Disney Complainers Complain About This!

[Praying Colonel]

I think most people realize that nothing is ever truly free. BOGO is just “50% off when you buy multiples of 2”.

The problem I have is that whenever someone is excited about “Free Dining”, no one seems to be able to offer additional insight without giving an economics lesson and sounding condescending.

No one says “That’s great. Just remember you still have to pay your tips”. Or “Did you check to make sure there wasn’t a better offer available? Such as a discount on your room?”

It’s always “There is NO such thing as Free Dining”, “It isn’t free because you paid rack rate for your room”, etc.

Yep, I usually stay out of the "Is 'free dining' really free" threads, but I took the bait in the thread title.

 

[mom2rtk]

Awwww...look how happy everyone is making their way to A&E

So how much did you pay the guy on the phone to pose for you?

 

[AngiTN]

So how much did you pay the guy on the phone to pose for you?

Or how about the guy in the Grumpy hat?

 

[gwynne]

Awwww...look how happy everyone is making their way to A&E

That photo says it all. Seriously.

 

[mom2rtk]

Or how about the guy in the Grumpy hat?

Which one?

 

[Reddog1134]

Really? Seems to me that most of the condescending comments came from the other side.

Having a differing view isn't condescending, especially if you can explain why the view is different with examples.



How is that condescending?

Her post wasn't about getting the best discount available. The post was specifically to boast of free dining:

Can anyone tell me where you can go on vacation and eat for free the entire time?

Then referred to spending alot of money on food in Vegas.


If she, or wants to discuss other possible ways to save more money, or spend the same or slightly more and have more freedom, that's always an option, but as soon as anyone had a different view they were called names and casted as some sort of disillusioned party pooper.

It's not that people have differing views. It's the way they express them.

"Free" in this context doesn't mean "at no cost whatsoever" it means "at no additional cost". Even though someone COULD have saved more money with a room discount, it does NOT negate the saving from taking free dining.

And yet, there are always several responses to every free dining post that tell the OP why they are wrong and why they didn't actually get "free" dining.

 

[fishhunter]

Really? Seems to me that most of the condescending comments came from the other side.

Having a differing view isn't condescending, especially if you can explain why the view is different with examples.



How is that condescending?

Her post wasn't about getting the best discount available. The post was specifically to boast of free dining:

Can anyone tell me where you can go on vacation and eat for free the entire time?

Then referred to spending alot of money on food in Vegas.


If she, or wants to discuss other possible ways to save more money, or spend the same or slightly more and have more freedom, that's always an option, but as soon as anyone had a different view they were called names and casted as some sort of disillusioned party pooper.

First off, I'm not a she. Second, I was not trying to come off as boasting just trying to thank Disney and show an example of the money that was saved. The dates that we are staying are 12/19-29. To my knowledge there are no room discounts available during that time so I was going to be paying rack rate anyway. As mentioned before, those dates are the only dates that we can stay because of school and work schedule also because we particularly like the Christmas atmosphere. If I already had the dining plan booked and intended on paying for it and now it is free, how is that not eating for free in Disney? I realize the room rate is higher but that is due to the holiday season and not because of the free dining. The room rate did not increase more when the free dining was applied to my package. The total amount due just decreased. I grant you we can debate the fact that the dining plan is or is not worth the extra money but when you do not come out of pocket for meals there is certainly a savings.

 

[bumbershoot]

The reality of the OP's situation got lost in the middle of the post with stuff around it about disney complainers. The important thing is:

I modified an existing 10 night stay in December in which I initially added the meal plan and was going to pay for it. With the offer of free dining during my stay, it saved me $1,880.00!

Excellent. OK. For you, this time, because you had already booked at rack rate and don't expect discounts (though with them offering FD during this time I wouldn't rule that out!), modifying it with the promo did make your dining free. Yay!

The title and stuff around that cool news kind of made things go wonky, IMO.

II've never seen so many people take a place Of leisure and joy and turn it into a negative thing. It's sad.

