Heads up for plan fudgers in 2007

[bicker]

so does that mean we shouldn't eat at any property restaurant at all since the kids menu's are terrible? I don't think so....If the powers that be could see all the kids plates that go out to tables full and return the the kitchen with only a few bites taken....maybe then they'd get a clue about what families like.

And Disney actually knows what everyone here is just speculating about. Folks who don't like the child meals are, of course, going to try to make them sound like they were made by the devil incarnate, but what really matters is what folks, in general, do at the parks. If families are buying these meals in cash, that's a slam-dunk -- obviously that means that guests like the meals -- not all guests, perhaps, but what matters is what the vast majority do, not individuals.

 

[bicker]

If their truly is not a single thing at WDW, your kids like on the CS menus for the entire resort, then I would suggest not getting the DDP and paying OOP for their meals.

You mean purchase adult meals for them in cash, right? Because otherwise they're just buying the same child meals in cash that they'd get through the Dining Plan. That's why the whole child meal issue doesn't belong in the Dining Plan forum -- it is a general Disney Restaurants issue, affecting cash guests as much as Dining Plan guests.

As it is, after the test of the new child meals, Disney did make adjustments and guests are no reporting satisfaction in much great numbers, here on the DIS. It sounds like the problem is effectively resolved.

 

[bicker]

My guess is they wanted the A and C credits pooled together to encourage parents to use the kids' clubs

My guess is that they pooled the credits together because it required less systems work. It may have even reused existing capabilities.

I just don't think Disney envisioned such widespread and creative abuse. The internet played a huge role in that, in my opinion.

Abso-posi-lutely.

 

[bicker]

As to who are these people, if you had partipated in the very heated and sometimes closed threads that Bicker, Pedler, LewisC and myself and others particpated in for months about this abuse and the affect it was going to have, you could see who thse people were.

For some reason the recent changes to the server, etc. wiped out all those threads and so many will remain anonymous.

No, the threads are still there. I stumbled upon one by accident this morning, as a matter of fact. (I'll PM you the names, in case you're interested...)

 

[Uncleromulus]

Some threads re still there --but everyone should have noticed that some time ago we decided NOT to let any "new" such threads get on the boards.

And let's try to keep this thread on subject--it appears there will be new DDP enforcement efforts and certain folks will have to adjust.

 

[Ellester]

If families are buying these meals in cash, that's a slam-dunk -- obviously that means that guests like the meals -- not all guests, perhaps, but what matters is what the vast majority do, not individuals.

Or it means they feel they don't have another economical choice and force their kids to eat a kids meal. I still think it's speculation that the vast majority LIKE the meals. Unless there is hard data from a customer satisfaction survey, it is still speculation. The data out there now seems to imply that kids' meals are being purchased, there is nothing concrete about them being liked (that I have seen).

 

[JimMIA]

I just disagree with the definition of "nontransferable".

I still say that when I pay for the plan I can feed those meals to anyone who I want. I can use any quantity of meal credits at a time that I choose. If I want to buy a lunch for a family at a table next to me and I am willing to use my credits to do so then I should be able to do that. When I am out of my credits then I can pay out of pocket for anything else I want.

I consider transferring of the plan when I sell my plan to someone else. Not when I give a meal to someone else instead of myself.

I don't think anyone here considers you a scammer, and I certainly would never call anyone that. However, you're just plain wrong.

It does not matter one bit what you or I think the DDP should be. It's Disney's plan, and what you want to do has never been permitted under the plan. The only reason people have been able to get away with treating others was the lack of enforcement.

The world has changed and those days are over -- whether any of us like it or not.

It will make it difficult for my family to use the meal plan in the manner that we have the last six of so times.

Right. And Disney is quite happy with that. They never did want people using the plan the way you describe, and it apparently became such a problem for them that they have now stopped it. That might mean the DDP is no longer a good plan for your family.

We have a disabled family member who normally can not stay the nights with us at the resort but who still loves to spend days at Disney and enjoys eating a bit with the family when possible.

This has nothing to do with anyone's disability, or what they do or do not enjoy. It has nothing to do with their ability to join anyone for a meal.

It has to do with how the meal is paid for. Anyone you like can join you for a meal, whether sharing off your plate or paying OOP. But you can't use DDP to pay for them anymore...because of the abuse of the system over the last couple of years.

I am afraid the next thing to go will be sharing of any meals.

There has been absolutely no indication of that so far, and there is no reason to believe that is even under consideration. Plus, it would be completely unenforceable.

I think it is all in the interpretation and for us it will just mean fewer family meals or shows or one of us will go have a CS meal alone while the rest of us go.

I think the posts by two Disney CMs show clearly that there's not much up for interpretation. It is what it is.

 

[Lewisc]

I don't know if I'm a "hard core person" but I don't think you were scammer. You were following the plan based on a reasonable interpertation. Your interpertation wasn't what Disney meant so Disney clarified what they meant in the 2007 brochure. It's now clear you're not allowed to use your credits to treat customers not in the plan.

