Rant: The DDP is ruining everything!

[saschab]

Lulu, thank you for expressing that so eloquently.
I was biting my tongue...or should I say I was standing on my typing hand.

 

[ronunc]

I'm sorry to say that Disney is losing my DW's and my business. I doubt many people love WDW and Walt Disney more than I. The World is losing too much of the magic; the DDP is just part of it.
Our last trip was January 2005. Up until then, we traveled to WDW 2-3 times a year and averaged more than 2 weeks each trip. The dining in the Parks and resorts were much of the fun.
It would take too long to list all the little (and some large) ways the magic is vanishing. For example, remember the molded butter serving, a derby at the Brown Derby and a Mickey at the Cinderella's Castle? How about the smell of fresh baked cinnamon buns in the Land and at the Tusker House? Remeber the breakfast calzone at Tony's Town Square, etc.?
Now, one must know 180 days in advance where one would like to dine. I don't think so.
Some day we shall return. I can't stay away forever. There are lot's of places to see and I'll bide my time to someone at Disney catches on.

 

[Peter Pirate 2]

ronunc, I agree with you. We've scaled back our visits over the last year or so and found the real world to actually be more exciting. We've visited Northern California twice (although we did do DL), Vegas a couple of time, NYC for the first time and guess what? There is a lot more "real" stuff that I'm dying to do.

Disney always made it easy and safe and especially enjoyable for younger families but now the things we grew to love, the fine dining being a huge part of it, just doesn't have the priority or guests best interest as the top issue anymore, IMO.

So I'm taking my youngest daughter to play in a big tennis tournament in Tucson over the holidays (and visit the Grand Canyon in winter - And maybe she'll finally get to see snow) and we're going back to Broadway in the spring as a graduation present for oldest daughter and I'd really like to get to Austrailia one of these days.

Disney is always there but my money seems to be being saved for other things these days. Maybe they'll notice, maybe not.

 

[supersuperwendy]

It seems to me the point of this thread is not whether you use the DDP or not, it isn't even if the DDP is cost effective for you - The rant of this thread is how the DDP is effecting the Disney Dining Experience, ie. portion size, menu creativity & offerings, service etc....

I think even if you use the DDP & love it, maybe you can see the point that the Disney Dining experience is shifting towards a very homogenized, profit margin inspired experience. Again, this is more apparent to those who have been to WDW & eat at TS on a regular basis. Maybe not so apparent to those who haven't done as much TS / or WDW trips.

I would LOVE to see 2 seperate menus, 1 for OOP & 1 for DDP. It'll never happen, but it would be fair.

I've been trying to make sense of this topic. I've never used the DDP but we are going to in May. We are not getting it for free as so many people have through their vacation deals. We are paying for it along with our DVC reservation. We decided to try it out for convience sake. We will still be paying for our meals...except they are paid for in advance. So my question is...why should someone paying OOP get a different menu then me????? We are still paying. ya know?

 

[jodifla]

I've been trying to make sense of this topic. I've never used the DDP but we are going to in May. We are not getting it for free as so many people have through their vacation deals. We are paying for it along with our DVC reservation. We decided to try it out for convience sake. We will still be paying for our meals...except they are paid for in advance. So my question is...why should someone paying OOP get a different menu then me????? We are still paying. ya know?

Problem is, you're not really paying enough for the food you are getting. So the whole dining experience is suffering as they whittle away the ambiance, service, good dishes and ingredients so they can feed the masses. All the little touches are going missing, and now you need to figure out what you'll be in the mood for six months ahead of time. How dumb is that?

 

[deltachi8]

Problem is, you're not really paying enough for the food you are getting. So the whole dining experience is suffering as they whittle away the ambiance, service, good dishes and ingredients so they can feed the masses. All the little touches are going missing, and now you need to figure out what you'll be in the mood for six months ahead of time. How dumb is that?

Seems to be working great for Disney and many other people here...guess we are dumb though.

"Revenue is up, occupancy is up, per guest spending is up."

Sadly magic (exceeding expectations), effort, innovation and quality are down.

