Free Dining/Disney Dining Plan: Not the Best Deal?

[McIntoshTx]

This is our third year going for free dining, and it's a big part of what makes our trips possible. Considering our "bills" for the table service meals are usually around $300, there is no way we could swing that daily even with a discount on two rooms. Not to mention the counter service and snacks which we really make s-t-r-e-t-c-h! I'm hoping they continue the promotion because otherwise we'd need to stay somewhere where I could cook (and that doesn't sound much like a vacation!).

Yikes that is alot of kids

 

[goofyredraider]

For us, DDP = not having to think about/budget money while we are on vacation. If we did, I know my husband would just say, "I'm not hungry", and I wouldn't order much, either...all in favor of not spending $, even if we were hungry.

That said, we get the room discount, and for now, 3 of us will be considered adults and 2 children. When all of us are considered adults, then we will re-evaluate things. As for now, my room discount = $3000, and the dining costs us ~ $1800 for 10 days. So, the room discount without "locked-in" dates works for us.

 

[jojbell4]

Food is a very large part of why my husband loves going to Disney. He likes to try all the different table service restaurants. We would not be able to eat a TS meal each night without the dining plan. Our stays are about family fun, and that includes meal time. We do a lot of character meals too as my son is still very much interested in them. We have 4 scheduled with our trip that will begin in 2 weeks! The first time we came to Disney we were total newbies who knew nothing and I paid full price for the room and the dining plan on top of that. The second time we went we had a 40% off room discount and paid for the DP. The third time we went we had a 30% off room discount and paid for the DP. Now we are paying summer rates with a free dining plan. My son is now 10, so a Disney adult. He is a big eater who also likes to try new foods, so having the DP will allow him to try meals he may not have gotten a chance to before. For me I love that lunch and dinner are taken care of. I don't have to worry about setting aside money for food or snacks. It is already taken care of through the DP. For us we get the DP with every visit and it is just a huge plus when it is free.

 

[styron]

I'm so sorry to ask this, but I am having a lot of trouble figuring out where to price out the AP room discount rate. I have the code, but where on the Disney website do I put in a code?

 

[tony609]

It really all depends on how many are in your party and what type of accomodations you are booking. For our family, it is the best deal.

Agreed, even for us 2 adults staying value with an upgraded Fd plan to include TS it's a great deal. Especially after paying $80 oop once for chef mickey's OUCH! We do a lot of Ts meals, I hate CS it's so limiting in mho and awful. Plus I love pop, tried other resorts, I hate paying for amenities I don't use, we are not pool on vacation people. FD saves us $$$$.

 

[danceintherain]

I just recommended Free Dining to a friend. Even though it wouldn't be a good deal for us on our next trip, it would be for them. (and our next trip doesn't have discounts yet, but for argument's sake we'll pretend I get to go to Disney next spring)

Our group composition is basically the same, except we have an under 3 and they don't, so for cost sake both parties consist of 2 adults.

They want to stay at Pop Century on their next trip, we want to stay at the Wilderness Lodge.
They definitely want the Dining Plan, but we're not sure (having a baby/toddler complicates ADRs). We'll probably buy it for our next trip, but maybe not.
Both parties have access to the military room-only discount, which is just about as good as room discounts get.

Free Dining at the Value resorts only includes the Quick Service plan, however, for two adults that's a savings of around $70/night. When rack rate can be as little as $92/night, that's a pretty hefty savings. Even if they spend the extra $20/night (or so) to upgrade to the regular plan, it's still a better deal for them than the $30/night or so that they'd save with the 30% off military room only. If I coach my friend on the Dining Plan, I have faith that she'll get the highest value out of it as possible, and fully enjoy doing so.

For us, it's not so grand. Even though the Deluxe resorts include the regular dining plan, which has been upped to almost $55/night next year. Even with the savings of $110/night, depending on which season we went during, it probably wouldn't be that great of a deal. If we go during Value season and can get a standard room, then it looks better than the 40% off we could get through the military. If there's no availability in a standard room with Free Dining, which is likely, then the scales tip towards the % off discount. Then there's the issue of whether or not we would purchase the Dining Plan, if it wasn't "free." My husband LOVEs it. He's a big eater and we hardly ever eat as well as we do at Disney. Even without the Dining Plan, I tend to schedule 1 TS meal a day to appease him. We don't necessarily always order dessert, and sometimes find water sufficient with our meals, so in general we can come out ahead without the Dining Plan. Honestly, I'm not sure what we'll do on our next trip should Free Dining be offered. In general, I want to try the Deluxe plan, but I don't know if we will or not. My husband wants more relaxed touring next time, and I don't know if making and keeping ADRs fits that bill for him.

