Discussion on Disney Dining Changes | Disney Dining Show | 06/05/20

[@justinstrouse8295]

Thank you Deni. I love that you are always looking at things from a vacationer's perspective.

[@daniellebrewer8141]

I will say, I know that the dining plan isn’t the biggest money saver for guest, but I have always used it and I sincerely love it. There’s something magical about just scanning your magic band and not having to worry about anything. Planning and paying ahead of time is so nice for so many of us😊

[@RLucas3000]

Be sure to contact them though to tell them you greatly prefer the dining plan when planning a vacation, when they can make it available again. They won’t know unless you let them know.

[@Keneka]

Living in the U.K. because of the larger cost of the vacation whenever the Dining Plan was offered as a free add-on it was always an incentive for booking our vacation. On vacations where we didn’t receive it free, for our family on what and where we eat, it wasn’t cost effective to purchase the plan even on the lowest grade the cost of the plan was higher than what we spent on food. A positive reason for having a dining plan if you are situated outside the US is because there is a glitch on the Disney system (which they are fully aware of) that sometimes when making purchases on your magicband (connected with the credit card you have linked with when booking in) the credit card will occasionally become unlinked during a purchase? What does this mean? Well even if you have a $12000 limit on the credit card you have linked with your reservation, at any point when you make a purchase whether it is food, merchandise or even a bottle of water, your credit card can suddenly become unlinked and you are left embarrassed because it looks like you haven’t got enough money to pay (even though you have). The new system came in I think January 2019 and is widespread throughout WDW and when we went in May last year was still a problem. It happens every couple of days at random intervals and every time it happens you have to keep going to front desk to reset it (which is a annoyance during a 2 week vacation), with dining plan we wouldn’t have had to worry (whether it was the free plan or not). From our first vacation in 1994 to the present there have always been problems with the system which seems to not be able handle guests staying for multiple weeks who reside outside the US and their credit cards. We have already paid for our vacation in full 60 days before arriving for our vacation but it always happens (worse by far with the new system) and whenever we had dining plan it was just a relief that we wouldn’t get that problem so for that reason I will miss the plan.

[@joanneball8941]

Jesus what has this got to do with anything?

[@jd9999]

I thought your comment was interesting, and of course it is relevant to the dining plan conversation. Other international travelers may be helped by reading it.

[@saraarnett2557]

I just like the “it’s paid for and I don’t need to think about it” aspect of the dining plan. I hope it’s not gone forever.

[@johnp139]

I always think that I can be a lot more flexible AND speed less money without the dining plan.

[@TheRVRD]

Same. As the mom and the planner of the family Disney with dining plan means I get an actual vacation. I pre-mom’ed the trip so once I arrived on property I was actually off and on vacation.

[@PaulaSB12]

I tried booking a holiday for next year in August and it’s available to book

[@jerrygundrum1]

@@TheRVRD why is that? If your staying on property just use your magic band to bill all your meals to your room. You are not forced to eat more than you normally would or worrying about leaving credits unused

[@annamaytionn]

Dani gets it! When you live in Ohio and book a year out for your week at Disney and plan it (half of the fun!) getting to book your dining at day 180 is checking off something on your list. Knowing you got Artist Point on Magic Kingdom day at 5 pm is a VICTORY! Something that hold u over until you get there.. also I’m an single mom with two teens. We have no problem using our credits . Hit Starbucks daily and use the snack credits etc. for me paying on my dining plan and getting there only covering tips helps make my trip magical and less stressful.. I understand their why’s to do it but living in Florida and being able to go anytime definitely makes you out of the loop and I adore you and take your opinion to heart on the daily. I would never ever pay 250 for a meal out of pocket which many meals cost that for us. Paying in advance may not save you money but it feels like it which is why it works! Anyways love you guys ❤️❤️❤️

[@joyferson5261]

I have found it saves money and also anyone with children ages 3-9 is a real bargain. At worst even if I pay about the same, the mug is a bonus because I would never have bought that.

[@johnp139]

Right, if you have too many snack credits near the end of your trip, then you have been doing poor planning.

