I'm wondering, how big of a problem is this really? How did people handle this sort of thing before this program? Was giving kids money for lunch and then trusting them to buy lunch and then have the kid buy something else really an issue? What about how people not being able to agree on where to eat? How was that dealt with before? I honestly don't know since in my family, we do what I want (kidding, mostly). I'm not being sarcastic, but since we as a community make up a small % of the visitors to Disney, and it's been mentioned already, then I wonder if this really is bigger than previously thought.
I think that they are "solving" a problem that didn't affect most people. Honestly my biggest issue with it is how they sell it as saving 20% on meals per their Disney Park blog. If they just rolled it out as an option to use for guest that would be different. If I'm not mistaken
Disneyland used to have or still has a meal voucher type thing. I think how its advertised is easily misleading for guest that aren't familiar with prices inside the parks. Having said that, not that MK quick service is gourmet or super cheap but I have found in the past that they are cheaper and a better value than eating at other theme parks like Six Flags so if you are more familiar with other park prices you might think it's a value.
If someone's not looking to save money though I can see the convenience in offering this. No I don't think this was necessarily a huge problem but I can see that for families with older kids who might roam independently or larger groups, like the previously mentioned cheerleaders or even the large tour groups or extended family trips, I can see the value. Personally, if I took my younger brother who is 14 I would not want to enable his band to charge to the room and if I gave him the $29 for meals for the day he'd buy snacks and Starbucks (and be starving half way through the day) and my younger sister, who's almost 17 might be slightly better but I have my questions LOL. I could also see the value when travelling with my MIL where I would want to avoid an awkward situation where she feels she needs to order the cheapest thing if we're footing the bill versus just getting anything off the menu. This is the same way I feel about the dining plan, I know it doesn't save money but I find it convenient and feel more comfortable ordering the more expensive stuff because I already paid and it's the stuff and the restaurants that I would never do ordinarily because without prepaying I penny pinch by nature and it's nice to feel more free. I realize that this is all psychological and not financial though. I've only done the
DDP once and it was with a lot of character meals so I did happen to come out ahead I think. This might also appeal to people who like the dining plans but don't like being tied to staying onsite and the tickets or having to purchase it for everyone this is more of an ala carte dining plan. Honestly for the price, if they threw in a snack I probably would purchase it with our kids just sharing the adult meals with us versus buying the package for the whole family since I think it would be a waste to pay for the kids one since my DD doesn't even finish a kids meal.
This is kinda long winded but the other thing I think is Disney has more competition. I know Universal does something with meals and Six Flags (which isn't near there) has a meal thing as well as an add on but also competition from other options. By pushing the packages and prepaid options, Disney appears to be more affordable which I knew as a kid (I'm 31 for a reference of how far back that was) Disney was seen as a big trip that was expensive even back then. So when my parents took us to MK just for one day (grandfather lived driving distance so they just had to buy the tickets) it was big deal because to me it was an expensive place. I still remember going back to the car to eat dinner and having dinner rolls because my parents wanted to save money. Things are different because now you can just look up menus but not all people like to research so if Disney just puts a price out there like hey it's only $29 for an adult to eat all day, that might be enough to convince some people to leave the dinner rolls at home
Buy packaging things it lets people know all their cost upfront and it does become easier to compare if you don't like doing extensive research when looking at other options like a cruise or all inclusive or other more predictable options.
