Did Free Dining drive anyone else crazy?

[wdwobsessed]

Oooooh ... yummy froz bananna!

Good tip!

Thanks

WDWO

 

[momto2girls]

Since the dining plan was free, I was happy with it. It was A LOT of food though. However, I really doubt that I'd pay for it in the future. I might if it was customizable. We usually eat more table service meals. And then if we have a big meal, we might substitute a pretzel or turkey leg for a meal. We only eat 0-2 counter service meals a trip. So, I felt like we didn't get to visit enough of our favorite TS restaurants and spent more time then I'd like eating CS food that I didn't really enjoy.

 

[84disney]

Kizmac- according to how things were done on our recent trip, you would have no problem using the credits the way you suggest. That's what I meant when I said that's how we would do it. We swapped room cards around paying for our meals because we would be counted as one ticket when the cm was doing the bill, but we always just payed with one card instead of saying put 4 on one card, and put the other 4 on this card.....does that make sense to you ? If that is wrong to do it that way, or Disney would not like you to do it like that, we would certainly not. But I don't think there is a problem with that . I do not think we could all eat that much food otherwise...meaning I do not think we could use all those credits. It was soooo much fun, and the food was tasty !!

 

[vfb2girls]

It is such a big help to hear about how everyone else uses the dining plan, it has helped me plan on not only where to eat but how to use our plan. We will be going in March so we are paying for our plan and since there is only myself and husband it should be quite easy for us to use the plan. When we were in Disney 2004 we planned onlt TS meals at lunch time and even though this will not be getting the most bang for our buck for the plan we found that eating our largest meal at lunch works so much better for us. Neither one of us are breakfast eaters so by the time noon rolls around we can really enjoy our meals. We only did one night time dinner and that was CM, which of course my husband is wanting to do again. I am just happy that when we get to Disney that our food is already paid for and this will be one less thing to have to budget for. So thanks to everybody for all of the suggestions and reviews, it makes planning so much more fun.

 

[Calliaz]

When we were there, we overheard a couple on the bus who had the free dining plan and really no idea how to use it at all. They did virtually no planning at all and probably ended up missing out on some great things. However, I bet they didn't lose sleep at night thinking "did I pick the right CS for my family? Did I get the most for my money? "

They were probably the same clueless family in front of us at the noodle station. They were out of CS credits but had tons of TS credits and couldn't understand the difference. They held the line for 20 minutes arguing and were very upset.

I didn't lose sleep thinking about getting the most 'bang for the buck.' But I also didn't like the mechanics of using the dining plan.

 

[Calliaz]

I had a few problems with the free dining plan and I sort of resent hearing that not liking it is "looking a gift horse in the mouth." The dining plan wasn't really "free" when you are paying rack rate and considering that I chose WDW over Disneyland because the value of the WDW package was greater. Therefore, I expected to receive the value that I, in effect, paid for.

In reality, we ended up spending about $200 on extra food and losing 4 TS credits that we couldn't use. I probably would have been ok with that if the plan had been easy to use.

Instead, I encountered 2 CS staff members who rang up meals incorrectly and had difficulty making corrections. I also had a CM give me wrong information when I tried to make a correction at the hotel front desk (she said that children 2 and under could not share with the adults on the plan). Other times I had to explain to TS waiters that DH and I wanted to share a meal and I wanted to pay cash for a meal for DS. It was just way too complicated for me.

One easy change they could make is to show both the number of credits used *and* the total credits left on the receipt. Many of my problems with confused CMs could have been solved if the receipt showed the number of credits that we used on a particular order.

I also think that free dining made restaurants way too crowded, waiters overworked, and the quality of food suffered.

 

[marcyinPA]

They were probably the same clueless family in front of us at the noodle station. They were out of CS credits but had tons of TS credits and couldn't understand the difference. They held the line for 20 minutes arguing and were very upset.

I didn't lose sleep thinking about getting the most 'bang for the buck.' But I also didn't like the mechanics of using the dining plan.

I tend to 'overplan" things, but I guess that paid off for us on this last trip. I planned out every meal...counter service, table service. I made PS's for every TS meal. I didn't find the plan hard to use at all, because I did all of my homework ahead of time. The only thing I found difficult was using the CS meals in the food court, and carrying all of that food and bottle beverages on a tray. For 4 people, it usually required two trays, and then there wasn't anyone to sit with the kids. I just found that part cumbersome, but as for how the plan worked, it was fairly easy to follow.

If I was told that something in particular was not included, I just either left it or paid oop for it. That rarely happened.

I found that the meal plan made for a less stressful trip...we could all order whatever we wanted to, and I didn't feel guilty about ordering a $29.99 filet mignon. Had we not been on the meal plan, I probably would have settled for the cheapest thing on the menu. It really felt like vacation this time, eating whatever we wanted.

Just my .02!!

 

[Suzanne74]

Personally, I had no problem figuring it out and always knew how many we had left. Maybe it was because we were only a family of 3 but to us, it was simple to calculate back or just save all your receipts in an envelope. I also didn't encounter any CM's that didn't know what they were doing and I always showed them what was what before they rang it up anyway - just to be sure. One time, I forgot a desert for dd and they reminded me so I just got a cookie.