[@olafpamela]

How do you get BOTH ADR'S and our FASTPASSES at the 60 day mark without missing out on a must have fastpass or a must do ADR.😏🤔🙁👎 Disney has to change the fastpasses booking window or change the ADR booking window again because you cannot book both ADR and fastpasses at the 60 day mark and be able to get your wish resveration. Thanks for sharing

[@jerrygundrum1]

Without fast passes and the park at say 30percent capacity you won't need fast passes. I think fast passes should go away

[@davidhomer5685]

I have booked ADR and then at the 60 day mark tried getting the must have fastpasses for that park and could not get them but I could get them for a different day So then you are park hopping and are on a time restrain instead of just sitting back and enjoying your vacation.

[@susanmeredith4957]

That was the first thing that came to my mind too!

[@theresajohnson9497]

I totally agree with *almost* everything you’ve said. I don’t mind that the dining plan was taken away, I don’t mind that all of the reservations that we meticulously planned are gone. I understand all of that. We are in unprecedented times. However... what bothers me is that the vacation that I was promised, booked and paid for is now going to cost me at least $1,500-$2,000 extra. We booked in January when they offered the free dining plan for September. My adult children will be going with us and that is the only way we all could afford to go. Yes, we are getting a 35% discount on 2 rooms, but that does not cover the cost of eating for 7 adults and a 5 year old. Disney is partly about the dining for us - we don’t just want burgers and fries. We were looking forward to many of Disney’s wonderful restaurants, and several character meals. We will still go and make the best of it, especially for my granddaughter’s sake, but we are very disappointed in the decision to take away the free dining that was promised.

[@sarahmcclellan8156]

My husband and I are booked for Pop Century July 20-25. We were able to book Art Smith’s last Monday. Hoping they open up in park ADRs next week!!

[@ejohannesen34]

I’m more than happy with the change in booking window for dining. I prefer to book my dining around my fast passes not the other way around. The attractions are why we go, the dining is secondary.

[@whereistheaimee4487]

I think it boils down to- Is the Dining Plan profitable to Disney? Since it seems to make them a profit, it probably will come back in time.

[@bemplit]

Pete nailed it. You can't sell the plan, if your restaurants aren't open.

[@cydnibanner1330]

I'm just upset about the 180 days because I had already secured my reservations that I woke up at 5am for my Thanksgiving trip. Now, I have to do that all over again, but this time will be during a school day.

[@daniellebrewer8141]

I’m so sorry... Hoping you get your reservation❤️

[@RLucas3000]

Definitely have a lot of alts. There are so many good restaurants! Sanaa in the afternoon (window seat) if you have kids! 1900 Park Fair and their strawberry soup!

[@andrewhall5263]

I feel you, everything booked for September 1-7 all gone! Will go anyway because I love Disney so much.....I have never been to Universal but my ten year old grandson is going with us so will be four days there before going to Disney this year...( It is killing me but will go to make him happy and I do love Harry Potter so sure it will be fun)

[@taylor7177]

Agreed. This is my only gripe with 60 days. I will be upset of I'm not able to replace (within reason) the reservations I already had

[@alainanicolas8021]

Omg yesssss im booked for a mid September trip for 2 weeks. I had difficult to get restaurants from California grill to homecomin at the times I actually wanted and they are all gone.

[@lucillegannon6329]

ADR 90 days out, FP 60 days out?

[@nostrawplease191]

I am old school and loved visiting Disney before all the reservations and Fast passes. We were all at Disney and went from one ride to the next closest, waking up and deciding what to do that day 😁

[@1ShellBells]

We canceled our December trip because of no dining plan. It works for us. I agree that ADRs at 180 days is WAY to far in advance. 60 can be problematic if they keep it after it gets back to "normal " because that's when you book your fastpasses

[@RLucas3000]

Be sure to let Disney know that is specifically why you canceled. They need info like that to make decisions for the future.

[@amydoran9987]

We love to plan our dining asap.It’s one of the things that gets us excited for our trip.We have never done the dining plan.

