$900 'Free' Dining Plan Help

[Bounca]

Hi, first post, this forum is full of informative people.

A month ago we booked Saratoga Springs resort for 6 days in September. The free meal plan for general public just came out so I called our AAA agent who we booked through to see if we could add it on. She said that it would bring our total cost up an extra $900 dollars so it wasn't really 'free'. Turns out that if you do the free meal plan you lose the AAA discount for the room booking, but she mentioned that it was still a good deal cause I guess the meal plan for the 5 (me, wife two kids and mother in law) of us would be more like 1300 to 1500.

Any opinions on this, should we do it? We were planning on eating at the parks for lunches, fully aware of the cost. But for breakfasts and evening meal, we'd likely go back to our two bedroom, kitchen room and whip meals up. I hate to shell out an extra $900 we're not huge eaters, but then again I hear the restaurants are pretty nice. We want to do one or two character, lunch meals.

Thanks

 

[septbaby]

Look at the menus and see what you're likely to spend on food without the plan.

I'd also call Disney direct or use the website to confirm the price for the trip. Never hurts to double check.

We've enjoyed dining at WDW during Free Dining. We booked about 4 months out and had little trouble getting the ADRs we wanted. We had one bad CS meal and all of our TS meals were fine or better.

Also are you having a rental car or groceries delivered. All that adds up. The DP will definitely require some planning and commitment to a schedule of sorts. It was not an issue for us, but many whine about it, so just know your family.

We did a late dinner on our arrival nite, no parks that day.
We did an inside the park TS lunch the next day; we were in the park at 8am, need a really good meal and rest and Coral Reef delivered big time.
We had a late night, so I booked a late character bfast for the next day.
Booked a morning character bfast and buffet dinner for the next day. We canceled the bfast, we were in no mood for that much food. The dinner was awesome!
Our final TS meal was the Fantasmic pkg. We changed our original park plan for this meal, so it was a bit hectic to make this ADR, but we did it.

That is just one family's plan, it worked for us.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Well, the dining plan is largely a personal choice. For many, it doesn't work with their eating styles (nor do they like to be "tied down" to a reservation each day), for others, its the cat's meow.

Count us in among the latter.

We LOVE the dining plan for many reasons:

1. our food was paid for BEFORE we even left (we loved having most of our costs covered in advance)

2. we love to eat (DH and DS have very healthy appetites)

3. we love the convenience of paying one price and ordering whatever we wanted off the menu, without worrying about the fact that the steak dinner cost more than the chicken burger

4. we loved having a snack included every day for every person (and trust me, you will WANT to snack....funnel cakes, root beer floats, make-you-own treats at Goofy's Candy Co., homemade fudge, cheese-stuffed pretzels....there is so much to choose from!!)

5. we thoroughly enjoyed the luxury of not cooking....for us, that's what vacation is all about.

6. the character meals! They are so much fun, and with the exception of Cinderella's Royal Table, usually just one table service credit per person. These were some of the most fun we had all trip.....and our son is older (celebrated his 13th during our stay). At $30 per person for dinner, that's a great value on the dining plan! (and several of the character meals are buffet and all-you-care-to-eat, with lots of great choices for adults and finicky kids).

There are some EXCELLENT options for both counter service and table service, from fine dining to just plain fun. World Showcase allows you grab foods from around the world, or you can stick to the tried and true burgers and fries. One of our counter service meals was ribs, chicken, fries, green beans, chocolate cake, and a drink (yum...Cosmic Rays, you rock!!). An awesome value for a "quick meal". Another was fettucini alfredo with chicken, a side ceasar salad, a drink, and creme brulee for dessert (Wolfgang Puck Express at DTD). Again, you can't eat much better than that for lunch!! And all paid for in advance with the dining plan.

If I were you, I would check out the allears.net site and take a peek at the menus. Assuming both your kids are 9 or younger, the character lunch at Crystal Palace will be about $90 (well over $100 if your kids are 10 and older). Then factor in what you would spend on snacks at the park, any other meals you would plan to eat out, and the food that you would have to purchase and have delivered to your resort.....then decide if its a good value for your family.

 

[Faldred]

Free Dining is not truly "free" -- it is a replacement for other possible discounts. Whether or not it makes sense for a particular party depends entirely on what value that party places on the dining plan they'll receive.

For many people, going back to the room for dinner isn't just a matter of cost -- it takes away from "park time" and makes you have to work on your vacation! Breakfast is a different story, especially if you're on a dining plan that only offers two meals (like basic DDP or QSDP), and you can still arrange your wake-up and breakfast schedules to get at the parks at whatever your desired time is.

On the other hand, if you like heading back to the room...

 

[RahRah573]

If you're going for six days, that's five nights.....the dining plan is based on nights you're staying.....so with 3 adults ($39.99 per night DDP) and 2 kids ($10.99 per night DDP), the dining plan is worth $719.75.....if it's costing $900 more, you'll be harder pressed to make the dining plan worth the expense since at $900 more, you're then paying $180 a day for the DDP instead of the $141.95 it's worth each night.