I think the basic thing to understand about Free Dining, and the Dining Plan in general, is that it is not a guaranteed discount. It takes a bit of planning to actually get the full value out of it. I'm sure this is why Disney keeps offering it year after year. The DIS is a small cross section (and a biased one at that) of Disney goers. It's not entirely un-free, but it's not entirely free either. It's a win-win for Disney. It fills their restaurants and the non-included tip pads the wages of their employees. If someone doesn't use one of their entitlements, then Disney pockets that money.

A % off discount is straight forward. You save exactly that amount every night. Free dining can be anywhere from entirely free (savings) "I would eat exactly like that even without the dining plan" to more expensive "I didn't understand my entitlements and paid out of pocket sometimes."
If the bulk of Disney goers learned to understand the Dining Plan completely, then Disney would probably stop offering it for "free."

 

[WDWFigment]

For us, DDP = not having to think about/budget money while we are on vacation. If we did, I know my husband would just say, "I'm not hungry", and I wouldn't order much, either...all in favor of not spending $, even if we were hungry.

That said, we get the room discount, and for now, 3 of us will be considered adults and 2 children. When all of us are considered adults, then we will re-evaluate things. As for now, my room discount = $3000, and the dining costs us ~ $1800 for 10 days. So, the room discount without "locked-in" dates works for us.

I get this--from a psychological perspective, the Disney Dining Plan lets you relax and not think about prices.

It's one of the reasons we did the Dining Plan on our honeymoon, but we found that we were still thinking about prices (trying to order the most expensive items to maximize our value). Since then, we've tried to just get past the psychology of it all, and order what we want, when we want.

Food is a very large part of why my husband loves going to Disney. He likes to try all the different table service restaurants. We would not be able to eat a TS meal each night without the dining plan. Our stays are about family fun, and that includes meal time. We do a lot of character meals too as my son is still very much interested in them. We have 4 scheduled with our trip that will begin in 2 weeks! The first time we came to Disney we were total newbies who knew nothing and I paid full price for the room and the dining plan on top of that. The second time we went we had a 40% off room discount and paid for the DP. The third time we went we had a 30% off room discount and paid for the DP. Now we are paying summer rates with a free dining plan. My son is now 10, so a Disney adult. He is a big eater who also likes to try new foods, so having the DP will allow him to try meals he may not have gotten a chance to before. For me I love that lunch and dinner are taken care of. I don't have to worry about setting aside money for food or snacks. It is already taken care of through the DP. For us we get the DP with every visit and it is just a huge plus when it is free.

This is what I don't quite understand. Assuming the Dining Plan only saves you about 20-30% IF you maximize its value and IF your eating habits align with it perfectly (so you don't force yourself to overconsume or have leftover credits), you could save almost as much with Tables in Wonderland.

If even one of those assumptions is false (it doesn't save you that much, you don't maximize its value, you overconsume because of it, or you have leftover credits), it doesn't save you money.

You say it's a huge plus if it's free, but as you demonstrated earlier in your post, it's not free, because there are alternate discounts you're getting if you don't get it.

I can understand it being nice to have your food pre-paid, but what would be so different about setting aside money before the vacation in weekly increments and purchasing Disney gift cards with that money (if you really need the psychological disconnect).

I'm not trying to attack the quoted poster--this is just a general comment--it makes me cringe when I read remarks about the dining plan allowing people not to worry about money on vacation because it's pre-paid so they don't fear their credit card bill after the trip. Comments like that, to me, are indicative of the lack of budgeting so pervasive in our society, and endemic of many of our present "problems."


With all of the compulsive planning Disney fans do, is it really that difficult to look at menus in advance of a trip and get a rough idea of what dining will cost and set aside that amount of money in advance? Granted, it may not be the exact amount food costs, but err on the side of setting aside too much if that's a concern.

 

[newdeal]

if you stay value its probably the best deal since normally room discounts are around 25% which is really only $25 a day for your whole group. Free dining is definitely a better deal than that even if its only quick service

 

[eliza61]

I get this--from a psychological perspective, the Disney Dining Plan lets you relax and not think about prices.

