2018 Disney Dining Plan Prices & General Discussion

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I really wish there was a separate add on for the alcohol like on a cruise (anyone remember the old wine add on) for two reasons:

1. I drink and sometimes I want two glasses of wine with one meal and others I might just water. If it was an add on you could make it the equivalent of one drink per meal, but also you could pool them if you wanted two at one meal.

2. That would solve the problem of folks who don't/can't drink

3. They could then make it where you could use the drink credit independently (say for margaritas in Mexico)
 
I do not drink but my husband does so he is excited. He also loves the dining plan even if I do the math and tell him its not the cheapest option. Our next trip in 2018 is a couple only trip so he will be happy as I cringe when he orders it because its so expensive. So if I order a cup of water at a QS could i also order a beer and give to him?
 
I think the fears of drunkenness are overblown as well. A single serving of alcohol at lunch and another at dinner? That's only two drinks, separated by, what? 5-6 hours?, both taken with food. Worst case, someone with low tolerance gets a bit tipsy for a short while.

I agree. All the doom and gloom confuses me, this is not going to turn people into drunken lushes.

Disney is between z rick and z hard place. They cannot please everyone, but they need to find ways to entice people to buy their plans so they have them onsite. I think it's s brilliant addition
 


When I read this, my first thought was that this means that the actual cost of the dining plan is going to go up to cover it. But it comes at a huge increase. It adds 500 dollars to the cost of the plan. And the plan gives you one alcohol or specialty drink per quick service and one per ts. So, that would be six drinks a day for my party of three for five nights or a total of 30 drinks. I could buy 111 specialty drinks on my own for the same price. I used prices at Be Our Guest on allearsnet.com to get an idea and they charge 4.12 per specialty drink. I rounded up the number to 4.50. So, the inclusion of the alcohol/specialty drinks is a big money maker for Disney. Well, I guess this makes my decision whether or not to buy the dining plan easier. It is a big NO.
 
But it comes at a huge increase. It adds 500 dollars to the cost of the plan.

I'm not following the math here. You have 3 adults for 5 nights. Original post says the plan for DDP went up $6.13/adult/night.

So (6.13×5)×3 = $91.95

You get an alcoholic beverage/specialty drink for each QS and TS per person per day. We can use your $4.50 per drink. So that drink alone would be $9.00/person/day.

So (9x5)×3 = $135, which more than covers the increase in the plan.

So help me out here where my math skills are off, please.
 
How will this work on a Dec 27-Jan 3 trip. If I got the dining plan am I charged as the 2017 or 2018 or does it literally change on Jan 1. Would the free drink also start on Jan 1 or do we think it would only be on a trip that starts in 2018?
 


Makes you wonder IF they will allow an alcoholic AND a non-alcoholic soda drink in the future.
As with a 10% increase in the DDP per year,
in 7 years,
the DDP will be **$150 per day per adult;
the Quick Service plan will be **$105.

SO they could raise alcoholic &
non-alcoholic drink prices 15-20% per year to make the ever-increasing
**dining plan prices still seem like a value!

With a 15% annual price increase,
beverages would double in price in a mere 5 years!

With a 20% annual price increase,
beverages would double in price in 3.5 years!
 
How will this work on a Dec 27-Jan 3 trip. If I got the dining plan am I charged as the 2017 or 2018 or does it literally change on Jan 1. Would the free drink also start on Jan 1 or do we think it would only be on a trip that starts in 2018?

Who knows what they will do this year. Your cost should be the 2017 price. This year with the change in the QS that took away the dessert, they just let everyone still have the dessert AND their two snacks from Jan 1-14, because there was no way for the system to know who was on which plan. My guess is, come Jan 1 everyone will get the option of the specialty drinks at each meal. If your trip begins in 2017, you'll be getting a great deal for the back end.
 
Can I just check a 2017 thing against this?
We are on the DXDP in December this year, are non alcoholic speciality drinks already included (such as milkshakes at WCC / Sci-Fi, or your lemonade with glow clip drinks?)
Seems some were saying including such is no change?
 
Can I just check a 2017 thing against this?
We are on the DXDP in December this year, are non alcoholic speciality drinks already included (such as milkshakes at WCC / Sci-Fi, or your lemonade with glow clip drinks?)
Seems some were saying including such is no change?
You can ask your server about "substitutions" which can include things like milkshakes. I have definitely heard of it working at Sci-Fi and WCC.
 