[@carolkovacik3007]

My family has resort reservations for July 20 for ten days. We are within the 60 window and will not be able to rebook the dining reservations we made 180 days out. We did not have the dining plan anyway. We do not know if we will get park reservations for each day of our trip. There are too many unknowns, so we will be cancelling our trip. These things are easy for you to say, since you can go many times a month. We travel toWDW once every few years.☹️

[@RLucas3000]

Be sure to contact them though to tell them why you are cancelling.

[@DeanNGretchen]

Do love they shortened the reservation time period. 6 months was too long. So miss your reviews on the restaurants. You have helped us decide on so many places to go try out.

[@murph120779]

Some Disney Springs restaurants are already back up on My Disney Experience for booking. I just booked T Rex for August 1st

[@kkristian8350]

Used the dine plan since 2009 and I'm not happy. Interesting Pete thinks the dining plan should be eliminated and prices should be raised. When Pete eats his family is fed. These new rules are good for locals that can attend Disney whenever they want to with their annual passes. But it's different for families coming from out of town planning a family vacation.

[@betsyparks790]

I didn’t receive a room discount for rebooking my original May trip (Disney Deluxe Dining) to a September week.

[@acl1976]

i just went on the uk site to test whether it was available on there and can't even try to book any disney world hotels on there for 2020 but can for 2021 and also dining plans are available to purchase

[@bethd.6670]

Sadly for various reasons we had to cancel our trip in September, but we were so looking forward to having a dining plan because it meant we would have our food paid for in advance, and we wouldn't have to worry about cost when it came to eating. I'm sad if they get rid of it all together, but oh well. Hopefully we can go again in 2021/2022 and be able to save enough to make sure we can afford all the restaurants we wanted to try!

[@richardroc5919]

The dining plan if you work at a non Disney owned restaurant is the opposite of contactless. The device is shared among many people.

[@elizabethdurr9665]

I totally understand the dining plan reset. The issue I have is that we booked with a free dining plan offer and a 35% room savings does not come close to free dining for my family of 5 for a 5-day vacation. The rebate will only cover $533 and the free dining would have been $1450. This means that we now will have to cover an additional $900 out of pocket. Either a room upgrade, a dining gift card or some other promo that would have been an appropriate substitute for the real amount that it will cost our family to have the same vacation would have made this better.

[@barbdreams]

Ouch. I'm sorry that's huge for you.

[@RLucas3000]

You need to contact them and let them know this. Perhaps also post on Dis Boards.

[@stephwatkins7530]

As a family of 5 with 3 children, even on the regular DDP its too darn much food! I'm not sure if we saved money and we were sick from eating so much.

[@RLucas3000]

I think it’s something worth trying to see if it works for your family, but if it doesn’t, your family doesn’t eat as much as some so it’s probably worth it to go off plan, maybe do 2 Meany or a meal and a snack a day and save some money.

[@chrisvanderloop]

As two adults, with no kids who do drink we got our value, but if you think $26 for dinner and $18 for lunch at a counter service we were getting close $50 a day in drinks, so between lunch and dinner we needed to spend $101 to break even (Keeping in mind the DDP 75.60 per person per day so 151 a day for two adults) so we did well easy 25 a day at lunch per person and dinners, Snow White dining at artists point, chefs de France, restaurant Marrakech, did counter service twice in one day to do the $95 a person Sunday brunch at California grill And this was stepmber 2019

[@johnp139]

Calculate how much you think you would spend without the plan and compare the prices. Not too difficult.

[@stephwatkins7530]

@@johnp139 yah I wasn't gonna calculate every single menu item for a 10 day stay lol. So we tried. And we couldn't eat that much and took like 40 rice krispies home to friends

[@kathycheshkatbrown8307]

@@stephwatkins7530 We've done the DDP and decided we prefer to do the Quick Serve Plan. It is worth it for us as we like to have the adult beverage that is included. We also have two older teens who have hallow legs so whatever I don't eat, they will. No wasted credits on our last visit.

[@sheriwadsworth5797]

We had a family trip booked for July 7 but cancelled , had the “free dining “ , now new trip for 2021 no free dining and we haven’t heard anything about discount on our room?

