When Will The Dining Plan Return?

[Husker Mike]

Does Disney allow DoorDash, et al to deliver within the resort bubble? When we stayed at Royal Pacific in August that was a big money and time saver for a couple dinners. A lot of restaurants have come online with the delivery services that weren't available before the pandemic.

I don't know how they could stop it. On our last trip, we had Giordanos Pizza delivered to our room; it was the best meal we had our entire trip.

 

[zebsterama]

We always get DDP, and we enjoy having a lot great meals at California Grill etc etc. I do like the prepaid peace of mind it brings.

And yes we always tip appropriately.

I hope it comes back soon.

 

[Eric Smith]

I don't know how they could stop it. On our last trip, we had Giordanos Pizza delivered to our room; it was the best meal we had our entire trip.

They could not let the driver in to the parking lot of the hotel. That would stop it.

 

[mercuryvenus]

Are folks doing the math around whether doing the DPP actually saves you money? For us, we’d absolutely spend more than we do paying for everything ala carte.

 

[MonkeyKnifeFight]

Are folks doing the math around whether doing the DPP actually saves you money? For us, we’d absolutely spend more than we do paying for everything ala carte.

Yes, I calculated it before our last trip. It would have averaged $110 a day per adult. The cost through the dining plan was $78 a day.

Almost all buffets and character meals. If you are eating cheaper table service meals the dining plan isn’t as good of a value.

 

[aristocatz]

Post vaccine. Would be my guess

What does the vaccine have to do with the dining plan?

 

[mattpeto]

What does the vaccine have to do with the dining plan?

It’s when the capacity limit will increase, all resorts open up and all restaurant options are available again.

 

[Disneylover99]

What does the vaccine have to do with the dining plan?

I'm not the poster you're asking, but I agree that post vaccine is when you'll see the dining plan return.

I'd guess all eateries will open at that point, and there will be less emphasis on social distancing and more capacity in restaurants will be allowed.
There's no point bringing back the dining plan back until then.

 

[MonkeyKnifeFight]

It’s when the capacity limit will increase, all resorts open up and all restaurant options are available again.

I don’t think it will happen instantaneously. A lot of these decisions seem demand driven just as much as safety driven. Borders really need opened before all the resorts come back. Only 2 more are announced through next summer although I expect several more will get reopening dates mid or late winter.

 

[mattpeto]

I don’t think it will happen instantaneously. A lot of these decisions seem demand driven just as much as safety driven. Borders really need opened before all the resorts come back. Only 2 more are announced through next summer although I expect several more will get reopening dates mid or late winter.

I estimate that nearly everything will be restored within in 6 months from the vaccine reaches general population distribution.

 

[Sbunit81]

I predict that this time next year (late fall) just about everything will be back at Disney, including all resorts open as well as all restaurants and entertainment. Within the next 12 months (if not even a bit sooner), the vaccination process would have taken a large enough affect at least on the domestic population to get us to comfortable herd immunity or close enough to it to start to get rid of social distancing criteria and concerns. This is assuming a large portion of the population gets vaccinated which I think will happen. We should also keep in mind that things should also be viewed dually, both from a health and safety standpoint as well as a business and economic standpoint. Disney and several other industries cannot continue doing business in this current manner, they want to get back to normal ASAP from a profitability standpoint as well. They will not delay unnecessarily (as we can see they keep on expanding their offerings little at a time).

 

[YesterDark]

US Gov should pay everyone $200 to get the vaccine, and everyone will be good to go by May (assuming supplies are available) and we'll be good to go by the Fourth of July.

 

[jamescanuck2001]

I predict that this time next year (late fall) just about everything will be back at Disney, including all resorts open as well as all restaurants and entertainment. Within the next 12 months (if not even a bit sooner), the vaccination process would have taken a large enough affect at least on the domestic population to get us to comfortable herd immunity or close enough to it to start to get rid of social distancing criteria and concerns. This is assuming a large portion of the population gets vaccinated which I think will happen. We should also keep in mind that things should also be viewed dually, both from a health and safety standpoint as well as a business and economic standpoint. Disney and several other industries cannot continue doing business in this current manner, they want to get back to normal ASAP from a profitability standpoint as well. They will not delay unnecessarily (as we can see they keep on expanding their offerings little at a time).

This is my expectation also. The only caveat is Disney gets a lot of international visitors and vaccine distribution in other parts of the world will lag behind US/Canada/Europe. Not clear yet how this will affect Disney and other tourism sites.

