anyone else notice them pushing dining plan

[Crow]

i called for pricing on resorts and these last few times they kept asking if i wanted dining plan...would u like to add military dining plan...i said wats that as i thought it was a discounted dp..no it just means for military u dont have to buy an admission ticket to add dining plan to room..
is it not going over as well now that they are pushing it so much

[faline]

Maybe more folks are doing the math and finding out its not that good a deal, after all.

[LisRich]

Very funny you mention that b/c I was making resort reservations last week and I thought the cast member at CRO was a bit pushy about the DP. In fact, after I said "no thank you", he persisted in telling me I would be saving at least 20% on my meals, etc., etc., in such a way that I felt like I was stupid not to get the DP and than I had to explain to him that I was very familiar w/the DP and it just wasn't a good option for our family. Don't get me wrong, he was very nice and friendly, but to me it was a weird/unusual interaction w/CRO - the first time I felt like I was getting a "hard sell" to purchase something I didn't want.

[Crow]

yea the last few calls..
i think the only times i got DDP was like twice when it was free
esp w TIW..the CM was like well the DDP is better and i ws like..well TIW 20% includes:beer::marg:

[brad192]

This makes total sense from Disney's point of view.

Food, from a restaurant's point of view, is relatively cheap. Do you really think it costs the restaurant anywhere near the $40 - $50+ per person for the amount of food you are served? They can take a small loss on that.

Once you buy into the DDP, you are now pretty much obligated to pay rack rate for your room. While the Values may have a moderate profit margin with income vs. overhead, I'm certain the margins for the Moderates & escpecially the Deluxes are HUGE. The same overhead applies at these resorts (more or less). $300+ a night for a room? Really?

By taking a bit of a loss on their DDP, Disney is raking in enormous amounts of money on their hotel rooms. Why do you think they've got more than 20 hotels?

Most people won't take the time to crunch the numbers when it comes to DDP vs. any available room discounts offered during their stay. I've researched this quite a bit, as I'm the "Go To" guy with all my friends when they plan WDW vacations, and I've found that, if WDW is offering typical room discounts (20% - 40%), it's almost always better to take the room discount vs. the DDP option - unless you have a large family (more than 4 people), or are a dedicated "foodie", and will be eating a lot.

I don't fault WDW for doing this, it's just good business strategy, but I wish people would think it through a little more & perhaps save some money.

[Kairi_7378]

I look at it similarly to when a retail merchant asks you 2 or 3 times whether or not you want to apply for the store's credit card. They HAVE to ask it. I have stopped trying to explain why I have (or haven't) applied for the card.

[TinkerbellT421]

I personally think Disney has realized they make a boat load more money pushing the dinning plan than not, in more ways than one. So, they will go where the money is. They aren't pushing it because they are losing money, that's for sure. Lol

[Polynesian Dweller]

I personally think Disney has realized they make a boat load more money pushing the dinning plan than not, in more ways than one. So, they will go where the money is. They aren't pushing it because they are losing money, that's for sure. Lol

This. Yep, there just trying to upsell customers to increase revenues. Exactly what businesses do.

[joonyer]

On average, guests who buy the dining plan spend much more on food during their vacations at WDW than those who pay for meals as they go. (For us we typically spend about $500 less in a week when we pay as we go). This is because most guests would order much less food than what the DDP provides. They sucker you end by telling you how much $$ you will "save" if you buy the plan. But you are not really saving unless you would have ordered all the same food you get with the DP if you didn't buy it. Disney knows this and that is why they market the Dining Plans so heavily. Huge profits for them.

[Quadstriker]

Definitely going to be trying Tables in Wonderland instead.

[darthmacho]

Maybe more folks are doing the math and finding out its not that good a deal, after all.

Clearly you've never seen me eat at a restaurant. To me the DDP is worth every penny. ;)

Then again, I liked it better in 2010, when we didn't have to pay for it at all because it was free...

[Crow]

suprised that they offered it w military discount on resorts, since not paying rack rate.
idt id ever get t DDP again, i agree id rather have a room discount. and since it doesnt include app or tip or:beer:

[Iluvtink]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but can't you buy the DDP even if you are getting a discounted rate? I thought that it was only when they were offering the plan for free that you needed to pay the rack rate.

[#1donaldfan]

To do the DP or not is totally up to each person's "taste". I like the plan as it gives me a relative sense of satisfaction knowing my meals are already paid for. My DD is a CM so we get great deals anyway, yet the DP continues to satisfy us, and yes we may save some money not using the plan, it's just a matter of what you want or willing to spend while at the GREATEST PLACE ON THE PLANET !!:mickey:

[azcavalier]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but can't you buy the DDP even if you are getting a discounted rate? I thought that it was only when they were offering the plan for free that you needed to pay the rack rate.

Exactly. How can anyone say that the free DDP ISN'T a great deal? All your food for free? OK, maybe if you have a smaller family. We are a family of five, and we've crunched the numbers. Free DDP *always* beats out 20-40% off room rates for us, and it's not even close.

This year at WDW, there will be 10 people in our group. Six adults, four kids. The free DDP saves us over $1000 in food costs. There's no way we'd get that on room discounts.

Now, BUYING the DDP? I think we'd still do it, and try to get a room discount to save something. But we'd rather re-book to get free DDP dates if we can (and we did).

My DW and I will be going back in April to celebrate our 18th anniversary, but we'll be staying at a DVC resort (so even if free dining were to be offered, which it won't, we couldn't take advantage). We're still debating whether or not to buy the DDP, or just pay OOP. Just gotta crunch the numbers.