Free dining or % off room?

[my2lovedisney]

Could someone please tell me how FD usually works? Do they typically attach it to a certain resort stay, or can you stay anywhere and get it? We like the deluxe plan. Would it be more cost effective to get free dining and pay the difference of deluxe or to have a discount code off a room and pay rack for deluxe dining??

 

[aripantaloon]

I think that depends on where you stay. I haven't ever had free dining, but I think that I read that free dining (DDP) is only better than a room discount at the value (have to upgrade to DDP) or the mod. Staying at a deluxe and getting free DDP is not a better savings than the normal % off a deluxe resort. Plus, if you want the DxDP, you have to pay the difference.

To get free dining, you typically have to pay rack rate for your room and then have a certain minimum number of days of park tickets (like 2 or 3).

 

[Mamu]

I think it depends on your eating habits, If you enjoy every meal to be a sit down meal, I guess FD is good.

I always take the discount, plus we like CL so the savings is usually much more then we spend on meals. We usually eat breakfast in the lounge, have a TS for lunch (it much cheaper then dinner), stay for the evening offerings then go to the park thats open late. We usually grab something from the CS for dinner. We also travel with Grandchildren that vary in ages from teens to toddlers.

I think everyone is different when it comes to FD. Many love it. We find it takes away from our park time.

 

[mickeynut1]

You would have to do the math to decide which was the better discount for your family. Free dining is like any other discount in that it may or may not be available at every resort and/or every room type. Some say free dining is best at the values and mods and isn't a good deal when staying at a deluxe resort since you have to pay rack rate, but it is not that cut and dry. Whether or not free dining is the better deal depends on several factors, such as the number of people in the room, their ages, the time of year, and the resort/room type. We are a family of 4 (all Disney adults) and there have been times we have saved more at a deluxe with free dining than we would have with a % off the room. Just because the room rates are higher at a deluxe doesn't necessarily mean free dining isn't a good deal. We always stay deluxe and have done free dining as well as a room discount, depending on which saved us the most money.

 

[Mom2six]

Figure out the price of the vacation with each scenario and you will see exactly where you save the most money. You can do that on the WDW website where you book your vacation. Get the price for everything without a discount or FD, and then subtract the amount for dining or the amount of the discount to compare.

For us, FD would save us a liitle more than our discount. We have 9 people though so food is a high cost. However, we had a FD pin (I found out when I called to book our September trip) but it was only good through the end of June. We had the military discount though, so we used that. Good luck to you.

 

[Missytara]

Depends on your party size.

If you go solo like me and pay 175% of double occupancy, then a room discount always wins.

If you stay, say two adults and two children or four adults in one room, it more than pays for itself.

Promotions are made to fill rooms, you cannot just call up and ask to be placed in a certain place and expect to get free dining.

 

[chimo2u]

You would have to do the math to decide which was the better discount for your family. Free dining is like any other discount in that it may or may not be available at every resort and/or every room type. Some say free dining is best at the values and mods and isn't a good deal when staying at a deluxe resort since you have to pay rack rate, but it is not that cut and dry. Whether or not free dining is the better deal depends on several factors, such as the number of people in the room, their ages, the time of year, and the resort/room type. We are a family of 4 (all Disney adults) and there have been times we have saved more at a deluxe with free dining than we would have with a % off the room. Just because the room rates are higher at a deluxe doesn't necessarily mean free dining isn't a good deal. We always stay deluxe and have done free dining as well as a room discount, depending on which saved us the most money.

EXACTLY!! I couldn't have said it better.....We are a party of 4 Disney Adults staying at the POLY in Oct with Free Dining.....FD is saving us more than the current RO discounts would (which I think are only sitting around 30% off right now)....I played around with the Spring RO discounts to see if we'd be better off with a room percent off or FD, and FD came out ahead even though we are staying deluxe..... Now if 40% off came out again, that may tip the scale towards the RO Discount....but for now, FD is the winner for us, you have to do the math to really see what works best for your situation

 

[browneyedgrl4282]

It really depends on where you plan to stay and how many are in your party (and if they are under 3 or if they are considered adults).