Breaking News about 2007 Dining Plan

[Rambler5678]

AUGUST 2006

Teppanyaki Restaurant in Epcot's Japan pavillion will be closed for a major rehab from January 15 - May 25, 2007. No further details are known.

Major Changes to the Disney Dining Plan in 2007 - No Coronado Springs locations, addition of In-Room dining (began August 06), Dinner Show seating Categories 2 and 3 only; Pool bars not available; all Downtown Disney locations removed except Cap'n Jacks Restaurant. Aunt Polly's deleted from Magic Kingdom, Epcot locations removed include Boulangerie Patisserie, Chefs de France, Cantina de San Angel, San Angel Restaurant, L'Originale Alfredo di Roma, Lotus Blossom, Nine Dragons, Tangierine Cafe, Restaurant Marrakesh, Yakitori House, Mitsukoshi Teppanyaki, Refreshment Outpost, Refreshment Port. At the Disney-MGM Studios, Toluca Legs Turkey was added. Animal Kingdom - Dino Bites and Petrifries removed.

 

[hygienejean]

Why on earth does Disney want to remove all of those EPCOT restaurants???? I am sure they will be raising the price as well as taking locations away.....Maybe not such a great deal for 2007???

 

[bicker]

The price increase is only $1 per day for adults, and there is no price increase for children.

The restaurants removed from the Dining Plan are all (and only) the non-Disney-owned restaurants. It isn't clear whether it was Disney's doing, or the restaurants' doing (though I'm betting on the former). It is also not clear that this is the final list for 2007. There are bound to be many changes between now and the beginning of next year.

 

[3DisneyBuggs]

Why is there a Dining Plan in 2007 then??

 

[marathonmommy]

The info is news to me (and I am sure many others), but I hope the list is not correct. If so, next week will be the first and last time I use the dining plan.

 

[bicker]

Why is there a Dining Plan in 2007 then??

The preliminary details of the Dining Plan were announced now because guests wanted to book vacation packages for 2007, and those packages can include the Dining Plan.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Geez. No need to rain on his/her parade by shooting down the speed of the info given. The info is news to me (and I am sure many others), but I hope the list is not correct. If so, next week will be the first and last time I use the dining plan.

The 2007 dining plan brochure was released yesterday - there a million threads (okay, not a million ) about the changes on the DDP board at the top of the page. Yes, the changes are in the new brochure though things could change in the coming months if they are still being negotiated. But as of right now, that is what is listed in the 2007 brochure (there is a link to the new brochure on a thread on the DDP board).

 

[disneybride96]

Why is there a Dining Plan in 2007 then??

Plus we are in the 180 day window for Jan/Feb vacations.

 

[kimberh]

Losing the Epcot restaurants is a big minus. I hope The countries decide to be added to the dining plan, we sure enjoy it.

 

[Allison]

Lots of info on these threads:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1187766

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1187426

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1187344

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1187520

There are also several others on the dining plan board if people are interested.

 

[LISAMWDW]

Well simply put, that just stinks! I'm so glad I got in the free dining before this change! Why mess with a good thing?

 

[bicker]

Evidently it wasn't all good.

 

[janets]

While no one knows what will happen between now and January 1, 2007, we needed to book our stay for the first weekend in February (ds's 9th birthday). My mom is joining us, mostly to take advantage of the dining plan. The last time she joined us (Dec. 04) the plan as we know it wasn't available.

Luckily for us, the restaurants we wanted to patronize are still part of the plan (Le Cellier and Coral Reef). I booked our dinner ressies yesterday, along with Concourse Steakhouse at the CR.

Now, looking forward, if the plan remains as advertised today (with the majority of the EPCOT restaurants removed) I don't think we will take advantage of it for future trips. We have APs and will renew our DDE in November and will utilize the 20% savings going forward. Since we are using our 2006 banked DVC points for our February stay, we have been considering a different vacation in November 07 and will probably bank those points into 2008. So after February, we have no vacation planned to WDW for the remainder of 2007 (unless some great deal comes along and we decide to come down between end of summer camp and school starting).

I think that for many, this will not affect their use and enjoyment of the plan. Many families opt for buffet restaurants and the removal of the TS restaurants in EPCOT might not affect them. For families who enjoyed eating around the world, this might make the plan unattractive to them.

As we have all said, the dining plan is not right for every visitor. Everyone has to evaluate if it will fit their dining needs.

 

[n2mm]

Luckily for us, the restaurants we wanted to patronize are still part of the plan (Le Cellier and Coral Reef). I booked our dinner ressies yesterday, along with Concourse Steakhouse at the CR.

I was feeling a little anxious too about the changes and booked my ADRs today for my February trip. Today is my 180 day mark of checking into the WLV. I've never made ADRs this far in advance, but since I wanted into LeCellier twice during that week, I bite the bullet and called today. With that, I'm still tweaking my plans for my August trip and October trip. Hopefully they will re-add the missing places back to the DDP, but if they don't, I knew the places left would get hit hard. (I booked Lecellier 2 different nights, Coral Reef, Kona Cafe, Concourse Steakhouse). We are only at the WLV for 5 nights, but will probably arrive a couple of days earlier and stay at a value and won't be on the DDP then, so will use our DDE for those days. I had no problem getting any of my ADRs, mostly because we are just a party of 2.

 

[PoohHappens]

Honestly, I do not think this change would keep me from using the DP next year. It is still a good deal and there are plenty of places to choose from. We were more excited that there was not a big change in price. We might have wanted to eat at one TS and maybe 2 CS out of that list, but we will just pay cash for that or eat somewhere else. If anything for us it will also eliminate the thought of sharing or trying to stretch our points. If we plan a meal or two at the non covered places and pay cash then that would cover the extra meals we might not have had enough points for. No reason to share as we could never eat that many places in that many days.