Disney dining credit- does this mean no dining plans?

[Lola]

I was looking at doing a solo trip in March, as I have a few times but decided the cost is not worth the money so I will wait and see for 2022

[mandco]

Originally Posted by GoldenAvalanche

Thanks all, sorry I didn't mean free dining, just the dining plan in itself. Really can't decide whether to stay on or off site, the disney credit offer isn't enticing me enough to stay onsite. But if we can get a package including food at a price I'm happy with I would consider.

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If disney do bring back paid for dining plan then normally you would be able to add it to an existing booking.
For us we would be staying onsite anyway so the dining credit is a nice bonus but if I could drive then its not really enough of an incentive to pay disney prices so we would probably have considered a villa instead.

[antwire]

I read something a few weeks back about how lucrative ddp is for Disney for a few reasons

1) encourages ppl into restaurants and they order more than the credits cover them for such as starters and drinks - it also means servers get good tips and attracts talent.

2) for the amount of ppl you see stocking up on Krispy Mickey heads on the last day to use all their snack credits there’s probably 2 or 3 that just let them expire

3) and prob the biggest for Disney when using credits at 3rd party restaurants such as springs Disney agree a rate with these restaurants Eg Disney give them $30 for every table service credit used in their restaurant but the value or a table service is generally $40 so that means Disney get a piece of the pie from non Disney restaurants too.

I think the gravy train on free dining has eel and truly gone but I don’t see that they wouldn’t bring back chargeable as soon as they possibly can do. I’ve never known Disney miss out on a money making opportunity

[Nelly7]

I would be surprised if the paid for DDP wasn’t back on offer for October. The 2 main barriers at the moment are social distancing and leaving tables empty, secondly that Disney and the 3rd party restaurant are struggling to recruit staff which is preventing them from opening up additional site.
They are both on big recruitment drives, so we should see more sites opening back up soon, which will then enable the DDP to return.
As other have said, I think it will be 2023 before there is any chance of free dining if ever.
What would be a bonus, if you could use your dining credits towards purchasing the DDP

[gjdjud]

Like I said in a previous thread the dining plan credit is a promo and says so in the material released by Disney. This I reckon will replace free ddp for good but absolutely no reason why the paid DDP won't come back.

[Shooby doo]

I believe paid for Dining Plans will be back, the reality is that Disney make a "killing" on them, plenty of guests don't use their credits & to get your "monies worth" you need to use every single one! Not sure what the % is now but initially the plans were designed around saving you 10%, these days breaking even is a bonus! As for Free, I believe that it will be '24 at the earliest, they will want to run this promotion on a year without pent up demand, to really test the waters. This current promotion is a winner for them as they've got guests booking for effectively a max $950 versus double that on a 2 person Free dining deal.
SD

[sully301]

Do you reckon if the dining plan starts again in the middle of your stay you could add it for the portion that was left?

[Shooby doo]

At a push I would say no as it really muddies the waters & at what stage do you add it? The only way to add it now is to have separate booking numbers & it's tied to tickets unless you are a DVC owner.
SD