For example, if you're in Epcot and decide you'll go to Coral Reef for dinner and have lunch in France....your out-of-pcoket costs on expensive options could be:

Lunch @ Boulangerie Patisserie (1 counter service per person)
2 Ham & Cheese Quiche $9.90
1 Cheese Plate $5.95
2 Ham & Cheese Croissants $6.5
5 Apple Turnovers $19.75
2 Milk $2.58
3 Sodas $7.17

Dinner Coral Reef (1 table service per person)
NY Strip $30.99
Chicken 20.99
Pork Tenderloin $22.99
2 Kids meals $15.18
3 Desserts $23.97

Sommerfest (Germany)
5 Pretzels (snacks) $17.95

All totaled the day above is worth $183.92......now if you weren't paying $900 for the dining plan, it would be worth it since the DDP costs $141.95 per night for 3 adults and 2 kids.....but you'd pay $900, or $180 a night....so I'd say it's probably not worth it IMO.

 

[Faldred]

Yeah, from a cost analysis, you've got opposite factors at work here -- "free dining" is a better "deal" as the number of people per room/unit increases and as the grade of each room/unit decreases.

But you're a larger than average party in a high-end unit, which plays out in opposite directions. From the numbers in the previous post, it looks like the unit type is winning out over party size.

And, of course, when doing cost analysis, you need to factor in what is free DDP worth to you (not necessarily "book value"), including what would be your cost savings over OOP purchased food.

Of course, if you can simply add DDP to your reservation for less than what you'd pay for a "free dining" reservation, then clearly "free dining" is not a good deal.

 

[KKB]

Then the dollars make sense...
We loved the plan...I hate to cook on vacation.
We did breakfast in room or you could pick up rolls at bakery in parks for snack credit. Lunch was always CS. SO many choices.
DH was SOOOOO surprised how good our meals were at WDW! I did research here--reviews. And I checked out the menus at www.allearsnet.com, to determine if we would like the choices. I was on the phone 180 days out (now 90 days) and got all the choices we wanted, mostly at the times we wanted.

If you plan to do what you say...stick w/ your original discount. But if you want to avoid cooking, want to try some restaurants, try the plan. We will never do WDW without it!

Have fun!

 

[smiths02]

You GUESS the meal plan would be $1300-1500? Okay, you need to find out...

Basic DDP meal plan is priced per NIGHT (not day) and entitlements are per NIGHT...(this is the meal plan offered during free dining)

adult price (ages 10 and up) is $39.99/night
child 3-9 is $10.99/night
not available for under 3


But for your eating style and the fact that you want to eat in your room, it really doesn't sound worth $900...I am betting that you can eat for less than $900 off the plan...but do you really want to? Do you want to whip up meals or just go out...it is your vacation

 

[Faldred]

You GUESS the meal plan would be $1300-1500? Okay, you need to find out...

To be fair, that may include a variable "tipping" cost...

 

[disneyfan55]

I have always found the FD to be most worth it with Values since you pay rack rate. The higher up you go in price per night, the less of a value the free dining becomes. Something to ponder. I wouldn't do it except in a Value. The same thing rings true for most of these type of discounts including the free 500 gift card we will get next month. It basically is only worth it to us at a value so that's what we booked. The 4/7 offer that was available earlier this year to me worked the opposite way the Deluxe rooms were really at a great discount-one not usually given or at least not that often.

 

[smiths02]

To be fair, that may include a variable "tipping" cost...

I wasn't trying to be mean, but $1300-$1500 is a big difference to me...and OP is talking about how much the free DDP will SAVE the familiy...they will have to tip either way

my point is calculate what Disney charges for the DDP based on the numbers I posted...calculate what extra you will be charged to switch to free dining ($900)...that is one way to look at your savings...

Another way is...can your family eat the way you want at Disney for less than $900?

You can go to allears.net to see some estimates of prices and then calculate what groceries (renting a car or grocery delivery, etc. will cost)

For me, if the pricing comes close....I would chose the free dining b/c I don't want to cook on vacation and I want to enjoy the restaurants

 

[SnowWhitee]

I don't know what type of lunch you were thinking of in the parks, but I thought I'd offer our recent experience in case it helps you. We just visited 3/24-3/31 and it was our 1st trip w/o the DDP. We had 6 people - 4 adults and 2 children. Sometimes we even shared meals. Most of our counter service lunches or dinners totaled about $45. For that cost once a day I would not get the DDP.

 

[Bounca]

Wow thanks for everyones input. Three things that have been addressed and is swinging me against the DDP.

1) We’d likely do almost all lunches in the parks, based on what Snowhitee just mentioned and the menu price research I’ve done.....I think it will work out $$$ in our favor.
2) We will be renting a car and groceries are a factor. The way I look at it though, the cost for groceries and car will come close to balancing out gratuity cost. Not quite, but close enough that I don't see the need to workout these 3 factors down to the penny.
3) Don’t mind cooking one bit for the evening meal. We’d be talking cheap pasta for the most part versus lobster and porterhouse. I think it would ‘force’ (bad choice of words) the family to fall back to the resort, relax in the pool, enjoy resort activities and sit our tired buts down for a meal.