You cannot get one of the glow clip or glow cube drinks right now anywhere that I know of. Milkshakes, smoothies, and some specialty coffees are included at MOST restaurants already.
Entirely as I suspected, but, good to have clarity I think. Thank you
 
I fully expect there to be limits on the wine, like house wine only or under a dollar threshold. I highly doubt that lovely $19 a glass wine will be included. Similarly I doubt top shelf grey goose cocktails will be included.

This change is like the others, it will work for some. Glad it will but not my dining style
 
We have gotten the dinning plan for our annual 10-11 night stays for the last several years. Generally the regular plan, occasionally the deluxe. We do it for the convenience. We often add an appetizer if we are on the regular plan.
As a non drinker, whenever I see something at X cost which includes alcohol, I assume I'm getting less value than some one who does drink, so I closely scrutinize the cost to see the actual value for me.
I haven't run the dinning plan numbers in years & actually don't know whether it's a good value for us anymore, I think this year I will. I assume it will be a bit of an eye opener & I'll more than likely just drop the dinning plan.
It wouldn't surprise me if those who choose not to have a drink with every meal do the same.
Presumably Disney's bean counters project that those who do like to have a drink w/ every meal will increase sales of the plan and that the loss of customers such as myself will be more than offset by the proponents of the new version.
And, no, the so called 'specialty' non alcoholic drinks (sugar, sugar, sugar) are not in any way tempting to me and thus I don't see them as a quid pro quo for alcoholic drinks - the change simply adds no value for me, so they've more than likely lost one dedicated plan purchaser but presumably the demographic who's excited about this will more than replace me.
However, this would open the door for some exciting new opportunities as w/ the plan I schedule all our meals on site @ Disney restaurants & I'll be liberated from that anchor, I understand there are some decent restaurants near WDW that might be worth trying out.
 
Here's how I look at it. The dining plan is a way to pre-pay one's vacation meals. So it always rubbed me the wrong way that I'm giving them my money and then if I decide a nice malbec makes a better pairing for my chop (or whatever) than a diet Coke, the beverage portion of my pre-paid plan is left un-enjoyed. It just feels wrong to pay what we do, then when we choose to eat at the nicer restaurants we pay out twice the pre-paid credit and then still pay more if we want a proper drink. "And with your Elk Tenderloin, may I recommend a brisk sparkling white. Our very best 2017 Sprite."

Yes, there's always going to be someone who doesn't want something that's included in a pre-paid plan. I can be flexible. But a categorical exclusion is very severe. It feels weird, like if the dining plan covered any desert on the menu except one made from dairy. You feel like a creme brule would close out your dinner better than the cherry cobbler your pre-paid meal plan will cover? Well, buy that sugar encrusted cow-pudding out of your own pocket you dairy lover you.

It just seems far more inclusive to price the plans with an expectation that people can order the meal they like.
 
Sorry if this has been asked, but we would have 3 Disney adults under 21 as of next year..would any of us be able to use their credit on an alcoholic beverage, similar to a snack?

And am I correct that if you have the regular plan, each person would get 2 specialty beverages per day?
 
The beverage is not separate like the snack credit. Compare it to soda at the meal type of option

Regarding alcohol on the kids credit, no clue
Willthey limit one per adult ID? Or multiple per ID? No clue yet

But you won't be able to redeem the new beverages outside of meal credit usage
 
Sorry if this has been asked, but we would have 3 Disney adults under 21 as of next year..would any of us be able to use their credit on an alcoholic beverage, similar to a snack?

And am I correct that if you have the regular plan, each person would get 2 specialty beverages per day?

The QSDP and regular DDP both now allow 2 specialty beverages per person per night. For a QS meal, they will have no way of knowing how old the people are consuming the drinks. If you order all five meals while the others are getting a table, you should be able to get 5 drinks. You'll need to get the 3 kids their drink OOP, though. Reality is you will pay for (I assume) 5 adult dining plans and in my book that means you should be able to get 5 alcoholic drinks at each meal if you want them.
 
So basically it still add the drinks to your table service or quick service but now you have a choice if you want alcohol otherwise it don't change for those who don't drink

It does change for you Denise. There were quite a few TS locations that limited you to pop, water and other similar beverages. It will now expand to more expensive non-alcoholic drinks that were excluded previously. I know it's not huge but it is a change.

I never cared about the DDP drink portion because I usually only drink tap water, pure juice or have an alcoholic drink.
 
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