2019 Using DxDP credits on others DISCUSSION HERE

[sharonabe]

Since we keep getting off topic on the ACTUAL experiences thread, let's make a place where we can DISCUSS this mess.

If you have questions or speculations, then come here and let's talk about it.

@Pumbaa_ is trying very hard to keep us on topic on the other thread so that when people come looking for what's truly happening, they don't have to wade through too much other stuff.

So, who's first?? (HA!! Right now, the way Disney is treating this, it seems a lot like the old "who's on first" comedy sketch!)

 

[olafgypsy]

As I said in my deleted post on the other thread, I have no issues with Disney implementing any policy they choose. But I want them to give advance notice and be CONSISTENT so that we can plan our vacation budgets accurately. A poster on the other thread said it best: You should not have to find out at the restaurant on the day you dine how you are allowed to use your credits.

 

[boscoast]

I've done this in the past and always felt that it was not an intended use of the dining plan whether Disney took out the old language or not - I definitely see an application of the basic, perennial "non-transferable" language meaning you can't use your credits for other guests, so despite the lack of enforcement and the removal of the more clear cut language several years ago, I think it's totally in their prerogative to not have to announce the end of something that was never an official policy. More or less, I have always assumed we could run into someone not allowing us to share every time, and although I'd be disappointed I wouldn't have been surprised if I had encountered this on a trip. (Not that that doesn't make it financially frustrating having spent the money with the intention to share)

Sure, there are people on the Disney parks mom blog who have said you can share, there are plenty of Cast Members who have said sharing is allowed, etc - but even now Cast Members are continuing to say that you CAN do this in writing to guests planning their trips and then the actual restaurants are saying it's not allowed. That, for sure, is a very regrettable guest services problem and I would hope anyone who has it in writing from a CM who told them that in error would experience an understanding staff at the restaurant and that they would allow it given the circumstances.

I wouldn't be surprised if enough people have learned of the mathematical benefits of sharing a DxDP across two rooms and Disney finally felt like things have gone too far. For my family, if we get a dining plan we will only get the DxDP, and only if we can share it with more people than are staying in our room. Otherwise, it's just cheaper to pay out of pocket and not order as many appetizers and desserts. This will definitely change the way we eat and order at Disney - I feel bad for the waitstaff because this will surely yield smaller checks, and we will probably choose to eat off property / get groceries to help soften the blow of $45+ entrees. In short, our party of 6 will spend LESS money on Disney food because we will choose to find better value elsewhere during our trips. Maybe that's what prompted them to ease up a few years back, and maybe that's what will cause them to soften this policy a few years down the line - only time will tell!

 

[senadler]

I think the biggest issue is Disney appeared to make it clear that you could share credits a few years ago when they removed the verbiage about not sharing from the literature. We have made plans based on that, and have not had any issue sharing credits for a number of years. Even with the recent reports, if I am emailing Disney directly before purchasing the dining plan, and they are telling me that I can share those credits, I am going to have a big problem with Disney if an individual restaurant tells me I can't.

 

[Dakota731]

I get Disney wanting to enforce adults only paying for kids’ plans and ordering adult meals all week. Heck that would definitely be a money loser for them, but if I want to treat a friend to a meal with my plan then pay out of pocket for my next meal, I don’t see what the problem is. I haven’t decided if I want to skip the plan this year so I don’t have to worry about arguing with a server or just wait and see how people are making out before I purchase. I prefer policies in black and white and consistent enforcement of those rules!

 

[olafgypsy]

I get Disney wanting to enforce adults only paying for kids’ plans and ordering adult meals all week. Heck that would definitely be a money loser for them, but if I want to treat a friend to a meal with my plan then pay out of pocket for my next meal, I don’t see what the problem is. I haven’t decided if I want to skip the plan this year so I don’t have to worry about arguing with a server or just wait and see how people are making out before I purchase. I prefer policies in black and white and consistent enforcement of those rules!

But I wonder how widespread a practice adults using child credits actually is. I mean, I know most people on the Disboards know this loophole, but we are typically better informed than the average guest. How likely is it that the average family would know about this and plan their dining around it?

 

[sharonabe]

But I wonder how widespread a practice adults using child credits actually is. I mean, I know most people on the Disboards know this loophole, but we are typically better informed than the average guest. How likely is it that the average family would know about this and plan their dining around it?

The same line of logic would apply to those putting the DxDDP on one room and using the credits on family/friends not in that room. Here on the DIS we discuss this frequently, but I can't imagine such a thing would even cross the mind of average guest.

Apparently there's enough of one or the other or both that Disney has taken notice.

