Disney never loses.......=(

[yolie912]

Is it me or anyway you put it with all the discounts and pin offers you always end up paying the same amount when you add it all up....

Weird....Disney never loses........=(

 

[stella27]

Is it me or anyway you put it with all the discounts and pin offers you always end up paying the same amount when you add it all up....

Weird....Disney never loses........=(

My husband agrees with you.It's kind of uncanny how they do that.

 

[yolie912]

YES!!

Let me give you an example....
4 nights at the CBR-Pirate Room- 2 adults 1 child and 1 baby

40% pin- $470 Room only add a florida resident 3 day play pass
$396 =$866 plus you need food and you know you will spend more than $200.00. =1066


Free Dining - $1081= Room, Food, and Tickets for 1 day......

My does that look like the same price any way you cut it......

 

[wendyt_ca]

It depends on the deal you get. If you get free dining and weren't going to originally add it then your package would be the same. We were planning on going the dates we are going with the dining no matter what and getting it saved us $700. My friend is going on her honeymoon Nov 28-Dec 8 staying at coronado springs with the dining plan. Her total was $3280 and she just got a pin for free dining which brought her package down to $2480....that's $800 less. I have never seen a pin where you end up paying the same as if you didn't have it.

 

[marcielm]

Free dining really is a great deal if you are planning on eating. We couldn't pass up the dpp when we went, because my kids like to eat, a.lot.

I know some people don't look to do the sit down meals, and you can add the table service for less than the DDP, which can save $ in some ways.

But, in response to your OP, yeah... Disney pretty much works out to about the same % off when you start working the numbers. It is funny how they do that.

 

[mitsybella]

YES!!

Let me give you an example....
4 nights at the CBR-Pirate Room- 2 adults 1 child and 1 baby

40% pin- $470 Room only add a florida resident 3 day play pass
$396 =$866 plus you need food and you know you will spend more than $200.00. =1066


Free Dining - $1081= Room, Food, and Tickets for 1 day......

My does that look like the same price any way you cut it......

I agree that the 40% off room and free dining can be similar in price but with out either offer you would have been paying more. I just saved $800.00 because of the free dining for my trip, Disney will still make out because now I have more to spend when I'm there

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

Disney especially won in my case - we were booked at Pop, the 4/3 deal was extended, I could have rebooked Pop and saved considerably, but did I? Noooo, had to upgrade to CSR and add a day and it "only" cost me $300 to get the discount for our three rooms.

But then, I'm a moron. (Although ask me on my extra day of Disney if I care! )

 

[marcielm]

I agree that the 40% off room and free dining can be similar in price but with out either offer you would have been paying more. I just saved $800.00 because of the free dining for my trip, Disney will still make out because now I have more to spend when I'm there

Exactly how I feel! I can't imagine having to pay rack rate, but then again I did go during peak season (with a PIN mind you!).

I've noticed that most of the public codes = about the same amount of % off the package. I like how marketing has found "new ways" to advertise, making the general public think they are getting a great deal. The summer disounts on room only that were being offered up until last weekend were about the same cost savings as free dining when you wnet ahead and booked it out as a package.

 

[Disneychix]

I also think some people get fooled with the whole 'free dining' because you still have to factor in some pretty big tips at the end of your TS meals.
I would never eat a TS meal everyday if not on FD. Those tips sure added up by the end of the vacation. (oh, and so did all the beers my DH drank! )
I got a 40% off code and of course instead of saving $$ and staying at a mod or value I go and book a deluxe! Well, it's still 40% off!!!

It's like the Disney marketers are in my brain!

 

[wahmtexas]

We won this time, with the 4 nights/3 free we are staying at a Deluxe resort for less than we paid for our moderate in November

 

[jillhou]

I feel like we usually save money. We didn't on our last trip as we got no discount for the Poly Conc 2 summers ago.

We never do dining although I have 3 boys. I just cannot figure that it would ever pay for itself. That said, we do concierge for convenience of breakfast. It doesn't save money.

So we get the discount usually, breakfast at the hotel concierge, tickets are tickets no matter what, and then some snacks and 1 regular sit down meal a day and we are done! And we save money over the regular pricing.....

 

[Jestocost]

At the mods, free dining or a 40% off PIN code + DDP will get you about the same deal. At a value, free dining will be cheaper than a 40% off PIN code and DDP. At a deluxe, the 40% off PIN code + DDP frequently is a better deal than free dining.

Consider that DDP for two adults and two kids is about $100 per day, so free dining for that familis is equivalent to 40% off a room with a rack rate of $250 per night. If the room rate is less than that, the $100 per day free dining is a bigger savings than 40% off. If the room rate is more than that, 40% off is a bigger savings than free dining.

