Do I need to buy a Base Ticket for Free Dining?

[kribit]

I think the answer to this is yes, but thought I would ask anyway.

We're doing a split stay and I was doing the numbers last night and realized the 1 day base ticket for 4 of us is approx. $250. I had no idea it was this high...it would be cheaper for us to extend our 6 day MYWay in our first package (we're doing a split stay and have a package booked already for the first leg of our trip) vs. purchasing the 1 day base with free dining for 4 nights. I presume this is how Disney makes their money though.

I actually crunched the numbers and it seems like it would be cheaper to just check in to POR on the second 1/2 of our trip and not use free dining. It just seems strange that they would do that.

Someone set me straight...I think I'm over-analyzing again.

 

[jcemom]

Yes, you do have to purchase a ticket to make it a package. Unless you're getting a room only discount I don't see how it could be cheaper to not take free dining for four nights though. If your one day tickets will be approximately $250 then all four of you must qualify as adults, right? DDP for four people is $156 /night, times 4 nights, $624. I'd spend $250 on tickets to get $624 in dining and just save the tickets for another trip.

If you qualify for a discount on the room only reservation though, then it might be a better deal to go without free dining.