It is sad that WDW has changed so much that a vacation taken even just back in Dec 2010 was so much different and EASY than our most recent one Jan 2014. It is sad that Disney has taken a place of leisure and joy and turned it into work. Definitely.

That's my take on it. You blame the people, I blame the place. I certainly never WANTED to not enjoy myself as much as we did at first. I don't tend to purposely spend lots of money going to places I won't like.

I totally think it's "free" if you don't otherwise know how to get the discounts.

Or if there won't be discounts, like the OP expects. Except there's one discount already happening for that time period...might very well be another!

Awwww...look how happy everyone is making their way to A&E

DH would love that tshirt in the middle/front.

And WOW there's someone reading a map! I didn't know anyone did that!

 

[Halbleib1]

While you are paying rack rate for the room for those of us that stay at a value resort it is the best deal offered. For us free dining for a 12 day trip with upgrading to the basic dining plan will save us around 1100.00. There are no room discounts that can save me that much money on a value resort. Is the offer as good as it once was? No but it is still the best discount available for us.

 

[Globalfootprint]

I totally think it's "free" if you don't otherwise know how to get the discounts. If you don't go to the "specials" page on the WDW web page or don't go through a TA, then there's a possibility that you could be paying rack rate and OOP with NO discounts! Some people don't even know that the discounts exist. I'm thankful for every scrap of "free" food that I get at WDW...every last morsel.

Saved the family I'm traveling with around $1450, myself about $650. RO discount for me would have been about $525.

Booked 6 nights 7 days at CBR this morning...and I'm waving my FREE DINING sign high! Takes the worry out.

Yes, nothing is "free," but it's one cool discount if you like to eat.

I agree with you. I know really "nothing" is ever free but for us if we can get it it will be.

We atm have full room rate for 13 days. I will happily change to any hotel even side my side rooms to spend either the same money or less and get free dining too.

This will save us literally thousands. And from what Im reading.. if I dont use credits for one day because we might eat off site I can use those credits another day.

 

[mickey2000]

I am staying at POP rack rate > Yes I have free DDP ! Its like a cruise on land! LOL

 

[Disneylover99]

We stayed at Pop last August and decided that this August, discount or not, we wanted to stay at POFQ. We were lucky enough to book the free dining bb for POFQ last year when we were at Pop. So for us.....free dining is free. . There are no other discounts available at POFQ for our timeframe.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

It's not "free" really, it's just a discount. It all depends on where you stay and how many people you have in the room. For my family it works out cause we're saving $1,600, where a room discount would probably only save us a few hundred. But if we were to stay at a deluxe, or I was to take a solo trip, it wouldn't be as great a deal. But no complaints here!

 

[Disneylover99]

It's not "free" really, it's just a discount.

It's free, if I don't have to pay for food.

 

[Srbright]

It's not "free" really, it's just a discount. It all depends on where you stay and how many people you have in the room. For my family it works out cause we're saving $1,600, where a room discount would probably only save us a few hundred. But if we were to stay at a deluxe, or I was to take a solo trip, it wouldn't be as great a deal. But no complaints here!

If you do not have to pay for it, it is free. Merriam-Webster, Free, adverb"Without cost or payment".

Usually the point in free dining where it is a savings: three or more people staying in value or moderate. 1-2 people or people who stay deluxe will rarely find it a value. Do not think for a moment that Disney isn't aware of this.

For us it is free. There is no RO rate right now. It is at a time when we were already going. There are no other discounts.

What I don't understand is people that worry "well, we don't usually order dessert" or "we share dessert". This isn't Seven. They can't make you order dessert nor can they force you to eat it.

Stacy

 

[wendybeth75]

I guess "Free" is subject scrutiny, however, for my family of 4 (all Disney adults) we choose to stay in a Mod during FD and come out way ahead of what we would with a RO discount. There are things that you can't put value on as well, like knowing that the trip is paid for including dining. Also just knowing that I get to order a dessert whether I am stuffed or not. We also have a TIW card which was perfect for our Spring trip, but always love FD too. Again I think the best way to maximize it is staying in a moderate. I am one of the lucky few that is doing at BB at POR for fall. We will probably be buying into DVC soon, so FD will be a thing of the past for us.

