Free Dining/Disney Dining Plan: Not the Best Deal?

[WDWFigment]

Based on the overwhelming sense of excitement in the Free Dining threads I've read this morning, I know people get really excited about the "Free" Dining promotions, but I've done a lot of number-crunching, and it isn't always the best deal. I think people tend to forget that it's not really free (thus the quotation marks above), since you have to pay rack rate on a room that you could otherwise get discounted. Thus, instead, it's an alternative discount. A lot of the times, it is a better discount than one of the other deals you could get, but it's worth doing the math.

You can read more about this, plus my (slightly unfavorable) review of the DDP here:

http://www.disneytouristblog.com/free-dining-plan-2011-2012-cost-reviews-disney-world/

 

[sharadoc]

Yes, many people, including me, believe that the Dining Plan is not necessarily the best way to go. But, the fact that your trip just needs to start on those dates means, for instance, that you can go Thanksgiving week with free dining, as long as you check in on the 19th. Every other discount is blacked out for that week, so it's a good thing!

 

[SuperRob]

Sometimes promotions aren't always about what is the best "deal." Sometimes, it's about giving a guest something they wouldn't have spent the money on themselves, or making it more convenient for the guest overall. Free Dining is the latter.

The Disney Dining Plan is more about not worrying about paying for food while you're at the park than it is about saving money. It's a budgeting convenience. Can you save money on the DDP? Sure, but it really takes some effort to make sure you're ordering the most expensive things at only 1 Credit restaurants. For the most part, you're just paying in advance so that you can relax once you're on-site.

Likewise, Free Dining usually ends up costing you more since you're paying rack rate for the room, but you're paying up-front, so it's attractive for the same budgeting reasons ... you're not having to figure out how much to spend for meals while you're there.

One other consideration ...

Booking a trip to Walt Disney World can be COMPLICATED. If you are considering the best possible price, you're frequently buying tickets from a third party, getting a room only discount, getting your own shuttle to the parks ... it can be exhausting for the average guest. Then once you get down there, impulse purchases and eating can whittle away at those savings.

Booking a package is attractive for these kinds of people because they're willing to pay to have the complications taken out of it. In those cases, most Disney discounts come out about even, and Disney has added conveniences (like Magical Express, Key to the World, etc.) if you do book a package. Package discounts are then rather rare, but Free Dining tends to be one of the best when it comes down to it, since it takes the guesswork out of the dining experience.

 

[WDWFigment]

sharadoc, that is a very good point! I've always wondered why they've done the Free Dining that way, when room-only discounts don't operate that way.

 

[mrsz06]

I couldn't agree with you more. I don't care for the dining plan at all!!! I don't think it is a good vaule. I would much rather have a discounted room anyday!!! When we go we bring food and snacks from home to help with the food cost! When we were there in January we stayed CL at AKL and there were several days of our trip where we didn't have to buy any food b/c of the CL lounge and having food we brought from home. We came home with $800!! Which went towards our Sept trip!!

 

[eliza61]

I think with any thing "free" after the adrenaline wears off you have to crunch the numbers.

It never was teh best deal for my family because we always stay deluxe. Room discounts on deluxes generally give better bang than free dining.

Also we don't like being locked into adr's. some days even if we have made adrs we simply don't feel like eating a sit down dinner. on those days it's wasted credits.

We only used the ddp once and it saved us maybe $27 dollars. not worth the effort for me. the next year they got rid of gratuities and appertizers. that really killed it for me.

 

[WDWFigment]

Sometimes promotions aren't always about what is the best "deal." Sometimes, it's about giving a guest something they wouldn't have spent the money on themselves, or making it more convenient for the guest overall. Free Dining is the latter.

The Disney Dining Plan is more about not worrying about paying for food while you're at the park than it is about saving money. It's a budgeting convenience. Can you save money on the DDP? Sure, but it really takes some effort to make sure you're ordering the most expensive things at only 1 Credit restaurants. For the most part, you're just paying in advance so that you can relax once you're on-site.