It's one of the reasons we did the Dining Plan on our honeymoon, but we found that we were still thinking about prices (trying to order the most expensive items to maximize our value). Since then, we've tried to just get past the psychology of it all, and order what we want, when we want.



I can understand it being nice to have your food pre-paid, but what would be so different about setting aside money before the vacation in weekly increments and purchasing Disney gift cards with that money (if you really need the psychological disconnect).

.

I think this is soooo true. I can't tell you how many post we routinely have asking "how to maximize" the plan. so the argument that "you don't think about food prices" is patently false. People here think about it constantly, that's why they give you advice like "don't use your ts credits for breakfast" and "what restaurants are worth 2 ts credits and what are not".

I read tons of post where people say they are full yet force themselves to get the dessert so as to not "waste" money.

For the general threads here, folks on the ddp most definitely obsess over the cost of the meals.

 

[angierae]

For those already paying rack and going anyway regardless, it can be a handy thing.

We're going with two adults and two disney adults. Adding the two teenagers doesn't up the price of my ROOM any, but it does up the cost of our food. We're staying mod. By taking the "free" dining we could have saved approximately $1200. We'd have to get the entire room free for the 7 nights to make up that kind of money.

Now, we upgraded to DxDP, but we're still only paying $33 pp for food per day. Considering we're going the week before Easter and had expected to pay full rack rates for everything, it's still a HUGE deal for us - we saved $500 and we get 3 TS meals a day.

(And there's no worry about "maximizing" our cost because we just paid $33 pp per day. Spending $33 a day on food at Disney can be done without even thinking about it - can often be done with ONE MEAL.)

 

[kerplop]

I think it really does depend on who you are, your eating style, and your touring style. Also the discounts you can get on the room you're staying in. All I can do is speak for myself, but with two of us that are big eaters the DDP actually works out well. We got it for "free", basically a $735 value (for $165), and I have no doubt that we'll eat every dollar's worth because we are big eaters. The discount for value at 30% (the pin I had) was only $300 and I will tell you now that I couldn't eat for 8n/9d on that. So for us even the free QSDP would have been a good deal - we just happen to like TS meals and the variety of them so we spent to upgrade. Even if we upgraded and did 30% off a moderate, it would still only be $555 in discounts and I don't think we could eat for that either. Now you take someone who tours commando, shares meals, and ends up eating everything cheap on the menu? DDP is a terrible value for them, especially if they can get a discount that would cover food costs on its own and allows them to eat OOP for less than that.

 

[WDWFigment]

We're going with two adults and two disney adults. Adding the two teenagers doesn't up the price of my ROOM any, but it does up the cost of our food. We're staying mod. By taking the "free" dining we could have saved approximately $1200. We'd have to get the entire room free for the 7 nights to make up that kind of money.

Now, we upgraded to DxDP, but we're still only paying $33 pp for food per day. Considering we're going the week before Easter and had expected to pay full rack rates for everything, it's still a HUGE deal for us - we saved $500 and we get 3 TS meals a day.

(And there's no worry about "maximizing" our cost because we just paid $33 pp per day. Spending $33 a day on food at Disney can be done without even thinking about it - can often be done with ONE MEAL.)

Very good points--I thought adding more people (than 2) did increase the price of the room, though? Granted, it's always just my wife and I, so I have no first hand experience.

Isn't there pretty much always some room-only discount available? Whether it be AAA, AP, or general public? We always book around the discounts, because I'd never be willing to pay the inflated rack rate at WDW.

 

[mking624]

This is what I don't quite understand. Assuming the Dining Plan only saves you about 20-30% IF you maximize its value and IF your eating habits align with it perfectly (so you don't force yourself to overconsume or have leftover credits), you could save almost as much with Tables in Wonderland.

If even one of those assumptions is false (it doesn't save you that much, you don't maximize its value, you overconsume because of it, or you have leftover credits), it doesn't save you money.

You say it's a huge plus if it's free, but as you demonstrated earlier in your post, it's not free, because there are alternate discounts you're getting if you don't get it.

I can understand it being nice to have your food pre-paid, but what would be so different about setting aside money before the vacation in weekly increments and purchasing Disney gift cards with that money (if you really need the psychological disconnect).

I'm not trying to attack the quoted poster--this is just a general comment--it makes me cringe when I read remarks about the dining plan allowing people not to worry about money on vacation because it's pre-paid so they don't fear their credit card bill after the trip. Comments like that, to me, are indicative of the lack of budgeting so pervasive in our society, and endemic of many of our present "problems."


