To dine for free or to stay cool? That is the question...

[TBGOES2DISNEY]

DH and our 2 dds went to DW for the first time this past September. We had an awesome time, and DDs and I are still talking about it all the time and how much we want to go back. DH and I have agreed that as long as we save the money first, we'll go again in about a year. Yay!!!!

So, I know free dining was the best deal, but it was so stinkin' hot! We can't decide if we'd take free dining again in September 2007 or if we would go in November 2007 or Jan or Feb 2008. If we went without free dining, we would probably skip the DDP and try to share food and actually have room to try out some snacks. I'd like to do 1 or 2 TS that way, but I'm afraid it would offset the savings. $100 a day to pay for the DDP ourselves seems like so much money (especially since I'm trying to convince DH to go for 10 nights instead of 8 this time).

What would you do? On the one hand, free dining is awesome, but we also ran ourselves silly getting to ADRs. On the other hand, I think we could plan it better this time, but it is so hot.

Thanks for your opinions!

[ticktock]

I'm from Florida and I'd always vote to stay cool! Are you staying deluxe, mod, or value? If you go during value season and get a code you can save ALOT of money if you were planning on staying deluxe anyway.

Plus if you are staying at the Poly or the Epcot resorts it is pretty easy to go back to your room for sandwiches etc. The best idea is to eat breakfast in the room, have lunch at your favorite TS (so much cheaper than dinner, but all the ambiance) then go back to the room for chips and salsa or sammies for dinner.

You can afford the deluxes if you do it this way, it's what we do. Except we only eat at the signature resturants at the resorts which only do dinner (and Kona Cafe, best coffe in Disney). I think most Disney food is awful and not worth my money, but alot of people love them.:confused3

[TBGOES2DISNEY]

We stay value. Our trip in Sep was around $1500 for 2 adults, 1 child, (free 2 yo) for 8 nights with free dining, standard room (free upgrade to preferred b/c we booked before the change - had to argue about that one), park hoppers, and insurance.

Next trip I would like 10 nights (if I can convince DH, who thinks 10 nights is too long). It will be 2 adults, 2 children, preferred room, park hoppers, and insurance. I would like to keep the cost to about $2500 with food. Less would be better b/c we are considering flying this time, which would probably be around $400 if we got a good deal. That's why I'm so undecided about the DDP if we had to pay for it. We're obviously doing Disney on a budget or we just couldn't justify going 2 years in a row.

[TreslovesWDW]

I love to save money , but I vote to go when it is cooler. Unless you like the heat which I don't. Once we went in June is was so hot we went to AK for like half an hour and left to go swimming. My 2 year old was soaked and I even had a fan on her. I just can't enjoy myself when I am that hot. It was so much nicer when the weather was cooler. We will be there this December for the first time hoping for nice weather.

[Dizz42]

Plus if you are staying at the Poly or the Epcot resorts it is pretty easy to go back to your room for sandwiches etc. The best idea is to eat breakfast in the room, have lunch at your favorite TS (so much cheaper than dinner, but all the ambiance) then go back to the room for chips and salsa or sammies for dinner.
This is really good advise. Also, please consider and look into Boardwalk or Beach Club villas. A one-bedroom in late September or mid-January would not be too expensive and it has a full kitchen and a washer/dryer...perfect for a 10 day stay!!! :teeth:

[lonegungirl]

I think it depends on how much you enjoy the food. We are all about the eats, so for free dining, I'll just deal with the heat (then again, I've also been end of July, so this was peanuts.) I don't think I'd pay for the dining plan otherwise, however, because I think we could manage 2 people's meals for less than $80/day.

Wish I had it for this candlelight processional thing, though!

[kellyg403]

We are dealing with this same issue. Went in Dec and took advantage of free dining in late sept. We have been throwing around going in Aug this year and hoping for free dining again or wait for Dec.

