Free dining not worth it for us

[kandb]

I am so glad I ran the numbers before booking FD, thinking it was the best deal always. We currently have Beach Club reservations for 8 nights at the end of August. We are a family of 5 and are paying $3200 which includes 8 day tickets plus 1 day at a water park. I was going to switch to the CBR for the same time frame thinking FD would be my best bargain. I priced out the 3 room categories. The standard room (with park hopper for all room types) would be $3791, Waterview would be $4050 and Preferred would be $4342. So we would be paying $100 more a day (taking the middle of the road) which isn't really a bargain. I love FD but we never really want the dessert at dinner and we can eat for under a $100 at a sit down restaurant in Disney (no appetizers or drinks). I am thinking of not switching since think the BC will be a better resort to get around to the parks. The only thing we will miss is Ohana's and Garden Grill because those restaurants cost our family around $250 to go to.

 

[supersnoop]

How old are your kids? It could be very, very difficult to eat for under $100 per day. And you must have gotten a killer deal at the Beach Club; is that $200/night?

 

[2DisPrincesses]

There is no way my family of 4 could eat a snack, quick service, and table-service meal for $100/day. We like to have the mugs for the Resort time too so this is a bonus for us. Glad you crunched the numbers for your family though!

 

[DisCatGirl]

I think too many people think Free Dining is free. Crunch the numbers - it may actually cost you more. You will pay rack rates for the room. Has anyone done the research - for which resorts does it make sense and for which resorts does it not make sense? For me - didn't make sense either.

 

[aaarcher86]

I think too many people think Free Dining is free. Crunch the numbers - it may actually cost you more. You will pay rack rates for the room. Has anyone done the research - for which resorts does it make sense and for which resorts does it not make sense? For me - didn't make sense either.

General rule of thumb is values and mods get away better with FD since room discounts are so little. It still depends on the makeup of the room and where you eat, though.

I've never really understood the FD isn't free idea, though honestly.

There is no way my family of 4 could eat a snack, quick service, and table-service meal for $100/day. We like to have the mugs for the Resort time too so this is a bonus for us. Glad you crunched the numbers for your family though!

Same for us. One character meal puts us over $100!

 

[kandb]

Sorry, I didn't mean we could eat for under $100 a day. I meant we could do a sit down dinner for around $100., without drinks and desserts. We usually split 2 adult counter service meal between my children and myself. I am thinking that we could eat for around $150/day. No sodas with meals and just one snack a day for the kids. My children will be 12, 12 and 6. My daughter who is 12 still orders off of the childrens menu and my 12 year old
son usually orders an appetizer. If we stay at the BC, I will bring down snacks for breakfast with us. I have to take into consideration the convenience of the BC and the better pool then that of Caribbean beach, where we will have to take a bus everyday for the 4 parks as opposed to 2 parks if we stay
at the BC.

 

[Ava]

What % off did you get at the Beach Club? That sounds like an amazing price.

I think it's next to impossible to say objectively if the DDP is a good deal, or if free dining or a room discount is better, because there are so many factors involved. For us, even with a room discount the deluxe resorts are generally still too expensive so we'd stay moderate or value anyway. The room discounts on those categories are so small that the value of the meals we get with the free dining plan is greater. It lets us book a bunch of character meals and other pricey options that we probably wouldn't do if we didn't have free dining, so we like it.

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

Are you doing any buffets or all you can eat meals? The 12-year-olds will be counted as adults. No way you can get away with 4 adults and 1 child for less than $100 at any of those! I'm thinking even $150 would be cutting it close.

 

[BugsDaddy]

No offense meant at all but $3200 at the beach club for eight nights with base tickets for 5 people seems unbelievibly low to me. If it were me, I would be double checking the reservation to make sure there wasn't something that I missed. It seems to be a $1000 under what even the best discounted offer is out there, assuming the lowest room category and 3 kids under 10.

 

[2DisPrincesses]

No offense meant at all but $3200 at the beach club for eight nights with base tickets for 5 people seems unbelievibly low to me. If it were me, I would be double checking the reservation to make sure there wasn't something that I missed. It seems to be a $1000 under what even the best discounted offer is out there, assuming the lowest room category and 3 kids under 10.

Right, and OP has 2 children over 10 and, if I'm reading correctly is pricing with park hoppers. Something seems off. If not, I would probably enjoy the sweet deal at BC as I don't think it's bound to happen again!