With all of the compulsive planning Disney fans do, is it really that difficult to look at menus in advance of a trip and get a rough idea of what dining will cost and set aside that amount of money in advance? Granted, it may not be the exact amount food costs, but err on the side of setting aside too much if that's a concern.

Here what I don't quite understand... why are you making this such an issue? You're taking someone's view of the dining plan and now turning it into something reflective of society's lack of budgeting?
I know you started this out wanting to help people who didn't know to crunch the numbers. But now it's almost like if posters don't come up with a good enough reasons, they face a lecture. A person's reasons for choosing free dining doesn't affect you in any way. People who posted here are now obviously aware about doing the math... so let them choose what they feel is best for them. If that means free dining, even if you don't like their reasons, so be it. Not everyone should have to choose a deal based on what others think is the way to go. If it works for them, even if you don't understand why, then just be happy they found a deal they like better. It doesn't mean it reflect society or anything like that (which is way overanalyzing it), it just means they chose the deal they prefer. Deals are based on what a person believes is the better value for them. And not all "value" is monetary.

ETA: I'm not trying to start an argument or anything. If you feel the way you're handling it is best, that is awesome. Obviously you want to get the most for your money. I think others do too, but again not all value is monetary. And since that's the case, I just view it as a "to each his own" and will only focus on *my* vacation and why I choose a deal. I have helped plan vacations for many friends and let them know all the deals, break it down by cost, etc. But in the end, they choose what they prefer...and I'm ok with that. It's their vacation after all, and they need to choose not just what best suits their budget, but also what they like.

 

[kstgelais4]

This is our third year going for free dining, and it's a big part of what makes our trips possible. Considering our "bills" for the table service meals are usually around $300, there is no way we could swing that daily even with a discount on two rooms. Not to mention the counter service and snacks which we really make s-t-r-e-t-c-h! I'm hoping they continue the promotion because otherwise we'd need to stay somewhere where I could cook (and that doesn't sound much like a vacation!).

This is us... Really the FD makes the trip a reality for us, that may not have been otherwise.
We were booked at POP with a room discount of approximately $550. I could not feed my family of 8 for 9 days with that on ANY vacation. Forget about disney world.
We have done the whole staying in a villa and cooking (and cleaning!) thing. We ate 1 character meal that trip, because the cost was so high. While we had a fantastic trip, FD has made it possible for ME to have a vacation this time.

Agreed, even for us 2 adults staying value with an upgraded Fd plan to include TS it's a great deal. Especially after paying $80 oop once for chef mickey's OUCH! We do a lot of Ts meals, I hate CS it's so limiting in mho and awful. Plus I love pop, tried other resorts, I hate paying for amenities I don't use, we are not pool on vacation people. FD saves us $$$$.

LOL, last trip the bill at Chef Mickey's was $150 before tip, for breakfast. My DH asked me to cancel the other character meal we had booked. We know that Disney is expensive, but as soon as you see it in print it becomes a much harsher reality.

I have been wanting to take my dd's to Akershus forever, but I always found better ways to spend that money. This year FD has enabled us to take them, and we can't wait.

 

[angierae]

Very good points--I thought adding more people (than 2) did increase the price of the room, though? Granted, it's always just my wife and I, so I have no first hand experience.

Isn't there pretty much always some room-only discount available? Whether it be AAA, AP, or general public? We always book around the discounts, because I'd never be willing to pay the inflated rack rate at WDW.

Adding someone over 18 raises the price of the room, adding minors (even disney adults) does not.

Also, according to whichever website it is that tracks discounts, last year at the veeeeeeery last minute they offered some room discounts for the week before easter - 30% on mods, maybe? I can't remember off the top of my head. That would have saved us about $500, but we still would have been on DDP. Now we've saved $500 and we're on DXDP (yes, we'll have more in tips, but not $500.)

 

[Br'erBriere]

Being a DVC member, I don't have access to the free dining any longer. Though when we did pay for trips on a yearly basis the free Dining was just simply always the better option for our family.

I think there are too many variables to make a generalization that it is or isn't worth it. It comes down to when you go, what hotel, what are your eating habits, how many adults/kids you have with you etc.

A big part of the marketing for this is that people will not worry about bringing/buying food and could possibly use that money they set aside for that to spend more nights at the hotel and also buy more souveniers.

