Free dining or 40% and DDP

[RivaLJ]

I will be at CBR Pirate room with water view Aug.23-29.
I currently have the 40% code which makes it $805.98.(room only)

If I calculated correctly, to add the dining plan would be $306 (1 adult, 1 child) and the 1 day tickets would be $138, for a total of $1249.98.

If I choose the Free Dining Plan, the total comes to $1481(my calculations) or $1492.56 by WDW website.

So it seems, that for me and my son it is better to keep the 40% discount and pay OOP for dining.
I tried figuring out the budget for food w/o the plan for what we would eat, and there is not much of a difference between getting the plan or not.

Sure, they finally offer FD and it doesn't work for me.:sad2:

[Sandisw]

Free dining will save you about $51.00 per night. Based on the price of the Pirate room, you are saving between $70 - $80 per night--a better deal then free dining.

[DCDisney]

The 40% off is usually better than free dining unless you stay in a value resort or if you stay in a mod but have 3 or more adults in your room. For deluxe 40% is usually best.

[clc053103]

40% is a better deal for us as well - we do DxDP regardless so we compared apples to apples, both with DxDP.

[Soon2B4]

I compared FD to the 40% for us at CSR and the difference between the 2 was $150 more to pay for the DP out of pocket. I would rather go the week after X-mas than in the heat of Sept. We did it last year, but this year we will have a baby with us so I am willing to pay a little more for the better weather.