*Free* Dining is available - but it might not be what you want to hear!

[ilovebassets]

I have a question for the *free* dining enthusiasts:

Would you pay the OOP cost for any of the dining plans? IOW, do you feel that they are worth the price tag that Disney puts on them?

We would never pay OOP for any of the dining plans and do not feel that they are worth the price tag Disney puts on them. For us staying at Fort Wilderness, the free dining plan comes out slightly ahead of the room only discount, so we go with free dining. In reality, we could be better off taking the room only discount and just paying OOP for our meals and getting what we want since we don't tend to order the most expensive items. That said, there is NO WAY I would ever pay OOP for ANY of the character meals or buffets that are offered (aside from Trails End and Boma breakfast). Nor would I ever buy a refillable mug. I just could not bring myself to do it. So for us, going with free dining adds an element of fun to our trip by "allowing" us to eat a places we would never normally go. In the end, I think the difference in price for us between the two discounts comes out in the wash/

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

My problem with it is the hotels are dramatically overpriced. So you are paying twice what the room quality is worth for "free" dining? Hmm... even if it's free I can't get past they "you want that much for this quality of room and service" LOL!

Not to mention that the food quality is such that I don't want to eat on property that much LOL!

I am pretty much over Disney and the "charge more, give less" mentality. For my weekend in September I am at the Swan. Got it for $190 a night plus the add ons... Or I could get "free dining" at a Disney Deluxe with a $350 a night hotel room. Hmmm.... so free just cost me $100 a night and is forcing me to eat at Disney instead of at the better quality resturants at the Swan/Dolphin. Doesn't seem to be a good deal for us

 

[aaarcher86]

My problem with it is the hotels are dramatically overpriced. So you are paying twice what the room quality is worth for "free" dining? Hmm... even if it's free I can't get past they "you want that much for this quality of room and service" LOL!

Not to mention that the food quality is such that I don't want to eat on property that much LOL!

I guess that's fine, but I'd end up eating on property and staying in their rooms anyway.

I personally think the price of the values and moderates is slightly inflated, but not outrageous. It's the deluxe resorts that have my eyes bulging. But I will say we stayed in a hotel in Boston that was equivalent in price and it was basically the same thing they offer, with less amenities.

 

[ELSA711]

I guess that's fine, but I'd end up eating on property and staying in their rooms anyway.

I personally think the price of the values and moderates is slightly inflated, but not outrageous. It's the deluxe resorts that have my eyes bulging. But I will say we stayed in a hotel in Boston that was equivalent in price and it was basically the same thing they offer, with less amenities.

I didn't find POR or CBR this year overpriced. I'm paying maybe $20 more per night on them and getting FD for my family so it works. I have young kids who love staying onsite and eating the character meals..etc.
Now as my kids are getting older, we may go off site more to the other parks in the area but for now, saving 1000-1400 on food works for us and we never have to spend any other money on food, except momma's F&W beverages once in awhile!

 

[disney-inspired]

Disney is smart and won't change the wording but basically this is a discounted dining plan because now they require you to add on the parkhopper or water parks and more option to your tickets.

It still saves us more money to use the Armed Forces Salute (AFS) room discount, AFS hoppers and pay OOP for the dining plan. Even more so because we are splitting the cost of the room.

If it's available, I will book the BB offer when we are there in September because we won't be eligible for the AFS discount next year (if it's renewed through 2016).

 

[donac]

I just booked for Oct but not the free dining. My friends already have their tickets and we don't have time for the water parks. Dh and I are going to be there 2 nights earlier so it is easier to book a room. We did book the dining plan because my friend wanted it.

 

[wdw4rfam]

This is where I find the math gets convoluted.

You see it as a $240/night savings because that's what the dining plans cost. I think the comparison makes more sense when you look at what the family would normally spend on room + tickets + eating the way they prefer and then compare that number to what they have to spend on a *free* dining package for the same dates.

We stay moderate, 20% discount per night is about $50 per night. Show me where 4 people can eat for $50. I know we can eat for cheaper than he dining plan cost. But trust me I re figured with a room discount and tix from UT, with what we would actually spend eating and it is still cheaper. Now for my parents, two adults in a room it's about the same as a room discount.

 

[Marionnette]

We stay moderate, 20% discount per night is about $50 per night. Show me where 4 people can eat for $50. I know we can eat for cheaper than he dining plan cost. But trust me I re figured with a room discount and tix from UT, with what we would actually spend eating and it is still cheaper. Now for my parents, two adults in a room it's about the same as a room discount.

Again, I never said that it wasn't a good deal for some families. But it's only a "savings" equal to the cost of the dining plan if you would have purchased the dining plan, bought non-discounted tickets with hopping (or WPF&M) AND would have paid the rack rate for the room anyway. The truth is, the savings for most people is much less than that. It may still cost less overall but a lot of people look at the price tag for the dining plan and only take that into consideration instead of doing all of the math like you did.

 

[disney-inspired]

Yes the Deluxe resorts are expensive but you should see the Disneyland Resort hotel prices! The Grand Californian is rarely any less than $350 a night, IN LOW SEASON! I can only stay there is we have an AP discount and split it 4-5 ways hahah.

I feel like you get way more for your money at the deluxe resorts in WDW. I don't know if I can ever justify staying at one unless we get a villa and split the cost among three families. Moderates are at a comfortable price for me and I feel I get my money's worth there with service and ambience.