I will say that I am leaning towards Dec without free dining because of the heat. I am from NC so understand humidity but AK was so HOT! Plus, we have one child who is so sensitive to the heat no matter what we do. So, my vote was Dec with dining, because I enjoy the dining plan!

It is a hard decision but one I am glad we can make!

Kelly

[camdensmom]

Go when it is cooler. THe free dining is not a sure thing and it would stink if you were stuck paying OOP for food IN the heat.

[TBGOES2DISNEY]

We arrived on Sep 4 and left on Sep 12. Any chance that (if they offer free dining) if I hop on board for Sep 29 into October to get the free dining that it would be much of a temperature difference? I'm guessing no, but I really want my cake and to eat it too (meaning free dining AND cooler weather)! lol

[disneyfreak74]

Well. .. with the "free" upgrade to park hoppers for Jan. I can tell you that it is within $20 of the price that we paid when we went in Sept.

In Sept we had free dining and park hoppers.

in Jan we will have dining and free park hoppers.

2 adults 2 kids (7&3)

[LuvOrlando]

Hi there :wave:
,
I would have to cast my vote for going when it is cooler. I just can't enjoy myself when all I can think about is whether or not I am going to drop from heat exhaustion :headache: . To be fair lots of folks don't mind & even enjoy the sweltering humidity :mickeybar ...I'm not knocking you I'm just not one of you. Even so I still do it from time to time because of my kids schools vacation rules.

That being said I was still tempted to enjoy the free dining plan. Here's the kicker though. The cooler months are value season for the hotels. I know I am saving over $100/day staying when its cool instead of the peak months so the extra $100 I will spend on food is offset by the $100 I am saving on the hotel. In my opinion it will probably even out in the end so its all about preference.

I do all the math for my own particular hotel & dining preferences before making a choice based on cost effectiveness

[Kimberly815]

I voted 'other'.

I used the Dining Plan this past September. Upside: It was a great deal. And we had no problems with it at all. We got all the meals we wanted. We got to try new places. It was great not paying for any meals Downside: It was REALLY hot, and that make us get tired really quickly. And it was a TON of food. I never would have eaten so much if I wasn't on the plan.

My suggestion: If you can only afford to go if you eat for free. . .then do it and deal with the heat! If you can't take the heat, go at another time and either buy the plan or pay out of pocket (depending on if the plan is a bargain on how you normally would eat at WDW- for us, it usually isn't worth it.).

Good luck with your choice!- You will have a great time at WDW either way!! :cool1:

[TBGOES2DISNEY]

Well. .. with the "free" upgrade to park hoppers for Jan. I can tell you that it is within $20 of the price that we paid when we went in Sept.

In Sept we had free dining and park hoppers.

in Jan we will have dining and free park hoppers.

2 adults 2 kids (7&3)

I must be missing something then.... I typed in info for 10 days in January 2007 - just to see what kind of deals are around that time of year. With the added cost of another child, preferred room, and 2 more days. It was only about $200 (b/c of free hoppers and low rates) or so more than our cost of about $1500 from our last trip. I thought that was a pretty good deal. The dining plan adds about $100 per day, which obviously ups the price of the trip quite a bit. How are you only paying about $20 more when you have the dining plan?

[nowellsl]

I don't know what I would do if I had to choose, luckily we live close enough so I don't have to. I love the free dining but I also love WDW in Dec. The heat doesn't bother me and honestly I didn't think it was that bad this past Sept. Maybe I'm just used to it. If having the dining plan wasn't that important to you and caused stress then I think you should go for a cooler month.

[TBGOES2DISNEY]

Hi there :wave:
,
I would have to cast my vote for going when it is cooler. I just can't enjoy myself when all I can think about is whether or not I am going to drop from heat exhaustion :headache: . To be fair lots of folks don't mind & even enjoy the sweltering humidity :mickeybar ...I'm not knocking you I'm just not one of you. Even so I still do it from time to time because of my kids schools vacation rules.

