Disney Dining Plan Price Increases

[lockedoutlogic]

Vacation to me means getting away too. However I'm fine with off site restaurants and I also don't mind driving since I'm a bit of an explorer. Orlando is blessed with good restaurants and attractions.

I agree that cooking is no good though. I'm OK with sandwich fixin's and snacks but that's about it.

Just to clarify my stance...I'm more than ok with offsite stuff and there is a lot of benefits out there. In particular, the doctor Phillips and winter park areas...and I love me some celebration.

What I have no interest doing is trying to navigate/shuttle myself In and out of Disney property.

Like it or not, they have designed the place in recent years to discourage That...not only the daily, but hourly policies such as fast pass windows and the convoluted dining system.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Clearly, Disney has created a market for off-site dining. I wonder what would happen if they put their food prices in line with off-sites and this way people wouldn't go elsewhere...

I think the world would end.

Are you serious?!?

We might as well debate what nail polish a unicorn should wear...

 

[lockedoutlogic]

You aren't outnumbered, so it's easier - try doubling the # and doing the same...

Ummm...there are ways around that too

 

[Planogirl]

Are you serious?!?

We might as well debate what nail polish a unicorn should wear...

Pink?

I would like lower prices but also better food on-site. And lower crowds. Why not dream?

 

[Madonna3]

Are you serious?!?

We might as well debate what nail polish a unicorn should wear...

No I am not serious. However, they built hotels to keep people from going off-site. They built restaurants to keep people dining on site. Then, to encourage people to try the restaurants on site, they invented the dining plan. Now, the prices are jacked way up and keep going up. Imagine if they put them more in line with off-site. People would buy the dining plan, restaurants would still be full, and no one would leave the bubble... ever.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

No I am not serious. However, they built hotels to keep people from going off-site. They built restaurants to keep people dining on site. Then, to encourage people to try the restaurants on site, they invented the dining plan. Now, the prices are jacked way up and keep going up. Imagine if they put them more in line with off-site. People would buy the dining plan, restaurants would still be full, and no one would leave the bubble... ever.

Disagree here...the dining plan wasn't about "exposure"

It was a hook to train the dogs where to eat and meant to drive Chinese junk sales...

But back to the point...there will be no end insight to dining price increases.

I think the next move will be to raise the quickserves across the board. It's the next logical step after what they did to the sitdowns.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Pink?

I would like lower prices but also better food on-site. And lower crowds. Why not dream?

...and I'd like a new addition to the parks at least every other year and full housekeeping at vacation club...

And unique bar menus...trash those T.G.I. Friday's issue ones.

 

[Planogirl]

No I am not serious. However, they built hotels to keep people from going off-site. They built restaurants to keep people dining on site. Then, to encourage people to try the restaurants on site, they invented the dining plan. Now, the prices are jacked way up and keep going up. Imagine if they put them more in line with off-site. People would buy the dining plan, restaurants would still be full, and no one would leave the bubble... ever.

Am I the only person who likes to take breaks from the bubble? I get tired of the crowds after a while.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Am I the only person who likes to take breaks from the bubble? I get tired of the crowds after a while.

No...that's a valid point as well...

You're just fighting the system to do it.
The system always wins in the end.

 

[Madonna3]

Disagree here...the dining plan wasn't about "exposure"

It was a hook to train the dogs where to eat and meant to drive Chinese junk sales...

But back to the point...there will be no end insight to dining price increases.

I think the next move will be to raise the quickserves across the board. It's the next logical step after what they did to the sitdowns.

I thought they already jacked the QS menus. Don't you notice every time a place gets a menu revamp they also get a price revamp?

 

[Madonna3]

... and full housekeeping at vacation club...

And unique bar menus...trash those T.G.I. Friday's issue ones.

AMEN

 

[jkh36619]

We have a different definition of a full day in the park then, and thats fine. But there is no way I'd fit in everything you noted, and a "full" day in the parks for myself.

Not to mention after spending a full day in the parks, the last thing I want to do is cook a meal and do dishes.