 

[deide71]

Again, I never said that it wasn't a good deal for some families. But it's only a "savings" equal to the cost of the dining plan if you would have purchased the dining plan, bought non-discounted tickets with hopping (or WPF&M) AND would have paid the rack rate for the room anyway. The truth is, the savings for most people is much less than that. It may still cost less overall but a lot of people look at the price tag for the dining plan and only take that into consideration instead of doing all of the math like you did.

I agree. I don't think I am saving $2100 (cost of DP for 5 Disney adults for 7 nights). I added up the cost of what we would spend on food for a week. I figured the 4 TS we really wanted (Boma, 'Ohana, Kona and 1900 Park Fare), 50 CS meals ( sharing drinks and no dessert) and snacks throughout the week. I realized we would spend 1500-1700 for the week on food if we paid out of pocket.

We always add water parks so I do not see the upgraded ticket as an additional cost.

5 of us at Port Orleans Riverside with 5 day water park fun and more tickets and the dining plan came out to $3500. After a careful analysis I feel I got a great deal.

 

[lauradis]

I think the "savings" is based on what you want out of your Disney vacation. Plus its kinda of an oxymoron statement to say I saved on vacation.

Any ways My oldest daughter got "free" dinning for $700 less then her original package price. Used that discount to add her sister and is still $65 less then the original price of what she was willing to pay.

Sure she could have done it cheaper, without "free" dinning, but she wanted the dinning plan, the resort she pick and the table services she wants to go to.

 

[midnightlouise]

For us, it's more about getting to eat at some really great places while on vacation without having to count every penny, or having leave the parks to go eat fast food or a sandwich in our room. We're going to CBR this year, and since we generally stay at moderates, typically in an upgraded room, all we did was add hoppers onto our tickets, which we'd talked about doing anyway. We have 2 adults and 2 boys over 10, so for us, the free dining really is free. We were already planning to pay around 3Kish for the trip without the DDP, and then we'd still have to pay for food on top of that. So while this does save us money, it's closer to a savings of $1000, which is about what we would have paid for food out of pocket. It's not the $1700 cost of the dining plan, because we'd never have bought that to begin with, but now we get to have the fun of eating at some of our favorite Disney places with no additional cost. I'm a huge fan of free dining, but again, I can see that it wouldn't work for everyone.

 

[mercydisney]

After a lot of debate with myself, I decided to price free dining. Monday, could not get through, tuesday busy, Wednesday call back computers are down. I gave up, but friday I am sitting in bed not doing anything I decided to check my dates on Disney website. WOW!! the same dates and same view was available. I have AP and would have to buy 3 2 day hoppers, but heck I will just renew the day we check in and pay the difference. I was paying for QS meal out of pocket because my 2 teenage girls begged me for it because they enjoyed the plan last yr.\

I should mention I booked a BB offer before the free dining
Let me break down my savings
BB offer - $1150.56 includes CBR waterview rm with QS meal
FD offer- $1650.00 includes 3x's 2 day tickets with hopper, regular meal plan!!!!
I think I made out on this one.
What I am really excited about is that my girls will be doing many Buffets that we would not do if I did not get the
free dining.

 

[tnd]

I ran the numbers with both the free dining and the RO discount for our dates for 10 days at a family suite at AoA. Assuming an upgrade to the regular dining plan (which is about $500 for 3 Disney adults and one child), it was about $1100 more expensive for the "free dining". However, $110/day to feed 4 is difficult for the way we like to eat. I do usually stock some breakfast items and snacks in our room, but I don't really cook while we are on vacation, and we don't bring anything into the parks except water. We'd be buying the mugs and doing several character meals in any event, so the cost of those make up the difference between the free QSDP and the upgrade. I am happy with the deal we are getting and we are adding a few additional meals we've never tried.

We always go in late August and we always do the park hopper and water parks upgrade, so the deal works for us. We would have gone anyway, and booked largely the same thing, though I probably would not have paid for the DDP. It doesn't mean I would not have paid the same or more for food, I just never think about adding it because I don't like to pay up front. Overall, I am happy with the deal, but you really do have to do some math to make sure it works.

 

[DuckyMommy]

For me FD was an unexpected surprise! We made our reservation for the Christmas season at CBR with TS/QS dining and we were watching for discounts but not expecting FD so close to Christmas. Even with choosing the water park upgrade, it saved us $630 on our trip! Not saying we didn't have trouble getting thru to make the changes, but it was totally worth it.

 

[Wish_I'd_known_Walt]

Can anyone tell me how much PH costs per person? (Or is it also per day?)

 

[amylevan]

Park hopper (as per mousesavers): Extra cost on top of the base-price ticket is a flat rate of $50 ($53.25 with tax) for add-on to a 1 day Magic Kingdom ticket; $58 ($61.77 with tax) for add-on to a 1 day Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom ticket; $50 ($53.25 with tax) for add-on to 2 or 3 day tickets; or $64 ($68.16 with tax) for add-on to any 4-day or longer ticket.

 

[Wish_I'd_known_Walt]

Park hopper (as per mousesavers): Extra cost on top of the base-price ticket is a flat rate of $50 ($53.25 with tax) for add-on to a 1 day Magic Kingdom ticket; $58 ($61.77 with tax) for add-on to a 1 day Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom ticket; $50 ($53.25 with tax) for add-on to 2 or 3 day tickets; or $64 ($68.16 with tax) for add-on to any 4-day or longer ticket.

Thanks Amy! I appreciate it.