Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 >> Welcome home, Spirit! << <<He's been gone?>> The Spirit is always with you ... like a dream being a wish your heart makes when you're fast asleep (can anyone sense that I've seen a lot of Disney animation in the past few weeks?)
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 >> Welcome home, Spirit! << <<He's been gone?>> The Spirit is always with you ... like a dream being a wish your heart makes when you're fast asleep (can anyone sense that I've seen a lot of Disney animation in the past few weeks?)
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 Here is the thing, people want to blame Disney but they are not doing anything wrong... If people are going to pay 100 dollars for crap, Disney is going to charge 100 dollars for crap... Disney is not forcing this upon anyone, they are offering a choice, and 99% of the individuals planning vacations are either believing the hype or just plain stupid and take the meal plan. If people did not pay for the meal plan, they would either increase the value of the meal plan or get rid of it entirely.... Do what I do, and avoid WDW altogether... I'll take my DLP and DL vacations over the crap that is offered at WDW.
Originally Posted By danyoung >I doubt they are worried about "ruining dining for everyone else" - as long as they make money on the program, I don't think the current management cares about ruining "other" guest experiences.< Sorry, but I think this is just a wrong statement. Of course they care about the experiences of their guests. True, they do tend to let money rule over a good experience. But to say that they don't care if their guests have a good time or not is just not true.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Good point, William. Sadly. One point that was driven home to me on my recent cruise is that Disney is a cult to many fans. It can do no wrong. And rest assured, this 'tude is well know amongst Disney execs and consultants (I'd love Leemac to chime in here, but doubt he will). Disney uses these 'damaged' (that's the most gentle term I can find for these folks) spirits as the baseline for everything it does in the 21st century. I could easily write a book on why the Walmarting has been allowed to happen by Disney conditioning guests to expect less and by shooting for less discerning guests. That's why if you're a DVCer since 2001, who has know taken 23 Disney vacations, you're the target.
Originally Posted By Ursula Hey, I just want to get into Le Cellier for dinner and maybe one evening at the CA Grill. So, if it takes dumping the dininig plan to make that happen, knock yourself out.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> The Spirit is always with you ... like a dream being a wish your heart makes when you're fast asleep (can anyone sense that I've seen a lot of Disney animation in the past few weeks?) << It was starting to sound like you had OD on Pixie Dust.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer >>>It was starting to sound like you had OD on Pixie Dust.<<< I just think that he's finally given up the ghost and is going full Pixie Duster on us.
Originally Posted By -em Welcome back Spirit! Tonight I was at Epcot and we decided we wanted a sit down dinner. We stopped by Guest Relations and saw the "no more table service reservations" so decided to just walk over to the restaurant of choice (Germany) It was no longer than 10 minutes before we were seated and I'd say 1/3rd of the restaurant was empty... Booked? ummm...
Originally Posted By plpeters70 <<True, they do tend to let money rule over a good experience. But to say that they don't care if their guests have a good time or not is just not true.>> What I'm saying is that they care more about the guests using the dining plan than they do about a few guests not getting the reservation they want, or not having as many eating options. They've probably done some cost/benefit analysis on this and decided they could make more money off the dining plan than they might lose by a few unhappy guests who don't use the plan and want higher quality at the restaurants. I think they're wrong on this, and it will bite them in the *ss as they continue to cut quality and raise the price, but this is a decision they've made, and I'm sure they have some "research" to back it up.
Originally Posted By CaptainMichael >>>Tonight I was at Epcot and we decided we wanted a sit down dinner. We stopped by Guest Relations and saw the "no more table service reservations" so decided to just walk over to the restaurant of choice (Germany) It was no longer than 10 minutes before we were seated and I'd say 1/3rd of the restaurant was empty... Booked? ummm...<<< Try that at Le Cellier around 5pm, and the CM at the podium will look at you like you just said a bad word/you're an idiot. I hate not being able to eat there. Die DDP, Die!
Originally Posted By danyoung >What I'm saying is that they care more about the guests using the dining plan than they do about a few guests not getting the reservation they want, or not having as many eating options.< I'll agree with you on this, pl. I think it's a matter of them being out of touch, of not realizing how the cutbacks at the restaurants and the overcrowding and the booking way in advance are negatively affecting the vast majority of Disney diners. As you say, the pendulum will swing to the point where they eventually get the message, I hope.
