Free dining and crowd levels...I don't get it

[rlahsin]

I've been hearing reports that the crowd levels have been very reasonable at WDW this week, yet the restaurants are very busy. This also seems to be a patterned from past years as well. Are people booking rooms at the resorts to get free dining and simply NOT visiting the parks? I don't get it. Are people simply looking for a nice get-away at a resort and enjoying the perks of free dining? Totally confused.....

 

[TDC Nala]

Even though the restaurants are crowded and there's extra booking at the resorts for free dining, park capacities are much higher than the resort capacity. With every WDW resort filled, you would still not be anywhere near to filling up the 4 parks. Park crowds should have locals, daytrippers, groups, conventions and offsite guests factored in.

And not everybody staying at WDW at this time is on free dining.

 

[jaurban]

I think what you don't have in the parks is lots of off site guests who are not eligible for free dining. So, while the guests staying on site might be in the parks and dining, the others are not. Think that even the on site hotel guests do not fill all four parks all that much.

 

[MariDisney]

I've been hearing reports that the crowd levels have been very reasonable at WDW this week, yet the restaurants are very busy. This also seems to be a patterned from past years as well. Are people booking rooms at the resorts to get free dining and simply NOT visiting the parks? I don't get it. Are people simply looking for a nice get-away at a resort and enjoying the perks of free dining? Totally confused.....

I think an additional explanation is that people who would have gone and stayed off site will now stay on site to get free dining. So, it may be the same number of people in the parks and relatively more in the restaurants.

 

[cymbaldiva]

Also factor in that people that might ordinarily dine off site or at the counter service establishments are taking advantage of the dining promotion.

For what it's worth, I just got back and the restaurants really weren't horribly crowded, nor were the wait times excessive.

 

[TDC Nala]

I would agree that there were no excessive wait times. Le Cellier, California Grill, and Ohana were full. Coral Reef was winding down a bit after lunch. Anyplace else I went I think I could have walked into without a problem.

 

[goofy4tink]

I've been to WDW three times during free dining...twice last Sept and just last month. The times in Sept were terrific. The crowds at the parks weren't bad at all. But...last month was a nightmare. Why? Because schools still hadn't gone back in a lot of states, so families were making one last trip to WDW to take advantage of free dining.
Usually, with free dining, you get the guests who normally spend less on dining, booking more expensive places to eat. I know that when I was at Coral Reef, with no free dining offered, it was quite pleasant. But, when we were there last Sept, it was miserable. Tons of families with young children..it was crowded, noisy and just not all that great. I have nothing against families with young children..don't get me wrong. But usually, if money is any kind of issue, you will find most families eating at buffets or at counter service in order to save a little bit. With free dining, all bets are off.
I really don't think that if school is in session, you are going to get the huge crowds that are normal in the summer when free dining is offered.
I was there for that first week of free dining (I didn't have free dining) and I'll never do it again. At least not during a vacation period. The parks were a nightmare. I have never seen so many people in MK during mid-August as I did between Aug 16 and 21st!! And I've been there at that exact same time 4 times now!! But free dining was never offered that early before..usually started the next week.