 

[DazzleT]

I have trouble with this because confusion and inconsistencies like this come from bad management. It is a choice the company makes to allow this, not just something that happens. Like I don’t see human error, I see attempts to do things cheap and it makes me feel like I am not being respected as a customer, that they don’t care. If it was a set policy, that would be fine- I could deal with it. But not knowing, how do I decide what to do?

 

[olafgypsy]

The same line of logic would apply to those putting the DxDDP on one room and using the credits on family/friends not in that room. Here on the DIS we discuss this frequently, but I can't imagine such a thing would even cross the mind of average guest.

Apparently there's enough of one or the other or both that Disney has taken notice.

True, except there’s that language about using your credits in whatever order you choose, or something? Maybe people became aware because of that.

So here’s my theory. The first time the family comes, they don’t know about the C/A loophole. But the waiter says, “Hey, your kids can get whatever they want on DxDDP! They can get an adult meal if they want!” And it’s too late for the family to change their plans for THIS trip, but the wheels start turning and they think “Hey, we could save a lot of money if we traveled with another family and split the DxDDP between rooms.” So two or three years later, now you have all these families returning, expecting to be able to share and use C/A credits interchangeably, and suddenly Disney starts to see the profit margin on these plans is not quite what it once was.... I think perhaps that is what has led up to what we are seeing now, with Disney wanting to walk it back.

Still have no idea why they’re being so inconsistent about it though.

 

[eeyoresmom]

I've done this in the past and always felt that it was not an intended use of the dining plan whether Disney took out the old language or not - I definitely see an application of the basic, perennial "non-transferable" language meaning you can't use your credits for other guests, so despite the lack of enforcement and the removal of the more clear cut language several years ago, I think it's totally in their prerogative to not have to announce the end of something that was never an official policy. More or less, I have always assumed we could run into someone not allowing us to share every time, and although I'd be disappointed I wouldn't have been surprised if I had encountered this on a trip. (Not that that doesn't make it financially frustrating having spent the money with the intention to share)

Sure, there are people on the Disney parks mom blog who have said you can share, there are plenty of Cast Members who have said sharing is allowed, etc - but even now Cast Members are continuing to say that you CAN do this in writing to guests planning their trips and then the actual restaurants are saying it's not allowed. That, for sure, is a very regrettable guest services problem and I would hope anyone who has it in writing from a CM who told them that in error would experience an understanding staff at the restaurant and that they would allow it given the circumstances.

I wouldn't be surprised if enough people have learned of the mathematical benefits of sharing a DxDP across two rooms and Disney finally felt like things have gone too far. For my family, if we get a dining plan we will only get the DxDP, and only if we can share it with more people than are staying in our room. Otherwise, it's just cheaper to pay out of pocket and not order as many appetizers and desserts. This will definitely change the way we eat and order at Disney - I feel bad for the waitstaff because this will surely yield smaller checks, and we will probably choose to eat off property / get groceries to help soften the blow of $45+ entrees. In short, our party of 6 will spend LESS money on Disney food because we will choose to find better value elsewhere during our trips. Maybe that's what prompted them to ease up a few years back, and maybe that's what will cause them to soften this policy a few years down the line - only time will tell!

My family is very similar to yours and I explained in the last thread that even though we often share the DXddp between rooms, Disney is making MORE money from us by allowing it. When we pay oop we eat TS 2-4 times a week there and never get alcohol, appetizers or desserts. We spend far less and therefore tip far less. I know I am spending more overall by purchasing and sharing the Dxddp but I always get suckered int to the "Disney math" and feel like both my family and Disney is making out in some way. If Disney does return to not allowing it, we will go back to paying oop and save some money. I do feel more strongly than you that Disney should be more black and white and give their guests fair notice though. It is not fun being confronted by a server as if you're trying to pull something over on them.

 

[Dakota731]

And with my luck, first time ever I try to share credits with a family member, the practice will stop lol. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet since I really hate to have conflict while trying to eat dinner on vacation!

 

[Kjbbach1]

Does anyone think they will have an issue sharing some of the Regular dining plan adult credits with my in-laws in March? We have Then paying out of pocket for adults for other meals after they are all gone, continuing to use DDP for the kids?

 

[eeyoresmom]

Does anyone think they will have an issue sharing some of the Regular dining plan adult credits with my in-laws in March? We have Then paying out of pocket for adults for other meals after they are all gone, continuing to use DDP for the kids?

I dont understand the last part of your question but I think any restaurant that is questioning Deluxe credit sharing would also question regular sharing.

 

[Kjbbach1]

I dont understand the last part of your question but I think any restaurant that is questioning Deluxe credit sharing would also question regular sharing.

Thanks, sorry. I was planning on using up all the adult credits, but I would still have kids credits to use. Can we split the bill and pay for the adults out of pocket for some meals and the kids on the DDP?

