

Originally Posted By Labuda

I've doen the Dining Plan for free twice and feel it's DEFINITELY worth the $40 a day it's costing me to us it on my trip next week.

 

Originally Posted By Labuda

Note: the complaints about it center, mainly, around the shortening of menus with the dawning of this plan.

 

Originally Posted By bobbelee9

"We think it's wonderful it gives us a chance to eat at places we normally would not," I don't understand how the dining plan makes a difference in where you eat. We'll be there for 15 days this time, so we'll get to eat at a lot of new places. My daughter talked me into the dining plan, I guess it really does make sense. Even though her girls don't eat much, I'm sure they'd eat $10 a days worth.

 

Originally Posted By Chelledun

^^^For us, it does make some difference in where we eat because we couldn't normally afford to eat at, say, Le Cellier for $40 a person, let alone also have money left over for a snack and a counter service meal. We have a finite food budget so anything that lets us stretch it is a good deal and allows us to have MORE table service meals, thus branching out and trying more places.

That said, I just got back from DL and did not miss the dining plan much during my trip there. We were able to walk into most places without reservations and although we did spend more than we hoped on food, we didn't go that far over by avoiding a couple of really expensive restaurants and limiting ourselves to an entree with either dessert or an appetizer.

 

Originally Posted By bobbelee9

^^^Thanks. So it makes sense to order the more expensive meals. Assuming that's what you like. I was assuming there was a $$$ limit. But that's probably why some are considered 2 meals. I'm just learning about the dining plan.

 

Originally Posted By SuperDry

<<< So it makes sense to order the more expensive meals. >>>

Which is exactly why there's all of a sudden a $23 hamburger in the French pavillion at Epcot. Please note I'm not taking issue with what you said - I think that eating at some of the nicer places when you ordinarily wouldn't is a great benefit of the dining plan. What I'm trying to say is that the public's behavior of ordering by price regardless of where they are has contributed to menu adjustments.

 

Originally Posted By Labuda

"Which is exactly why there's all of a sudden a $23 hamburger in the French pavillion at Epcot. "

Nope, it's not been on the menu since around or shortly after the free dining ended last year.

<a href="http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/men_cdfd.htm" target="_blank">http://www.allearsnet.com/menu
/men_cdfd.htm</a>

 

Originally Posted By SuperDry

That's what I meant - it was suddenly added during last year's free dining promotion.

 

Originally Posted By Labuda

Ok, just making sure folks don't hink it's STILL on there now that the freebies are gone. hehe

 

Originally Posted By Labuda

Also don't want them to think that. hehe

 

Originally Posted By Chelledun

Labuda, I didn't know it is gone. That's interesting and a good thing, in my opinion.

 

Originally Posted By danyoung

I think the DDP is a wonderful plan for those who normally don't take advantage of all of the incredible fine dining options in WDW. However, I used it on my last visit, and didn't like it much. My problem was that I've always eaten at the nice places, and didn't worry too much about the cost (I'm not rich - I just save big for Disney visits!). So for me the DDP was limiting, requiring me to plan more than I wanted to to get the most out of my points. I'd rather book my ADR's and eat exactly where and when I want to, or even skip a meal if I'm not really hungry without worrying about having leftover points.

There are a couple of other problems with the plan that shouldn't affect you too much if you decide to use it. Due to the huge increase in diners who don't normally do fine dining, the menus are getting radically simplified to satisfy the palattes of their new clientele. If you take a guy whose diet consists of burgers and fries and put him into a French restaurant, he's not going to be happy with escargot and frog legs. So Disney has had to add simpler fare to the menu, at the expense of some of the more esoteric items that used to be a draw. And since it's the same crowd at most of the restaurants now, there is an increasing sameness to the menus that didn't exist before the DDP.

Then there's the problem with the increased crowds, As others have mentioned, many many people who didn't previously book the nicer places are now doing so, since it's so cheap. This is great for them, but bad for those of us who used to book maybe a week out or even on the same day and get the dining spots that we wished. Now everyone really needs to book those ADR's as far out as possible (up to 180 days out) to get the good locations.

And I apologize if this sounds elitist, but the "class" of crowd in the nicer Disney restaurants has diminished, as more of this burger & fries crowd overwhelms the restaurant with their noisy families and requests for burgers, mac-n-cheese and other simpler foods. Don't get me wrong - I love a good burger. But when I dine at a nice French restaurant like Chefs de France or a great seafood spot like the Coral Reef, I'm expecting food that's a cut above, service that's impeccable, and an atmosphere that's above and beyond the average mall food court. Sadly, the crush of the DDP'ers seems to be steadily diminishing the dining experience. It's been a great moneymaker for Disney, but overall it's created a huge cheapening of the formerly high quality restaurants in the World.

Again, at home I'm about as blue collar as they come, with my dining mostly coming from the freezer or Pizza Hut or the local Mexican food restaurants. But when I'm on vacation I really enjoy treating myself to dining that's way above my normal day to day. WDW used to deliver this almost without exception. Now it's getting harder to find the truly great experience, and a lot of that is due to the popularity of the DDP. Don't get me wrong - as a newbie you're still going to have a fabulous time in some terrific restaurants. They just aren't quite as fabulous as they used to be, and the trend seems to be continuing.

 

Originally Posted By bobbelee9

Thanks for discouraging me. Just when I'd been convinced, and bought into the DDP, you tell me this. Last time I had a burger at WDW was Adventureland Veranda. Hotdogs are always at Casey's at night as we wait for the stampede to leave ahead of us. But we've always had one good restaurant dinner each day, just not V&A or Calif Grill. I too save up the money before going. I love being catered to on vacation.
My husband is Italian, I leaned Italian cooking from his mother, and the thought of having pasta with oil at Alfredo's for $24, (this was years ago) we've just never eaten there, we want what we can't have at home.

 

Originally Posted By AuroraRose

don't be discouraged! what you just said: "we've always had one good restaurant dinner each day" will more then pay for getting the plan, if you decide you'll be doing the same this trip.

 

Originally Posted By dixielandings

meal plan is a great deal!!
But it makes you have to be some where
at a cetin time every day and can cause you to miss some things you might want to see in the parks

 

Originally Posted By Spirit of 74

Leave it to my second-fave Texan, to perfectly sum up the evils inherent in the dining plan so perfectly.

Will it stop me from booking it?

Hell no, when it's free.

But I'd never think of purchasing it and would advise anyone against doing so except when it is free largely for all the reasons Dan posted.

Disney isn't offering this plan out of the goodness of their execs hearts (wait, they don't have any!). They aren't offering it and losing money on the deal. They're making a LOT of $$$ by pushing this plan ... they want to Cruise Line the dining at WDW.

I doubt the Four Seasons crowd will be taking advantage.

 

Originally Posted By danyoung

>Thanks for discouraging me. Just when I'd been convinced, and bought into the DDP, you tell me this.<

Didn't mean to be discouraging, bobbelee! Everyone needs to try it and find out for themselves if it works or not. As long as you understand the ups and downs, you can use it to your advantage.

>But I'd never think of purchasing it and would advise anyone against doing so except when it is free...<

When I used it last year it was $38.99 a day, but the package had a $40 a day discount off of my room, so it was sorta the same as free. And even if you pay, you can still come out ahead. I just don't like the added logistics needed to make it work.