Do you think people realize free dining isn't free?

[PrincessTiffany]

I've been to WDW 5 times and don't know what all the complaints are about. Maybe I'm just laid back, or maybe I'm just not as fussy as some, but I've never had a bad dining experience on any of my trips. And maybe because of this, for me, free dining is just that...free dining. And I love it!

I agree with this. We have been going to WDW for many year, pre and post DDP and free dining, and I can't say we have ever had a bad meal at WDW. Of course, some places are better than others, but overall, we have always had a postive dining experience on our trip to WDW.

By the way, with the free dining discount, we are saving almost $1,500.00 off the cost of our trip next week. There is no better discount for our family of 6 than free dining.

 

[Rachaelt]

I dislike threads titled like this. Yes, Free dining is free. Many people pay rack rate at Disney, sometimes even when free dining is available, with out taking advantage of a discount. True, most are simply unaware of the discounts available.

If you call Disney right now to book a room March 1-7, 2011 they will not automatically offer you free dining. So for a family who books for that time frame and buys tickets from Disney - the free dining promotion would be completely free! You can't say it's not free just because they potentially is another discount to be had.

They should be offering it. We have permission to offer it proactively right now

 

[coopersmom]

OP you should have done a search, because this exact topic is dicussed on here, ad nausem, on a regular basis.

Maybe you missed this one:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2603277&page=3

But I wasn't saying it "ruined" anything, or wasn't a good value, or people shouldn't use it, or asking if it was a good idea or a bad value or vice versa ... The point was missed entirely. My comment was more about reading dining review after dining review or comments on various Disney restaurants that say "wasn't worth it if we had to pay for it," or "if I wasn't on the dining plan I would have been really mad," or something to that effect. I wasn't saying the dining plan, or free dining, was good, bad or indifferent, simply that there seems to be a large contingent that feel they don't have a right to expect quality or service because it's "free" or think they can't complain for the same reason. That's it. That was my whole point/question.

 

[TDC Nala]

From reading a lot of posts where persons have problems at restaurants, they don't complain because they don't want to. They don't want to "start a confrontation." They don't want to take the time out from their vacation "arguing" with a restaurant manager or going to Guest Services. They don't want to ruin the atmosphere for their family. "At least we didn't pay for it" is another excuse.

 

[MrsDef]

I get the OP's point. I priced out a discounted room with adding tickets and dining vs. paying rack rate and taking the free dining.. it was $400 more to take "free dining" so yeah.. it would have cost me a lot!

 

[Elliesmommy]

Mine is almost free dining. I originally booked a 5day, 4 night WDW at a value resort for Jan. It was $1500 with airfare. No free dining!

I then found out about the free dining promotion, called WDW and added it for no additional cost at all.

Later on I called and upgraded to a moderate resort with TS dining and only paid $166 more. This was the price difference for the resort and NOT upgrading the DDP to TS, because the upgrade to the TS DDP was free!

I only upgraded to the moderate for the purpose of getting the TS along with the upgrade of resort. I probably would not have upgraded because of the resort only. I guess that I essentially paid, however to me it is almost free.

 

[supersuperwendy]

We are DVC so we always pay for the dining plan when we add it to our reservations. We are in between points for 2011 and our APs expired so we decided to book a package instead. We had booked BWI for March and hoped for a good PIN in the future, but when the free dining came out I jumped on it! Our kids love POR and I no longer seem to get PIN codes so I switched to our old favorite moderate resort for August. Rack rate is fine with me.. No biggie..throw on top of that I'm not paying $1181.70 for 6 nights of dining...awesome!! That's a HUGE savings for us. You may not think so, but I do! Not to mention the room rate by changing from BWI to POR was huge and switching from March to August was a savings too!!! I'm excited!

 

[ilovepete]

We used it last time. And I realize it's not "free" but it came out to a better deal for us than the room discount we would have gotten.

 

[Hemlock]

OP you should have done a search, because this exact topic is dicussed on here, ad nausem, on a regular basis.

Maybe you missed this one:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2603277&page=3

Amen!

 

[akadada]

Wheh, this post should have about three different titles! With respect. . .

First off, the forum's search program is horrible. . . so be nice when someone asks the same question twice or multiple times. (Google searching the forum is far superior to the forum's search features). I recently plugged in La Hacienda under Advanced Search and it said "No Results." What!?!?!? Secondly, forums are for conversation as much as they are for research. Different conversations can be insprired on the same topic sometimes given different people looking at different times for different purposes. Dated forum posts, unless an official thread or sticky or report, rarely last more than two weeks. People like to participate and follow live, real-time discussions. If it wasn't for that opportunity with this board, this board would not be anywhere near as popular as it is.

Okay, back to the issue at hand: we reviewed both plans and found similar results for staying at deluxe resorts in that the room discount was better than free dining by about $300. So yes, the free dining is not free. . .

Finally, with great respect, the comment about Disney and greed is misplaced. . .remember, Disney has to make a profit so that 100,000 to 1,000,000 or how ever many employees and businesses direct and indirectly related to Disney can maintain or improve their standard of living AND so that shareholders continue to invest in the company AND so that they can meet guests' expections so people come back. Greed has very little to do with Disney pricing. Operating successfully in the most powerful secular force on the planet called the capital markets is why Disney does what it does. If greed was the primary driver, Disney would have gone out of business years ago. Unlike Wall Street, Disney gets no bail out.

I value this forum and I appreciate all members. I hope my comment don't offend anyone. If they do, forgive me, it's not my intent.

Best,
AKADada

 

[stuffed withfluff]

i understand nothing is free at disney.