Likewise, Free Dining usually ends up costing you more since you're paying rack rate for the room, but you're paying up-front, so it's attractive for the same budgeting reasons ... you're not having to figure out how much to spend for meals while you're there.

One other consideration ...

Booking a trip to Walt Disney World can be COMPLICATED. If you are considering the best possible price, you're frequently buying tickets from a third party, getting a room only discount, getting your own shuttle to the parks ... it can be exhausting for the average guest. Then once you get down there, impulse purchases and eating can whittle away at those savings.

Booking a package is attractive for these kinds of people because they're willing to pay to have the complications taken out of it. In those cases, most Disney discounts come out about even, and Disney has added conveniences (like Magical Express, Key to the World, etc.) if you do book a package. Package discounts are then rather rare, but Free Dining tends to be one of the best when it comes down to it, since it takes the guesswork out of the dining experience.

To your first point, as I state in my review, I really don't see how the DDP is less complicated. If anything, with its many nuances and situational rules, I think it's more complicated than ordering whatever I want and paying with a credit card.

To your second point, I agree that a lot of people book packages for convenience's sake.

 

[ancestry]

I agree FD is not the best discount for us. We usually do better with a 40% off room discount. It depends on the make up of your family and which resort you prefer to stay at.

 

[mking624]

Based on the overwhelming sense of excitement in the Free Dining threads I've read this morning, I know people get really excited about the "Free" Dining promotions, but I've done a lot of number-crunching, and it isn't always the best deal. I think people tend to forget that it's not really free (thus the quotation marks above), since you have to pay rack rate on a room that you could otherwise get discounted. Thus, instead, it's an alternative discount. A lot of the times, it is a better discount than one of the other deals you could get, but it's worth doing the math.

You can read more about this, plus my (slightly unfavorable) review of the DDP here:

http://www.disneytouristblog.com/free-dining-plan-2011-2012-cost-reviews-disney-world/

The part I bolded is the key I think. It isn't always the best deal...but sometimes it is. Just like sometimes other offers aren't always the best deal, but sometimes they are. Last year DH & I went with two friends and we split a room. Free dining wound up being a better deal than a room only discount. And DH & I have gone during free dining other times and the money we save on the food we wouldn't have normally been able to afford wound up being more than we would have saved on our room. I think most people who are familiar with the deal already know to do the math, as the free dining promo has been offered the last several years. In fact you'll almost always see posts within free dining threads from people trying to figure out what the best deal for them would be.

 

[WDWFigment]

The part I bolded is the key I think. It isn't always the best deal...but sometimes it is. Just like sometimes other offers aren't always the best deal, but sometimes they are. Last year DH & I went with two friends and we split a room. Free dining wound up being a better deal than a room only discount. And DH & I have gone during free dining other times and the money we save on the food we wouldn't have normally been able to afford wound up being more than we would have saved on our room. I think most people who are familiar with the deal already know to do the math, as the free dining promo has been offered the last several years. In fact you'll almost always see posts within free dining threads from people trying to figure out what the best deal for them would be.

That's good to know. I've seen a lot of comments here and on Facebook where it seems like people are assuming Free Dining is the best because they're getting a FREE DINING!!!

My only point is to re-iterate that there is no such thing as a free lunch, especially when you're talking about Disney! I guess if most people are already crunching the numbers on their own (which is great!), my post is sort of useless.

 

[Donalyn]

I get the budgeting convenience of "free" dining. And the fact that for certain people, it may be the right option. But to me it is just a huge marketing ploy that many times will not give you the bang for your buck. Also, with the table service credits, you waste soooo much time in the resturants.

I've never done the meal plan. Maybe we have paid more for our meals than we otherwise would have, but that is okay with me. As for the math, we are staying off-site this next trip in a two bedroom condo for a week for about the price of one night at standard value room rates at a WDW resort. Even with the car rental and parking, we are still paying half. Yes, free dining does change the math some for us, but not enough to deal with the hassles. Also, there aren't may (any) ADRs at normal meal times left for our week (during free dining) so if you weren't already planning to go, you aren't going to have lots of choices.

 

[prttynpnk]

Our passholder discout definitely came out better- we also use deluxe during F&W so it wasn't really a help for us.

