But is it really free???? The DDP

[Mackey Mouse]

I am just curious here as I have never done the DDP and probably never will as I have DDE.

Do you feel that you are definitely winning the money battle with Disney??? Are you making money on this deal, breaking even, or do you think Disney is making money on it?

I wonder why they offer a free dining plan. I understand from what I have read that you pay rack rate for the room, although then I read someone said they got a discount from AAA and did not pay rack rate. Do you think that is enough to cover free dining? I keep thinking this is a business and Disney is in the business of making money and magic, of course, but are they losing money on this free dining..

If we get a lot of responses to this question, I may move this to DDP forum, but am starting it here..

 

[disneymom2twins]

I originally book with AAA and paid for the dining plan. I saved about $150 vs. disney.com. Then when free dining came out, we gave up the $150 AAA discount to save the $400 from getting the dining free. So we did end up paying rack rate for the rooms, but still saved about $250.

 

[janets]

For my family, I could have gotten the AAA discount on the room or taken advantage (if available) of an AP rate when they came out. The AP rate would have discounted about $75/night off my room. But the dining plan costs me about $98/night, and I would have purchased it for our trip, so I'm ahead $14/night of my stay. We always do 1 TS meal per day and while I might not order appetizers and dessert for everyone, purchasing the meal plan allows my dh to pick whatever entree he desires, without me making comments about the price. I worry less about the kids finishing their meals (more for my younger ds than older one) and I don't mind getting a popcorn or ice pop every day if my ds wants it since the snacks are included as well.

I think different families will have different experiences with the DP and it might not be the best choice for everyone. If you are more of a CS family, prefer grabbing a quick breakfast in the room and don't want to take the time for a TS every day, then you're better off taking the room discount.

 

[MyGoofy26]

We'll definitely come out ahead. We specifically chose a value resort to "maximize" the deal (we swore them off more than 10 years ago, that's what the promise of free dining does, LOL!) We're just two adults, and came out ahead paying for the plan in December, so we know that this trip will be the biggest "discount" we've ever recieved from Disney. I'm certain that our daily "cost" of food will end up being as much or more than we paid for our room.

We were originally planning on one of three deluxe resorts, but when this came out it made sense to downgrade. Usually when Disney offers a discount it's sorta "prorated" for each category, values obviously getting a much lower dollar amount than moderates or deluxe but this is the only offer where you can get the same "discount" no matter which category you stay in.

I don't know how much money they're actually losing though. They're obviously not making *as much* profit, but the actual costs of food is a small amount of that price on the menu, so even with tax and tip it's probably just a small portion of the rack rate for rooms they're getting. PLUS they get a few more people into the parks with more room in their budget to entice with shirts, plush, and collectables. AND the excellent word of mouth. Most companies are now realizing that word of mouth is the best advertising - and just look at the insane amount of buzz the dining plan got after last year's free dining offer. I don't think they've ever had so much interest in a dining plan ever before. So I bet they're looking at any "losses" that way as well - the increased number of dining plan bookings after everyone on the free dining plan returns home to tell friends and family or books their own next trip with the plan.

 

[BillSears]

To those of us who use discounts on our room it's not free. But it usually is cheaper then the normal discount.

 

[gina2000]

I think it can work well if you enjoy eating three meals a day and tend to order appetizers, entrees and desserts. Our last trip we decided to nix the DDP and stay at the Dolphin. Little did we realize that our then 11 year old would want 3 meals a day. Considering what he ate and how often we all ate, we would have saved money. Point one for the DDP.

I think the biggest disappointment for me with the DDP has been the reduction of menus at restaurants. I came away from Spoodles shocked at the menu limitations. After dining there for years, it's off the list. We actually thought they were going out of business. To pay out of pocket for the choices they had and the quality we were served was absurd. And I think for those of us who have regularly dined at TS restaurants, the reduction in quality and choice has been a huge disappointment. It's almost worth it to be on the plan so you don't feel the pain of paying for a meal that is substandard to what you are used to. Point two for the DDP (albeit a backhanded point, at best).

So in essense, I guess what I'm saying is that if you have a big eater in the family it's probably worth it. The reductions in the restaurants aren't worth paying full price for. Room discounts are significant only if you stay deluxe. So stay as cheaply as you can and utilize the DDP. Bottom line for me, though, what you're getting at the restaurants these days, it's a lose lose whether it's OOP or DDP.

How's that for equivocating???

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

It all depends on your circumstances and way of eating how much, it at all, you will be saving.

The last time I figured it I was giving up a $18-20 a day room savings for a nearly $80 value of food. Since our food budget generally runs to $60 a day you could say that we are still coming out pretty well.

