Do you Miss Free Dining When Camping?

[Jhuff8181]

We've always traveled to WDW when we could take advantage of free dining. Now that we are RV owners I want to save some money and drive instead of fly and camp instead of staying at a resort. My kids and I are excited about staying at the Fort but my wife is less enthusiastic. She's concerned that she will have to cook more and that her and the kids will miss using the dining plan. My fear is that when we go down in March that FD will be offered but we'll be camping and I'll get the stink eye for 10 days. Has this been a problem for any one else?

 

[ChrisinNJ]

I have never stayed on property, so I have never done the dining plan. My "dining plan" is my Disney Visa card. I use it for everything from groceries and clothes to my cable and phone bill, and pay it off every month. The Disney dollars I earn pay for most of my food on property.

It seems like only you and your family can decide if you will miss free dining. And you have to decide how much you will cook vs dine out. If it is going to make your wife unhappy on vacation to have to cook, maybe you could buy the dining plan? Or does that kill the cost saving you get from camping??

 

[gillenkl]

Yes, and frankly if free dining is offered, we would stay in a value or moderate versus camping (sorry!). But, when we camp at the Fort, we have an agreement. I cook breakfast, never lunch and rarely dinner. That being said we usually only eat 2-3 table service and the rest are counter service. At home we rarely eat out, so eating out at disney is a treat for all of us.

 

[Maggie at the Fort]

Just remember that because you can cook doesn't mean you have to! (Or just because SHE can cook doesn't mean she should have to!) We pay for the campground + food over a hotel and free dining for the location if nothing else. Any other hotel that is a boat ride from the Magic Kingdom is going to cost a lot more than a campsite and paying for your own food! To save a little money on food we bring breakfast, just cereal and bagels, not bacon and eggs and we bring snack type food that can be stretched to a meal. Things like homemade ham salad, hummus, pita, crackers, veggies. A big snack like that while we are back at the campsite in the afternoon can replace dinner if we get a fun treat like a dole whip or cinnamon roll when we are back at the parks! Lots of folks bring crockpots and do lots of cooking. For us, keeping quick and healthy food in the camper saves money while no one has to cook or clean up and leaves lots of space for extra treats.

 

[2goofycampers]

You could do the cooking. Happy wife, happy life.
OR
Easy breakfast, cereal, danish. Buy lunch out. Dinner = Grill up some meat and open a bag of salad or put something in the crockpot in the AM for dinner. I think staying at The Fort will overcome the DP.