Maybe we should rename it to "happy dining", people can't argue how it makes us feel right?

 

[TrulyMadlyDisney]

For some of us, it's the convenience. I love having my vacation totally paid for before i even go. Not to have to budget out money for our meals. the only money i have to bring is for tips and merch. To me that is worth it, i dont really care if i "could have " saved more money with a RO discount or if the "free" is not free. It makes me happy to book with FD.
And I can never understand why anyone else cares what ppl do or think about FD and that they have to point it out at every opportunity that it is not free. You do your thing,feel superior that you got the better deal and i will do my FD discount without a thought about what anyone else thinks

 

[phoebusII]

We had originally booked our 9 night vacation for a time when there are no discounts. I wasn't expecting free dining. However, when it was offered, I quickly called my husband at work and dangled the word "free" in front of him. He lives for "free" and "on sale". By shifting our vacation to start 3 days earlier, we got the free dining at a time when no other discounts are traditionally offered. Plus I am getting an extra 3 nights and added a tenth park day to our ticket.

In short, we are now paying more for our room and slightly more for our tickets (still a slight overall savings), but I am getting 12 nights at Disney, and husband thinks it is free. So it is a win for me!!!

 

[willeve]

Crikey, some people on here are not positive people! I'm from the UK, we do not really have discounted room options if we book a package, so free dining is what it says on the tin. The first time we had free dining was in 2007 and it included appetisers and gratuity. This was fantastic value! The years following we have lost the appetiser and gratuity, but we are still getting plenty of free meals, and gained the refillable mug! No one is forced to take free dining, it is a bonus for us in the UK, we definitely appreciate it!

 

[leebee]

"Free dining" was a great deal for DD and myself one year. We stayed at POP for 9 nights, upgrading from the QSDP to the regular dining plan (1TS/1QS/1SN). When I called to make the final payment, the CM on the phone pointed out that when we made the reservation with the dining upgrade, the CM on that call upgraded the dining but didn't charge us for it! She then said she wouldn't charge us either, our quoted package rate was our quoted package rate, and boy! Was I doing the dance of joy!! That was before there were fridges in the value resorts, but DD and I found that with careful ordering, we could share a QS credit breakfast, share another QS lunch, and each have our own snack and own TS credit every day. On THAT trip, Disney paid US to eat!

It wasn't such a great value on our next trip, when DH came along. Still no fridges at the values, so storing breakfast stuff wasn't really an option, and of course this time we paid for the dining plan upgrade, LOL! DH needed to eat his own meals, so while DD and I still shared the QS credits for b'fast and lunch, we ended up paying for one meal for DH each day. (I know he could've used snack credits, but then we would have been paying OOP for dole whips and mickey bars!).

One thing we agreed on with the DDP: It's too much food for us. We don't normally eat desserts, or if we do, we'll share one between 2 or 3 of us. Also, the Florida heat effects everyone's appetite; we discovered we weren't eating everything that was on the plan, so this equates to a financial loss. On our last trip, decided to skip free dining and track our spending. We got a room discount (ASMu, just me and DD), discounted park tickets from UT, and took my little notebook everywhere (slightly annoying but I wanted to track everything) as well as collected all receipts. We ate where, what, and when we wanted for lunch and dinner, with the same TS restaurants (pretty much). Doing the math- which means adjusting for the type of TS restaurant and number of days- we discovered that we saved about $350 by not doing the dining plan. We both felt we ate more healthily on our own than on the plan, and still got more than our share of snacks every day!

SO that's our experience with the dining plan. I think it varies for everyone… time of year, level of resort, number/age of people (I am sorry but a 9 year old ISN"T an adult, anywhere but Disney!). OP, I think that it ROCKS that you are saving $1800 by using "free" dining, because you KNOW that's money that's now in your pocket that wouldn't have been otherwise! How can you argue with that??