 

[Rm4OneMore]

US Gov should pay everyone $200 to get the vaccine, and everyone will be good to go by May (assuming supplies are available) and we'll be good to go by the Fourth of July.

I agree, they should do either a direct payment or perhaps a tax incentive. If they want a larger than usual take rate, they should use a carrot instead of a stick.

 

[ford91exploder]

What I'm guessing with the massive layoffs (unlike many I think this is a fundamental restructure and very few of these positions still exist unfilled at WDW as the positions were simply eliminated).

Disney will probably transition entirely to QS dining as it's much more efficient in resource utilization and it allows for standard sized portions to be created at a central kitchen, flash frozen and stocked at the location where it can be reheated on demand. Waste and Personnel costs way down profits way up, Guest Experience ('sad trombone noise'),

Buffet's I think are history mainly because of the expense of operating them.

I imagine there will be some version of the dining plan available but more like a college dining plan you buy X meals/snacks/beverage service in advance.

 

[Eric Smith]

What I'm guessing with the massive layoffs (unlike many I think this is a fundamental restructure and very few of these positions still exist unfilled at WDW as the positions were simply eliminated).

Disney will probably transition entirely to QS dining as it's much more efficient in resource utilization and it allows for standard sized portions to be created at a central kitchen, flash frozen and stocked at the location where it can be reheated on demand. Waste and Personnel costs way down profits way up, Guest Experience ('sad trombone noise'),

Buffet's I think are history mainly because of the expense of operating them.

I imagine there will be some version of the dining plan available but more like a college dining plan you buy X meals/snacks/beverage service in advance.

Disney won't switch to all QS dining, that's a ridiculous thought. Do you have any idea how much money they make off of their table service restaurants? Most of them are booked solid almost every day of the year during normal times.

 

[ford91exploder]

US Gov should pay everyone $200 to get the vaccine, and everyone will be good to go by May (assuming supplies are available) and we'll be good to go by the Fourth of July.

That's not the way USG thinks, USG uses sticks only the bigger the better. (if anyone wants to discuss pls PM me)

 

[ford91exploder]

Disney won't switch to all QS dining, that's a ridiculous though. Do you have any idea how much money they make off of their table service restaurants? Most of them are booked solid almost every day of the year during normal times.

Agreed TS is a high REVENUE business, and yes the reservation list is FULL, That said.

QS is more profitable for a far lower operating cost because you need only about 1/3 the staff, Disney's only metric is how many dollars come back for each dollar spent by the company. Yes QS only will reduce Gross REVENUE, but Operaring PROFIT will increase. But in business in the end it's PROFIT that matters.

 

[Eric Smith]

Agreed TS is a high REVENUE business, and yes the reservation list is FULL, That said.

QS is more profitable for a far lower operating cost because you need only about 1/3 the staff, Disney's only metric is how many dollars come back for each dollar spent by the company. Yes QS only will reduce Gross REVENUE, but Operaring PROFIT will increase. But in business in the end it's PROFIT that matters.

I believe that's an unrealistic and incredibly cynical viewpoint. Not everything Disney does is focused on solely increasing operating profits. They're not a charity, but they do a lot of things to enhance the guest experience which will indirectly make them money.

Also, your comment doesn't really make sense. If the table service restaurants are profitable (which I believe they are), then they will increase overall operating profits.

 

[sullivan.kscott]

What I'm guessing with the massive layoffs (unlike many I think this is a fundamental restructure and very few of these positions still exist unfilled at WDW as the positions were simply eliminated).

Disney will probably transition entirely to QS dining as it's much more efficient in resource utilization and it allows for standard sized portions to be created at a central kitchen, flash frozen and stocked at the location where it can be reheated on demand. Waste and Personnel costs way down profits way up, Guest Experience ('sad trombone noise'),

Buffet's I think are history mainly because of the expense of operating them.

I imagine there will be some version of the dining plan available but more like a college dining plan you buy X meals/snacks/beverage service in advance.

The only buffet at WDW I’d really like to see back is Tusker House. Other than that meal, the conversion to family style is very appealing. Maybe Biergarten.
To think TS is out of Disney’s plans is ridiculous. If that was in the plan they wouldn’t have opened the restaurants they did in the reopening phase. At least not in their TS capacity.
Sure they’re making $$ decisions like consolidating kitchens and bakeries (looking at you, nasty Mickey head sugar cookies at HS), but there’s no way shuttering TS is a plan on the foreseeable future. Before COVID, DDP+ was added to increase profitability further by adding an additional TS meal to standard DDP.