[@happilieverholli9994]

I never did the DDP so I won’t be missing anything. I’m just so happy that they’re opening I can’t imagine complaining. The 180 days out has always been ridiculous so I welcome the 60 days out.

[@stephwatkins7530]

Right!

[@unvoicedapollo3318]

I've done the DDP three times. I've resolved no more. I just can't eat all that food

[@PaulaSB12]

The dining plan is bookable for next year so I don’t think it’s gone for good. I was supposed to go this September but cancelled and found out last night if you travel abroad you have to self isolate unpaid which is the final straw for me. But as I said dining plan is bookable for next august. Just tried a booking for next April and the dining plan is bookable, it’s also bookable in January 2021

[@caroltoot7602]

I never buy the dining plan and usually make my dining reservations a week or two ahead, day before or same day. I usually get to eat where I want to. Plenty of other good options available if I can’t get my first choice.

[@rickvbeck1]

Has anyone heard anything about the food and wine festival? I would image that the country booths would probably overload the distancing.

[@chriswinter3847]

Pete, please cook a meal from a DVC resort!!! You’ll probably wind up launching your own Cooking Channel. Love watching “dis unplugged” everyday. We just purchased 200 points with Disney Aulani, thanks to you. I’m looking to buy more points.

[@beatlejeff65]

I have never used the dining plan and was excited to be trying it on my November visit, so disappointed to have it cancelled, but not the end of the world. I'm more aggravated that they cancelled my ADRs seven months out. Premature, if you ask me, and my pet peeve is having to completely do something all over again. On a brighter note, I was at Disney Springs Wednesday. Half of the shops and restaurants are still closed, and I wanted to eat at Raglan Road but had to settle for Cookes of Dublin. And the mandatory face masks was a pain in the ducktail. But it was all OK, because as Corey would say, I was just happy to be there.

[@helentipper2890]

Those travelling from the UK stay on Disney property mostly for the dining plan. I had the free quick service dining plan for staying at a moderate but paid a lot of money to upgrade to the full DDP. For four people for 14 nights....that's a lot of money. My plan has been cancelled for my August trip so if we are to come (we won't be) we are to find money for 4 people to eat for 14 days, on top of the money I've already paid out for the DDP. Disney have not told UK travel providers what they intend to do to compensate for this, no refund or 35% discounts for us...... so we are in limbo.

[@TerryBenner]

How about ADR's and FP be limited to day before And DVC get priority, resort guest additional priority If annual pass holder additional priority? Thoughts?

[@unvoicedapollo3318]

I just want to know about the park reservation system (I know Disney hasn't said anything more about how it will work).

[@susanmeredith4957]

Haha, claw marks around change, describes me exactly! I’m not sad about DDP going. We used to get it every vacay starting with original one where appie, dessert and tip was included. It was great! Then Disney slowly started clawing back on many elements of the DDP and we stopped getting it. Loaded Gift Card with what DDP cost, ate what we wanted and found we had $ left on GC. I may be wrong but I felt DDP artificially raised food price. And yes, started dumbing down the food. But I don’t know if that was because of DDP or people unwilling to try anything other than meat and potatoes. When we go to Universal we’re surprised at how much cheaper food is there in many places. And how good it is.

[@craigfischer2240]

I completely understand the need to make changes at first opening. We ALL need to give it time and have patience until Disney can see how things work. I also lost my September reservation with free dining. Maybe in the new year they will start to reimplement certain add ons such as the dining plan in some form.

[@janett253]

The DDP gone is great! Since the DDP started it has been very hard to get reservations everywhere. Unless you booked 180 days out. You can hardly ever get in a restaurant at last minute.

[@ElisabethHalliwell]

I hope the dining plan comes back and that they move the booking window it would be too stressful to try and book ADRs and fast passes at the same time. I love picking ADRs early, my next vacation isn’t for almost 1 1/2 years and I still want to start picking dining.

[@kristinemitchko2525]

The only issue with it now being 60 days out is now you have Fastpass and Dinning that has to be booked t the same time

[@lindadoesvancouver]

I think the only restaurants in the parks that should require reservations are signature and character....other than that first come first serve as they used to be.

