Am I wrong in not booking Free Dining?

[grumpymakesmehappy]

I just booked our resservations for the Beach Club Aug. 30-Sept. 3 and I did not book free dining. Instead, I went with my AAA discount with hopes of eventually droping it for an AP discount and purchasing a DDE card. It will be my DH and I and both our sisters (19 and 22 ) going. We are paying for the room and they will pay for their food and tickets. Did I do the right thing or should I call and change over to the package? As much as free dining appeals to me saving the most money possible appeals even more.

 

[Ladybugsy]

This is a different answer for every person. Several factors are to be considered. Do you like a sit down meal every day? Are you willing to pay rack rate for your Deluxe resort? Number of people in your party? The fact that there may be no AP discount this year? For my family, it's a good deal. There are 5 of us, 2 adults, 2 juniors and a child. The dining plan for us for 10 days would cost almost 1700 dollars. We would never spend that much on food for 10 days. But if I'm going to stay on site anyway, the difference in an AP room rate and free dining is very much worth paying rack rate for. But the value gets less and less as you move from a value resort to a deluxe resort.

In a nut shell, it's a personal choice. What works for everyone may not work for you.

 

[thelionqueen]

Everyone has to make plans that are best for themselves, but I would ask myself a couple of questions if I were you.

Are you planning on eating on property & @ Disney restaurants, counter service, etc? If the answer is yes, then I would say to switch to the dining plan. Just because the cost of Disney Dining (not to mention tax & tip which can easily add 20% or more) is SO expensive.

If you're not planning on eating @ Disney (eating offsite or cooking in room) then I would say stick with the discounted room rate.

Honestly, if it were me, I would switch immediately to the free dining promo. I have been to WDW many, many times and absolutely no other promotion comes even slightly close to saving us as much $$ as we save with free dining (including AP rates, 40% codes and even free days).

We end up saving over $140 per day with the free dining promo, vs. saving around $100 (most saved) with room discounts.

Again, you should analyze your needs and adjust accordingly. Just a thought, DISers are very savvy travelers and great and stretching a penny, and most everyone is climbing over themselves to get this deal.. ...things to ponder. Good luck!

 

[Ladybugsy]

Just ran your numbers a little. If the AAA discount is 20%, that would save you about 60 bucks a day, giving that you have only one room booked for the 4 of you. The dining plan costs 38.99 per person per day. So, by doing the dining plan you would save close to 160 dollars a day. Remember the dining plan includes 2 meals and a snack per day.

Personally, I would ask the sisters to chip in the extra 250 bucks or so and everyone will be covered under the dining plan. You will pay the room, they will pay the difference in the discounted room and rack rate, and you get the best of both worlds...lol...but that's just me.

 

[Maria395712]

yes you would save by booking the free dining better call now
maria

 

[mom2aredhead]

Now we would have to change dates since we're going in May, but for us the room discount we have works out better...
Using the BUC code, we saved $101/night off rack rate at AKL = $606
Free dining for the 3 of us is $540
We don't want to commit to eating a TS every day
We don't generally have (or want) apps and desserts with the TS meals we do have
I have a picky 3 year old and want the option of ordering him an adult meal (like pizza at the pizza restaurants )

A lot of people here are second-guessing themselves because they feel like they're missing out on a bargain. If you are generally not a fan of DDP, or don't think it would work for the people in your group, it may not be worth paying rack rate to get it for free.

 

[photo_chick]

I think free dining will benifit you if you really eat that much. I would total how much for the entire trip you really think you will spend on food. Compare that to your total savings on your room. It is easy to point and say it saves you $40 a day per person so that is xxxx amount. But if you would not actualy spend that much OOP on food than you are not saving that much.

Me, for us free dining would save the most, but we plan on doing lots of character meals with out TS credits and have already established that the dining plan by it's self saves us for what we want to do. If it were just me and DH though, it probably would not save us.

Now if I could only convince them that we need free dining in June! I would need a few tons of pixie dust to get that one!

 

[grumpymakesmehappy]

Thanks for all your help. I went ahead and switched over to the free dining. We are BIG TS people so after comparing everything I decided we might be better off going with free dining. I lkie what you said Ladybugsy. I think we may ask them to pitch in a little. Thanks again!

 

[Marriedmyprince]

I think you probably made the right choice but just want to give you a heads up. If you are at a Deluxe resort, the room rate discount that AAA gives ends up being a lot of money because it is a straight % off of each night. We love the dining plan and decided to do it wether or not it was free. (sounds like you all are perfect canidates too) SO I priced 3 different ways and for my family the AAA discount MYW dining plan package is better AND we are buying tickets for every day. If you decide to get AP for you and DH, I think AAA room rates would be the best choice. Just wanted to make sure you didn't get caught in the hype and regret your choice.

For example when pricing my trip: 2 adults, 1 kid (& 2 babies free), 7 nights, 8 day park hopper, & dining plan, no insurance, taxes included

1st$ Disney rack rate, 2nd$ AAA discount rate, 3rd$ TODAYS Free dining rate

Contemporary Garden Wing, garden view: $3428, $2829, $3169
Contemporary Deluxe Garden Wing: $3988, $3551, not offered
Poly Garden view: $3980, $2989, $3358
Beach Club Std View: $3870, $2896, $3247

I waited online this morning for an hour to check if the CR deluxe rooms were offered, of course not! Oh well, I will be happy to get my AAA discount and call it free dining plus in my mind. Good luck, Marriedmyprince

 

[Ladybugsy]

Thanks for all your help. I went ahead and switched over to the free dining. We are BIG TS people so after comparing everything I decided we might be better off going with free dining. I lkie what you said Ladybugsy. I think we may ask them to pitch in a little. Thanks again!

YAY! I helped! LOL. 250 dollars, or somewhere around there, isn't too much to ask to feed 4 people like kings for your stay. That's really only 125 dollars a piece. Surely they would have brought that anyway, right?

Congrats! You're going to have a great time!