 

[lauradis]

I am so glad I ran the numbers before booking FD, thinking it was the best deal always. We currently have Beach Club reservations for 8 nights at the end of August. We are a family of 5 and are paying $3200 which includes 8 day tickets plus 1 day at a water park. I was going to switch to the CBR for the same time frame thinking FD would be my best bargain. I priced out the 3 room categories. The standard room (with park hopper for all room types) would be $3791, Waterview would be $4050 and Preferred would be $4342. So we would be paying $100 more a day (taking the middle of the road) which isn't really a bargain. I love FD but we never really want the dessert at dinner and we can eat for under a $100 at a sit down restaurant in Disney (no appetizers or drinks). I am thinking of not switching since think the BC will be a better resort to get around to the parks. The only thing we will miss is Ohana's and Garden Grill because those restaurants cost our family around $250 to go to.

Please break it down for us, because that is really really low and I would love to know the secret trick to do that.

Right now I have a trip booked with no discounts for 3 adults, 8 nights, 8 day hopper, regular dinning with memory maker for 3600 at a value

 

[sukhakuli]

We're staying at the YC. 6 people, one under 3, and 2 of my kids are over 10. Right now we're booked with a 40% off military discount. The difference between rack rate and our room discount is about 170/ per night. One meal at O'hana is about 166 for our family. A dinner at Coral Reef, without drinks or dessert (I was lazy and just checked entree prices) is 135. If we really, really skimped on meals, and did a lot of sharing, no snacks, desserts, or some of the fun places we like to eat, we could probably save money. But that's not how we want to vacation. I want dessert and coffee with my meals, and I want to get the kids lemonade and Mickey ice cream bars. So we will probably come out ahead with the free dining promo. But not by much. And that's with a pretty hefty military discount, too.

 

[deide71]

I am in a similar dilemma. I currently have 7 days @ the Poly with 5 day tix for 5 Disney adults on the convention rate for $3200. I priced out food for 7 day using the menus at Allears. If we eat counter service (share drinks, no desserts) and include a few table service favorites such as 'Ohana, Boma, Kona Cafe the Plaza, and each get one snack a day we will spend about 1700 on food for the week.

So if I can book us in a standard at a moderate it will be 3400. I will save about 1200 and eat better. Totally worth it.
If I have to go in a preferred room I will still save $900 and eat better. Still worth it.
If I have to go to the cheapest deluxe that can sleep 5 (Beach Club) the price is 4900. The same price as the Poly and paying for food OOP. So I have to decide: is losing the monorail to eat better worth it?

Decisions are difficult sometimes. We each look at our individual circumstances and make the best guess we can.

 

[lauradis]

I am in a similar dilemma. I currently have 7 days @ the Poly with 5 day tix for 5 Disney adults on the convention rate for $3200. I priced out food for 7 day using the menus at Allears. If we eat counter service (share drinks, no desserts) and include a few table service favorites such as 'Ohana, Boma, Kona Cafe the Plaza, and each get one snack a day we will spend about 1700 on food for the week.

So if I can book us in a standard at a moderate it will be 3400. I will save about 1200 and eat better. Totally worth it.
If I have to go in a preferred room I will still save $900 and eat better. Still worth it.
If I have to go to the cheapest deluxe that can sleep 5 (Beach Club) the price is 4900. The same price as the Poly and paying for food OOP. So I have to decide: is losing the monorail to eat better worth it?

Decisions are difficult sometimes. We each look at our individual circumstances and make the best guess we can.

If I could get the poly for that price I wouldn't care what food cost

 

[kandb]

It is not a mistake. We have 8 nights at the BC for a standard room. 5 in the family, 2 adults, 2-12 year olds and a 6 year olds. WE do NOT have hoppers (I stated that we would have to get hoppers if we did the Disney free dining). Our tickets for all 5 of us are for 8 days MYW and you get 1 extra day (9th day) to a water park or Disney quest. It is a magical deal and I switched it for the same time period for the Polynesian which was $200 more then the BC.

 

[kandb]

Also, I stated in my first post that we would NOT be going to Ohana's/Garden Grill because it costs around $250 for our family to eat there. We would have to pick "cheaper" restaurants.

 

[kandb]

I am still very torn on which deal to take. I love free dining but would also love to stay at the BC which we have never stayed before and is very accessible to EP and HS.

 

[Beth06015]

I am still very torn on which deal to take. I love free dining but would also love to stay at the BC which we have never stayed before and is very accessible to EP and HS.

Do what would make you the happiest overall! Sometimes free dining can feel like an obligation but the hotel would be a big upgrade being so close to the parks and the pool.

 

[isaboo]

You will love Beach Club! If we could go a few weeks later we would have booked the magical deal too! We are there from July 31st-Aug 5th. Our family prefers a room discount over dining plan. We pay OOP and it works better for us to eat what we want when we want. We usually come in under what the dining plan cost.

Have a great trip!

 

[Pumbaa_]

Beach club all the way!