We probably do. 8 hours (ish) is more than enough for me. But as I said earlier, with the money I save by staying offsite, I go minimum of 3 weeks a year, usually 4. This year, we leave in 15 days for F&G, go mid June, again in August (just the wife and I) and our Christmas trip. I don't have to spend 12 hours in the park. I don't want to spend 12 hours in the park. We enjoy doing other things as well. For example we love an evening stroll through Celebration on occasion. As far as cooking and cleaning, people are over thinking it. Its throwing a Papa Murphy's pizza in the oven, or a prepared oven meal. very simple things. Dishes get thrown in a dish washer with a pod. not hard at all. I do more work shaving.. On a 7 night say, we will usually do 3 easy meals in the room and eat out 4 times. Tons of good restaurants in the area. And I have stayed onsite for many times, until I discovered the offsite world. Never say on site again and find it less stressful, more relaxing, more freedom with better food and much more comfortable and spacious accommodations.

 

[ChipnDale79]

We probably do. 8 hours (ish) is more than enough for me. But as I said earlier, with the money I save by staying offsite, I go minimum of 3 weeks a year, usually 4. This year, we leave in 15 days for F&G, go mid June, again in August (just the wife and I) and our Christmas trip. I don't have to spend 12 hours in the park. I don't want to spend 12 hours in the park. We enjoy doing other things as well. For example we love an evening stroll through Celebration on occasion. As far as cooking and cleaning, people are over thinking it. Its throwing a Papa Murphy's pizza in the oven, or a prepared oven meal. very simple things. Dishes get thrown in a dish washer with a pod. not hard at all. I do more work shaving.. On a 7 night say, we will usually do 3 easy meals in the room and eat out 4 times. Tons of good restaurants in the area. And I have stayed onsite for many times, until I discovered the offsite world. Never say on site again and find it less stressful, more relaxing, more freedom with better food and much more comfortable and spacious accommodations.

Cool, it works out for you. It just dosen't for others.

I don't have the vacation time or the desire to go to Disney 3 or 4 times in a year, so we go once a year, or once every 2 or 3 years.

Even when we go to other places for vacation, like say the beach or the mountains we do not cook that much. We cook a lot at home, and I just have no desire to cook at all on vacation.

Disney is different for everyone, there's always going to be an argument to be made to stay on site and one to stay offsite.

 

[PollyannaMom]

...I don't have to spend 12 hours in the park. I don't want to spend 12 hours in the park. We enjoy doing other things as well. For example we love an evening stroll through Celebration on occasion. As far as cooking and cleaning, people are over thinking it. Its throwing a Papa Murphy's pizza in the oven, or a prepared oven meal. very simple things. Dishes get thrown in a dish washer with a pod. not hard at all...

I agree about some quiet time outside the park if I'm there for more than a few days, but the "throw in a pizza" thing just isn't a steady option for us. My DH has to stick mostly to a low salt, low fat diet, and convenience foods every night would blow that in a big hurry. Plus, the actual making of the food is not the whole thing I love getting away from. I also love not having to figure out something everyone will eat, and organize groceries and all that. Even when we have stayed off site, we've eaten out except for maybe breakfast.

I don't think either side is going to convince the other side to change their habits. But we can all agree that different things work for different families.

 

[Nancyg56]

We probably do. 8 hours (ish) is more than enough for me. But as I said earlier, with the money I save by staying offsite, I go minimum of 3 weeks a year, usually 4. This year, we leave in 15 days for F&G, go mid June, again in August (just the wife and I) and our Christmas trip. I don't have to spend 12 hours in the park. I don't want to spend 12 hours in the park. We enjoy doing other things as well. For example we love an evening stroll through Celebration on occasion. As far as cooking and cleaning, people are over thinking it. Its throwing a Papa Murphy's pizza in the oven, or a prepared oven meal. very simple things. Dishes get thrown in a dish washer with a pod. not hard at all. I do more work shaving.. On a 7 night say, we will usually do 3 easy meals in the room and eat out 4 times. Tons of good restaurants in the area. And I have stayed onsite for many times, until I discovered the offsite world. Never say on site again and find it less stressful, more relaxing, more freedom with better food and much more comfortable and spacious accommodations.

