Anyone canceling their DVC reservation to book free dining?

[WolfpackFan]

Just curious, I can understand that some do not want Full Service daily, or less if you do signature, but as long as you are eating at least two meals a day, how is it more food.

Well let's see - on a typical day we will have breakfast in our room. Then for lunch DW and myself will split something like the nachos in Mexico and for supper we will get some other CS meal. This is much less than what you get in the dining plan.

 

[Sammie]

Well let's see - on a typical day we will have breakfast in our room. Then for lunch DW and myself will split something like the nachos in Mexico and for supper we will get some other CS meal. This is much less than what you get in the dining plan.

But that would depend on what you fix for Breakfast and what you order for your CS versus what someone orders for their dining plan.

I guess I just think there are many reasons to get the dining plan or not, but too much food is one I don't understand, as it truly is dependant on what one orders.

Thanks for the reply though.

 

[staceymay00]

I thought about doing that for the first portion of our December trip, but we are new to DVC this year and I just want to check into our 2BR villa at OKW and enjoy it from day one. Also, I don't want to spend more OOP than we have to on this trip, even to save points for a future trip. Rack rate at a moderate resort during holiday pricing is actually more than we'd spend on food paying OOP since we don't eat a TS meal every single day. Maybe if we'd be spending less OOP and saving points I'd give it more thought, but then again we are really looking forward to spreading out in a 2BR unit instead of a 314 sf room at POR for the five of us.

 

[twinklebug]

I don't think I'd ever be tempted to use the "free" DDP offer over using DVC points. The value of the DDP changes from family to family and we're just not the DDP type. For us there would be nothing "free" about it given that we'd be required to pay Disney's bloated room prices in order to get it. To get the best value out of the "free" DDP we'd need to downgrade to a moderate (never a value again!) and I'd miss the queen bed, kitchenette and, most of all, the balcony.

However, I would consider a 40% off a room discount if I have the cash available and I'm either running low on points, or want to save the points and need my disney fix or if I need additional points for an additional room or more space. This is of course given that a one time rental makes more sense than a long term add-on

 

[zalansky]

I don't know why I can never wrap my head around why someone would book FD over staying on points? I guess its because we have season passes, so don't they require you to buy park days when you book a room to get the free dining? So, what do people do who have annual passes already with those park days? Use them to renew annual passes? I am just dumb when it comes to this. Or are those who book this deal booking because they need park tickets anyway? Sorry I am so thick!

 

[Chuck S]

I don't know why I can never wrap my head around why someone would book FD over staying on points? I guess its because we have season passes, so don't they require you to buy park days when you book a room to get the free dining? So, what do people do who have annual passes already with those park days? Use them to renew annual passes? I am just dumb when it comes to this. Or are those who book this deal booking because they need park tickets anyway? Sorry I am so thick!

Some people will book the "free" DDP and get the minimum park pass required, then trade that ticket in to renew their AP or seasonal pass when it is due.

Too many cards/tickets to keep track of for me.

If I wanted to stay on cash, I'd use the AP discount(or in your case the FL Resident discount) and forget free dining. It usually works out about the same, unless you are traveling with more than 2 adults.

 

[delmar411]

Some people will book the "free" DDP and get the minimum park pass required, then trade that ticket in to renew their AP or seasonal pass when it is due.

Too many cards/tickets to keep track of for me.

If I wanted to stay on cash, I'd use the AP discount(or in your case the FL Resident discount) and forget free dining. It usually works out about the same, unless you are traveling with more than 2 adults.

Exactly. Here's our scenario:

2 adults
1 disney adult
3 children

we are already staying in 2 studios at OKW for the Jan trip. And we're already going to be paying the $675 for the QSDP. We do all have APs already but 2 of those will need to be renewed in May.

So, 2 rooms at Pop w/ the 2 day base required ticket plus the free dining works out to: $2091.58
- $675 for the dining plan we'd have paid for no matter what
- $924 in tickets we'll apply to AP renewals (2 in May and the other 4 in 2012)
= $492.58 to cover the 2 rooms
saving us 106pts which we need for the May trip and would have had to pay $1060 to transfer from someone else

so total actual savings of $567.42 if we suck it up and stay at Pop. It's only a short trip and if it's as cold as it's been the past couple of years then no one will be swimming so the lack of a pool slide won't matter.

 

[photobob]

When I worked out the numbers it was better for me to cancel my dvc reservation and book the same nights with free dining and save the points.

So now I have my points back into my account and I'll bank them for a large family trip in Dec 2011. Now we are booked into a Pool View Room at the AKL instead of a Standard Studio at the Jambo House and I upgraded to the DxDP.

Anyone else looking at booking a package and saving points this year?

I haven't done this but I can certainly see where for your circumstance it works. For many people dining is a major part of the trip and given the fact that you are upgrading to the DxDP you are one of those people! Hope you have a great trip!

 

[staceymay00]

I don't know why I can never wrap my head around why someone would book FD over staying on points? I guess its because we have season passes, so don't they require you to buy park days when you book a room to get the free dining? So, what do people do who have annual passes already with those park days? Use them to renew annual passes? I am just dumb when it comes to this. Or are those who book this deal booking because they need park tickets anyway? Sorry I am so thick!