[@boylanroden]

I'm 60 days out and cannot book ADR's. I got the Springs, but not the parks. Vacation 8-3 thru 8-8.

[@kallaimk]

Just curious have you heard about your hotel or making reservations to go to the park? We are going when you are leaving and my 60 days is next week.

[@TrackerRoo]

@@kallaimk Disney hasn't announced anything about that just yet. They will send out emails as soon as they sort out how they will be handling everything.

[@jackiehill3439]

As someone from uk free disney dining is a real plus as holiday very expensive as often stay 2-3 weeks. Also I took day off work to book dining reservations for our holiday-12 midday when we have to book. Would be nightmare to do it at 60 days for every separate day !

[@scoutmaster314]

Loved the dining plan when it first came out (Appetizers/Desserts/Gratuities) and we did it every time. Over they years it became less of a value: removing what was included, reclassifying more places as signature experiences, etc. It became something that we used to do.

[@cmsylvester2408]

I'm thrilled if they kept reservations to 60 days in advance. I went to WDW six years ago and there's so much I didn't know at the time, especially when it comes to dining. I've been watching a lot of WDW planning videos and now I have a much better idea of what to do for my future vacation. I agree it's difficult to know what you want to eat in advance, and I would plan the reservations for dinner or a character breakfast.

[@lorrainelee1125]

I love the dinning plan because then I don't have to worry about how much I can spend for each meal.

[@whatthestuffisthis]

I liked the old "Fun and Food' plan. With the coupon book you could use food or 'fun' like waterrcraft rentals/minigolf etc.

[@graceschmidt1942]

I used Disney gift cards when we were there in February, worked great. I actually miss not having to plan so far in advance. I like deciding where to eat based on what I feel like that day.

[@jennifermccurry9200]

Free Dining was always the best offer for us. With a family of 4 staying in a value resort, the room discount did not come near what we would spend for food in a day. I also liked it because I didn't have to worry if my kid suddenly decided she didn't like the food she had eaten 100 times. I didn't pay for it so I didn't worry about it. Even when we paid to upgrade from the free quick service to the standard plan, I feel like we got our money's worth. This is especially true with 2 little girls who love character meals.

[@pamelaedwards6380]

I think the 180 days out to book a reservation is ridiculous. Sixty days out is plenty.

[@jimhunter6862]

Part of this may be due to their planning a limited menu in each restaurant, and not being able to offer dining plan type options that they’ve been charging for up to this point?

[@persephonehades850]

i wonder if all the double, triple, etc., reservations that people make at multiple locations for the same day will go obsolete...

[@zepplinrox3]

What happened to Bob's remains on the shelf?

[@frankcarney4882]

I am upset that my time was wasted securing ADR that I wanted, I had 3 for the 9 days I'm there the 3rd week in September. But I assume it would have been almost impossible to attempt to a first come first serve retention of what ADRs there was already with an unknown capacity, which is a moving target

[@GuitarRJP]

My wife and I are DVC members, living in Michigan and take one to two trips a year, depending on where we are going (AKL is home resort). Like you mentioned, the dining plan has uses, but for my wife and I we never ate that much food normally, and we found ourselves trying to "stuff it all in" in that last day or two to use it up! During a week trip we may use three sit down dinners (typically Boma's, Whispering Canyon Cafe, and House of Blues, then maybe a Boma's breakfast as well) and the rest of the time it is counter service or grab a quick something when we want to enjoy the parks or the shopping at Disney Springs. We had our mid-May Hilton Head Resort trip cancelled, so our next trip is December (2nd week) and hoping things are a little closer to normal by then, but you never know about a "second wave". In the meantime, I enjoyed finding your channel and will like checking in periodically - hope your upcoming visits work out for you!

[@RLucas3000]

May I recommend Sanaa, and 1900 Park Fair (the character meal for adults as well as kids. Getting to interact with Cinderella’s stepmother and stepsisters is a scream! And don’t pass up the strawberry soup!)

[@kimberlylavoie4940]

Will resort guests have 60 plus 10 with the new system for dining reservations? It would be nice for it to be 80 plus 10 , if fast passes return to the parks.