Some guests think they should be able to use their credits to buy meals for anyone they want. The plan is priced assuming some credits will be used in expensive restaurants, some in more moderately priced restaurants and some credits will not be used at all. Using your credits to treat others results in more credits being used in the more expensive restaurants. Disney views the plan the same as theme park tickets. MYW ticket pricing gives guests extra park days for almost free. Those days are for the guest only. MYW Dining gives guests a discount on the price of meals but that discount is only for the family that purchased the plan.

It's up to Disney to make the rules reasonably clear, you weren't scamming last year. The rules are clear in 2007, you will be scamming if you try to fiind away to work around the new rules.

SHARING--I don't think Disney will ever go so far as to ban sharing, rather they do what they did at CRT. Change a restuarant to a fixed price menu, buffet or all you care to eat. Many, non-Disney, restaurants require everyone at the table order the price fixed tasting menu. I don't think Disney would do this but they could require everyone at the table use their credits at signature restaurants.

Well according to the hard core people here I am a scammer!

I still do not see it that way but I guess I am willing to be labeled as such.

I never agreed with buying a child's meal plans and using it to buy adults meals. I think that was wrong!

I just disagree with the definition of "nontransferable".

I still say that when I pay for the plan I can feed those meals to anyone who I want. I can use any quantity of meal credits at a time that I choose. If I want to buy a lunch for a family at a table next to me and I am willing to use my credits to do so then I should be able to do that. When I am out of my credits then I can pay out of pocket for anything else I want.

I consider transferring of the plan when I sell my plan to someone else. Not when I give a meal to someone else instead of myself.

It will make it difficult for my family to use the meal plan in the manner that we have the last six of so times. I know that our situation is not the norm but I really do not feel that we have in any way cheated or scammed anyone.

We have a disabled family member who normally can not stay the nights with us at the resort but who still loves to spend days at Disney and enjoys eating a bit with the family when possible. We share many meals but for special things like HDDR or a family style dinner we save an extra credit so that person can be with our family. I guess we could pay out of pocket extra for those meals but it just seems so wasteful of food to do that and it is an extra expense when money can be very tight to do these trips to begin with.

I know that many will disagree with me but I will miss the way the plan use to be. I am afraid the next thing to go will be sharing of any meals. When that happens then we will go back to not using the dining plan at all and that will be ashame because I have enjoyed the ease of it and not having to worry about how much extra we have spent.

So call me scammer. I am not afraid or hiding.

I think it is all in the interpretation and for us it will just mean fewer family meals or shows or one of us will go have a CS meal alone while the rest of us go.

Oh well we will cope but I will miss the old days.

 

[Sammie]

I don't know if I'm a "hard core person" but I don't think you were scammer. You were following the plan based on a reasonable interpertation. Your interpertation wasn't what Disney meant so Disney clarified what they meant in the 2007 brochure. It's now clear you're not allowed to use your credits to treat customers not in the plan.

Some guests think they should be able to use their credits to buy meals for anyone they want. The plan is priced assuming some credits will be used in expensive restaurants, some in more moderately priced restaurants and some credits will not be used at all. Using your credits to treat others results in more credits being used in the more expensive restaurants. Disney views the plan the same as theme park tickets. MYW ticket pricing gives guests extra park days for almost free. Those days are for the guest only. MYW Dining gives guests a discount on the price of meals but that discount is only for the family that purchased the plan.

It's up to Disney to make the rules reasonably clear, you weren't scamming last year. The rules are clear in 2007, you will be scamming if you try to fiind away to work around the new rules.

SHARING--I don't think Disney will ever go so far as to ban sharing, rather they do what they did at CRT. Change a restuarant to a fixed price menu, buffet or all you care to eat. Many, non-Disney, restaurants require everyone at the table order the price fixed tasting menu. I don't think Disney would do this but they could require everyone at the table use their credits at signature restaurants.

Totally agree and that is it pretty much in a nutshell. What happened prior to Jan. 1 truly does not matter. Disney did not like the liberal use of the plan and as Jim said, it's thier plan. They have removed the confusion.

Now all everyone has to do from this point on is decide whether the plan works for them.

 

[skippy]

We have used the DDP on our last two trips and have been very satisfied. This year I'm a bit concerned, this thread has opened up a lot of questions for me on how the plan will work this year.
Let me explain our situation. My husband is a diabetic who is not used to much exercise, he has to have a meal in the morning and one in the evening. Usually when we are in disney we use our CS credits in the morning for breakfast and our TS credits in the evening for dinner and just snack for lunch. On most days this works for us but there are days when my husband misjudges how the exercise will effect his blood sugar and he needs to eat a meal at lunch. My question is, if we used 3 adult CS credits and 2 child CS credits for breakfast (there are five of us, 3 adults and 2 children) on the first day of our vacation, would it be possible to use another adult CS credit for lunch? Or would we be told that we had already used the adult CS credits for that day?