Just figuring out how much we saved dollar wise (not sure with the new code as I cannot figure out what people will paying for the Values at the time we will be there with the new codes) is not an apt comparison though as we are also saving much time from not having to go off site to eat cheaper meals.

Disney will benefit by having fuller restaurants as it does not cost all that much more to feed more people since you have to have the staff and food prep anyway and since people will be staying on site and in the parks more they might well spend more money on other items.

If it does not benefit Disney they would not do it and if it does not benefit the guests they will not repeat the DP.

It will be our first experience and I am sure there will be both good and bad things about it. I am not sure I would be nearly as interested if we were not frequent visitors and would not want to 'waste' time eating when we could be standing in those lines waiting for an attraction.

We will let you know what we think when we get back. Each trip is an adventure unto itself.

Slightly Goofy

 

[LegoMom3]

....I wonder why they offer a free dining plan. I understand from what I have read that you pay rack rate for the room, although then I read someone said they got a discount from AAA and did not pay rack rate. Do you think that is enough to cover free dining? I keep thinking this is a business and Disney is in the business of making money and magic, of course, but are they losing money on this free dining.. .

If you notice their dates, Disney has offered Free Dining during what is usually considered peak hurricane season (mid-Aug. thru Sept.). This is also back-to-school time for many families, so in general, without a draw of some type, it's a slower time of year for Disney.

We are using it for the first time in 3 weeks, and while I've never actually sat down and figured out how much I'm "saving," I do know that we are going to be eating at restaurants that we'd otherwise never see due to the cost (we're a family of 5 so we can eat a lot of food!).

I don't know if I'd ever pay for the DDP, but the Free version was too good to pass up, at least once!

.

 

[bertalander]

It's an awesome deal for us.

Yes, we paid rack rate... but at a Value Resort. There is NO way on God's lovely green earth I would be able to feed a family of 4 per day on the savings I would have gotten with a discounted room.

So technically not 'free' but pretty darn close IMO

 

[Matthews4Disney]

For anyone who does lots of character meals, esp. $27.99 dinners, the dining plan saves lots of money! We had free dining last year and we'll have it in a few weeks. (YEAH! ) We had purchased the dining plan and then got it refunded when the free offer came out. What a day that was!!!!!

We would have spent a fortune last year just on character meals + tips without the DDP. We were lucky enough to even enjoy CRT breakfast with only one credit each last year, but even with us each using two credits to do it this year, it would have been worth it to buy the plan. We are big eaters, so we love this! Even though we wouldn't normally order appetizers and desserts at every meal, the character meals cost enough to make huge savings...especially when it is free!!!!!!!!! Even if we go back when it is not free, we will definitely buy the plan. It is also nice to have it paid for before you go, and you don't have to budget every meal!

I agree with the OP...if Disney didn't make money off of it, they wouldn't have offerred it again. I know we will spend more on souvenirs since we aren't paying for food, and I bet we aren't the only ones. Plus, the menu prices are way higher than what the food would actually cost. We love the DDP - especially when it is free!

 

[smartestnumber5]

My gf and I just got back yesterday from 7 nights of free dining. I know I probably could have gotten about 20% off the room at Pop from AAA. This would have amounted to saving a bit over $100 for the whole stay. We don't have any usual food budget, but we knew that we would probably want to do one table service restaurant everyday and that we'd want to get a good amount of snacks, plus probaby a counter service for lunch everyday. We wouldn't have gotten dessert w/ every meal and wouldn't have gotten two entrees and two appetizers at every dinner, but even a more moderate table service meal could have cost us around $50. Add in counter service and snacks and we're talking in the $70 range. So essentially we saved $70 a day for 7 days = $490 - $112 = $378.

Of course, there's another way to look at it--we were among those who didn't decide to plan a trip until we saw there was free dining. Okay, we might have done so anyway, but we agreed to wait and see and if there was free dining we were definitely going. So you could say that given w/out free dining we likely wouldn't have taken a trip at all, we actually lost, oh around $1500--the price of the trip

I'm guessing people like us are one of the big draws for Disney--it was free dining which inspired us to fork over that $1500 ini the first place. Also, I'm guessing there are a lot of people who would have stayed off site and moved onsite for free dining or were planning to stay onsite but decided to upgrade to a more expensive hotel/room once they knew they were saving a lot of money w/ the free dining. All of that is more revenue for Disney--I guess enough to cover the losses of giving free food and paying server's tips.

