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AVP
10-11-2008, 08:50 PM
Just posted to my MousePlanet Blog (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/blog.php?b=284).


The Disneyland Resort will begin testing their own version of the Disney Dining Plan on Sunday, October 12, through December 20, 2008.

Cast members are just learning details of this new plan, which offers two different options: a Quick Service Meal Plan and the Dining Meal Plan. I will post an update with pricing and availability of this offer once I can verify it with Disney; those details were not include in the information distributed to most CMs today.

Visitors who choose the Quick Service Meal Plan will receive two (2) Quick Service meal vouchers and one (1) Snack voucher per person (ages 3 and up), per night of their stay.

Visitors who choose the Dining Meal Plan will receive one (1) Table Service voucher, one (1) Quick Service voucher and one (1) Snack voucher per person (ages 3 and up), per night of their stay.

Both the Table Service and Quick Service vouchers are valid for one (1) entree, one (1) dessert and one (1) non-alcoholic beverage at a participating location. Gratuity (where applicable) is not included, and children ages 3-9 must order from the children's menu where offered.

"Signature restaurants" and select Character meals require two Table Service vouchers per person.

Snack vouchers may be redeemed for a regular popcorn, churro, fresh fruit, ice cream, 20-oz drink or cotton candy from a participating location.

Table service vouchers are valid at: Cafe Orleans, Carnation Cafe, PCH Grill (dinner), Hook's Pointe, Storyteller's Cafe (lunch / dinner), Wine Country Trattoria, Yamakbuki, Lost Bar and the Surfside Lounge, as well as the character breakfasts at PCH Grill and Storytellers Cafe and the character breakfast and lunch at Goofy's Kitchen.

Signature Restaurants include Steakhouse (dinner only), Blue Bayou, Napa Rose and the Napa Rose Bar; and the "Signature" Character meals at Ariel's Grotto (lunch and dinner)and Goofy's Kitchen (dinner).

I do not yet have the list of participating Quick Service Restaurants, but there are about 30 locations. I'll post an update as soon as I have it.

It appears that the Resort will use paper vouchers during this trial period, instead of allowing guests to use their Resort Hotel keys as is the practice in Walt Disney World.

If you have an opportunity to take advantage of this program, please drop me a note and let me know what you think.

AVP

Wendi
10-11-2008, 10:35 PM
Wowee!!! I have always been shocked at how different the parks are run, but it looks like they are getting a little closer. I think I might try this out for our Thanksgiving trip if it seems like it will be a good deal for the places we are already planning to eat.

AVP
10-11-2008, 10:45 PM
Wowee!!! I have always been shocked at how different the parks are run, but it looks like they are getting a little closer. I think I might try this out for our Thanksgiving trip if it seems like it will be a good deal for the places we are already planning to eat.If you do, please let me know what you think.

AVP

olegc
10-11-2008, 10:49 PM
hmmm - i don;t know how this will fly since
a) there are many fewer restaurants at the Disneyland resort compared to WDW which
b) would mean many more reservations would possibly be made and limit seating and
c) there are no dinner shows to be able to eat up some of your dining credits.

Honestly, when we flew to Orlando we missed the boat on using our 1st night's credits (we arrived around 11pm but still got a full day) for dinner shows, etc. There is not that much at dlr and I wonder how it will fly. I guess if they do change the plan a little it will be OK - but we still could not eat all that food at every meal. with 6 of us in the party - we never really got our money's worth IMHO, i.e. we would leave without eating all the food - so we were paying for stuff we could not use.

Boo's Mommy
10-11-2008, 10:52 PM
Sounds interesting...even more so that they have Steakhouse 55, Yamabuki and especially Napa Rose thrown in there.

janell
10-12-2008, 07:06 AM
Now can you get a meal plan when you are only booking a hotel room at one of the Disney hotels? Or do you also have to buy tickets? If you have to buy tickets, I hope they offer something for APers.

MammaSilva
10-12-2008, 07:09 AM
Does anyone else see this and wonder when the PS system will kick out to 180 days vs the 60 we have now considering how few TS choices there are at the Resort? The only way I could see this being of value for my needs is if they did like they do at WDW on occassion, buy the package and get the dining free, otherwise I'm going to be spending money for features we won't be taking full advantage of.

Rockchalker
10-12-2008, 03:53 PM
Any word on the pricing? IF the pricing is similar to WDW than:

I would not consider Ariel's Grotto or BB as a Signature dining nor would I consider Carnation as a good value for table service.

Unless you are planning on eating a lot of meals at the resort hotels I do not see the same value as the WDW dining program.

If I remember correctly at WDW one table service credit was meals normally $30 and under.

I would be interested in seeing how this works.