That being said I was still tempted to enjoy the free dining plan. Here's the kicker though. The cooler months are value season for the hotels. I know I am saving over $100/day staying when its cool instead of the peak months so the extra $100 I will spend on food is offset by the $100 I am saving on the hotel. In my opinion it will probably even out in the end so its all about preference.

I do all the math for my own particular hotel & dining preferences before making a choice based on cost effectiveness

Do these savings only work on moderate and deluxe? We stay value - how good a deal can you get on that?

[mrsmagic]

We had the same debate here, but opted to spend a little bit more and go in January. It was great! For us, it is a real treat to go somewhere warm in the winter to escape the wretched Michigan weather. It doesn't make as much sense to go to Florida in the summer unless you really like super hot weather.

[LuvOrlando]

Do these savings only work on moderate and deluxe? We stay value - how good a deal can you get on that?

I don't know the answer to that. I guess it would depend upon the exact hotels you are considering, the exact weeks you are choosing between and the exact restaurants you prefer. If you look into it I'd be curious how it works out.

[redmomof4]

We arrived on Sep 4 and left on Sep 12. Any chance that (if they offer free dining) if I hop on board for Sep 29 into October to get the free dining that it would be much of a temperature difference? I'm guessing no, but I really want my cake and to eat it too (meaning free dining AND cooler weather)! lol

We went last year cruised from 9/29-10/2 and then checked in for 6 days and got the free ddp, I didn't think it was exceptionally hot, but that is when it is starting to cool off in Iowa and I like it warmer. :)

[zimaaaaah]

You have probably thought about this already, but I went to the Weather Underground site and pulled up the historical data. You can compare the temperature, rainfall, and (most important to me) the humidity! I decided it was worth it to go Value season by checking in on September 29th, rather than pay the higher price at the end of October. There wasn't enough difference in the weather for me. I'd rather save the $ and hope to score a code later. Just my thought :teeth:

[Tink]

We normally go in the cooler months -usually November- we just got back and booked the future stay rate for next August 25-31. We did Augustwhen we cruised a few years ago. The crowds were light but it was very hot. We were there last week and the weather was perfect. The only reason we are going again in August is because DD was really upset about missing school, and I had no fun making up all of her work. The teachers aren't really allowed to give the work but she was so nice and gave us most of it

I always swore I'd pull my kids, but now that the older one is getting older, I don't really feel comfortable with it anymore. I don't want to go over the breaks, not just becuase of the crowds but the prices for everything triples.

Now all I have to do is make sure I make my ADRs as soon as the window opens up! :teeth:

[Letsbgoofy]

Have you thought about renting DVC points? That way you would have a full kitchen and much lower food costs.

[disneyjunkie]

That being said I was still tempted to enjoy the free dining plan. Here's the kicker though. The cooler months are value season for the hotels. I know I am saving over $100/day staying when its cool instead of the peak months so the extra $100 I will spend on food is offset by the $100 I am saving on the hotel. In my opinion it will probably even out in the end so its all about preference.




The room rates are the same price during the cooler months as they are during the free dining period. Free dining starts when the season change from regular to value.

For the value resorts, I believe value season Starts August 5 or August 13 next year.

It doesn't matter if you travel in August, September, first week of October( :confused3 )November-mid December, or January-Feb.14, the rack rates are the same.

I think most of October and some of November are regular season.

[kaysmommie]

I thought the dining plan was great , but it was so hot and humid in September. Dh and I agreed not totake the free dining next time and go over the Christmas holidays next time. It was so hot. Don't get me wrong free dining is the best deal, DH thought so too. He is a cheap skate but with free dining I got him to spend $800 more to stay at Poly over wL this trip. I would also love to rent points and stay at OKW or BCV next trip and just buy the dining plan.