I did check to on this when I called Disney for our room request and she verified it would not be an issue, that was just 30 minutes ago! Did not get a name.

 

[eeyoresmom]

Yes, you will be able to use up any kids credits you have left and pay cash for adults.

 

[boscoast]

My family is very similar to yours and I explained in the last thread that even though we often share the DXddp between rooms, Disney is making MORE money from us by allowing it. When we pay oop we eat TS 2-4 times a week there and never get alcohol, appetizers or desserts. We spend far less and therefore tip far less. I know I am spending more overall by purchasing and sharing the Dxddp but I always get suckered int to the "Disney math" and feel like both my family and Disney is making out in some way. If Disney does return to not allowing it, we will go back to paying oop and save some money. I do feel more strongly than you that Disney should be more black and white and give their guests fair notice though. It is not fun being confronted by a server as if you're trying to pull something over on them.

It's tough, I think a policy change needed to be communicated much more clearly on an internal basis and they need to make it right for the guests who continue to be told at this point that they can share, but the discrepancies coming from cast members in guest services as opposed to restaurants themselves also seems like a biproduct of being the sprawling bureaucracy that Disney is - certainly a serious guest experience concern that should be much more rapidly rectified. I just get the impression their official policy has always been that "the credits are not transferable" and that that has always meant they cannot be applied to another guest outside of your party, despite incredibly lax to no enforcement of that at all. So they technically haven't officially changed anything policy wise, and don't have a clear way to "announce" the continuation and/or more strict enforcement of an existing rule.

Again, this isn't to say this doesn't really suck for those who bought the dining plan planning to share and especially those who contacted Disney and were told they could share.

 

[Nancyg56]

I think that this is just one more area that Disney does not not want to pick a lane, and that is the problem. All of the debate in terms of how a plan should or should not be used is irrelevant, IMO. Disney makes the determineation of what is allowed and what is not, and when that organization decides to enforce language, they slam the hammer down. DIsney has proven in the past that they can enforce a policy across the board and they did that for years on their plans. No wiggle room when it came to the number of guests using it, not transfers, no sharing credits with extra people. No substitutions. No nothing.

And then all of a sudden the language in the brochures changed, and I cannot believe that was accidental. Those plans are more then moneymaking machines for restaurant use, they are total commitments of a family food budget for the length of stay, and as such, they compound the amount of money that may be spent. If Disney is on the fence now it is deliberate and IMO is like a trial ballon being floated around. Did a guest revolt when they could not share? Are their dining plan booking decreasing? What is the feedback?

Personally I believe this is a terrible business practice. As a company DIsney needs to be clear on the policy and stop this nonsense of making guests try to guess what any restaurant in particular will do upon ordering. It si a hateful way to conduct themselves.

 

[kaytieeldr]

My family is very similar to yours and I explained in the last thread that even though we often share the DXddp between rooms, Disney is making MORE money from us by allowing it. When we pay oop we eat TS 2-4 times a week there and never get alcohol, appetizers or desserts. We spend far less and therefore tip far less.

Respectfully, though, Disney isn't making more money when visitors with the DXDDP great visitors without. Disney already has your dining plan funds (or allocation.)

When (general) you treat someone else with your credits, Disney already has your money and now gets no money from your dinner companion.

 

[Nancyg56]

Respectfully, though, Disney isn't making more money when visitors with the DXDDP great visitors without. Disney already has your dining plan funds (or allocation.)

When (general) you treat someone else with your credits, Disney already has your money and now gets no money from your dinner companion.

Exactly, however Disney needs to tread lightly here. The plans ae expensive and people really analyze the cost vs return, so if they are afraid of leaving money on the table they will not make the purchase. I believe that this is what Disney is exploring now: is it more cost effective for Disney to tighten the reigns again on how the plans are used or if they want to chance that once a family makes that leap to pay OOP for meals they reduce their overall spending? I don't know how this affects everyone, but if we use the discussions here on the DIS, before and after the changes in verbiage that now opened the door to sharing credits, the number of people who paid OOP and spent less than the cost of the Dining plan mattered.

In terms of tips, Disney does not care one wat or another if a guest tips better. They do however care about the overall cost of the meal and how that compares to their profit from that meal.

Frankly, if I wanted to close a door, I would close how credits are pooled. In no way would I allow a child's credit to be used on an adult meal. Share all you want, but if you pay a kid price, you get a kids meal. But what do I know?

 

[Paulines]

I wholeheartedly agree that DW needs to “pick a lane”.

Chalking niceties up to pixie dust is one thing and it’s pretty awesome, but in not uniformly enforcing and/or providing the same terms on an expensive purchased plan, DW is setting themselves up for claims of discrimination, fraud, etc.