Am i the only one that thinks DDP is ruining...

[carys]

the dining experience ? We ate at many of the reccommended restaurants last year and found it rushed and a bit " conveyor belt " ! Has anything changed ? I am just a bit concerned as we have booked all our ADR's now but tbh i think of dining as an experience at those prices and not just an eat and run .

[mainecoon lover]

I have not used the ddp but have had many lovely meal in Disney. I found having to plan ahead of time a bit of a pain and tied us to watching our watches.
I use to like to decide on the day what we wanted to eat and go for when we were hungry.
You would not get a look in now with the ddp unless you book ahead.

[Leanne1977]

the dining experience ? We ate at many of the reccommended restaurants last year and found it rushed and a bit " conveyor belt " ! Has anything changed ? I am just a bit concerned as we have booked all our ADR's now but tbh i think of dining as an experience at those prices and not just an eat and run .

I would have to agree to some extent. We felt pretty rushed at a few of the restaurants we dined at last Sept.

The most rushed we felt was at Le Cellier but I hear this is pretty common all year round. Our server was on auto pilot and talked so fast like she had said the same thing a thousand times and couldn't be bothered to sound enthusiastic. She also hovered around our table and a few others for most of our meal and left the bill when she brought dessert. It was an uncomfortable dining experience.

At two other restaurants our main courses came out while we were only half way through our entree. But I'm too nice to complain so we just accepted it.

It is a shame if this is a result of the DDP. Maybe now the tip isn't automatically included, we may see an improvement.:wave:

[Bobbins]

We did the DDP last year but wouldn't do it again.

The main problem is that organising the itinery for the holiday became almost completely focussed on where we were going to eat - and then everything else had to fit around it. I dreaded that happening but that's exactly how it worked out.

In practice it turned out that the reservation times were not that critical - only Le Cellier turned us away for being early. We were actually never late, but commonly saw other people being 30mins late and it never seemed to be a problem.

In a couple of places they brought the main courses out before clearing the starter dishes but nothing too horrendous. One thing that did surprise me is that, despite people waiting to get in, many restaurants seemed to have tables left unused for long periods of time.

[angie-noo]

I have the free DDP this year and as much as its nice to be able to pick and choose, i feel like my holiday is all about meals. We had the free DDP last year and it was great but we was tied and decided not to go to some of them. We also had our son with us who decided a few times to babysit so we had a little time to our selfs. This year he is not coming with us so we do not have that option- however if we are tired we prob will not go to some, then i will be woyying i have missed something :erm: :wavey:

[carys]

Well we stay offsite and don't have ddp but it has packed the restaurants out and made the whole thing so rushed ! I wouldn't even bother trying to just turn up and chance my arm ! When we went to the Castle in May they were booked until OCTOBER !

[MrLazy]

And that is why we will avoid the disney dining experience lol

[mobeckwith]

we had the ddp last year,and the only restaurant that i felt rushed in was coral reef,the waiter was efficient,but he almost told us what to order,but i soon got his measure and we ordered the recommended wine with our entrees,by the glass,it was very nice as well.the desert chocolate wave was precooked and dry,a casualty of the dining plan i fear. mo :wave: .

[Elsie]

The main problem is that organising the itinery for the holiday became almost completely focussed on where we were going to eat - and then everything else had to fit around it. I dreaded that happening but that's exactly how it worked out.
And that's the exact thing I don't understand. Why book a holiday and base virtually everything you do around where you are going to eat months in advance? To me, it would take all spontaneity out of the holiday.

[nmurray]

We have free DDP this year and have made a few reservations but not something every day as we do want to eat off site as well. I don't mind booking a few as we would have probably eaten on site a few times anyways and I like the thought that for example if I'm at Epcot I can stay for my dinner and watch the illuminations etc. If I don't use all the credits I don't mind so much because it was 'free', I wouldn't have paid for it though. I have booked a couple of ADR that use up two credits also. I suppose as to whether it is ruining the dining I'll have to wait and see how this year compares to others.

[Enright78]

We found in August that as soonas our server knew we were not on DDP they became more relaxed and the service was less rushed and pleasanter.
Not sure if the DDP has this effect.
Would not be interested in it anyway as we eat off site a lot.

[wickesy]

I can't speak for the quality of service as we haven't done the DDP but I think, as Elsie says, it ruins the spontaneity of the holiday. I think they should scrap the 180 day reservation system and replace it with at worst a 7 day system or, preferably, a 24 hour system and/or hold back half of each restaurant's tables for walk-ups. There are so many restaurants on site that there is no reason why that should not work.

[Sue]

My only experience of the DDP was not like this and it was at Christmas and New Year when everywhere was jam packed. The only place we felt rushed was at Le Cellier as I posted in my trip report and subsequent similar comments seem to indicate it is always like that.
At Coral Reef, we were left for ages by our server in between courses and at one point had to get another server to go and get him! Not in a bad way, the food was prompt and hot. Had excellent service and no 'attitudes' met anywhere else - apart from perhaps the server at Spoodles who commented about something that was "not allowed" on the DDP, like we were lower class diners or something? She was fine after that.
I have done both eating in and outside WDW and think that if you are staying in a WDW resort - eating in WDW is the only real option MOST of the time. So it is something you need to plan, DDP or not. I do not remember the days fondly when we had a villa in Kissimmee, would be in the parks until late and then eat on the 192 on the way back to the villa at 8-9pm at night often too shattered to eat the food we ordered.

