Free Dining? You be the judge.

[MisterPat]

Okay, so after all the threads dealing with the "no such thing as free dining," I was curious. On our recent trip (arrived home yesterday), we spent a week in Daytona, a 3 nt. Disney Cruise, and 3 nts. at POP. We were able to take advantage of the first three nights of the "free" dining plan. Total price for our three night stay was $590. Our family of 4 would have spent more than $590 for three days at a hotel and eating out had we gone anywhere on vacation.

That price included three nights at POP, 4, 1-day passes (all we could squeeze in with all of our remaining water park visits), and the DDP. We would have eaten everything we did on this trip with or without the DDP (except probably would not have allowed DD14 to order the NY Strip ). We ate our TS at Ohana, Chef Mickey's, and Captain's Grille. Counter servise at MK, POP, and Wolfgang Puck Express (our favorite).

So, I added up each and every meal and snacks and the grand total (not counting gratuities) came to $622.85.

Now, before the free dining came out, the plan was to stay at POP, dine on our own and purchase a one-day ticket for everyone. Usually, we purchase the multi-day ones, but plan to purchase AP on the next trip. So, when you add the cost of the POP ($69 per night) and the cost of the tix ($79 times 3 and $68) the grand total for this trip would have been over $1100.

So, for all the nay-sayers, you are correct. There is no such thing as "free dining." We just spent $590 for $622.85 worth of food and received free park tickets and free accommodations.

[princessmom29]

Totally the same for us. I quit counting on day 3 of a 5 day trip whe we had already saved $200. When I got home and added it up the DDP that we paid saved us almost $500 on food we would have eaten anyway. This year we are getting free DDp and by my calculations we are saving $900 over 7 days, which is almost half of what our hotel and 7 day park tickets cost!!

[Christine]

I'm not necessarily a naysayer, but I think in certain instances, it might not be a good deal.

I just went to Disney with 6 people. All teens/adults. I don't want to squeeze into a tiny room at the POP with double beds. Just won't work. At a minimum, I need two rooms and three would be perfect. So I rented a townhouse for a week for $700. There is no way I could have stayed that cheaply with my party. I think it would not have been worth it for me.

[Amy&Dan]

It all depends on your variables. You had four people, you stayed at a value. That is when it really does add up the savings. Had you just had two of you and stayed at a deluxe, you might have come out better not doing it the way you did. Also, if you have teenagers, its great to have free dining since to pay for that dining would cost you $40 per kid. If you have younger kids that are under 10, the savings is less becasue their dining, had you paid for it would have been less.

I think you have to look at Free Dining as a $40 per person, per day discount. If you get a 40% pin code for the Poly, that might save you more since that is a high rack rate, especially if you have only two people in the room. I mean to get free dining at the Poly for two people, you'd have to pay rack. No way is that time going to save you more over a pin code or AP discount.

So obviously if you get a $160 discount on a package where the room is only $85 a night, you have maxed out the savings far more than other scenarios.

Bear in mind there are people who have done the math just like you did and not come out as well. So again, it just depends on your situation. But I am thrilled for you that it came out to such a nice big savings!

So not a naysayer here, but rather a "do your research" kind of person. For sure it can be a huge savings, but not always.

[LaughingGravy]

We ate over $1000 worth, not including tip, when the appetizers and tip were included on the FDP in '05, and that's for a family of 4.

There's a lot of talk about, "Yeah, but you pay rack rate."
$79 is an excellent price for a room for right on Disney property with transportation and that Disney feeling of the on-site immersion included.

Factor in the DME, too.

For sure, the value resorts get the best end of the deal, which I think annoys those that stay in the moderate or deluxe. Those are pretty significant increases in lodging pricing.

I'd be ticked too, but I can't afford the upper levels and will gladly "slum it" for the minor differences.

--Gee...no hot tub or slide at the pool? OK. There's still a pool, and themed,too. I don't need to try and pool hop. Mod and Deluxe people pay more, let them have their pool. I can't believe people actually pool hop.
That's a lot of effort to try to "stick it to the man".

--No sit down restaurant? I eat sit downs at the parks.

--Room smaller? Eh, I sleep and shower and spend quality time with my family.
It's OK if quarters are a little close during a family vacation.

--Bus stop isn't covered? I have a nice hat. I'll be using that hat in the parks,too.


This time around though, no appetizers and no tip.