 

[sharonabe]

No WDWFigment, your post is not useless. I think the masses see "free" and just go with it. I even have good friends who pay for the plan (without really doing the research) because it is marketed as saving you money.

Disers know to crunch the numbers, so MAYBE, a new diser will come along and see your post and learn to crunch the numbers or at least to question the marketing.

 

[krb2g]

We are not huge fans of free dining because we eat somewhere between the quick service plan and the next level up: we don't want quick service all the time, but we don't eat table service every day. And when we do eat table service, we don't do appetizers or desserts--we are simply usually not that hungry. We also frequently stay club level so we get our breakfasts & snacks throughout the day as part of the cost of our room.

 

[LisaTC]

For those already paying rack and going anyway regardless, it can be a handy thing. I think it is more of a prepaid convenience and it does give you an opportunity for table service if you were only planning on counter service. I'd like a room discount, too, but I'll take this. We don't do breakfast much. We are doing Akershus bfast and Rainforest Cafe (I have a Landry's gift card) otherwise, we'd probably use a snack credit or eat in our room. I was planning on cancelling most of my table service ADR's and eating off site or counter if FD didn't come out because it's a better bang for your buck and we have a car anyway. If I was taking teenage boys, it would be buffets all the way, they eat like horses.

 

[mking624]

No WDWFigment, your post is not useless. I think the masses see "free" and just go with it. I even have good friends who pay for the plan (without really doing the research) because it is marketed as saving you money.

Disers know to crunch the numbers, so MAYBE, a new diser will come along and see your post and learn to crunch the numbers or at least to question the marketing.

Those are my thoughts. Those who are new to the Dis or new to the promo may not know to do the math or see what other offers there are in order to determine what the better deal is. Those who ARE familiar with the deal generally know to number crunch. The Discount Codes & Rates subform has a lot of number crunchers posting on it. But you'll still see people post from time to time obviously unaware of various things, regardless of the promo being offered. So it's definitely good to help them out. I guess I would just do it in an unbiased way... so as not to "scare" someone into a different deal that may not be the best for them.

 

[eliza61]

No WDWFigment, your post is not useless. I think the masses see "free" and just go with it. I even have good friends who pay for the plan (without really doing the research) because it is marketed as saving you money.

Disers know to crunch the numbers, so MAYBE, a new diser will come along and see your post and learn to crunch the numbers or at least to question the marketing.

This reminds me of my "free turkey" promotion.

Every thanksgiving my local supermarket would have a promotion for a "free" thanksgiving turkey or ham. Which I sucked up like a sponge. It was only after my darlin dh pointed out that in order to meet the minimum purchase, I was spending $100 over my monthly food budget. couple that with the fact that we are not big turkey eaters so after getting a huge 20 lbs turkey (because like most of the ddp, the most bang is getting the most expensive item on the menu whether you want it or not) then throwing out 1/2 of it, I realized it was a really expensive "free" turkey.

 

[nkereina]

Good point. I, like the masses, assumed FD was the best deal and when it was announced for my dates I called to change my package. At the time, my packaged was booked with a 40% off room pin and I thought for sure free dining would be better. Well, it probably is BUT since we get DxDP, when free dining was applied it ended up costing $50 more than our current package. So of course I didn't apply the free dining. The moral of the story is even if you get free dining, still keep an eye on other discounts and pin codes, because you never know what could be a better deal for you!

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

That's good to know. I've seen a lot of comments here and on Facebook where it seems like people are assuming Free Dining is the best because they're getting a FREE DINING!!!

My only point is to re-iterate that there is no such thing as a free lunch, especially when you're talking about Disney! I guess if most people are already crunching the numbers on their own (which is great!), my post is sort of useless.

You would be more likely to see number crunching and all things free dining related in the Discount Codes and Rates section of the Dis or the Disney Dining Plan board not here on Theme Park Attractions and Strategies.

 

[tpimental]

For me we were not getting any discounts at all and we were staying at a value resort...so after upgrading the dining plan from the free one...I saved $410. I'll take it!