Back to the OP - perhaps the DDP is spoiling the whole dining in Disney experience yes. But I think it's around to stay.
Just to say the number of people being on the DDP IS limited as we found out when TCS screwed up our booking and forgot to add the free DDP on - just a few weeks later when I realised and tried to get them to sort it - there were NO DDP rooms available at the Yacht Club for them that week on any kind of Dining Package (TCS were going to pay for it for us because they messed up). We nearly had to switch hotels or weeks, until Val came to the rescue with another company.

[BevS97]

We paid for the dining plan for 1 week last October, and the other week we were not on the plan but did have a few ADRs. We at at Le Cellier were not treated badly or rushed at all, in fact it was one of our best meals, the only place where we were rushed was at Concourse Steakhouse where we did experience the waiter telling us what to order (the most expensive option) and then bringing out the mains while we were eating our starters, but I complained and made him take them away. That threw them a little as it took a while to get them to bring them out when we were ready, and who knows where they were standing in the meantime? But I felt I wanted to make the point as I wasn't impressed with them being brought out so early.

I don't know if I would do DDP again. I did like using the credits at the counter service places and not having to worry about what we ordered in the sit-downs, but I also felt it dominated our holiday a little, and one day when we missed an ADR we felt obliged to find an alternative so as not to waste the credits. If we had been on the free DDP then we would have just wasted them, but since we had paid for them I wasn't about to waste them!

I think if we did it again it would be for a short period and not for our entire stay, maybe 4 days would work well so we could do some of the fancier ADRs but not feel it was dominating the trip.

[KES'DH]

We did the DDP last year and booked ADR's for nearly every day. The time DW put into planning it all meant we ended up clock watching from midday just to make sure we didn't miss out reservations. We also ended up leaving parks before we really wanted to.
Now we've done it and done the dining experience I don't think I would do it again. I'd rather have a holiday than a dining experience. :pgig:

[janeywaney]

We had the free DDP last August and will be using it again this August. The only place we had a bd experience was Tony's Town Square restaurant, thye brought out the main courses as we were still eating our starters, they then started to clear our starter plates as we were still eating! We were not impressed with the service but the food was lovely.
We plan the holiday so that the ADR's fit in with our day and if we decide not to have that meal we will let the reservations know as soon as possible so that someone else could have the table. We ate offsite just as much as onsite last year and intend to do the same. I agree the service was a little worse last year than other years we have been without the DDP. Maybe now that we have to pay for the tips the service will improve somewhat.
Jane :)

[Fiona]

And that's the exact thing I don't understand. Why book a holiday and base virtually everything you do around where you are going to eat months in advance? To me, it would take all spontaneity out of the holiday.
Totally agree with this. When we visit the Disney parks, we obviously eat there and we`ve never done an ADR. Never had a problem getting a table either. To us our holiday is all about chilling out and going with the flow. I would hate to have to base a holiday around where and what time we were going to eat our food. That would not be my idea of fun at all.

[gala]

Its almost impossible now in busy periods to get a ADR . When I first went to WDW I simply booked the meals on the day I got there or each day as I fancied a new venue. It just doesnt happen like that now,
The restaurants were all packed the last time we were there and yes, I felt the seervice was far more rushed. It was a bit like a conveyor belt. By far the worst were Akershus (never again - and it used to be a favourite) and Le Cellier. Still, Im a glutton for punishment and Im doing it again.

Margaret

[Jay66UK]

One answer is force them to slow down. Order your starters and tell them you are still trying to decide what mains. Order those when the starters arrive. This may change slightly now (as I understand it) DDP doesn't include an automatic tip...

I sympathise with the feeling that ADRs end up dominating your planning/day and kills spontineity (sp). However, back in January 1998, before there was a DDP (and certainly none for free) and before we'd discovered anything like the Dibb, we didn't know about the equivalent of ADRs and you couldn't get walk-ins at many places. It was 60-90 minute waits without a reservation and, with two young kids in tow, that was a non-starter.

Our most recent trip become totally focussed around being in the right place at the right time for evening meals. That gave us freedom every morning/daytime but forced our evenings.

We are planning to go for the start of free DDP next summer (assuming it gets offered again). This time I am planning to usually make our midday meal the Table Service. That way our morning plans will decide where we eat (as we fix these according to EMH mornings and a busy/quiet pattern of days), follow them with a period of rest, and we will have freedom to go where we like most evenings. Will still do some evening meals (like, perhaps Ohana and Spoodles).

[BarryandCaron]

We had free DDP last year and again this August. We have planned our park days and ADRs around each other, we did the same last year. We like to eat at the character buffets and there are some we like to eat at every time.

We didn't eat off-site at all last year as there is so much food on the DDP and we didn't use all our CS credits either. I'm looking forward to next year when we can eat off-site more as we won't be going for free DDP even if they offer it.

Caron

[bustersmum]

We are booked to stay off site and out of the offer time for free ddp.

[debs2028]

I think the ddp does require more planning and yes we were rushed in a few restaurants (le cellier) again, garden grill and to some extent California Grill, the first 2 I am not doing again this year.

We probably did leave the parks earlier than we would have as we liked having an afternoon break before our meal.

This year I have done lunch and breakfast reservations so some of our evenings are free and am staying offsite for part of the holiday
I found with last year 3 hungry teenagers to feed it was nice to allow them to eat whatever they wanted. Normally I have to ask them to order things up to a certain price as I can't afford all the options.

We also ate at restaurants I would not have considered as the price would have put me off

For us personally as a family I think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Disney have done there job well as we would not have stayed onsite (which was a fantastic experiance), choosing the cheaper option of staying and eating offsite. :)