Free dining or $500 gift card?

[DiskneeFan]

We are considering a trip to the World and staying Deluxe. Family of 5: Mom, Dad, Twin 13 year old daughters and a 6 year old son. Which would you take advantage of, the free dining or the $500 gift card?
Also: we dont buy a lot of souveniers so the $500 would go towards food.

 

[stepdisney]

Have you looked at the 40% off discount? Depending on which Deluxe and how long you are staying, this could be the best deal. After that, I would try dining. You have 4 who would utilize the Adult DDP so if you were to add up 4 adult DDP per day (depending on how long you are staying) and 1 child's DDP per day (again, depending on your length of stay) you should be well over $500. If you plan on eating less than $500 worth of food, than go for the gift card but, quite frankly, I'm not sure how a family of 5 can eat less than $500 worth of expensive Disney food no matter how long you stay Have a great trip regardless.

 

[kevinict]

Costs of the Disney Dining Plan for 2010:
Adults (Ages 10+) : $41.99 per day (regular season)
$46.99 per day (peak season)
Children: (Ages 3-9): $11.99 per day (regular season)
$12.99 per day (peak season)

So....41.99x4+11.99=$179.95 (cost savings of "free dining" per day)
As long as you stay for more than two days, free dining would seem to be a better value than the $500 gift card.

 

[jkluttrell]

We are a family of 4 (DD 10, DS 6) going for 5 nights with 5 day park passes in October. The free dining (regular dining for us) saved me $689. So it depends on the length of your stay but with 4 adults and 1 child (since the 13 are considered adults for dining) I would bet the dining option would be better for you.

 

[DiskneeFan]

Have you looked at the 40% off discount? Depending on which Deluxe and how long you are staying, this could be the best deal. After that, I would try dining. You have 4 who would utilize the Adult DDP so if you were to add up 4 adult DDP per day (depending on how long you are staying) and 1 child's DDP per day (again, depending on your length of stay) you should be well over $500. If you plan on eating less than $500 worth of food, than go for the gift card but, quite frankly, I'm not sure how a family of 5 can eat less than $500 worth of expensive Disney food no matter how long you stay Have a great trip regardless.

We would do at least 7 days. After thinking more about it, at just a $100 a day for food thats $700, the DDP would be the way to go. And my 1 daughter would not be happy if she didnt get her steak in Le Cellier.
Thanks

 

[d1gitman]

We are considering a trip to the World and staying Deluxe. Family of 5: Mom, Dad, Twin 13 year old daughters and a 6 year old son. Which would you take advantage of, the free dining or the $500 gift card?
Also: we dont buy a lot of souveniers so the $500 would go towards food.

with a Deluxe Resort, you would get the regular DDP for the promo, assuming you are going during the regular Dining Season, your costs per day on DDP would be as follows:

DD = $42
DM = $42
DD13 = $42
DD13 = $42
DS6 = $12
TOTAL = $180/Day DDP Cost

That assumes you would be getting the DDP out of pocket if you get the $500 Gift Card. So if you are staying 3 or more days, I would definitely get the free DDP.

Let's assume you get teh gift card and eat totally out of pocket without buying the DDP. Let's say that you can feed your family of 5 for $100/day. It still comes down to 3 days you "break even", 4 days or more and the free DDP is a better deal.

I can tell you that $100/day to feed 5 people would be tough at WDW. Thats under $7per meal per person. You can rule out a Table Service meal as one meal for 5 would be around $150 with tax and tip.

One other thing to look for is Room Discounts being offered. By staying at a Deluxe, the 40% discount on the room may be worth more than the cost of teh DDP.

ALSO - Call WDW, the CM can look you up in the system and see if there are any PIN Codes attached to your name that are in effect. It's possible to have a pin code but not be aware of it.

 

[lblume91]

DD = $42
DM = $42
DD13 = $12
DD13 = $12
DS6 = $12
TOTAL = $150/Day DDP Cost

Actually the DD13 x 2 would be $42/day for dining plan since they are "adults" at WDW. We are staying at POR during FD & saving roughly $200 per day since we have 2 "adult" DDs & 1 "child" DD. Makes the free dining an even better deal for you!

 

[d1gitman]

Actually the DD13 x 2 would be $42/day for dining plan since they are "adults" at WDW. We are staying at POR during FD & saving roughly $200 per day since we have 2 "adult" DDs & 1 "child" DD. Makes the free dining an even better deal for you!

oops, you are so correct, i'm an idiot!

 

[DiskneeFan]

You all are right DDP is the way to go Not sure what I was thinking...musta had a hump day brain fart. Not sure how the $500 off would be an advantage to anyone, maybe 2 people that dont eat If Disney is gonna throw a bone, make it a big one

 

[pmaurer74]

For us the 40% off was better. We were on the regular DDP plan and cost us about $117 per day but we ate $140 per day in food. For 2 adults and 1 child we averaged $30 per QS meal and $100 per TS meal not counting the snacks which we averaged about $10 a day. It depends upon how long you go.

 

[chitown_disneylovers]

So you can use the gift card toward restaurant gratuities?

(sorry, not to hijack the thread. we were able to get the gift card but not free dining because of the black out dates)

Thanks!

 

[disneyfan55]

So you can use the gift card toward restaurant gratuities?

(sorry, not to hijack the thread. we were able to get the gift card but not free dining because of the black out dates)

Thanks!

yes, most anything in WDW.

 

[DisneyHardin]

We went on the gift card promotion this summer (free dining wasn't an option for us, but I wanted to share how we looked at it). We stayed at a Deluxe, so we got a $750 GC. At first we weren't going to do the dining plan since we had the card, but then we decided to go ahead and pay for the DDP so that we could have $750 of "free" money to splurge on thing we never would have spent on if we were paying OOP.

So, if you are really looking for the better deal, going with free dining is the way to go, but if you would be paying for the DDP whethere it was free or not, i would go ahead and take the gift card so you can do lots of fun things.

 

[mjp12831]

You all are right DDP is the way to go Not sure what I was thinking...musta had a hump day brain fart. Not sure how the $500 off would be an advantage to anyone, maybe 2 people that dont eat If Disney is gonna throw a bone, make it a big one

Plus everyone has been comparing costs only.

If paying oop you'll likely pay at least 15% more for your food (discounting your $500 gift card by 15%)

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

I havn't run the exact numbers (don't have time right now) but of the two if you are staying more than 3 nights you are better off with free DDP with that party size than the gift card.

FWIW the % off room only discount may be better you need to run them all (but w/ the 13 yr olds being 'adults' I'm betting DDP will come out barely ahead, going to be hard to beat $180 savings a day).

 

[momeeyore]

Edited: I was posting about restrictions on the gift card last time it was offered as part of a resort package offer, but I was confusing it with the program where they sold discounted gift cards. Oops.

 

[SnwflkCts]

The last poster might have been trying to say what I am thinking. Not that I know for sure ... but can the gift card be used for dining at all (or anything related to dining)? It may have restrictions -- or it may not.

Just make sure.

It does sound like the Dining Plan would be a better choice.

Have fun whatever you choose!