In terms of groceries any store recommendations? I hear there is a Walmart near by.

 

[Nebraska_Disney]

We stayed at the Poly on the 4/3 in March and had the Disney Dining Plan. Two adults and two kids (a little more than $100 a day for the plan) and we LOVED it. We packed cereal/poptarts for the kids and bought Milk for breakfast. My wife and I rarely eat breakfast, so that worked for us and the kids ate in the room before we left.

Counter service meals for the 4 of us averaged around $50 a day ($350 total)
and we did research and had some very good meals. Flame Tree at Animal Kingdom and Cosmic Charleys were two of the best "lunches" I had ever had.

For Table service we did Cinderella's Royal Table (cost 2 credits, but the meal was $170) Garden Grille Character at Epcot ($100), Ohana at Poly ($110) Hollywood and Vine at Hollywood Studios ($100), Whispering Canyons at Wilderness Lodge ($100), Chef Mickey's character dining ($100) for a total of $680 plus we left good tips so I'll add $100 to what we paid.

Snacks, 28 total at $3.00 each is $84 (can be more depending on what you choose)

So, we paid a little over $800 and had over $1100 in "value" from using the plan. We did 2 character dining meals and the Royal Table as well. So, if you are staying on the disney property, research the places to eat, and make reservations, it is a great way to go. We planned our meals around which park we would be at and the only thing I'd do differently is make later meal reservations as after the big lunches, we were not ready to eat at the 530-600pm times that we made most of our reservations for. The table service meals were excellent btw.

 

[sharadoc]

Hi. We had a AAA discount on a family suite (and were considering a SSR 1BR). Our last trip we usually ate breakfast in the room, a couple dinners and snacks. We almost always ate a CS meal in a park every day. When all was said and done, we spent more on food than we saved on the AAA discount. BUT, we were in a less expensive room. So for our August trip, we decided to take the free dining. We know we want to do some character meals and buffets, so I worked out costs and found out that the dining plan would save us more money, and eliminate the grocery shopping trip.

That's another consideration - you'll lose a couple hours on grocery shopping, and with only 5 nights, that's a LOT of time! You could use that time in a park, over at DTD or exploring your resort.

Is this your first trip? The issue I would have is that your plan could be one thing, but reality could be another. If you end up wanting to stay out all day, then requiring a trip back to the resort to cook dinner could really put a crimp in your style - and maybe miss something! If you've gone plenty of times and know how you want to tour the parks, then I'd say go with the AAA discount!

The discount is better than free dining on the more expensive rooms. That's why the values, then the mods fill up first!

 

[colinsdad]

Any opinions on this, should we do it? We were planning on eating at the parks for lunches, fully aware of the cost. But for breakfasts and evening meal, we'd likely go back to our two bedroom, kitchen room and whip meals up. I hate to shell out an extra $900 we're not huge eaters, but then again I hear the restaurants are pretty nice. We want to do one or two character, lunch meals. Thanks

Pay OOP.

To fully realize the value of the DDP, users should be using the TS credits on dinners. Character meals (other than CRT which is 2TS anyway) and lunches are less expensive than a dinner at Le Celier, Chefs de France, Wave, etc. and are a poor use of the TS as far as getting "value".

Think of it this way. Will you spend $900 on lunch or character meals in 5 days? Being that you said you're not huge eaters, I doubt it.

 

[colinsdad]

In terms of groceries any store recommendations? I hear there is a Walmart near by.

I forgot to add, there is a Winn Dixie just outside of DTD.

From DTD, take Hotel Plaza Blvd (where all the Walt Disney World Village hotels are) out to the main road (SR 585 - South Apopka Vineland Rd).
Go Left onto SR 585.
It will be about 1/2 mile on right.
We shop here when we have a car.

 

[klwdisney]

I'm a little confused about why you were quoted a higher price? I also received regular quotes for the Free Dining package from Disney and other travel agencies. Then I received a quote on a Free Dining package from AAA. AAA was considerably lower due to the AAA discount. I went with AAA. Maybe you should get an alternative quote from another AAA travel agent? I'm not sure where you're located but instead of calling my local AAA office, I requested a quote thru the AAA main website. I was assigned a travel agent named Anne Boscombe. She was wonderful to work with... Try asking her for an alternative quote:

Phone: 401-868-2000 Ext 2321
Fax: 401-868-2084
Email: aboscombe@aaasne.com

 

[mbanks21]

You will not get any more of a discount with AAA then you will from anywhere else with free dining. You do NOT get a discount from AAA if you book free dining with them

 

[mbanks21]

I do agree those prices dont seem right. You would have to lose a discount of like $2000 to end up having to pay $900 for free dining.