[@stephwatkins7530]

Ha its 60 days at Disneyland..never had a problem

[@barbdreams]

Yeah I'm a DL passholder and 60 days works. If you do your fastpasses and dining at the same time, it actually might be better in the long run.

[@happytobe_here9483]

That's probably because the ratio of local annual passholders and travelers from other parts of the country/international travelers is always ruled by local passholders. We don't get the amount of international travel like WDW does. So it can actually be quite easy to pick up same-day dining reservations in the park as many locals don't show up for theirs or skip out the day before. But regardless, everyone will be ok. Change has to happen. 60 days isn't a big deal.

[@hazelhazelnut8401]

I don't mind 60 days but I don't want dining to be the same time as fast passes. It would be nice if one was 90 days then 60 days. Extend the fun of planning a little bit more!

[@twixieshores]

@@barbdreams but reservations are gone in seconds

[@87glassrose]

Thank you that was kind of a virtual hug for me as a morn the loss of the vacation I planned for my family. We are hurting over the loss of the dinning plan heck we were thinking of upgrading to the dining plan+ so we could guilty free eat a couple of two credit meals... for us it was a load off my moms shoulders she worries about money so much on every vacation this was a vacation for her in a way that is impossible any other way... we’ve rescheduled for next year for now we need time to see how it reopening goes plus we’re at least half going for shows and stuff which are all canceled and obviously we don’t want to go to a gutted experience so we’re hoping to have things better by next year but are willing to push back again until it can be what we’ve been waiting 25+ years for

[@tammystime3]

The 180 days out is the benefit for booking at WDW resort. We went last year, November 2019, we tried booking everything 180 days out exactly how we wanted and still had to make changes. Can't imagine getting what you want at 60 days out. I understand people not be happy about the change, but we will adjust!

[@jgparmele]

You nailed it, Pete! I agree right down the line.

[@Claudia_from_Germany]

All this is easy for you to say Pete …. you can go to Disney anytime you like to …. we have to plan …. and you know what? I love it!!1

[@erikaamicucci6011]

I would love a pete cooking show

[@drumcircler]

Will there be virus tracking of guests so they can be notified after they return home if their family was exposed to known virus spreaders?

[@WRLeGrand]

I really enjoy the DIS and watch all of the time. With that being said, I feel like the biggest disconnect of the show is that the opinions usually are not reflective of most of the people who visit Walt Disney World. Most people are coming from out of town and WANT to actually plan their vacation far in advance. It is part of the experience for myself and my family. We enjoy it very much and really do not want that to go away. If they leave it at 60 days it is going to be a change I think most people are NOT going to be happy with at all...

[@disneymermaidprincess3378]

I commend Disney for keeping the safety of their guests first priority. That is what makes Disney an amazing company! Our carriage ride at our resort was also canceled for October. Do you all know if they will allow those type of things to be rebooked?

[@coquetscache]

Flashback to the beginning of plan with temps in 90s and I'm standing in line behind people that needed so much extra time for ordering, in the heat, telling my husband "I wish they never started this dining plan thing, it's obnoxious and it's going to effect the quality of the meals here."

[@hazelhazelnut8401]

For a Mom of 4 the DDP worked really well for us. It allowed us to explore and venture out of our comfort zone. With 4 kids alot of the restaurants wouldn't be an option for us on a nightly basis. I'm afraid our DVC trips will be alot more cooking in the room and quick service which is sad. It also decreased my stress level while on vacation with 4 kids. Not having to worry what everyone is ordering or planning out the special treat for the day is kinda priceless. It really gave us flexibility and opportunity! Gonna miss it!

[@RLucas3000]

Contact Disney and let them know this. My guess is this is just through Dec but if a lot of families like yours contact them, then you can for sure make the lack of DDP just through Dec.