It's funny, if I was not vacationing in Disney, I would be all on board with you. My niece is getting married in July, and while she is not having a destination wedding, it is a destination for her CT family, and most of us are turning it into a vacation. We rented houses on property, are bringing breakfast foods and snacks, and perhaps lunch meats, etc. WE are not cooking, but will be all together having a blast. Dinners in the resort restaurants, cocktails by the pool, but definately family time at the houses or maybe in the main lodge

 

[LSLS]

Disagree here...the dining plan wasn't about "exposure"

It was a hook to train the dogs where to eat and meant to drive Chinese junk sales...

But back to the point...there will be no end insight to dining price increases.

I think the next move will be to raise the quickserves across the board. It's the next logical step after what they did to the sitdowns.

Could be. I still think there is going to be work to find a way to keep people from bringing their own food next (well, maybe after the obligatory rise in restaurant prices).

The offsite stuff is interesting. I think with the raises in hotels (and expected much larger raises), you will see more people moving off site (even if it's just to the Disney Springs area). And when you aren't fully immersed, I think people will be much more willing to give off site restaurants a chance. Something I'm not sure Disney has fully accounted for yet is the rise of Uber and how much easier it is to stay offsite at this point (and how much easier it will be to hit something offsite). I think it's all going back to short term thinking vs. long term.

 

[DrunkJam]

I took a break from the DIS because it was actually spoiling my holiday planning.
It's a holiday. It's meant to be relaxing. Disney has already partially destroyed that by requiring me to put in a lot of work in advance, but, OK, I buy into that, I could go elsewhere.
But, once I get there, I want relaxing. That means I want my husband to choose what he WANTS from the menus (which, even if we saved cash in advance, he would not do handing over actual cash, he's buy what was cheaper. I have kids whose favourite thing is the character meals. On the DDP (we're actually going for the DXDP so we can try out more 2 credit places, but we do get discounted rate) we try out more places that we would write off as too expensive if handing over cash.
Thus far we've never come out worse off (when we look back and add up the actual OOP cost of what we actually ate) Yes, it costs more than I would spend on food at home.

 

[LaidBackDad]

I took a break from the DIS because it was actually spoiling my holiday planning.
It's a holiday. It's meant to be relaxing. Disney has already partially destroyed that by requiring me to put in a lot of work in advance, but, OK, I buy into that, I could go elsewhere.
But, once I get there, I want relaxing. That means I want my husband to choose what he WANTS from the menus (which, even if we saved cash in advance, he would not do handing over actual cash, he's buy what was cheaper. I have kids whose favourite thing is the character meals. On the DDP (we're actually going for the DXDP so we can try out more 2 credit places, but we do get discounted rate) we try out more places that we would write off as too expensive if handing over cash.
Thus far we've never come out worse off (when we look back and add up the actual OOP cost of what we actually ate) Yes, it costs more than I would spend on food at home.

This is the most confusing post so far. If you want your husband to choose what he wants and not cause him stress, why would you possibly pick the DDP and all of it's restrictions and added stress? No appetizers (if on regular DDP), no salads, no deserts and no alcoholic beverages. Talk about stress, even if he orders the most expensive entree in most restaurants the single meal still will cost less if you pay OOP in almost every restaurant on property.

I would check your calculator, it is likely broken. We bring gift cards for the amount the DDP would have cost us. This way our meals are pre-paid just like the DDP so there is no stress worrying about the cost of the meals when we order. We order whatever we want including appetizers, salads, and even alcoholic beverages; we eat everywhere including character meals and signature restaurants and we have never used all of the money on our gift cards. Usually we will have 30 - 50% of their original value. Unlike the DDP, we are then able to spend all the left over money on merchandise or other things, or we just save the card and use it on the next trip. There is nothing more stressful on a vacation than trying to figure out if you have enough meal credits to cover the last few days of your vacation or figuring out that you have way too many credits left over that you can't use them all.

Besides the fact that the DDP cost more than just paying OOP in 99.99% of vacation scenarios, the worst part of it is all the added stress it creates during each meal, during the entire vacation and when you get home and figure out how much money and stress you could have saved yourself if you had just bought gift cards instead.

 

[DrunkJam]

If you say so, but buying gift cards in the right currency, and beating the nationality specific DDP offers would make your way much more complicated for us.