You can argue on busines principals all day and you'll be absolutely correct...If your only hope is that Disney be just another company...That isn't my Disney though.

I guess I must be weird, I have fun and think it's magical each and every visit. Have another visit planned for a couple weeks from now, and am planning 2-3 more for 2007.

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

Lulu, thank you for expressing that so eloquently.
I was biting my tongue...or should I say I was standing on my typing hand.

Thanks! I'm glad your typing hand is free now.

 

[Peter Pirate 2]

"I guess I must be weird..."

I guess I agree.

If you see no dropoff from the ideals Walt imagined...Yes, imagined and if you feel that fun=magical, then more power to you. I think WDW is fun but so is Universal, so is playing tennis and so is watching your favorite football team...But magical? None of these things are and Disney, while still having residual magic on the table is losing it daily. If you're still feeling it I say enjoy it, you're a lucky person.

 

[Sammie]

"I guess I must be weird..."

I guess I agree.

If you see no dropoff from the ideals Walt imagined...Yes, imagined and if you feel that fun=magical, then more power to you. I think WDW is fun but so is Universal, so is playing tennis and so is watching your favorite football team...But magical? None of these things are and Disney, while still having residual magic on the table is losing it daily. If you're still feeling it I say enjoy it, you're a lucky person.

What magic do you feel like has been removed or missing?

 

[Peter Pirate 2]

Sammie, I think so much has gone the way of the dinosaur first from Eisner and now from Iger but the dining issues, cheaper choices, more profitable menus, less creativity, a total emphasis on bottom line rather than quality, total homginization are the ones pertinent here.

If you really want more of my thoughts (and of others) on the Disney lie, please go to the Rumor Board and see my thread entitled "I was Totally Wrong"...

 

[deltachi8]

Well, I giess Ill just be happily weird. And if so many of you regular folks say your not going to Disney as often, Ill have less of a wait in cue.

 

[Peter Pirate 2]

Enjoy.

 

[Sammie]

Sammie, I think so much has gone the way of the dinosaur first from Eisner and now from Iger but the dining issues, cheaper choices, more profitable menus, less creativity, a total emphasis on bottom line rather than quality, total homginization are the ones pertinent here.

If you really want more of my thoughts (and of others) on the Disney lie, please go to the Rumor Board and see my thread entitled "I was Totally Wrong"...

I will read the other thread, but am I safe in saying from your comments here, that the changes are mostly food related. Which I would agree that dining has changed. But I guess to some of us, that did not affect the magic. I am not sure if I had not read some of the threads that I would have even noticed certain food items being removed.

Food is well food to me. I confess to not being a foodie and even if I was I don't think Disney World be my destination of choice for gourmet food.

We go to Disney for the parks and the resort experience of recreation, fun in the sun, water parks and service.

So I guess it is all in what one's magic is, as to whether it has disappeared. Nothing to me is more magical than Wishes at the MK with an ice cream cone in my hand.

 

[Peter Pirate 2]

I'm happy you feel that way Sammie, I really am. You may want to just ignore my other thread and not go there until you're ready (maybe never) and I'm not saying that anything I or the others say will immediately, or ever change your thinking but it might cause you to think about things that PERHAPS you hadn't before.

 

[Sammie]

I'm happy you feel that way Sammie, I really am. You may want to just ignore my other thread and not go there until you're ready (maybe never) and I'm not saying that anything I or the others say will immediately, or ever change your thinking but it might cause you to think about things that PERHAPS you hadn't before.

Already read it and I can handle it. Might not agree with all you stated but do some of it. I guess I just am more of a live and let live person. I might not like changes and I might dislike them enough to fight some of them. But I can also realize that sometimes you just have to let it go, and look for the magic.

It is still there, I just think that maybe you are trying so hard to hold on to the past, you are not enjoying the present.

But as to WalMart, totally and completely agree, I avoid them like the plaque, but I do like Home Depot, Lowes and Target.

Plus with me having come face to face with some serious life alternating tragedies worrying about what I eat at Disney World, is just not up there on the scale of importance.

Maybe a vacation from Disney is in order.

 

[k5thbeatle]

...The World is losing too much of the magic; the DDP is just part of it...