 

[WDWFigment]

Here what I don't quite understand... why are you making this such an issue? You're taking someone's view of the dining plan and now turning it into something reflective of society's lack of budgeting?
I know you started this out wanting to help people who didn't know to crunch the numbers. But now it's almost like if posters don't come up with a good enough reasons, they face a lecture. A person's reasons for choosing free dining doesn't affect you in any way. People who posted here are now obviously aware about doing the math... so let them choose what they feel is best for them. If that means free dining, even if you don't like their reasons, so be it. Not everyone should have to choose a deal based on what others think is the way to go. If it works for them, even if you don't understand why, then just be happy they found a deal they like better. It doesn't mean it reflect society or anything like that (which is way overanalyzing it), it just means they chose the deal they prefer. Deals are based on what a person believes is the better value for them. And not all "value" is monetary.

To your last point, I totally agree. I guess that's something important to remember.

I shouldn't have quoted another poster with my post that you quoted, because it does make it look like I'm lecturing that person. That wasn't my intent. I've responded 6 times in this thread, 2 of those times to concede good points made by advocates of free dining, so I don't think I'm lecturing everyone who likes free dining. In some circumstances, I like it (and I would get it again).

Maybe you view it as over-analyzing, but I think people spending more money for the sake of convenience instead of performing their due diligence is certainly representative of a growing financial irresponsibility in our society. However, this isn't a forum for discussing the societal ills of the world, so I guess I'll keep my mouth shut on that one going forward.

Adding someone over 18 raises the price of the room, adding minors (even disney adults) does not.

Ahhh, I didn't realize it. Now that would REALLY make free dining a good deal!

 

[Chipndalenut]

Our family is happy with the DP. We have stayed in the delux resorts in the past but really don't use the ammenities because we love to spend our time in the parks, so now we stay in the value resorts and save a LOT of money!! Free dining then does save us money. We always use our TS for dinner at character meals and restaurants that serve steak and shrimp, like the Yak N Yeti. We like the buffets for the great variety of fresh salads and, of course, the characters !!

So, yes, it certainly does depend on your choice of resorts and the type of meals you book. I'm grateful that Disney offers different options with dining plans. Can't wait to use our free dining in October

 

[mishkamushka]

I don't play the "maximize the dining plan" game. I eat what we want when we want. I do the deluxe but if I want to spend a table service credit at Casey's oh well -- and if I don't want dessert one night, I'm not going to order it just because it's part of my plan.

Once I'm down there I could care less. All I know is, I only have to bring money for tips and my two year old's food.

Oh and this will blow some people's minds ... if I have one or two extra credits at the end of the vaca I don't care. I'll probably just run to Roaring Forks and get some none perishable foods for the plane home.

 

[mking624]

To your last point, I totally agree. I guess that's something important to remember.

I shouldn't have quoted another poster with my post that you quoted, because it does make it look like I'm lecturing that person. That wasn't my intent. I've responded 6 times in this thread, 2 of those times to concede good points made by advocates of free dining, so I don't think I'm lecturing everyone who likes free dining. In some circumstances, I like it (and I would get it again).

Maybe you view it as over-analyzing, but I think people spending more money for the sake of convenience instead of performing their due diligence is certainly representative of a growing financial irresponsibility in our society. However, this isn't a forum for discussing the societal ills of the world, so I guess I'll keep my mouth shut on that one going forward.

I think if we were talking about spending in general day to day life, then I'd be more concerned about it reflecting society as a whole. But we're talking about vacation, and since that's not a normal every day expense, it would be impossible to say it definitely reflects it. Vacation is out out of the norm expense, even for those who take a few vacations a year. To compare someone's spending to society ills, you'd need to look at their daily spending habits. And if their daily spending habits showed they were careless with money, then I'd say you're right. But since vacation in itself is a luxury, we could argue that vacation in general is a waste and being careless with money...regardless of whatever deal they choose. Anyway, I hope you saw my edit of my previous post because like I said there, I didn't want to argue or anything. I'm not really posting in defense of free dining, I know in certain circumstances that room only discounts can be better. I, personally, do number crunch...though since I've done it several times now, I have a general idea of what what the numbers are anyway (so I don't focus too hard on it anymore). Actually I have two trips coming up, and my second falls during the second "round" of free dining and my check in date is 3 days before it starts. I have my room booked with a room only discount. I know some people book two ressies in order to get free dining if their check in was before it started...for me, it just wouldn't be cost effective. My room only discount gives me a much better deal. So I did want to say I'm not this free dining rabid defender.