 

[DiszyDeanette]

We booked our family of four (both kids are "adults" on the DDP) for 7 days / 6 nights at CSR in November with the dining plan (we bought it last year, and it is worth every penny no matter how you get it) and our total was about $3400. Free dining was announced, we moved our reservation to the first week of October (starting 9/30, so we get the free dining) and made it a 9 day / 8 night stay. Our total was about $2300.

While I am not silly enough to believe that anybody can "win the money battle with Disney" we added 2 nights to our stay, and saved over $1000. I definitely feel as if we have gotten a fantastic deal, even though logically I know it's not "free".

Hey! It's September today, that means we're going to WDW THIS month!!!

 

[Teresa Pitman]

Disney makes money through the free dining in several ways.

One, it brings people in and fills up hotel rooms (because you MUST stay on site to get the free dining) that might otherwise sit empty (and not bringing in any money) because it's offered at a time of year when attendance has traditionally been low.

Two, it keeps those people in WDW, because you are required to have the dining plan for every day of your stay. People who might otherwise spend a few days of their vacation at another Orlando park or attraction don't want to miss out on their free meals, so they stick with WDW.

Three, knowing they are getting free meals, people are inclined to spend a little more freely in some other areas - souvenirs, tours, special events, etc. These are high-profit items.

Four, it's like giving out a "free sample" of a product. Many people who enjoyed the convenience of free dining will decide to buy the dining plan next time they go - just read some of the trip reports and you'll see that this is working at least some of the time. So letting people try it out this way means more people willing to pay for it on their next trip.


Teresa

 

[barbie78]

Yeah, I think Disney will make money on this in the long run. This will be our second year on free DDP, and we're hooked. We'll probably get it every time we go. So excuse the analogy, but it's like a drug dealer. Your first hit of crack is free, because they know if they can get you hooked, you'll pay to get it over and over.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

but it's like a drug dealer. Your first hit of crack is free, because they know if they can get you hooked, you'll pay to get it over and over.

So that's what makes the Mickey Bars so good!

 

[powellrj]

In our case it was a win/win for both us and disney. We had become an off-site or universal family the last couple of years. We really had no desire to stay on-site at disney because we felt that with our teenaged children, a condo or a pool home was a better fit for us. We also have loved our last couple of on-site universal trips because of the discount you get with an AP is so much greater than anything disney offers.

We had planned a split trip with part of the stay at cypress point and RPR. We had a great rate for both.

Free dining was offered and it was a no brainer for us. Even paying rack rate and buying park tickets it was still a bargain. We were 4 (disney) adults staying at pop with free dining for under $100 a day. And trust me we made use of the free dining with most table service meals costing over $200. The only ones that didn't were character meals and they were still well over $100. Most of our counter service meals were also close to $20 for each person everyday when you add the cost of the entree,dessert and drink. We also made sure to use all of our snack options.

DH who really had no desire to every stay on-site at disney again, said if they offer it again next year, we way go back again.

 

[misslissa]

I don't know about actually paying for DDP 'cause I'm going during free dining. I've never purchased the DDP because I know we wouldn't get good value for it. We are a couple who are used to eating appetisers for dinner and splitting meals, etc.

However, Disney is doing it for some reason.

I took Tourism Development in school... and here is why I think they offer the free dining. In September, we're all still on a summer high, it is hurricane season and it is a generally slow season. So, Disney probably doesn't make a heck of a lot of money at any time during this period.

But, when they give free dining... all of a sudden, all of us suckers decide to travel in September and get our butts down there when they'd otherwise be slow. We spend on hotels, tickets, merch. And, otherwise these would all be empty or slow (not making so much as they would in a busy time). The small fee they have to do to make this money is to give away food.

This would be easy.

In general, a good running restaurant makes about 80% profit on its sales because they keep the food costs at 20%.

So, in conclusion, Disney is making more money during Free Dining than they otherwise would because they are only giving away about 20% of their actual dining costs to propel some serious business that isn't otherwise there.

 

[CPer'sMom]

The DDP, free or paid for, is never worth it for our family ~ It's by far better for us to get room discounts and pay for our meals OOP.

The people who get the "best deal" with the DDP are those who stay at the value resorts. That's why the values are booked at almost capacity during the "free dining promo" and the deluxe resorts are not. This past week the GF was only at 57% capacity.
So, yes the DDP brings people in and fills rooms at the values but doesn't do much in a positive way for the deluxe resorts.

 

[disneydebbi]

In my opinion, the free dining is a way to get more people to stay on property. Disney probably ends up breaking even after the extras people will spend while staying on property.

 

[penjen]

Well yes it is free for us plus about 5 days.
We were going to pay about $2415 for 5 nights at the Swan/Dolphin but now we are staying 10 nights for $2694.