does the disney dining plan work well?

[pigletpete]

hi is the disney dining plan working well for people? it seems that it would really cut down spontaneous decisions on meals but then if everyone is on the dining plan perhaps we'd have to pre book every meal anyway

[daveann]

we arent on a dinning plan and because we only booked 60 days + before we go we cant get in at the places we want so i dont think it works but thats just my opinion :)

[Taja]

You'll still need to book most of the TS venues at 90 days--or whatever the current window is--to get a table whether you use DDP or not.

The days of walk-up TS dining are gone, unless you're very flexible about when and where you want to dine. :sigh:

And no guarantees even if you are very flexible. :shrug:

[Keith]

I think it depends on your definition of works and whether you're a Disney shareholder or a disney Holidaymaker :)

For Disney so far, it's worked great. All the restaurants filled up three months in advance so they know how much food to order, who'll be there and can plan accordingly. Oh yep, whilst fitting in as many people as possible and earning lots of profit :)

For the holidaymaker, it's been poor. You HAVE to book which means the wonderful days where we could wander past le cellier and think ooo yeah I fancy that, are long gone. Whether you're on the plan or not, you HAVE to book because you're competing with other people on the plan for a table.

Further downsides to Disneys dining plan include people making multiple reservations so they can choose which they want on the day leaving less availability for others :( and less choice at the restaurants. Le cellier used to offer lobster tails and so on but Disney did a huge cost cutting exercise a few months into the dining plan and struck off anything that was costing too much and could've been chosen on the plan.

Then they've taken away inclusive gratuities which was one of the really nice features of the plan. Taken away a course as well and reduce the free dining offers so you often have to stay at a deluxe to get a proper dining plan.

The flip side is that if you like to really buy everything up front, it allows you do that and certainly it's nice to order what you like off the menu without getting a bill at the end.

Overall I think it's a mistake that will force people offsite more and more but as long as Disney fills all the restaurants it has available, I suspect it'll be considered a win.

[daveann]

keith you really did explain that well :) and in a way to understand your right 3 months in advance they have the restaurants full so there doing something right :)