 

[marcielm]

I feel like we usually save money. We didn't on our last trip as we got no discount for the Poly Conc 2 summers ago.

We never do dining although I have 3 boys. I just cannot figure that it would ever pay for itself. That said, we do concierge for convenience of breakfast. It doesn't save money.

So we get the discount usually, breakfast at the hotel concierge, tickets are tickets no matter what, and then some snacks and 1 regular sit down meal a day and we are done! And we save money over the regular pricing.....

You have 3 boys and you don't get the dining plan? Do they not eat very much, because my 9yr old eats enough to pay for the plan alone!

I only ask because the way we figured it was most of the dinner buffets we did were about $30/adult, and the DDP adult cost was $40/day. Plus we got another meal and a snack (~$3 each snack). With the kids' price being $11/day I knew we were getting our $$ worth. We definitely had enough food (thank goodness, our 2 little ones were "free" and had to share meals) and only 1-2 times did we order something "extra" and pay out of pocket. My girls can eat as well, and once I ordered an extra pizza for the 9yr old, so the 2 yr old could eat the kids' meal.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

We are a family of 6 and the free dining discount knocks almost $1,600.00 off the price of our trip.

 

[snykymom]

The fact that some people may upgrade to take advantage of a lower rate or what they perceive as savings is not Disney's fault. I could have easily saved a fortune by using the AP rate of $89 at a moderate and buying the DDP. That would cost less than free dining with rack rate, partly because there are only 2 of us.

The fact that I decided to upgrade to a deluxe with a discount that equalled the rack rate of the moderate that I would have to pay for FD is my choice. And I thank Disney for letting me make that choice!

And we're not buying the DDP because it doesn't fit the way we like to eat, even though we eat at a lot of TS and signature restaurants. I don't want to count credits. I may want 2 appetizers instead of an entree. I don't want to worry if a restaurant is "worth" 2 credits; it's worth what I am willing to pay for it, and if I use credits, I may be overpaying for it. I may want to have an appetizer instead of dessert. I may decide to skip an ADR entirely, without worrying about whether I'm "wasting" a credit if I can't get another ADR. I don't have to worry if someone gets sick and doesn't want to eat. If I want to eat 5 times a day, I can. If I want an entree in Morocco and dessert in France, I can, without calculating credits. I've budgeted for our food, so as far as I'm concerned, it's "paid for."

And I appreciate that Disney also gives me the choice not to take the DDP!

Of course Disney always wins; if it didn't win, it would close. But an individual family can win if money is their only concern.

 

[liftn]

With the 4/3 deal, the park ticket price for 7 days compared to 4 is only like a $10 difference, so you are really paying for four night in a hotel and getting 3 free. Which is only a little better thatn 40% off. So ya you are right.

 

[clanwilson]

Not for us...
In 2007, we saved over $300 with a 40% discount, applied to our existing reservation. Our next trip in October of this year was already set, and then the free dining code was applied. Both were win/win discounts.

 

[mom2aredhead]

We're a family of 3 - 2 adults and one child.

I just received a pin code in the mail for a discounted room rate of $139 for select days late summer thru 10/1. I called and had them price the last week in August, then went online and priced the same exact thing using the free dining promotion, and they were very close. Free would dining plan for for 7 save us about $91 per day. The room discount was a savings of about $101 per day, and there was a difference in the tax amount, so the total was honestly within $10.

When I booked 4/3, we stayed at the Contemporary and paid for 4 nights @ 325 (garden wing standard rack rate) and got 3 nights @ $325 for free, so that ended up being our best deal recently. Especially factoring in the fact that we were upgraded for free to a Tower room with a MK view that should have cost $490 per night.

 

[marcielm]

When I booked 4/3, we stayed at the Contemporary and paid for 4 nights @ 325 (garden wing standard rack rate) and got 3 nights @ $325 for free, so that ended up being our best deal recently. Especially factoring in the fact that we were upgraded for free to a Tower room with a MK view that should have cost $490 per night.

NICE upgrade!!

 

[daisyyy]

I agree.. Disney has some great number crunchers doing the math... If we could only get them to let us use 2 promotions at once.. then we might get a bargain... like the 4/3... and free dining... Funny how one ends when the other starts... That's ok.. we just look at whats more important for us... in our case, we don't care about staying at a Deluxe, and thinking we got a bargain... the free food is big for a family of 6. ( I know it's not "free" )... but it's included... + the tip of course... I don't care where we stay as long as it's disney.