Colleen27
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2007
Have a new wrinkle to add to the discussion.
Over on the DIS facebook page, a poster says they spoke with a dining supervisor who told them DxDDP users would get the app and alcohol if they chose to use their DxDDP credits for the F! dining pkg at Mama Melrose. Rationale for it is DxDDP is "guaranteed" (not sure who used that word) app, entrée, dessert, alcoholic drink at TS. I tried to caution them that there is no precedent for that and if they chose to use their credits for the F! pkg to be prepared to forfeit at least the app and possibly the alcohol. Oh, and same supervisor told them the MM F! pkg will be 2 TS credits next year. I just can't see that happening and gives me all the more reason to doubt the "guarantee."
So, what say you guys?
I'm with you - I don't see a 'guarantee' overriding the package inclusions, if only because the package is priced per-person no matter how you're paying so DxDDP guests getting more than others on the same package isn't likely to happen.
My thinking - and I hope I'm wrong on this - is that exceptions like this are the new front on eroding the value of the dining plans. Disney's bean counters have to know they're right at the breaking point as far as pricing. It is already hard to break even on the QSDP and only slightly easier on the DDP, and only the DxDDP can present a credible case for saving any money compared to what the plan covers (mostly because it covers far more than most people would do if they were paying cash). So price increases as a driver of future DDP profits are about played out, but we all know that the corporate expectation is ever-increasing, not high-but-flat, profits. Which begs the question of where they can increase profits if not on pricing. And new exclusions/exceptions could be the answer.
We already have a plan for 2018 that includes alcohol... with the massive exception of the thousands upon thousands of 10-20 year olds who pay adult prices without the full benefit of adult inclusions and who knows how many adults who can't or won't drink for whatever reason. If they toss in an exception for fixed-price meals because your non-alcoholic beverage is already included in the price, they've effectively limited the value of the 2018 changes to only a portion of the market (over-21 guests who drink) and only a portion of available dining choices (ala carte restaurants). If they do those things and start removing appetizers from packages even though the DxDDP would otherwise include them at those restaurants, essentially creating another exception - the DxDDP includes appetizers except at high-demand dining events - the bean-counters can squeeze a little extra profit out of the one plan that still offers some savings.
Throw in the apparent end of pre-park-opening BoG ADRs, which sets the stage for replacing it with a new "experience" meal that could be excluded from the dining plan, and really looks to me like Disney is exploring new ways to carve value out of the dining plans without expressly removing another element or further raising the price.
IMO, F! is probably a test case and if bookings don't drop under the new rules we'll see the same changes for RoL, Candlelight Processional, and any other dining package that includes event seating.