The only way I could see this being of value for my needs is if they did like they do at WDW on occassion, buy the package and get the dining free, otherwise I'm going to be spending money

I agree with MammaSilva, if the dining was free it would encourage me to stay at a resort hotel over a hotel on Harbor. IMO, staying at a hotel offsite at WDW is not worth the hassles nor the convenience of staying at one of their gazillion hotels. :)

DizMe
10-12-2008, 08:23 PM
Someone posted about this on the Trip Planning forum. She'd received an offer in the mail. According to the card she got, for $39.99/adult and $11.99/child you get 1 table service meal, 1 counter service meal, and 1 snack each day. She posted the phone number and I called to ask about it. It appears to be on a trial basis right now and only those who got the card with pin number will be able to buy the plan, or so I was told. I believe the offer was sent to certain people who bought a package (hotel + tickets). Though I have a package, I don't have a pin number and would not be allowed to purchase the dining plan. I never really decided whether it would be worth it for us, since we don't eat that much, but it sounds like an ok deal.

TTFN92
10-13-2008, 09:07 AM
If I remember correctly at WDW one table service credit was meals normally $30 and under.

We went to WDW in Feb. 2007 and the DP was either $35 or $39 a person for adults and $20 for kids. It was such a good value for us because we did so many character dinings. At DL, we don't eat that much at the park since there are places that are so close and you can go back to the hotel and order a pizza for the family for a lot less. But, there are many people that it will be worth it. If you are planning on eating at least 2 meals there, then I think $40 is worth it, especially when you consider how much a character meal is. Now, Carnation Cafe is different though. I think we spent about $15 each there for lunch. I don't think that gives you as much value. I think if it is going to work you would have to do all character dining. I also don't think that BB should be 2. At WDW, the places that were 2 were things like the Hoopty Doo Review that cost a lot more. I can't remember how much, but it was more than a typical character dining.

O.k. so the more I think about it, I think they overpriced it compared to the value we got at WDW. I think $35 would have been a better price. My fear is that they are going to raise the price of the meals to make the DP a better deal. That will make it bad for the rest of us. It will be interesting to see what happens.

TTFN92
10-13-2008, 09:12 AM
Someone posted about this on the Trip Planning forum. She'd received an offer in the mail. According to the card she got, for $39.99/adult and $11.99/child you get 1 table service meal, 1 counter service meal, and 1 snack each day.

I wonder how much it will be for 2 counter service instead of the table service. I think it should be either $25 or $29. The hard thing about that is that DL dining is so much different than WDWs. They don't have places like Riverbelle Terrace or French Market. Those would be counter service but not on the same level as Village Haus. I can see how much more complicated it is for DL and why they haven't done it in the past. It's hard to find a price that is a good value.

disneyshoes
12-31-2008, 08:20 AM
Are they still testing this? Did anything come from testing it? I would love to see a dining plan like WDW's :)

love4mousetx
12-31-2008, 12:49 PM
Our family was given the special code and we took advatage of it, and I do have to say that on it we did 2 character meals.(goofy for breakfast/brunch, and then a Ariel Dinner) and then also did a breakfast at the carniation cafe. Our girls had all the popcorn and cotton candy they could eat, I got a chance to have a homemade ice cream sandwich from main street. and I think that in all we bought maybe only 2 or 3 meals. Since we got a snack often my DH and I shared something especially on the Character meal day we ate till we were full and could not move. I loved it because we did not have to worry much about food money cause it had all been paid for up front plus it got us trying place we normally would not go to. A True Keeper, I think.

disneyshoes
01-01-2009, 06:20 PM
That is great- I hope they do something with it. We used it in WDW and it was wonderful to know that it was all prepaid and was a great savings :)

disneyshoes
01-01-2009, 06:23 PM
Did they mention when they might be doing this?
Thanks!

danyoung
01-02-2009, 08:18 AM
That is great- I hope they do something with it. We used it in WDW and it was wonderful to know that it was all prepaid and was a great savings :)

At the risk of being Mr. Cranky Pants here, I can't imagine how the plan was a great savings. If you really price things out, you can save a few bucks if you always try to get the highest dollar entree. But for me the entire plan just added another level of regimentation to my trip that I didn't enjoy. I used it once, back when they included appetizer and tip (they now include neither), and it simply didn't work well for me.

Drince88
01-02-2009, 12:05 PM
Did they mention when they might be doing this?
Thanks!
From the first post in the thread...

The Disneyland Resort will begin testing their own version of the Disney Dining Plan on Sunday, October 12, through December 20, 2008.

Gone2Disneyland
01-03-2009, 08:40 AM
My friends just returned from WDW for a Christmas weekend stay there and took advantage of the meal system for their first time. She and her family seemed to really enjoy it and, like love4mousetx said, took advantage of trying places they might not have normally considered trying.

turkeymama
01-03-2009, 10:31 AM
At the risk of being Mr. Cranky Pants here, I can't imagine how the plan was a great savings. If you really price things out, you can save a few bucks if you always try to get the highest dollar entree. But for me the entire plan just added another level of regimentation to my trip that I didn't enjoy. I used it once, back when they included appetizer and tip (they now include neither), and it simply didn't work well for me.

I totally get what you are saying. For us, the basic dining plan works since my kids are younger and still enjoy character meals. In contrast, the deluxe dining plan would be a total waste since the only way you can get your "money's worth" is to eat 3 sit-down meals per day. I don't have time for that.

I priced out the DL meal plans and it seems to be a "break-even" scenario for us. Not worth the restrictions.

rds912
04-23-2009, 01:28 PM
any news on this item. I cant stand the vouchers, but I do like the system at WDW.