Free Dining/Room Rates?

[beansmom]

ok, I'm old and slow...

if you do free dining, must you pay the rack rate on the room? For our September trip, this would totally wash out any savings...$104 room paying for our own food vs $200 w/free dining.

Is there a way to combine a good room rate with free dining?

TIA.

 

[Faldred]

You got it exactly -- free dining is in lieu of other discounts. Which discount is better for you depends on your party size, where you're staying, and your eating habits/desires.

 

[RMulieri]

In order to get the free dining, you have to pay RACK rate for the room. There is no way to get around this or stack discounts.

 

[MarkinNM]

In order to get the free dining, you have to pay RACK rate for the room. There is no way to get around this or stack discounts.

I guess so, so in reality its not "free" per say as I priced the same days w/o "free dining" and was much cheaper!! I think it should be called "WITH added dining" soooooo misleading IMO.....

 

[Mermaid2sea]

I think it depends how what resort your staying at.

 

[LisaNJ25]

I think it depends how what resort your staying at.

yep.. its a better deal at the values and with more people.

 

[RMulieri]

I guess so, so in reality its not "free" per say as I priced the same days w/o "free dining" and was much cheaper!! I think it should be called "WITH added dining" soooooo misleading IMO.....

Well no it really is free dining.you have always had to pay rack rate for the resort,and you got the basic dining plan for free. In general Free dining saves you the most money IF you are big eaters, have more people in your party , and you stay value resort level. Last year,In my case 40% off a villa came out to be a better savings than free dining at rack rate at the same villa for 2 adults one child.The only way to determine if it is worth it for you and your family is to crunch the numbers, and figure it out.

 

[Nie0214]

Here is some math I did in another thread so you can see the savings:

Generally, as a guide-line (obviously you can min-max and make the most of anything) Free Dining is more of a savings if you're staying at a value resort.

Assume 7 nights, 2 Adults, Basic Dining (1TS 1CS 1Snack). Basic Dining is $39.99 per adult ($10.99 per child) per night. Your tickets will be the same price regardless of your discount.

Free Dining @ Value, Standard Room:
Rack rate for room: $82/night @ 7 nights, $574.
Dining: Basic Dining, FREE.
Total: $574 + Tickets

With 40% off @ Value:
Room rate: $49.20 @ 7 nights, $344.40.
Dining: Basic Dining. $39.99 x 2 Adults x 7 Nights = $559.86
Total: $904.26 + Tickets

Obviously, this shows that you'd save more money by picking the Free Dining promotion. You'd save $330 by using the FD over the 40% off PIN.

Now look at it from a different view:

Free Dining @ Poly w/ MK view:
Rack rate for room: $500/night @ 7 nights, $3500.
Dining: Basic Dining, FREE.
Total: $3500 + Tickets

With 40% off @ Poly w/ MK view:
Room rate: $300 @ 7 nights, $2100.
Dining: Basic Dining. $39.99 x 2 Adults x 7 Nights = $559.86
Total: $2659.86 + Tickets

In this package, you'd save $850 by picking the 40% off code over the Free Dining.

Assume 7 nights, 4 Adults, Basic Dining (1TS 1CS 1Snack). Basic Dining is $39.99 per adult ($10.99 per child) per night. Your tickets will be the same price regardless of your room/dining discount.

Free Dining @ Value:
Rack rate for room: $82/night @ 7 nights, $574.
Dining: Basic Dining, FREE.
Total: $574 + Tickets

The room/dining is the same cost to you as the package for just 2 Adults, but now there are 4 adults.

With 40% off @ Value:
Room rate: $49.20 @ 7 nights, $344.40.
Dining: Basic Dining. $39.99 x 4 Adults x 7 Nights = $1119.72
Total: $1464.12 + Tickets

So for a family of two adults and 2 children over 10, they'd save $890 on that trip by using FD instead of 40% off the room. (They have the same room, same room rates as the room with 2 adults, but they get 4 free dining adults instead of 2.)

You have to crunch the numbers for your situation.

 

[Nie0214]

I guess so, so in reality its not "free" per say as I priced the same days w/o "free dining" and was much cheaper!! I think it should be called "WITH added dining" soooooo misleading IMO.....

When you priced it without the promotion, did you have the SAME exact options? That is, did you have the same room, same room-view, same tickets, same Dining plan? Many people make the mistake of looking at the price with free dining, and then looking at the price with just room & tickets and forgetting to put the Basic Dining plan on.

 

[Faldred]

Many people make the mistake of looking at the price with free dining, and then looking at the price with just room & tickets and forgetting to put the Basic Dining plan on.

Or, alternatively, what their expected OOP meals cost would be that would be covered by the dining plan.

 

[TDC Nala]

Free dining may not be the best deal for every party, depending on the availability of room discounts, how many people are in the party, what resort you choose and how much and where your party prefers to eat. If you wanted to buy the dining plan anyway, factor that in. If you did not intend to buy the dining plan, you may not want to factor it into your calculations. If you would plan to eat less food than the dining plan provides, eat offsite, or eat at onsite restaurants that don't accept the dining plan, factor that in too.

 

[eliza61]

ok, I'm old and slow...



TIA.

If you're old and slow, I'm probably ancient and static.

Any way, we doing the free dining exactly for the reasons Nala posted above. For the way we travel (deluxe resort, AP's and DDE card) we came out way better using a 40% code and/or an AP rate.

Figure out first how you like to travel then decide. It's almost like the old adage " a bargain is not a bargain, if you don't need the item".

 

[britfish]

how do you get a 40% off code?

 

[RMulieri]

how do you get a 40% off code?

That was sent out randomly by WDW destinations via email or snail mail postcard. Not everyone got one, and no one knows exactly why and who gets them. They were person specific and non transferable.

 

[kaytieeldr]

how do you get a 40% off code?

Well, that's part of the problem. Right now, Free Dining is available to everyone.

In comparison, whatever offer the OP has that is giving her a room rate of almost 50% less than the (apparent) rack rate is not available to everyone; as RMulieri points out, some promotions/offers are targeted to only certain people.

So, for the OP: whatever discount gives the $104 per night room rate is a better deal than Free Dining if the party consists of no more than two adults and one child ($39.99 x 2, + $9.99 per night, = $89.97, + $104 = $193.97; one adult alone, two adults and no children, one adult and two children will also bring the nightly total to less than $200).

For a larger party, it's not. For a party not offered whatever discount gives the $104 per night room rate, it's definitely not

 

[Nie0214]

In comparison, whatever offer the OP has that is giving her a room rate of almost 50% less than the (apparent) rack rate is not available to everyone; as RMulieri points out, some promotions/offers are targeted to only certain people.

She didn't mention which resort she is staying at. The values might be $100 after tax on weekend nights.

 

[luckytobeme88]

ok, I'm old and slow...

if you do free dining, must you pay the rack rate on the room? For our September trip, this would totally wash out any savings...$104 room paying for our own food vs $200 w/free dining.

Is there a way to combine a good room rate with free dining?

TIA.

May I ask what code will give you 48% difference? Where are you staying? If the discount is that huge, by all mean go with the discount. You will still come up on top paying for the DDP($39.99 per person) if there's only 2 on this trip.

 

[luckytobeme88]

She didn't mention which resort she is staying at. The values might be $100 after tax on weekend nights.

We are going during the Labor day weekend. The room rates for our entire stay(weekend included) remains the same @$93(includes tax) per night for the standard room.