Disney Dining Plan Price Increases

[eeyoreandtink]

Reading is fundamental...don't parse...which you just did

I can read thanks. Thanks once again for the compliment. you clearly said prepaying is lowbrow. I'm not the only one that read it as such. Maybe you need to look at your phrasing?

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Right...but then you skipped over this one written 4 hours ago:

Right...bad choice of words on my part.

The sales tactic by Disney is low brow misdirection...not the paying customer. That's my fault.

They are using a very basic idea that the majority will by more high profit gift shop stuff if you have paid them months earlier for the food. And they are mostly right.

If you can stick to a budget, don't give in, and have a party mix (like lots of kids) where it works out in your favor and you see past the design ...I fully support that.

Still getting ripped off on the character meals...but those are a guilty pleasure that is completley understandable.

oh ok...I'll be nice...

I often decry what I feel is bad Disney policies for the consumer...it's rarely about the consumer.

 

[Disney_traveler]

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Ok maybe I'm a "dining plan defender" and "low brow" BUT the 2 times I was on the dining plan it was the regular (1 QS, 1 TS) and I emjoyed it! have been when I was new and wanted to try table service and not have sticker shock at the table. Maybe I'm not rich enough like some people here, but I still keep an eye on how much I'm spending when I go on a trip.

Uh huh...I'm not disputing you.

But here's the question: how much have the prices increased since the dining plan was introduced?

That always is overlooked.

 

[ChipnDale79]

Uh huh...I'm not disputing you.

But here's the question: how much have the prices increased since the dining plan was introduced?

That always is overlooked.

ehhh its disney, they have a history of jacking the prices on everything. I'm not sold on the reason food being so expensive onsite is because of the DDP. I think its because its Disney and they have a captive audience.

 

[Disney_traveler]

Haters gonna hate
Potaters gonna potate

I'm out yall

 

[lockedoutlogic]

ehhh its disney, they have a history of jacking the prices on everything. I'm not sold on the reason food being so expensive onsite is because of the DDP. I think its because its Disney and they have a captive audience.

I guess i don't believe in coincidence...

Sitdown prices are up realistically 75-100% since 2006 on average.

Hmmm?

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Haters gonna hate
Potaters gonna potate

I'm out yall

You got some really insightful thoughts there...filled with experience and/or facts.

 

[Nancyg56]

I'm curious, do you save your receipts, and actually compare what you paid to what you would've paid? I'm always wondering if people actually do that. I saved all our receipts last Xmas trip (or at least most of them) and I think we came out at $600 less oop than had we chosen a dining plan, but I can't be sure of the EXACT number because I'm not sure if I had ALL the receipts or if one or two got misplaced. However, my husband and I kept a running tally for the first 3 days I guess and by then, we were $200 under the cost of the dining plan, so I want to say our number is pretty close.

Imo, if someone has no other discounts for meals such as AP, DVC, or TiW then the dining plan insures their maximum cost and I get why someone would choose to do that. They can blow $1000 on Mickey Bars if they wanted to and know that they can still eat on the rest of their trip. If someone has other discounts, then the dining plan makes zero sense.

My DD does, every one.

WE do not have the other discounts, so when folks suggest how much more we would save...well I know that, but I dont qualify.

Exaclty...

And dining plan defenders around here have often forgotten to include:

1. The tips (probably $300 a week on average)
2. Alcohol
3. Appetizers cause you're starving and the bad cheesecake an hour later isn't gonna cut it.

I have always maintained that the average "cost above dining plan" is significant and kills the savings anyway...now the savings aren't much there.

I would tip
I would still drink
I get appetizers when I wnat them. DDp or not.

I do nto pay tax on the meals that are on tehplan, or on the snack. I figure any extra tip is a wash.

He's so predictable. I feel for my friend every time I help her plan a trip. They have been going for years, and doing the same exact thing. The dining plan would make her life so much easier. But they have a timeshare and usually end up staying offsite, so it's the same story every time.

I would not stand for it. If my DH pulled that on me he and I would have more to worry about than the canceled meals. It is disrespectful at best, and at worst? I cannto say wha tI think about that here/

 

[mom2rtk]

My DD does, every one.

WE do not have the other discounts, so when folks suggest how much more we would save...well I know that, but I dont qualify.



I would tip
I would still drink
I get appetizers when I wnat them. DDp or not.

I do nto pay tax on the meals that are on tehplan, or on the snack. I figure any extra tip is a wash.



I would not stand for it. If my DH pulled that on me he and I would have more to worry about than the canceled meals. It is disrespectful at best, and at worst? I cannto say wha tI think about that here/

I can't say either. Not my place.

