Worried about DDP service 12/06?

[Connears]

We are on DDP for 12/24-12/29/06 and an hoping that we won't get "attitude" from the restaurants we are dining at if they have dropped the plan for 2007. I feel like we might get sub-par treatment because we are "the last" folks to use the plan. The restaurants must have dropped the plan because it was not profittable for them. Anyone thinking on these lines or am I paranoid?
Connear

 

[kaybird]

We have participated in many many incarnations of the dining plan. Regardless of what we have read on the boards, we have never EVER been treated rudely or like second class citizens on the plan. There has always been an ebb and flow to what is covered and what restaurants participate. We go intending to have a good time, treat our servers with respect and have always had good experiences. I have also seen restaurants added to the plan in the 11th hour, so go, have a good time!

 

[bicker]

treat our servers with respect

I suspect this is one of the best things you can do to ensure your own satisfaction.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

am I paranoid?

Yes, yes you are.

 

[Nancyg56]

The restaurants must have dropped the plan because it was not profittable for them. Anyone thinking on these lines or am I paranoid?
Connear

This may not be the case. The restaurants may have been dropped by Disney. I would not worry about the level of service you recieve. If there is a problem, it is appropriate to address it when it happens, but in the meantime, enjoy the fact that ou have so many choices to have your meals. Have a great time!

 

[bicker]

The restaurants may have been dropped by Disney.

Since it was 100% of all the non-Disney restaurants, that seems most likely to me. Again, though, that list will change over the next four months before it becomes valid. No sense in getting concerned about what is and isn't on that list now.

 

[MissMagnolia]

Quote by bicker: "Again, though, that list will change over the next four months before it becomes valid. No sense in getting concerned about what is and isn't on that list now."

Good point.

 

[PlutoLuvr]

Try not to worry. I worry about all sorts of aspects of vacation, too, so I'll try and take my own advice

You're a DVC member. You've got thousands of posts on a Disney board. You obviously visit Disney a lot and will continue to do so. If service is shoddy at a particular restaurant (which could happen anywhere!!!), learn from it and simply adust your dining reservations in the future if it's bad enough to warrant you not wanting to return.

Where our $$$ are spent is a big motivator for all restaurants, at Disney or not. And there is good food & service everywhere, as well as cruddy food & service everywhere.

We've gotten poor service at Disney restaurants in the past -- and were not on free DDP...or any dining plan for that matter -- and it has never once ruined a vacation for us. I was booking the next vacation back in Orlando the minute I got home -- just maybe with different dining in mind.

Honestly, I think the restaurants at WDW through the end of the year will be the same as they've been the last couple of years...crowded, hit or miss on the service, hit or miss on the meals. No different than anywhere else when you think about it

 

[bicker]

And I'd guess that there won't even be that much of a change after the end of the year either.

 

[Connears]

It was just a fleeting thought for a moment. I had no intention of changing any of my plans, or how I treat any CM. I will certainly approach this trip as I have for the many others in the past...with anticipation!

Connears

 

[JimMIA]

I agree with Plutoluvr. We've had great to mediocre service, but I've never noticed any decline in service when we were on the dining plan.

I'm sure it's more of a restaurant thing, or an individual server difference, than something having to do with the method of payment. We see patterns in the service from restaurant to restaurant, both in the quality of the service and the overall interaction with the waitstaff -- but we see it consistently, no matter how we pay.

The only difference we've seen with the DDP is that many servers take extra time to make sure we know what we're entitled to, and also to offer special suggestions. In that sense, I guess I could say we've gotten better service with DDP than without.

I can't imagine a server "taking it out" on customers because their restaurant is not going to be participating in the DDP the following year. I can think of a lot of things a server might "take out" on customers, but that's sure not one of them.