We will be buying APs in December so if we booked free dining we would upgrade the tickets that came with the free dining package. I think a lot of people who have APs buy the minimum days (used to be 1 day, now it is 2 day tix) and hold on to them until they need APs again. Like previous posters, we are much more likely to use an AP discount over free dining if we are low on points. Part of the reason we bought DVC is to have a kitchen on longer trips for drinks, snacks and a few quick and easy meals. I don't like Disney food enough to want to eat it twice a day every day, even if it is free.

 

[supersuperwendy]

We didn't cancel a dvc trip, but changed our plans. We don't have any new points until Dec. 1, 2011. Rather then borrowing into our 2010 use year we decided to book a package. We had booked POR for June 2011...then when free dining came out the other day we switched to August and saved almost $1300! With our 2011 points we are planning 3 trips starting in December 2011 and into 2012. We want to get out of the habit of borrowing points. So we are starting fresh with that use year! Prior to DVC we really enjoyed POR and my kids are super excited to stay there again...and free dining doesn't hurt either!

 

[Lost in Neverland]

We had considered it but and this is a big but it costs too much. When we priced out rack rate for the type of room we are use to staying in there is not enough Disney food in the world to justify that trade off . With tickets and food for the room we normally spend about $2000 each year we go. Now if we added the additional $3500 for the OKW 2 BR we are at $5500 for a week that when we pay for food only costs $2000. My family about had a mutiny when they also found out to get free dining we have to down grade to a moderate and possibly budget room.

 

[helenk]

Last year I went to WDW with my brother and his family (he uses me as he tour guide) and booked with the free dining. We stayed at the Allstar Sports, which was fine, but we both agreed that we did not like having to plan our vacation around the TS meals.
When you get the "free dining" you almost feel like you've got to get your money's worth. You book your TS to get the best bang for your buck. We found ourselves each day making sure that we planned the attractions just right so we would get to our dining ADR on time.
Plus honestly it got to be too much food, when I stay on points or even before DVC I never ate TS meals each night. I eat breakfast in the room, grab a quick salad for lunch and then grab counter service for dinner.
I treat myself my first night with a sit down dinner, but not expensive, the Plaza at the MK, Sci Fi at DHS, Beaches and Cream, those types of sit down places. My biggest treat is the Tea at the GF, and its not covered by any of the dining plans, but I can use my TIW card there so I'm happy.
My eating habits just don't work well with the free dining.
I like the extra room that DVC gives me, even a studio is larger than a room at a value resort, plus I do love having a balcony.

 

[bobbiwoz]

... My biggest treat is the Tea at the GF, and its not covered by any of the dining plans, but I can use my TIW card there so I'm happy..

I hope to try this with my DSis in April!

No, I don't cancel DVC to do free dining. I may not look it, but I really prefer an appetizer to a dessert, when they changed those rules, they lost me as a customer for the dining plan.

Bobbi

 

[Sammie]

I hope to try this with my DSis in April!

No, I don't cancel DVC to do free dining. I may not look it, but I really prefer an appetizer to a dessert, when they changed those rules, they lost me as a customer for the dining plan.

Bobbi

The cost for most appetizers and desserts is similar, really wish they would make that an either/or situation.

 

[ScottOKW2K]

The cost for most appetizers and desserts is similar, really wish they would make that an either/or situation.

They don't want to. It's not the cost of the app or desert that Disney is looking at , it is the TIME spent at the table. It is well known that most people after eating the entree often don't have room for dessert and either don't eat it or take it with them. If Disney allowed you to substitute the app for dessert you would likely spend the time eating the app and then the entree. This would increase the table turnover time at their more popular dining locations. From a purely pragmatic viewpoint this means less profit for Disney, less tip income for the servers, and less availability of dining times.

 

[Chuck S]

They don't want to. It's not the cost of the app or desert that Disney is looking at , it is the TIME spent at the table. It is well known that most people after eating the entree often don't have room for dessert and either don't eat it or take it with them. If Disney allowed you to substitute the app for dessert you would likely spend the time eating the app and then the entree. This would increase the table turnover time at their more popular dining locations. From a purely pragmatic viewpoint this means less profit for Disney, less tip income for the servers, and less availability of dining times.

And if they allowed the option, in a party of any size, some people would llikely order an appetizer and share, and other people would order dessert and share, extending table time even more.

 

[yxe dad]

I was just wondering if anyone was doing this because the numbers worked for them too!

The numbers worked for us because we were going to be staying in a studio and my sons are big eaters being 11 & 13. We were planning on the DxDP and we don't have tickets yet so the saving's on the dining plan minus the rack rate put the rate around $65-75/night for a deluxe resort. Putting those points back into my account will allow us to take our family back in Dec 2011 and have a fairly cheap trip as we will be upgrading our tickets to AP's.

 

[3 Hobbits 2 Disney]

Nothing personal to the OP but the title of this thread just about gave me hives! As many have said, the DDP has degraded the overall dininig experience IMHO.

 

[helenk]

I hope to try this with my DSis in April!

No, I don't cancel DVC to do free dining. I may not look it, but I really prefer an appetizer to a dessert, when they changed those rules, they lost me as a customer for the dining plan.

Bobbi

You will love the tea, I go every trip, even when I go solo. I've been on Weight Watchers for 2 years now (lost 82 pounds) but I still treat myself to the GF tea. I love the scones and the fresh strawberries. I think I'm drooling even now.