Originally Posted By ophellia wow, glad I've read this thread...but now I'm wondering where DO I eat when at WDW? I'm going for the first time ever in October and I was just looking at the wine&dine plan...now it doesnt sound so appealing... (mums the word FB friends, its a secret!)
Originally Posted By danyoung There are lots of great places to eat in WDW, both inside and outside of the parks. This discussion was basically comparing today's restaurants with the way they were a few years ago, before the DDP. And while some of them have diminished, most of them still offer some great dining choices. But with your trip coming up in October, you're already within the 180 day window, so I suggest you make some choices pretty quickly. I love most of the restaurants in Epcot, especially the Coral Reef and the Bistro de Paris. Le Cellier is pretty nice, but it books up very quickly for some reason. In DHS there's the Brown Derby, and in DAK there's the Yak & Yeti. The hotels have some nice choices too, like Boma or Jiko in the Animal Kingdom Lodge, 'Ohana in the Poly, and my favorite restaurant anywhere on the planet - the California Grill up on top of the Contemporary Hotel. And don't forget about Downtown Disney. I just had a terrific seafood meal at Fulton's, and had no reservation at all. Imagine that - walkup service at Disney!
Originally Posted By sjhym33 I am not a fan of the DDP. It really has made the spontinaity of dining tough...espcially for those of us who are local. I tried to get reservations for Le Cellier a couple of weeks before a birthday celebration and of course they were booked. I knew a ton of folks who work at the resturant including a seating hostess who I asked if she could find a seating time for me (I wasnt picky). They told me that they cant do that and managment watched the seating stuff and would come down hard on anyone who snuck someone in under the system. We also walked up on the day we were in the park and the host basically laughed. Not a great experience. We ate at China which we can always get into. On another morning we decided to take a ride over to the Polynesian for a last minute breakfast...French Toast...Yum. We got to the Kona Cafe and the hostess told us there was a 45min to an hour. When I looked into the restuarant half the tables were empty. She told me that they were being held for people with reservations. But half the tables were empty. After waiting 15 mins or so and half the tables still being empty we decided to leave. We ended up having breakfast off property. I also think the DDP has homogenized the menu's across property. There are couple of places we used to eat regularly that the menus have really been pared back. And a couple of the fast food places that we used to be able to walk up and grab a quick bite have gotten busy with people on the dining plan. I think Disney is beginning to back away from a lot of the discounting that it did the past couple of years. I think you will see less hotel freebies and the dining plan will either go away or be cut back. I think Disney sees the light at the end of the tunnel in terms of the economy and figure now is the time to stop giving things away.
Originally Posted By danyoung >When I looked into the restuarant half the tables were empty. She told me that they were being held for people with reservations.< This is basically a lie. As I understand the dining booking system at Disney, they don't reserve a table for anybody. When you check in with, for example, a reservation for a party of 4, you go to the top of the list for the next available table that can seat 4. This is to keep tables from going unused as people skip out on their reservations. It's also why even with a reservation you can still have to wait up to 30 minutes for your table. If the Kona was leaving half of their tables empty it was because they didn't have the staff to service a full restaurant, not because they were holding the tables for anyone.
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub Dan is correct I used to "wonder" about the emptytables also but now having a son in restaurant management...I don't think I will ever complain about anything ever gain. Sometimes the cooks get behind and that is one of the ways to slow down also.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<The Coral Reef menu diminished from perhaps 20 menu items to about 9, with only 4 of them seafood>> FYI, the lunch menu entrees selections when the Coral Reef opened in 1986: Caribbean Tuna Mediterranean Shrimp Fillet of Atlantic Flounder Fillet of Mahi Mahi Pan-Smoked Grouper Pan Seared Swordfish Salmon Filet Seafood Fettuccine Seafood Shabu Shabu Maine Lobster Grilled Beef Tenderloin Woodsman Chicken The lunch menu entrees 2010: Lobster Ravioli Pan-Seared Tilapia Blackened Catfish Apricot-Braised Beef Short Rib Seared Chicken Breast Caesar Salad Grilled Mahi Mahi Wild Mushroom Lasagna Grilled New York Strip Steak
Originally Posted By ophellia I'll probably be staying at POR, anyone ever eat there? Overall would you say its not a worthwhile investment then for the DiningPlan?
Originally Posted By A Happy Haunt the food court was good, didn't try the restaurant. you can take a boat to DtD from POR so why eat there!
