Cancel DVC ressie to get Free Dining?

[LPnerd]

How is it not free.

I agree totally it might not be the best bargain, or even the best total cost.

But many people do pay rack rate and with free dining they get it for no additional cost.

dinning plan, added on to discount room... then rack rate check it... you end up paying about 50 bucks more for 3 days...
plus I am not a fan of them... esp in rooms with kitchens... even if you just eat breakfast, snacks and a couple other meals you save way more money... tell your sisd ter to check her math... rofl

 

[TDC Nala]

Are you good with moving "down" to a value or moderate? I'm sure nobody's suggesting that you book a DVC villa with free dining, as it would be more cost-effective to keep the villa on the points reservation and purchase the dining plan than it would to pay rack rate for the villa even if they will throw in a free dining plan when you do.

Even with a non-DVC deluxe resort you would need to crunch the numbers to see if free dining would be better. You should also consider that availabilty for free dining is very sketchy on the fall offer. Make sure you check before you change anything that you can even get a resort you might want. POFQ, All Star Movies and Art of Animation are totally excluded from this offer and limited availability at POR and CSR have been reported.

No, I don't think it affects renting at all.

 

[LisaS]

If you don't pay additional for something, then, yes it is free.

But what if you don't pay additional for something but the cost of another part of your reservation package is increased by more than the value of the free item? As I recall the "free dining is not really free" comments started in response to posts asking "I have a points reservation, can I get free dining?" Those responding to these questions were trying to explain that to get free dining you have to give up the points reservation and book a room at rack rate, saving money on dining but then spending more than you save on the room (if booking the same room for cash instead of points). So the "not really free" comment was in regards to the total out-of-pocket cost in that situation.

 

[Sammie]

dinning plan, added on to discount room... then rack rate check it... you end up paying about 50 bucks more for 3 days...
plus I am not a fan of them... esp in rooms with kitchens... even if you just eat breakfast, snacks and a couple other meals you save way more money... tell your sisd ter to check her math... rofl

I have no idea what the heck you are talking about or laughing about. The OP was asking about her sister, I don't even have one.

But as to other comment, not everyone is able to get a discounted room. Sometimes the Free Dining offer does save money.

 

[Sammie]

But what if you don't pay additional for something but the cost of another part of your reservation package is increased by more than the value of the free item? As I recall the "free dining is not really free" comments started in response to posts asking "I have a points reservation, can I get free dining?" Those responding to these questions were trying to explain that to get free dining you have to give up the points reservation and book a room at rack rate, saving money on dining but then spending more than you save on the room (if booking the same room for cash instead of points). So the "not really free" comment was in regards to the total out-of-pocket cost in that situation.

Once again, as Sandi, said also, everyone has to compare the offerings and see which plan works best for them. For some it's a discounted room and pay out of pocket for meals or pay for the plan.

For others it is pay full rate for the room and get the free dining, or dining discount if you want to call it that.

But many guests do not have a discounted room rate and for them the Free Dining package can save them money.

 

[mom of princessx2]

In 2009, before we were DVC members, we rented points to stay at AKV the week after Thanksgiving. We had AP and paid out of pocket for DDP. FD came up for that week so our friends decided to go. They stayed at POFQ. We crunched the numbers and found we really paid the about the same amount. Of course we had to figure what the cost would be on just park hopper tickets not the cost of AP.

My conclusion was that I would much rather stay at AKV instead of POFQ. Run you numbers and do what is the best value. As pp stated, be prepared to stay at a value or moderate to get the best deal.

 

[keishashadow]

I've cancelled a DVC booking and banked the points. Back in early days when the FDP included appetizer & tipand we had 2 A & 1 child in the room

i'd certainly book FDP again if I was out of points/wanted to squeeze in another trip/able to stockpile the resort tix to upgrade in the future or use for TBD guests

Must say that lately when I run out of points we find it more cost effective with an AP to stay @ DTD Hilton for under $100 a night vs a mod, let alone a deluxe on cash basis for 2 adults.

 

[nalajms]

Are you good with moving "down" to a value or moderate? I'm sure nobody's suggesting that you book a DVC villa with free dining, as it would be more cost-effective to keep the villa on the points reservation and purchase the dining plan than it would to pay rack rate for the villa even if they will throw in a free dining plan when you do.

With all this discussion, I thought I'd check out the pricing for the first part of our trip before Thanksgiving.

Renting out points for our 4 days (1n in a studio, 3n in 2bd at BCV) for roughly $12 per point plus cost of paying for DDP. I can get the free dining package at Coronado Springs (2 rooms) for our party with the min 2day park tickets.

Really not much of a savings considering I lose the kitchen and washer dryer. Plus the location of BCV.

Given that, I don't see how free dining would influence the rental market.

 

[TerryGriffin]

So you can't get the "free dining" if you are using DVC points?

 

[jennylyn_b]

So you can't get the "free dining" if you are using DVC points?

No you cannot. Disney only allows one discount at a time and dvc is already discounted rooms. That's why ppl who get free dining have to pay full price for their room.

 

[LisaS]

So you can't get the "free dining" if you are using DVC points?

Free dining is a promotion to fill cash rooms when bookings are slower than Disney would like. It's part of a package requiring you to pay full price for your room and purchase tickets for at least part of your stay even if you already have an AP.

DVC members also do not get 30% off the points cost when Disney offers 30% off room rates and we do not get 7 nights for the points cost of 4 nights when Disney offers the "pay for 4, stay for 7" promotion. Those are also promos to fill cash rooms at slow times.

Disney does not have to offer us special promotions to get us to use our points. As DVC members, we are always in a "use them or lose them" situation with points and by design, DVC resorts are at full occupancy most of the time. On the upside, when you calculate what your DVC accommodation actually costs, we're getting a great deal already.

 

[Belle & Ariel]

The only time we will do FD is when we are needing to buy an AP. We get the tickets needed to get the FD package and upgrade to AP. The rest of that year it is much cheaper to use our points and buy meals OOP.
We are going 2x next month and we spend less paying OOP and getting exactly what we want, so are not adding a dining plan either trip.

 

[ldo]

we did the free dining deal--it works well for a family of 5. We were planning to come in 12/22 and leave 12/25 for a cruise. We are going to Univ 1 day and not even going into WDW parks, but will do WDW things like DQ, DTD, firepit, movies, etc. With DVC points, we needed a 1BR. At OKW, that was 100 points. If we were 4 persons in a studio, we might have skipped the free dining, but for 5 it is a good deal.
We can stay at PO-Riverside (the only 5 person moderate) and get free dining for 5 of us---and our kids are now "adults" for DDP. We asked if the kids if wanted more space or stay in 1 room and get free dining--they said free DDP. We planned to buy AP next year, so we will just buy the minimum 2 day passes and convert to DVC AP next year. When I back out the cost of tickets (which I would pay next year anyway), my cost for 3 nights is $870. This is the last year I can imagine our group snuggling up in 1 room--but they are thrilled--LOL! Elaine