[@ginaroberts2964]

Regarding the "it's paid for, I don't have to think about it" -- you do end up thinking about it, you are calculating how to USE all the credits, including those snack credits. My opinion is, if you have a Magic Band (which you would) then allocate what you want to spend for dining for your trip -- each day, check your bank account or gift card balance or whatever (even add up receipts) and make sure you are on target. One way or another you are thinking about that dining balance. Just my way of operating. Pete do you know or anyone else think the next step will be cancelling resort reservations too?? I mean if they have to be at a 20-30% capacity, then don't they have a resort reservations issue too?

[@tlc39]

I enjoyed the 180 mark because it makes our once a year trip seem a little closer, but also think the 60 day mark makes more sense. However, agree they need to change fast pass window! Bye dining plan! Happy to see you go. I do believe it hurt the quality of food AND we always lost money while being stressed out trying not to do so. I am sure it will come back eventually

[@andrewhall5263]

I Love you guys so very much! Thank you for keeping the "Magic" alive in theses crazy times! Thank you for the gift card idea! Be there September 1-7❤️, let's have some fun and just be happy everything is opening back up.......love to all

[@laurajohnson7519]

Long term it's great that the ADRs are reduced from 180 to 60 days because it IS ridiculous to plan that far ahead, but in the short term, me and others have had hard earned and eagerly anticipated ADRs and FastPasses wiped away instantly. I got up a 5am to schedule my ADRs for a mid Sept trip back in March and got some amazing ADRs, 8pm California Grill on Sat right before fireworks, dinner at Topolino's Terrace and Ohana's. I'm glad they're playing it safe and making that the priority but I'm also still mad, not at Disney, just mad at the situation.

[@terrancedull1393]

Love your show Pete! Looking forward to our trip on July 20th ... They haven't canceled our resort reservations ... yet anyway :-) ... We can take or leave the DDP ... but we had it for this trip ... my picky eater is all grown up and was going to expand her food horizons this time ... I guess I'll buy some Disney Gift Cards. Thanks for the suggestion.

[@RLucas3000]

Try Sanaa or Boma! Boma is a buffet with exotic and standard fair, so your picky eater could get a tiny little portion of a bunch of exotic stuff, and go back for normal portions of just what they like. Or if they don’t like any of it, just go back for the standard buffet fare.

[@jacksonmooney3900]

Does anyone know when Swan and Dolphin will reopen?

[@ajsweetie22]

They just announced a July 29th re-opening date.

[@1232bluejays]

Disney had a dining plan?

[@crdmagicallife]

I live using the dinning plan. It's a good money saver. I do hope they can change it up some.

[@ManzaMediaTV]

I'm worried about our trip in November if all this will remain or if it will end in September. I think the year 2020 is a wash out for Disney parks and resorts and they want to start fresh as you said. Will that mean all we can do come November is hang in the room and pool at our resort? I feel like booking a reservation to any of the parks will be nightmare fuel.

[@nickm1587]

I agree with them, what was ever the rationale for having dining reservations be 180 days out?! I don’t see any reason why it had to be that far in advance

[@rachel5534]

As usual, Deni gets it!

[@lindamemo5224]

I’ve never used dining packages just never seemed worth the money to us. Also felt like those dining packages caused people to use up all the reservations so that left no rooms for walk ins. I miss the days of being able to walk into a place to eat.

[@daniellepopiwchak932]

Does anyone know where the sushi is from in the picture this for video? And even, better what kind it is?? I am thinking California Grill but I could be wrong?

[@bored1326]

🤔

[@samanthamcleese4690]

We have always loved the dinning plan. We have always gotten more bang for our buck. With young children we do a LOT of character dinning. Typically our table service meals have "paid" for our dinning plan and our quick service meals, snacks, and mugs were essentially "free". I understand the why they have taken it away for now but, do hope it comes back!

[@happyabs7734]

Same

[@RLucas3000]

Be sure to contact them though to tell them you greatly prefer the dining plan when planning a vacation, when they can make it available again.

[@LARKXHIN]

Me and Pete are one in the same. I don't like change, but it has to happen.

[@jerrygundrum1]

Glad to see the dining plan go......and especially free dining.......it isn't free people Most people will spend less

[@persephonehades850]

and maybe October/November will again become semi-low season

[@Jen-cj2br]

It was actually free for those of us who moved our trips because of coronavirus.