 

[rteetz]

This thread seems to have gone off on several tangents. The topic is price increases on the dining plan, lets keep it there.

 

[MaximumEd]

Deleted. Tangents.

 

[ChipnDale79]

I guess i don't believe in coincidence...

Sitdown prices are up realistically 75-100% since 2006 on average.

Hmmm?

No idea of the data...but ticket prices are pretty close to that too arent they?

 

[lockedoutlogic]

No idea of the data...but ticket prices are pretty close to that too arent they?

Dining prices rose much more rapidly...a $28 dollar steak went to a $48 in the snap of a finger...

Not to mention those buffet prices...wow

 

[ChipnDale79]

Dining prices rose much more rapidly...a $28 dollar steak went to a $48 in the snap of a finger...

Not to mention those buffet prices...wow

I get what you're saying....but in 2006 a one day ticket was $63, today its $124 during peak season.

Iger.....

 

[Nancyg56]

Dining prices rose much more rapidly...a $28 dollar steak went to a $48 in the snap of a finger...

Not to mention those buffet prices...wow

I have to wonder where this ends. Dining is a huge component of our vacations. I try to mitigate any sticker shock for my husband, no matter where we go. My Country Boy cannot get past those prices! We tend to buy the plans, get the thing paid for, and then enjoy the trip, but how do you mitigate a total price hike? The last trip that we all went as a family had my DH head spinning. He is not cheap, and he wanted our girls to stay at the Grand so we did, but Yikes! It was much higher than our previous trips. I recognize that dining costs rose much faster than the tickets and resorts costs, but we look at the total cost of the trip and then decide if we can justify the cost. It is getting much more difficult to do that.

I don't waste time blaming the DDP for the cost of dining because I really don't know what came first here: the chicken or the egg. One thing I do consider is that as DIsney continues to experiment with the prices, one by one, folks may look elsewhere as an affordable destination.

 

[ChipnDale79]

folks may look elsewhere as an affordable destination.

Attendance suggests they've already started doing that.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

I get what you're saying....but in 2006 a one day ticket was $63, today its $124 during peak season.

Iger.....

Not defending that either...there's always an invisible line where a disposable product becomes a glaring price once you cross it...hard to recover once it does.

A one day ticket at WDW can never be $225 a day...it just won't hold. The reason is that it's a mass market and there won't be enough masses to pay it. To put it simply: not enough people make 15% more each year end on end to meet the increases in all walks of life. Things like Disney tickets get dumped.

But bob iger won't be around then...neither will the board...or the big block investors that hold Disney's stock...all chutes will deploy.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

We tend to buy the plans, get the thing paid for, and then enjoy the trip, but how do you mitigate a total price hike? The last trip that we all went as a family had my DH head spinning. He is not cheap, and he wanted our girls to stay at the Grand so we did, but Yikes! It was much higher than our previous trips.

I don't waste time blaming the DDP for the cost of dining because I really don't know what came first here: the chicken or the egg. One thing I do consider is that as DIsney continues to experiment with the prices, one by one, folks may look elsewhere as an affordable destination.

You gotta stay away from the grand...or less specifically: the monorail hotels...they passed anything resembling a reasonable return on investment years ago. For most consumers...the price will gnaw at you in the back of your mind the whole trip...unless you're on points.

And the reality with Disney is that it's never the chicken or the egg...all
Prices are done in conjuction...carefully planned. Like the dinosaurs in Jurassic park (second reference this week). They are good at misdirection and coordinating pricing. Remember when the dinosaurs started eating the people though?

Did anyone think the original, cheap, more value dining plan wasn't a hook that was gonna get exploited? Like a "no money down" type gimmick?

Cause it was...and an obvious one at that.

From what you said...the dining plan is preferable to you because it hides the costs from your husband...the "convenience" is that it is buried on the back page during the trip, no?

 

[DisOrBust]

I would be curious to know if the DDP has decreased in popularity, especially with the increasing price. I know the trips that I have help plan for friends they all have sticker shock on the DDP prices and think there is no way it's cost effective even after i make them look at the menus. In fact I haven't had anyone use the DDP in years and I on average help 10-15 families a year plan their trip. I know it's not scientific at all.
This year I bought one AP for the new discounts and planned ou dinning accordingly. We were a family of 5, staying 11 days, and came out $300 ahead after the increased cost of the AP and most importantly we ordered what we wanted not what was "required" on a DDP. If I really did the math we probably saved more not having to pay a higher tip because we order the most expensive items and desserts that were never finished. Granted our restaurants were limited but not to the point where we felt restrained.