BUT i have figured it to be $30 a day for three meals when upgraded to deluxe.
you can't tell me breakfast at chef mickey's, lunch at 50's prime time or dinner at citricos FOR 30 DOLLARS A day is not a deal.

seriously, our one meal at citricos would make up for four meals alone!

i love the free dining

 

[baleeve]

I can see your point that it is not "FREE" because I booked the 25% room only rate for 12/21/10 - 12/28/10 at the POP and it came to aprox $980 then added 7 day tickets cost aprox $900 I was at $1880

I cancelled and did the Magic Your Way package with the free dining and was so happy that I got it on the last day (12/21/10) for my entire trip and it cost $2098

So it was $210 more. But for that money two adults and two children will be eating for the whole week and taking home souvenir mugs!! Lets not forget the arcade card, Planet Hollywood discount, and luggage tags. Small but noteworthy

Pretty good in my opinion.

FIFTEEN DAYS UNTIL WE ARE THERE!!!

 

[DISdreamin']

As always, it is in your best interest to run the numbers multiple ways. When I am shopping for a WDW vacation, I do the following:

1. room only discount rate + anticipate OOP dining costs + park tix

2. package rate with free dining + anticipated dining tips

3. DVC points rental + OOP dining + park tix

I based my decision on where and when to stay based on these numbers. FWIW, we're going in January again, staying at the same resort, and we're paying very nearly the same amount we paid two years ago for the same week, but only two adults and two children with the 4/3 promo while we'll be three adults and two children with free dining. The biggest difference this time around is that we won't get the $200 gift card, BUT we have an extra adult ticket plus dining. Honestly, I didn't feel too bad at all about the cost of the trip, all things considered.

 

[Disfamguy]

Wow! This thread is a Buzzkill.

 

[*sarah*]

You could be paying rack rate and not get the dining plan tossed in.
Technically, yes it is free dining because Disney adds their dining plan without adding to your cost. There aren't always other discounts available so you would be paying 'rack' rate anyway.

Well I don't consider paying under a hundred dollars for a hotel room "rack rate". For that cost, plus getting the "free" food, transportation to the parks and other perks for staying on property...we could not pay that amount for a lesser quatlity hotel with no continetal breakfast included around here. We stay at crummy hotels and it costs nearly $150. So yeah I will choose to believe that the food is free, cause we are not paying much at all for our rooms.

 

[Sammie]

Actually it is free based on the components of the package.

is it the best bargain, for some yes for others no.

And Yes some people do pay rack rate and not get free dining.

 

[julluvsdisney]

Im thinking disney maybe the wrong place for a debbie downer! I originally Had a room code and when free ding came out we saved about 700! So I don't see where this is a bad deal. Of course this is not killing disney to offer this promotion that really has nothing to do with us as the consumer. To me it is free dining when I walk away with an extra 700 in my pocket. Call it what u want to me when disney says" hey here's 700 of your money back and oh btw nothing in your trip package has changed" I call it a good deal. Hopefully your first disney trip makes you a true disney lover. Enjoy your trip!

 

[NMW]

And Yes some people do pay rack rate and not get free dining.

Exactly! We have paid rack rate for every single one of our trips with the exception of May 2009 when we just happened to get the buy 4 get 3 free deal and this May 2011 when we got free Basic dining and only had to upgrade $30 a day for the deluxe plan.

We have NEVER gotten a code or pin, or whatever they are called. We are not AP holders. Some posters are making it sound like these great deals are available all the time just for the taking. That has not been our experience. For our May 2011 trip free dining is a deal, because without it, we would be paying rack rates.

BTW, I have read the unofficial Guide to WDW, looked at Mousesavers, etc...I have NEVER found these great deals some posters are talking about.

I was excited about the buy 4 get 3 free and I am excited about the free dining. For our family, those ARE deals.

 

[rotlex]

I always disagree, in a friendly way, with these posts. First, as someone else has mentioned, not everyone never pays rack rate for a room. There are many folks, myself incuded, who get a pin or a discount very, very rarely. We recieved a 40% off code ONCE in the past 5 years, and STILL took free dining over it, as the trip was already booked, and the 40% discount to free dining was a wash. (Approx 1100 savings on a 10 night stay at AKL).

With that said, I still think we come out ahead with free dining. 99.9% of the year we are small eaters. However, half the enjoyment of our Disney trips includes eating. Sit downs, character meals, and well, food. On average, and I have figured it out many times, my wife plus kids would spend upwards of $200 per day on food if it were not for free dining.

So yeah, free dining CAN be free, and in most cases, for us at least, workd out better than any code or coupon does.

 

[rbork]

Free Dining is well....free for us. We are paying rack rate for a FW cabin and tix for 5. 3 adults and DS14 and DS12. With that we get our room (including kitchen), tix, transportation, entertainment and food for ~95$ pp per day plus we are getting a 150$ giftcard. I've used the 4 for 3 deal in the past and get pin codes sometimes. I could not afford to do as much any other way.
Cabins at campgrounds around here cost upward of 200 alsoand BTW aren't as nice or include mousekeeping. So the rack rate doesn't scare me at Disney FW.
The DDP is a deal for the 5 of us. My boys eat like typical teenagers...ALOT. So they are content with the plan and it was more than enough for us last time. Plus we don't have to travel offsite and waste park time. We love staying onsite for a total Disney immersion.
95$ pp per day breaks down to 56$ for lodging and a 40$ ticket.

Seperately it would cost 281 per day in lodging, 204 in tickets, 209 for DDP
DDP costs 209 per day for 5 of us. I would pay 205$ just for 5 at Ohana's w/ tip. Now I get CS and Snacks as a bonus.

I do think Disney puts out a decent product when pincodes or discounts are used.