[@griff389]

For those in the UK spending thousands on a two week break, the free dining plan was great. Now people will have to find another couple of thousand pounds for food. Moving booking is often not worth it as the prices have gone way up. Some people will have budgets and don’t live local and go for just a day or two. Just cancelling DDP can mean people cancelling their holidays.

[@ahmadwharton6859]

Of all the decisions disney has made this is the worst one for me...we are dvc and planned our honeymoon in the fall. We picked out all the romantic restuarant that we loved and now it's just all gone. 60 days for locals might be great but if you live in the northeast,midwest or internationally this is awful. I love the Dis but can we get someone who doesn't live in orlando and get an opinion from them. Any suggestions on a romantic classy restaurant outside of disney property?. They dont need our two weeks of dinning plan money.

[@disneygirl2302]

don't hear any background noise...fyi

[@johng689]

I am so happy that the booking window goes down to 60 days, that's what they do at Disneyland. 180 days is to far out for me to plan my lunch.

[@chrispfeifer9235]

Great video! I personally was overwhelmed with having to planning dining 180 days out without knowing what my fastpasses were (which parks on what days would determine which park). I too hope they stick with 60 days out for ADR's and continue fastpasses at 60 days too (for resort guests). The dining plan never appealed to us so I don't have an opinion either way. And I agree 'leave disney alone' they are doing the best that they can with an unprecented situation. TFS

[@griff389]

I don’t think 60 is the same as 180. A hotel is likely not fully booked at 180, it does have chance to be more booked at 60 thus meaning more looking for bookings. If your holiday is planned 18 months in advance, the 180 days helps. For those with short or late visits it’s different. Me, I’m not bothered, but they’re aren’t the sam in my opinion.

[@TitleWaive1]

Our last 3 trips have used DDP. Yes, we understand we probably didn't save money but we liked convenience. Petes' idea is good one. I can understand WDW cleaning the slate. They are in situation where they can't accommodate all guests that took Dining plan. Their restaurants will have limited seating and they don't know how long that will go on.

[@RLucas3000]

Be sure to contact them though to tell them you greatly prefer the dining plan when planning a vacation, when they can make it available

[@JuniperMB]

I just don't want fast passes and dining reservations made the same day...I'll never be able to get the hard dining and attraction passes that way. However, I like the idea of not needing to know where I'm eating 6 months ahead of the trip.

[@cindybare1]

Since they will be at limited capacity 60 days should be fine. When there able to go to full capacity at the restaurants they will probably need to go back to the 180 days because at just 60 days there would be too many people trying to get through. I like the dining plan because I can get the most expensive item without thinking about how much it is.

[@dee_mcgee11]

Convincing my DH to ditch the dining plan since it's lost its value. Also glad to ditch the 180 window except we'd just booked ADRs for our November trip.

[@amydodard9473]

I would love to hear all of your thoughts on what changes we will see on the DCL and when you think it will return. Would you book a cruise in 2020?

[@lindadoesvancouver]

He says we adapt but I haven't gone back since 2015 when fast plus was new. I don't mind change but booking rides so far in advance just to find out your reservation means nothing because the ride closed due to thunderstorms. Also the crowds got out of hand.

[@larkendelvie]

Is Disney even sure exactly which restaurants will be open? How can they have reservations for stuff they don't know will be open. Not everything will be open - at least in the beginning.

[@ck2d]

Also I think they should hold more reservations for walk ups.

[@melissaclark79]

As a long term DDP user, I don’t mind the 60 day window. We change reservations many times from 6 mos out to the day of the reservation so honestly changing from 6 mos to 60 days is fine with me. However I get it that some people are upset about this and I really feel like the group discussing it today is not thinking about the families who save and plan for that special reservation(s). Not to dis on the discussion but I think this group forgets what that’s like because you take for granted you can eat on Disney property any day of the year.

[@UrsiesWhirl]

Gift cards are how we pay for our meals when we have the kids. That’s a great idea 💡

[@melissahubbard6929]

Our Disney Dining Plan Plus has not been cancelled by Disney yet. But it was not free or part of a package; it was paid for in full.