There are many people out there that do pay rack rates for disney (crazy I know) but even still, I am a passholder and this deal was too good to pass up even by paying rack rate. We saved over $1450 for just 3 (2 adults and 1 child) on a 10 day trip. Yes, normally we wouldn't have spent that much money but we tried restaurants I would have never had tried and had deserts and appetizers we usually pass up. We had 2 TS meals alone that almost reached $200 just for 2 adults and 1 child. Also, park tickets get cheaper and cheaper the longer you stay so in reality we saved a TON of money by staying even longer then normal. Usually it is the food/snacks/drinks that keeps your stay more and more expensive everyday you stay, so this was a nice feature. I had no problem paying CSR's room rate as it was a great hotel and overall this vacation was truly our best at WDW

I guess for people that can't keep track, you can always use punch out cards - buy ones for snacks, CS and TS. Just cross off or punch out how many you use when you use them. I think that would be a simple way to keep track - or just save your receipts in a small envelope. Both options don't require much space in your camera bag.

Also you can go to your hotel's front desk anytime and they will print out how many points you have used, where and how many you have left. I asked this at check-out and she said this is no problem, you can come everyday. We didn't but it was a nice feature if you needed it.

HTH

 

[kizmac]

Kizmac- according to how things were done on our recent trip, you would have no problem using the credits the way you suggest. That's what I meant when I said that's how we would do it. We swapped room cards around paying for our meals because we would be counted as one ticket when the cm was doing the bill, but we always just payed with one card instead of saying put 4 on one card, and put the other 4 on this card.....does that make sense to you ? If that is wrong to do it that way, or Disney would not like you to do it like that, we would certainly not. But I don't think there is a problem with that . I do not think we could all eat that much food otherwise...meaning I do not think we could use all those credits. It was soooo much fun, and the food was tasty !!

Thanks for your response! I agree that if it wasn't allowed we wouldn't even think about it. I just figure it would be perfect if we could just use it that way and do less TS meals and share some CS. We had trouble using all the credits in the time frame as it was and we did no sharing or banking child credits to save for other meals,(we wouldn't of had time or room for more meals ) We just used them and if the kids ate two bites, oh well. It was free but had I paid for it

The free dining was awesome and was a huge deal for us large families. I am not complaining about having too much food as I doubt anyone else is really, but I think we are just reflecting and contemplating more for the future and if we would actually purchase it. If it were just me and my DH, I would purchase it in a heartbeat but for 8 of us it is quite a lot of money for more food than we really need. I can only pray, wish and dream that they offer it free again someday. I'm not holding my breath though! Can't see that deal happening more than once.

 

[84disney]

Kizmac-

That's exactly how we felt. We were not complaining about too much food, it was so much fun, and such an endulgance for us . It would be so much fun to get it for half our party...under the correct rules. It would be so much fun to eat at some of those wonderful places again. We did share all TS that were not buffets because of the amount of food given , and we did share some CS, also. We used some of the child's credits we had in our pool, but it was free, and he was just not eating. We probably only used two of his TS for an adult, because the we ate several buffets. I do not think I would feel like paying a child price for his credits then using them for an adult, but I sure do not think it's horrible either . We would just like to get 4 adults on a dining plan, and like you said, use them to have some grand meals. If that does not work out, I think we would even consider buying a plan for everyone, but we sure would waste a ton of food. It was just too much fun for us...the food was grand !

 

[Calliaz]

Personally, I had no problem figuring it out and always knew how many we had left.

The problem wasn't that I didn't know how many credits I had. The few times this happened, the CM "thought" he/she had deducted the right number of credits and refused to believe that he/she was incorrect. In this case it would have been immensely helpful if the receipt showed the number of credits deducted in the transaction. The error would be much easier to see.

For example, at the ABC Commisary I placed an order for 2 adult meals (with entree, dessert, and drink). The cashier incorrectly entered two cheeseburgers instead of one and we caught her mistake. The manager came over and said, "since she's only listed 2 people in the count then it will only deduct 2 credits. Enjoy the free cheeseburger." When I got back to the table to check my last receipt I realized they had deducted 3 credits. It would have helped if the receipt showed that 3 meals were deducted so that the problem could have been fixed there instead of at the hotel front desk. If this was an isolated incident I wouldn't be concerned but it happened enough times to be annoying and inconvenient.

 

[bonnielynn]

I also thought the dinning plan was worth it. .I would buy the plan for the next time we go down to disney (2007) if its available. We got to go to TS that we would have never even bothered with. Tasted loads of great food and were very satisfied.

