Anyone else NOT hate the DDP?

[inkedupmomma]

man oh man! You guys are killing me over here! I was STOKED to see free dining released! Anyone else stoked about it? Yes, I would have been happy with a 40% pin code, but free dining allows me to upgrade to the DxDp guilt free!

So with me if you are excited as I am to have been able to book free dining already!

 

[gem21]

Me!!!

We saved close to 600$ by Free Dining! I haven't been to Disney since I was really little, so I have nothing to base my knowledge on! Nor do I care!!

While in a way I am going to enjoy the restaurants, that's not why I decided to go to Disney. I live in a big city with more food choices then I could ever need, so really if I wanted a fine dinning experience, I'd stay in a hotel near downtown and dine out. Or I'd go visit my friend near Paris.

And I'm sure it'll be better than when I go to our Six Flags... I usually just get McDonalds!

As a "family" of three adults, the dining plan works for us...I can understand why it doesn't for some people, but all in all it's 600$ extra for us!

 

[inkedupmomma]

Me!!!

We saved close to 600$ by Free Dining! I haven't been to Disney since I was really little, so I have nothing to base my knowledge on! Nor do I care!!

While in a way I am going to enjoy the restaurants, that's not why I decided to go to Disney. I live in a big city with more food choices then I could ever need, so really if I wanted a fine dinning experience, I'd stay in a hotel near downtown and dine out. Or I'd go visit my friend near Paris.

And I'm sure it'll be better than when I go to our Six Flags... I usually just get McDonalds!

As a "family" of three adults, the dining plan works for us...I can understand why it doesn't for some people, but all in all it's 600$ extra for us!

Congrats on going back! and congrats on the savings!I agree, I do not go to Disney FOr the food, but I do love that part lol! My boss is a gourmet chef, and know what good eats are, but I gotta say, I love my food at Disney! So much so, that we do the DxDP. And I agree, the WDW food FAR outweighs other theme parks! I am a sesame place passholder, and go to six flags, and that food is something to complain about!! I get how the free dining does not work for everyone, i just don't get why some people are so heated over it

 

[Babyyoda1212]

My husband and I love the Free Dining! We have been every year for the past 4 years. It's the only time we go. It saves us a ton of money.

Don't feel bad for loving it. It doesn't matter what everyone thinks as long as you are happy with it.

 

[Cafeen]

I'm not doing FD this year (or next year most likely) as it's not the best deal for solo at a mod+, but I'm not as vehemently opposed to it as some others around these parts are .

If used as designed, the plans can certainly save money on dining. Granted, not every one dines as they are designed, so they aren't for everyone.

 

[Nadjalu]

Free dining is my favorite discount. It saves us the most money. We stay at POP so a room discount nevers beats the free dining for us.
Even though we upgraded to DDP, only cost us $120 for 6 nights. That covers our meals for the vacation. No way we could save more using another discount.
Maybe if we stayed Deluxe or something, but we love POP.

Also we don't go to WDW to eat, we go to play and have fun. Eating is a necessity during the vacation, so why not do it for free? (and to the people who say it isn't free, I am paying rack rate. I would be paying rack rate anyway for my trip....duh, so the dining is free.)

LOVE Free Dining!!!

 

[Sunstar]

I am so excited for free dining next year! I'm going on my honeymoon in August 2011 and was really hoping for the free dining. We saved almost $1000 with the free dining.

 

[catne]

I love Disney dining-and Disney dining plans. All the complaints about degradation of restaurants don't faze us at all. We LIKE Disney restaurants. And love planning ahead (and booking reservations is just dandy to compulsive planners like me) We love to eat the way the plan goes...when we're wanting apps we get the Deluxe, when we know we'll need more park time we get the regular dining plan.

...just wish I could get in on the free dining in January...but of course, the only time we can go is that black-out weekend! So we're taking the %off discount...free dining would have saved us a little bit more (about $100 for our days) but we'll take the %off. Anything is better than rack-rates, lol.

Happy eating!

 

[sunshineNJ]

I love free dining!!!! I am going for 9 nights. I leave this Sunday!!!!! Where else could I go and not have to spend any money on food for all that time? I think it's a FABULOUS deal!!!

 

[MellieluvsDisney]

Same here! We love the FD promotion. We are leaving in 2 weeks for another great 14 days with FD and cannot wait to share the many wonderful meals we will have. We do not go to Disney only for the food either, but it is part of the magic!

Thanks for this tread, I am tired of seeing all the negativity around FD. It's just another discount from Disney that we can take advantage off. We just choose the one that is better for us.

 

[inkedupmomma]

just so mods kn ow, I was and am not trying to start any debates here! i was just very confused at all the bashing! and why some care so much? a discount is a discount. this discount works best for my family. and I love the food at WDW and have gone during free dining 2x..food was always fantastic!

after breaking down my vacay, I am paying 122 per person per day for an almost 2 week stay! where else would i pay that and get food, park tix, a deluxe resort and that MAGIC?? no where! I'm smitten with the early release of free dining !I can now breathe for the next 6 months

 

[Mrs Grumpy]

Another free dining fan here!!!! I am thrilled I got it already for next September.

 

[williamson_ja]

We absolutely LOVE it!! It's fantastic. I know a lot of people don't like it, but it is the very best discount for our family. We have such a fun time trying out all the restaurants and not having to worry about how much it's all going to cost. I think the food at WDW is wonderful! I guess I'm not much of a food snob. lol. We just love it all.

 

[DisneyBabies]

(because one would be lonely and isn't quite enough )

We love the DxDDP!!! Dining is a big thing for us on vacation. We hate eating fast food more than once a week during real life, so there's no way we're going to do it once a day on vacation. And I don't cook on vacation.

We get the DxDDP for all our trips and save at least $300 each time vs paying OOP. So add in the almost $600 we saved getting FD, we will wind up saving about $900 on this trip vs what we would have paid OOP.

Our TA checked all the discounts to see which one gave us the biggest savings and it turned out it was the FD even after we upgraded to DxDDP.

 

[lyv4him]

I love free dining as well, and love the food and the choices at WDW. I am bummed somewhat that certain snacks/food items are no longer on the plan, but hey, it's still free dining to me!

P.S. Can someone tell me how much it would cost per day per person if I stayed at a Value with the Quick Service Dining Plan and upgraded to a plan with table service as well?

 

[inkedupmomma]

(because one would be lonely and isn't quite enough )

We love the DxDDP!!! Dining is a big thing for us on vacation. We hate eating fast food more than once a week during real life, so there's no way we're going to do it once a day on vacation. And I don't cook on vacation.

We get the DxDDP for all our trips and save at least $300 each time vs paying OOP. So add in the almost $600 we saved getting FD, we will wind up saving about $900 on this trip vs what we would have paid OOP.

Our TA checked all the discounts to see which one gave us the biggest savings and it turned out it was the FD even after we upgraded to DxDDP.

that is us exactly!

 

[Nohal]

Love free dining, we have been doing it every year since they first offered it. I like the fact that I don't have to worry about the cost of eating. I also enjoy planning which restaurants I want to eat at. It works out great for me and DH.

 

[TDC Nala]

As this thread was apparently started in response to a thread that was closed because it got argumentative, and debate in the opposite direction serves no purpose either, I'm going to close this one too.