...It would take too long to list all the little (and some large) ways the magic is vanishing...

I TOTALLY agree. Just spent 2 weeks at WDW. We noted a down turn on the food end a couple of years ago but at that time were not sure if it was a trend or an abberation. Now we are sure. Anyone who believes the food experience has not changed for the worse is in Disney denial!

I guess if Red Lobster and Outback is a person's idea of fine dining then you will disagree...and to clarify I don't believe every restaurant need be an unaffordable hi-end dining experience. Just don't cheapen everything to the level of "dressed-up" fast food...which is exactly what they are doing imho!

 

[kvogel11202]

This is the way our world works though. Everyone doesn't work all month and on the first get a coupon for grocery credits and gas credits and mortgage/rent credits and we all call it even. We get a check based on how much we worked and at what job and we can buy more the more we get paid.

Only in a theoretical Communist society would everyone live equally despite amount of income. Paying more for something doesn't mean I"m "better" but it does mean I deserve to get more. I paid $3000.00 for my car. Do I expect to get the same out of it that I would get out of a $50,000 new car? Of course not.

I work four jobs to save money for my Disney trips and my future. I most certainly do deserve to get what I get for my money. I think many people are underpaid and undervalued but on the other hand, which is a separate subject. (Many people should earn more for what they do) but the person who works several jobs and budgets carefully, most certainly does deserve more than the person who works only part time.

Salary isn't a measure of a person's worth. However, the amount we make and how we choose to spend it does determine our lifestyle. People seem to confuse this sometimes. They think the more things they have, the "better" they are. That's why people are in debt to create a certain image of their lifestyles and live above their means. The people at the Poly aren't "better" than the people at "Pop". I've stayed at both! But, I expected more when I paid quadruple for the Poly. I've eaten at Denny's and at Emeril's and I certainly didn't expect to receive the same meal. A pound of lobster will always cost more than a pound of pasta. You get what you pay for. I don't see that changing anytime soon.

I think the idea to have tiered dining options is a good one. Some people are vegetarians. They won't "maximize their credits" eating that way, right? Some kids only eat plain pasta or chicken nuggets. They would have it cheaper paying just for that, right? Some people are throwing half their food away because they eat so little. That's a waste of the chef's time, a waste of money and a waste of our natural resources. Everyone doesn't eat the same way and different options would make the current plan fairer than the current way it is structured.

Why are you preaching to the choir? You basically made the argument I made many times before, I was simply pointing out, after being verbally abused by many on these boards, what others will think of that idea. Please read my posts carefully before responding- we are on the same side of the argument.

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

Why are you preaching to the choir? You basically made the argument I made many times before, I was simply pointing out, after being verbally abused by many on these boards, what others will think of that idea. Please read my posts carefully before responding- we are on the same side of the argument.

Wow.

You suggested that others might think "You don't deserve more beacuse you paid more." I was responding to that type of thinker.

When people quote another poster, it isn't because their message is directed to that poster, it is because they saw something in the quoted post that caught their attention or brought about a response. I was responding to the idea you brought up, not *you*.

I am sorry that you were verbally abused on these boards, but I was not your abuser. I read. I know what side you're on. Since you brought up a hypothetical criticism of "our" viewpoint, I showed how I would refute that.

Okay?

 

[lillygator]

Problem is, you're not really paying enough for the food you are getting. So the whole dining experience is suffering as they whittle away the ambiance, service, good dishes and ingredients so they can feed the masses.

I think that's the main point people aren't getting.

 

[kvogel11202]

Wow.

You suggested that others might think "You don't deserve more beacuse you paid more." I was responding to that type of thinker.

When people quote another poster, it isn't because their message is directed to that poster, it is because they saw something in the quoted post that caught their attention or brought about a response. I was responding to the idea you brought up, not *you*.

I am sorry that you were verbally abused on these boards, but I was not your abuser. I read. I know what side you're on. Since you brought up a hypothetical criticism of "our" viewpoint, I showed how I would refute that.

Okay?

Sorry- I may be just a tad oversensative about these things- People can get very nasty, and I guess I lost my patience I became what I dislike!