 

[taximomfor4]

We have used the DDP on our last two trips and have been very satisfied. This year I'm a bit concerned, this thread has opened up a lot of questions for me on how the plan will work this year.
Let me explain our situation. My husband is a diabetic who is not used to much exercise, he has to have a meal in the morning and one in the evening. Usually when we are in disney we use our CS credits in the morning for breakfast and our TS credits in the evening for dinner and just snack for lunch. On most days this works for us but there are days when my husband misjudges how the exercise will effect his blood sugar and he needs to eat a meal at lunch. My question is, if we used 3 adult CS credits and 2 child CS credits for breakfast (there are five of us, 3 adults and 2 children) on the first day of our vacation, would it be possible to use another adult CS credit for lunch? Or would we be told that we had already used the adult CS credits for that day?

What you are planning seems just fine. It is a totally different mealtime, so even if they did enforce so many meals per meal period (less than likely IMO), eating CS breakfast and CS lunch should be quite possible for your dh. Just know you will be short on CS for the rest of your stay.

 

[Lewisc]

The rumor, which doesn't have much substantiation, is Disney may limit the number of credits per meal period/block. There is absolutely nothing that would stop you from using CS credits for breakfast and again at lunch. Many guests use snack credits, or pay cash, for breakfast.

My question is, if we used 3 adult CS credits and 2 child CS credits for breakfast (there are five of us, 3 adults and 2 children) on the first day of our vacation, would it be possible to use another adult CS credit for lunch? Or would we be told that we had already used the adult CS credits for that day?

 

[bicker]

Or it means they feel they don't have another economical choice and force their kids to eat a kids meal. I still think it's speculation that the vast majority LIKE the meals.

Let's say "like the meals better than the alternatives"...

 

[RachaelRol]

No, the threads are still there. I stumbled upon one by accident this morning, as a matter of fact. (I'll PM you the names, in case you're interested...)

No, that's okay. If I have any self-awareness at all, I know I'd proabably hold a grudge and oick at all of their future posts...

Well according to the hard core people here I am a scammer!
I don't think you were a scammer, just held a more liberable interpretation of the plan and now if you are interested in using the plan, you'll have to follow the more clearly defines rules.

Some guests think they should be able to use their credits to buy meals for anyone they want. The plan is priced assuming some credits will be used in expensive restaurants, some in more moderately priced restaurants and some credits will not be used at all.

Agree, it the law of large numbers. The disney actuaries and accountants, I'm sure accounted for families that would underuse and overuse the plan....
I would imagine thier focus groups and marketing folks raised some of the potential "scamming of the plan" as possibilities.

But, it was priced to balance an average over and underuse application of the plan by its guests. Clearly the overabundance of over use and in somecases down right fraud caused them to one tighten up the plan rules and two increase its price.

 

[Ellester]

Let's say "like the meals better than the alternatives"...

OK, I'm willing to accept that verbage.

 

[kaytieeldr]

My guess is they wanted the A and C credits pooled together to encourage parents to use the kids' clubs

My guess is that they pooled the credits together because it required less systems work. It may have even reused existing capabilities.

My guess is that Disney believed originally that for the most part Guests would use the Disney Dining Plan according to its restrictions. When that assumption proved wrong, they reprogrammed the system to make proper usage mandatory.

 

[JimMIA]

My guess is that Disney believed originally that for the most part Guests would use the Disney Dining Plan according to its restrictions. When that assumption proved wrong, they reprogrammed the system to make proper usage mandatory.

 

[Sammie]

My guess is that Disney believed originally that for the most part Guests would use the Disney Dining Plan according to its restrictions. When that assumption proved wrong, they reprogrammed the system to make proper usage mandatory.

And your guess is correct.

They expected some abuse, but not the widespead abuse it received.

 

[Allison]

Here is a report from someone just back.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1314837

 

[OurDogCisco]

We have used the DDP on our last two trips and have been very satisfied. This year I'm a bit concerned, this thread has opened up a lot of questions for me on how the plan will work this year.
Let me explain our situation. My husband is a diabetic who is not used to much exercise, he has to have a meal in the morning and one in the evening. Usually when we are in disney we use our CS credits in the morning for breakfast and our TS credits in the evening for dinner and just snack for lunch. On most days this works for us but there are days when my husband misjudges how the exercise will effect his blood sugar and he needs to eat a meal at lunch. My question is, if we used 3 adult CS credits and 2 child CS credits for breakfast (there are five of us, 3 adults and 2 children) on the first day of our vacation, would it be possible to use another adult CS credit for lunch? Or would we be told that we had already used the adult CS credits for that day?

When we checked in at our hotel the front desk person said that we could eat all TS one day and then, all CS the next day. We could mix and match. I doubt the plan will limit the number of meals you can order per day. I think the plan will prevent people from using their child's meal credits for adult meals. I don't think you have much to worry about.