Free DDP pains...

[Mayonnaise]

Because with free DDP more people make reservations at restaurants they normally wouldn't, causing them to fill up a LOT faster. There are some places it is very hard to get into without making reservations months in advance so you have to decide months in advance where you want to eat, not as you go along.

So, in answer to my original question, which no one answered... it's the Free DDP that ruins spontaneity, by putting more people in the restaurants than there would normally be... yes? Since people on or off the plan can still make reservations.

8^)

Edit: Erk... or not. Sorry Syndrome, I think you posted while I was writing mine.

Oops.

8^S

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

Not so sure..DW and I make reservations when we go to WDW or DLR simply because we like to dine at certain places, and try new ones. I don't think it matters how we pay. But we did notice that the last time we went, we had to wait for a few minutes to get a table on a walk up. (last minute late night food!)

[Rob562]

I'm interested in seeing what the new "Quick Service Dining Plan" will do for restaurant availability in 2009. For those who don't know, this new version of the DDP gives you two Quick Service meals a day, with no Table Service meals at all.

If many of the people who visit WDW are like me, they'd usually go a full week at WDW and only eat at a couple Table Service places. But when you get the DDP on a week-long trip, now all of a sudden you have 7 Table Service credits you have to use. It changes people's dining behaviors from what they would have done if they were paying for all their meals. So, there are more people trying to get into the Table Service locations than there used to.

So, this new Quick Service DDP might help by allowing people to use that for their meals, and then pay out-of-pocket for the one or two Table Service meals they'd want during the week.

-Rob

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

I'm interested in seeing what the new "Quick Service Dining Plan" will do for restaurant availability in 2009. For those who don't know, this new version of the DDP gives you two Quick Service meals a day, with no Table Service meals at all.

If many of the people who visit WDW are like me, they'd usually go a full week at WDW and only eat at a couple Table Service places. But when you get the DDP on a week-long trip, now all of a sudden you have 7 Table Service credits you have to use. It changes people's dining behaviors from what they would have done if they were paying for all their meals. So, there are more people trying to get into the Table Service locations than there used to.

So, this new Quick Service DDP might help by allowing people to use that for their meals, and then pay out-of-pocket for the one or two Table Service meals they'd want during the week.

-Rob

That sounds like a good idea! Like I said before, with the exception of a few special meals, we mostly like to wing it, and eat where ever we happen to be when we get hungry!

[Canuikstan]

:( looks liek we are a secondary casualty of the DDP..

Oct 13th is GrUvGrL and my 2 year anniversary, it is also the Canadian Thanksgiving..... and after seeing how much she loved WDW with the kids, i thought i would surprise her with a quick 3 day weekend down south..

Found great airfare rates ($300 round trip from Buffalo taxes in! woot!) and flip over to the WDW reservation site thinking "no one goes on vacation in October" but there are NO ROOMS TO BE FOUND at all , and it just wouldn't be the same off site.. 2 years ago i was able to book a room a week before departure!!

sigh...

For $800 more we could go to DLR, but that's a lot more money and a much longer flight...

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

:( looks liek we are a secondary casualty of the DDP..

Oct 13th is GrUvGrL and my 2 year anniversary, it is also the Canadian Thanksgiving..... and after seeing how much she loved WDW with the kids, i thought i would surprise her with a quick 3 day weekend down south..

Found great airfare rates ($300 round trip from Buffalo taxes in! woot!) and flip over to the WDW reservation site thinking "no one goes on vacation in October" but there are NO ROOMS TO BE FOUND at all , and it just wouldn't be the same off site.. 2 years ago i was able to book a room a week before departure!!

sigh...

For $800 more we could go to DLR, but that's a lot more money and a much longer flight...

I know what you mean. A number of years ago we decided to go to WDW in Sep/OCT time frame because of my work complications (employees with school aged kids taking the vacation slots up durring the summer months)

Had no problems making reservations 60/90 days out...flash forward ten or so years and now I make the reservations for room about a year in advance!

not to mention dining!

oh well. I guess its the marketing department trying to get WDW and DLR full, all year round!

[Whazzup]

:( looks liek we are a secondary casualty of the DDP..

Oct 13th is GrUvGrL and my 2 year anniversary, it is also the Canadian Thanksgiving..... and after seeing how much she loved WDW with the kids, i thought i would surprise her with a quick 3 day weekend down south..

Found great airfare rates ($300 round trip from Buffalo taxes in! woot!) and flip over to the WDW reservation site thinking "no one goes on vacation in October" but there are NO ROOMS TO BE FOUND at all , and it just wouldn't be the same off site.. 2 years ago i was able to book a room a week before departure!!

sigh...

For $800 more we could go to DLR, but that's a lot more money and a much longer flight...

Keep trying, Canuikstan. People cancel all the time. Call every day and hopefully something will open up for you.
Doesn't the free dining just last through September? Food & Wine Festival will be happening in October - that's probably what is bringing the crowds in.
Hope you haven't already bought nonrefundable airline tickets.
If you can't get on-site, try one of the Downtown Disney area hotels. Good luck!

[twitch]

Been listening to the servers and such. Seems like we're getting a very....odd crew in with the free DDP.

Some examples:
-Father, Mother and Son were ripping pieaces of prime rib apart and eating them...sans knife and fork!

Somewhere out there, in a parallel universe... (we can call it 'Board X')... there is a restaurant review about some horrible restaurant at Disney... the guests ordered ribs, and there weren't even any bones to hold on to while they ate it!

[Zazu]

Somewhere out there, in a parallel universe... (we can call it 'Board X')... there is a restaurant review about some horrible restaurant at Disney... the guests ordered ribs, and there weren't even any bones to hold on to while they ate it!

So... I'm guessing you folks don't eat out much, except for drive-throughs. Am I right?

[turkeyham]

I have eaten at allot of the Disney restaurants. I have not had any problems with the food.