That's OK, I don't tip anyway.....JOKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Though I do feel that when the servers were guaranteed 18% with the FDP, that there were some who just didn't care. We saw it a couple of times.

We tip well when the service deserves it.We don't tip as well when it's not, and unless something really awful happens with no restitution, no one ever gets a penny tip or anything obnoxious like a note. The tip is just downgraded, accordingly.

You know what?
This time we won't be eating $1000 at their prices.
It's a shorter trip besides (4 nights vs. 6 last time), but still makes the difference between us going and not.
I'd estimate we'll be not shelling out $600 in OOP food due to the FDP for 4 days.
$600 is $600. That's being conservative. It'll probably add up to more once we see the receipts.

We're at the end of the Value Free Dining CS and TS before they changed it to CS only.
The CS dining plans include the refillable mug now per person(!) and 2 snacks per day per person. That's practically a full meal during Food and Wine! If I didn't enjoy the TS so much, I'd ask to downgrade.

I bet the refillable mug is the first to go off the new plan.

[Minnie Lor]

Wow! Some of you did great! Congrats. I know it doesn't work for me because it's just one in the room. So I stick with $49 a night rate and eat just a few table service on my own dime.

[cdtommie]

If you have AP's like we do it is really a good deal because your can apply those $79 one day passes towards your AP renewal which makes this component a zero cost item for us.

[My2Angels]

All I know is that it saved me $790 off of my trip total for December, and I know for a fact that if I ate the exact same meals that I have planned, which I would want to do, I would spend WAY more than that $790 for food on our 7night/8day trip!

[Rhonna]

Like a pp said, it depends on your circumstances.

We are two adults staying at AKL savannah view, mid-Nov. which is regular season. I did my math and the resort room discount is saving us more than the dining plan would. There is no way we could eat enough to make it worthwhile.

I can totally see where a family of 4 staying at a value resort would likely come out ahead with the dining plan.

[Rip]

It's free, Disney makes its profit by giving things away.

[sunluvr]

I think so much depends on your preferences. We were at WDW the week before "Free Dining". We stayed at the WL and were able to take advantage of the buy 4 get 3 free deal. This was definetly at better deal for us. At the end of the week, I calculated up all we ate including a WeGoShop delivery, alcohol and tips and it was still less than the dining plan would have been. We are 4 adults for the dining plan and generally do not eat dessert. We would much rather have appetizers. Additonally, we learned on this trip that we cannot eat a big seat down dinner every night. We ordered what we wanted and it still cost us less than the dining plan. That being said I think it is different for everyone and you just need to take into account your family's eating habits.

[Aimeedyan]

Just depends on your family, eating style, hotel choice, and other discounts.

I don't need ANY tickets and I get 40% off room rates (all levels). Obviously, paying rack rate and buying a ticket is not going to save me any money.

Add to that, I will not buy dessert at restaurants and most of the time, no drink. I don't need the calories and have plenty to eat with the meal itself. I also prefer eating a signature spot, which is not much more pricey than many table service spots UNLESS you are using up 2 credits for it. Then it becomes twice as pricey. Again, cheaper to pay OOP instead of using those credits.

We've run the numbers, but since adding back in the tip and taking away the appetizer it is NOT cheaper for us to go with the free dining campaign. We went a few years ago when it included both and felt it was a better deal. Plus we stayed value, which is not my preference.

I'm glad it worked for your family, but it's not across the board a better deal.

[stmize]

I was able to upgrade to a mod and still saved $1300. great savings for us especially since we were going to purchase DDP anyway

[Mom21]

I'm going 3 times between now and Dec with my 12yo. She and I both have Fl Resident AP's. Here is how it worked out for me. Sept at CSR with free dining and had to get a 1 day ticket for each of us was only $450 more than room only. Subtract off the $160 for tickets (I'll use them another time to upgrade to AP's) then we are eating for $290.00 for 4/5 days. We will eat that much or break even maybe. November-3 nights at POFQ was only $353 more for free dining and 2 more 1 day tickets--so we are dining for $193. Dec at Poly for 4 nights was over $700 more. Not worth it so I got room only. Also I'm thinking we will be tired of Disney dining by that time I look at each and decide. Now what do I do with 4 tickets when we have AP's??

[disneyfav4ever]

I think it's a good deal depending on where you stay and how many people are in your party. I just don't consider it free.