All this free dining business! I don't care!

[DTicker]

The dining plan isn't free. You are paying the same as you would if you got a discounted room and paid for the dining plan. In other words, if you do not use the plan appropriately you are certainly losing money. Maybe that could convince them.

Room discount does not even come close to the savings for the dining. We are a family of 7, 2 adults, 3 disney adults and 2 children. We chose value season, with free dining at a moderate resort with 2 rooms. The room discount came out and I did the math, the free dining is a much larger discount. I tried room discount for value resort, moderate and deluxe. Still, not even close.

We would eat a table service meal everyday, a counter service meal everyday, snacks everyday, maybe even a counter service breakfast meal everyday (not everyone but a few will). So even paying out of pocket for a few CS meals, we are still way ahead with free dining.

I do agree, it is not for everyone, it certainly is for us.

This is not true. It depends on a number of factors. The number of people in your party, where you stay, whether or not there is even a room discount during the time frame. For instance, last Oct. I went during a week where there were no discounts available at all. Had free dining been offered, it most certainly would have been free. While free dining is not always the best deal, it IS free. It's all about doing the math to see what saves you the most money. It is different for everyone.

I think that 4minutesflorida has a point though. If you are trying to convince a party of the value of making dining arrangements way ahead of time, it can't hurt to let them know that your dining plan (free or otherwise) has a sticker value that can be maximised or wasted