[mama2ella]

we went in Sept one year I will not go back then...it was so hot that it ruined the trip. I would rather pay more and go when it's cool

[jcemom]

Although I'm not a big fan of the DDP (if I'm paying for it), since you stay Value I'd take the free DDP and go in September. Stay the extra couple of nights with your savings. Plan to be at the parks for opening, take a break midday when it's hottest, and head back to the parks in the evening. You might even consider using some of your TS credits for lunch to get a break from the heat. Plan to do the longer air-conditioned attractions when it's hottest out (3D movies, etc).

Room only discounts on Value resorts are generally only around 15.00 per night when they're offered. So, even if you were able to get one, that's not nearly the savings you'll realize with free dining. I'd look at it this way, since you'll only be paying about 15.00 extra per night on your room (assuming you could have gotten a discount to begin with), once you've eaten more than 15.00 in food you're ahead each day. ;)

If you don't want to do TS each night, don't. You're still getting a great value, no? How about booking Hoop De Doo Review or some other 2-credit meal? A night out with DH at a Signature Dining restaurant? Something you wouldn't normally budget for.

When we pay for the DDP we (meaning most of us) are constantly looking for the best value for our money...dinner instead of that character breakfast, for example. We went during free dining last year and it was great not worrying about what we were or weren't spending. It was only DS and I, so with just the two of us we didn't get as much 'free dining value' as a family of four, but it far exceeded the 15.00/night AP discount I gave up on our room. KWIM?

[momofbuzzfan]

We are staying at PC this December. There are 2A and 2C (3&7). We are paying $1710 ($1100 without dining) for 6 nocs, 7 day MYW base ticket, and dining. I plugged in some dates in Sept. for 6 nocs(3-9), 7 day MYW ticket and no dining (since we are seeing what it would be free) and it came to $1376. The difference is $334. Having had experience with both the free dining and going when it is cooler I would much rather go when it is cooler. Plus after thankgiving the Christmas decorations are up and it is just beautiful! It is our favorite time to go! IMO It is worth the extra couple hundred dollars to be comfortable. Afterall I usually don't have much of an appetite to enjoy the free dining when it is soooo hot and humid!

[coastgirl]

If you're going for 10 days, have you considered an AP? (For at least one member of your party, we bought one for dh.) Then you can get the DDE for $60, which I think is a good value (20% off most TS and a few CS). Plus the AP room rates, which are a bit of a crap shoot, but we are getting CBR for under $100/nt (not incl tax) in the Jan value season.

I am considerign the free dining option, as we will be there in January (if they extend the book-before-you-go-home thing), but really, we don't eat that way, so we're probably better off with the flexibility of DDE.

Our only trip so far was in May/June, and while we did ok with the heat (it's not my foremost memory, which is a good sign), it did waste a LOT of time on needed breaks and fatigue. But that's us.

Good luck with your decision!

[tiki23]

We just got back on Saturday and paid for the DDP. The weather was awesome! There were a couple of nights that we really needed a jacket and one or two times that the humidity was high for us - oh, and one evening and into the next morning it rained like crazy! - but having been to Florida in September before, I'll take the cooler temps of November, December and January.

The crowd levels were low, too. The longest we waited for anything, including the busses, was 15 minutes.

I loved the freedom of the DDP, being able to order whatever we wanted without worrying about the cost, but dang, it was way too much food, expecially for lunch. Well actually, my teenagers never had a problem with the amount of food. LOL I'm torn on whether I would have the DDP again because we spent so much time rushing to ADR's and then actually eating. The table service meals did provide a really nice break for us though, because we never took a break from the parks. Try as I might, my family just is not early risers so we got to the parks around 10-11 AM and stayed all day.

So after all that being said (my, how I do run on! :rotfl: ) for us it would be cooler temps and lower crowds rather than free dining. :teeth:

[neatokimmo]

If it helps any, we stayed at the Pop in Sept during free dining - 2 adults with free dining with non-hopper tickets was $958 for 2 people for 6 nights/days (stayed offsite the night before). The $20 we could of saved by waiting for a code wouldn't of covered our lunches.

[lori1043]

your my kind of WDW'er!!! This is about our budget each time we have gone!