Starting in early 2009, Disney's Dining Plan will go up in price (to match the August 2008 WDW ticket price increases, apparently!). The Plan will cost $40, and there are other versions like Deluxe ($72), Premium ($159), and Platinum ($209). But there's a new kid on the block for 2009: Disney is introducing a Quick Service Dining Plan (QSDP), for $29.99 ($8.99 children). For that price, you get two fast food meals and two snacks, and the cost also includes the resort refillable mugs.

Let's parse that for a second. The mug is $12.49 by itself, but that cost remains the same if visiting for one day or a whole week, and since the QSDP needs to be paid per day, the mug benefit is only really maybe $2/day usually. That leaves about $28/day for the meals and snacks. The snacks might total around $7 or $8, so it's about $20/day for the two quick-service meals, or $10/meal. Is that a bargain?

If you factor in the drink, the cost would usually be right around $10 for a meal, if paying out of pocket. So you end up saving perhaps a few pennies by using Disney's plan (or, with unlikely choices, not saving anything at all).

Saving doesn't seem to be the point. People at WDW tend to want convenience and relaxation, not savings. I had meant to chronicle many of the great emails and MiceChat comments I got from my last article, about the economics of staying off property, but there is so much to cover today that I won't have time. Suffice it to say that my comparison should more properly have been "seven days with Disney hotels and parkhopping, versus ten days off-property and no parkhopping." And hordes of comments in email and in MiceChat served to assure me that by not staying on property, I've been really missing out on some magic.

Flame Tree BBQ

Even if Disney turns out to be more expensive, the comments seemed to agree, the point is not saving every last nickel while on vacation. There are unadvertised benefits and hidden moments that I am not taking advantage of, even if I'm visiting the public areas of the hotel and hanging out. The comments were so convincing, I halfway constructed an economic argument for why Disney should probably look to raise prices at the hotels. Simple supply and demand would seem to indicate that there is room to grow the prices, given people's fervor for staying onsite.

Back to Dining. If Disney's new QSDP isn't designed to save prices, it must be designed to grant convenience. Or, if I were cynical, I could maybe argue that it's designed to make sure people don't skip meals when eating at the Disney parks. Someone paying out of pocket might decide to not quite spend all $30 and skip a meal, but if they are paying for it up front with the plan, the money's already in Disney's pocket so they might as well eat.

Pecos Bill's Tall Tales Café.

And if I were really cynical, I might wonder if the new QSDP is being introduced to become the "Free Dining" sure to return this fall, the free incentive to booking a Disney hotel. If that turns out to be true, Disney will save a bundle of money. And, intriguingly, it might mean the table service restaurants will be less crowded than they have been in recent years. Though maybe that won't come to pass after all, if people perceive little value in the QSDP and opt for the more expensive normal DDP instead.

And to trot out the really-really cynical side, I might wonder if the QSDP is Disney's reaction to something else out new out there. Universal has had a Meal Deal for years, but this summer a different competitor popped up with its own plan, just a few weeks ago.

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© 2008 Kevin Yee