 

[MickeyP]

We also enjoyed the free dining plan in Sept. I did find it odd that a pizza place would not offer pizza as a child option. I also didn't like the fact that at the Yacht Club CS, Hurricane Hannah's only offered potato chip as the side for burgers. You had to pay for fries.......unbelievable. At the Boardwalk Bakery, I asked if I could get a pb&j sandwich and they told me I had to get the whole kid's meal as just the sandwich, then I could get any drink AND any baked good they offered. Yikes, pretty good deal. We had several waiters and waitresses suggest we pay for the kids, which was great. I spoke with another couple and they "said" they had 4 adults in their room (really only 2). They bought 1/2 of the amount of days they needed for park admissions and they had tickets for their length of stay and double the adult dining credits. Could this have been possible? I mean, immoral? Yes. But, could this have been possible?

 

[annie1995]

We loved the free dining plan, and will definately get it again next time around. Only one time I needed to go to the front desk and get a print out of what we had used. and that was because we lost track of our snack credits. We never encountered any problems using it, and without it we would have never eaten at half of the places that we did eat at! I hope they do the free dining again, but if not oh well!

 

[MOMOFMNM]

I would maybe pay for it oop just for the fact that you can have an all inclusive thing going there, my dh likes to know up front what the cost is and it helped us with our budget actually, even if we were to pay for it! One day would cost us 100 bucks and we did not go to any meal under 100 dollars for TS not including the few 50 or 60 dollar CS meals and 15 dollar snacks...we had a REALLY hard time using all the credits and infact left with 16 unused!! If I had paid for that I might be upset or trying to get my monies worth, who knows...I will probably go ahead and do it again but use CS credits for bkfsts and lunches and split meals with me, dh and kids...we did this at a few CS places and had TONS of food left over!!!!

It was hard for us to get things to go because we were at the parks 90% of the time...next time I will plan a full day of rest (even if it kills me ) for pooling and DTD or some RNR...we were park comandoing it all trip!!! Up at 8 stay til close every night, no rests...even EMH til 11 one night!!! Our kids were angels though and never complained or got whiney!!

I can't wait for our next trip, I will be able to do more or less now that we have been there!!

The dining plan was good but yes, it was VERY time consuming to eat all that food and wait and such...I liked eating at the resort restaurants for TS much better than at the parks...IMO, maybe it seemed more like a meal at the resorts??

We will probably not do CRT again but try another princess meal like Park Fare
and try an ethinic place at WS, and we will definitely plan 2 days for EPCOT, our girls say that is their favorite and we missed SOOOO MUCH there!!

Personally I love MGM!! Stage shows are my thing!! RNC is awesome too

Oh we are on the dining thing sorry!!

Snacks: we liked non plan snacks more like churros and pretzels and poweraides (the kids) we did get ice cream treats a few times but beware with little kids: those things melt in a heartbeat and I saw more than one toddler loose their head (mickey head) in their lap and on the stroller!!!

All in all I have been thinking about it and find that it would be REALLY hard to feed all 5 of us for UNDER 100 dollars a day...maybe I am wrong about that but it seems hard to do if you want even one TS every few nights...

I loved Ohana and all my CS experiences were very good

I am very happy with the plan and the trip and our rate and our family pics and the Poly...I just feel really blessed to be able to have experieced all that magic!!

 

[kizmac]

I spoke with another couple and they "said" they had 4 adults in their room (really only 2). They bought 1/2 of the amount of days they needed for park admissions and they had tickets for their length of stay and double the adult dining credits. Could this have been possible? I mean, immoral? Yes. But, could this have been possible?

Sure it could of been possible. I am shocked they admitted their immoral act,LOL. They must of been pretty proud of themselves. I don't see why they couldn't have pulled it off. It may have cost them more for their room because isn't it $25 more a night per extra adult? Oh I do guess they could have bypassed that issue if they said that it were 2 children over 10 and not paid extra and the tickets and credits would have been for adults. The park passes probably cost them a little more by breaking it up into the four people because the less days, the more money but they still raked in all that extra free food. Which why two adults would need more food is beyond me other than I guess they probably lived it up on the 2 TS credit places.

 

[pamouselover]

I think if you plan your meals and you take the time to understand the dinning plan you will enjoy it. MY DH was so surprized that what we we did not spend on food. Besides buying drinks, the only day we paid for food was our last day before going home. We spent about $30 dollars on breakfast, ate late at the resort. We then spent about $40 for dinner at the airport. I would say we spent about $20 on drinks during the trip. We used the dinning plan to either having a TS breakfast(CASTLE AND CHEF MICKEYS) and CS for dinner. Or a TS for dinner and CS for breakfast(RESORT).It was plenty of food, usally around our PS time we would just be getting hungry. Breakfast are large even from the resort. Snacks we either got ice cream, drinks or popcorn.It was a big savings for us. The last time we want we spent about a $900 on food! I can tell you in six days I know it was well over that using the dinning plan.

 

[pjupton]

I tend to 'overplan" things, but I guess that paid off for us on this last trip.

I planned everything to "the T" as well, but like Calliaz, I have two year olds. With two year olds, especially two of them, well, the best laid plans...

I anticipated that we might have to "bail" on some of our ADRs and made backups where we could pay cash if we were out of credits. It meant we didn't always get the "most bang for the buck" but at least we didn't come home with unused credits.