Free Dining Room vs 30% off Room

[Melora]

I was playing around with reservations this morning to see about pricing out a vacation.
I entered some dates in October for staying at OKW 1 bedroom for a family of 4 for a week.
With Free Dining it priced out to $5986 all inclusive.
So I went and priced out the same time frame but with the room discount instead of FD and the price came out to $5811.
I did this twice to make sure I didn't do something wrong but both times it came out the same.
We usually find that FD costs more total than staying in a discounted room so it shocked me that it was less than $200 for a weeks stay to upgrade from a discounted room to getting free dining.
Am I making a mistake somehow and not making the reservation correctly because that just doesn't seem right.

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

I was playing around with reservations this morning to see about pricing out a vacation.
I entered some dates in October for staying at OKW 1 bedroom for a family of 4 for a week.
With Free Dining it priced out to $5986 all inclusive.
So I went and priced out the same time frame but with the room discount instead of FD and the price came out to $5811.
I did this twice to make sure I didn't do something wrong but both times it came out the same.
We usually find that FD costs more total than staying in a discounted room so it shocked me that it was less than $200 for a weeks stay to upgrade from a discounted room to getting free dining.
Am I making a mistake somehow and not making the reservation correctly because that just doesn't seem right.

This is sometimes true but usually only when staying @ deluxe resort. Also the number of guests in your room will be a factor when considering which is a better deal

 

[sharonabe]

Something's not right. Either you're not getting the full 30% or could they possibly have added paid dining to that?

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

Something's not right. Either you're not getting the full 30% or could they possibly have added paid dining to that?

I think OP was pricing identical packages and just applying 2 different promos to see which was less expensive.
I think dining was included in both scenarios.
- The first being free dining but NO room discount.
- The second being 30% room discount but PAID dining.

 

[Melora]

The dates I am searching are Sept 5 - 13.

There was no dining added to the discounted room which I believe was called the Back to School offer.
The total was $5811, 1 bedroom, OKW with 8 day park hopper tickets.
If I wanted dining added it would bring the price to $7850 for the mid price plan.
(No way our family would eat $2000 worth of food in a week).

The total for the free dining plan for the same dates is $5986 for the same hotel and tickets.
I just went and redid the request and got the same quote.

 

[Lisa F]

The dates I am searching are Sept 5 - 13.

There was no dining added to the discounted room which I believe was called the Back to School offer.
The total was $5811, 1 bedroom, OKW with 8 day park hopper tickets.
If I wanted dining added it would bring the price to $7850 for the mid price plan.
(No way our family would eat $2000 worth of food in a week).

The total for the free dining plan for the same dates is $5986 for the same hotel and tickets.
I just went and redid the request and got the same quote.

are you sure it is the same room type? it sounds like you are getting the discounted rate AND the free dining. Or that your previous discount was not a discount at all.

 

[TiggerManiac]

Never mind, I rad the initial post wrong.

 

[TiggerManiac]

The dates I am searching are Sept 5 - 13.

There was no dining added to the discounted room which I believe was called the Back to School offer.
The total was $5811, 1 bedroom, OKW with 8 day park hopper tickets.
If I wanted dining added it would bring the price to $7850 for the mid price plan.
(No way our family would eat $2000 worth of food in a week).

The total for the free dining plan for the same dates is $5986 for the same hotel and tickets.
I just went and redid the request and got the same quote.

I'll be happy to price it out for you and see what I get. Just need to know whether kids are Disney kids or adults and which dining plan.

Are you sure the same dining plan was chosen for each option?

 

[Regan117]

The room discount is usually a better deal if you're staying deluxe. We have CL at the GF in September and the rom discount worked out to be $800 cheaper even with paying for the dining plan. And it at least gives the option of not doing the dining plan if we choose not to.

 

[sharonabe]

The dates I am searching are Sept 5 - 13.

There was no dining added to the discounted room which I believe was called the Back to School offer.
The total was $5811, 1 bedroom, OKW with 8 day park hopper tickets.
If I wanted dining added it would bring the price to $7850 for the mid price plan.
(No way our family would eat $2000 worth of food in a week).

The total for the free dining plan for the same dates is $5986 for the same hotel and tickets.
I just went and redid the request and got the same quote.

Try pricing it out with no discount at all and see what you get. I still think you're not getting a 30% on that room discount which probably means it's not available for that room and those dates.

 

[sharonabe]

Okay, I just went and tried for you dates, but with no children. Exact same dates as yours and 8-day park hopper, back to school offer. Discounted room with no dining plan was $5580. Free dining was $7569. If you're still getting the same thing, I'd grab that free dining offer. There is some kind of glitch that is giving you an additional discount.

 

[Melora]

See below.....

 

[supersnoop]

I'm getting the same $5,986 for free dining as the OP, but I'm getting $4,766 for the discounted room and tickets.

The dining plan would cost you about $1,800. With "free" dining it costs you about $1,200. Is it worth that much to you?

"Free" dining also requires that you add the Park Hopper option to your tickets, which is another $300 for the OP's trip. Personally, I'd skip that, which makes the "savings" much lower.

 

[TiggerManiac]

Details: stay 9/5-13, OKW 1-bedroom, 8-day tickets with PH, regular Disney Dining

Back to School offer (room discount only): $6,804.44
This offer with QS dining: $6,178.20
This offer with no dining: $4,766.04
This offer for room only: $2,531.20

Free Delicious Offer: $5,986.36

Late Summer and Early Fall discounts also work out to $6,804.44.

I'm not sure how the system came up with a total of $5,811 for the Back to School offer. I've put it in different combinations of room types, QS and regular meal plans, and different ticket types/lengths and can't get a total of $5,811.

Even if you're absolutely sure you have the same room, tickets, and meal plans selected and get that $5,811 price and select it, I wouldn't necessarily count on being able to keep that rate if it's related to a computer glitch or something. You could try booking it and see what happens, but I'd be worried that Disney would change it on me before I made the final payment.

 

[Melora]

OK somebody needs to get my eyes adjusted.
I SWEAR I double checked everything twice and was SURE both offers were the same.
The current offer I was quoting was giving me a 2 bedroom at Key West for the 30% off deal vs the one bedroom with free dining.
The offer for the Back to School room rate only was $4472 (not $5811 which was for the 2 bedroom) so NOW it makes sense.
Sorry!!

After doing the math it looks like it would cost *about* $152.50 per day to add the dining plan.
That seems almost in the realm of reasonable (not sure we will do it). For the 4 of us to eat 2 meals (which is all we end up eating with or without the plan) and getting some snacks, that's probably what it would come out to if we had one sit down per day.
I don't know if we'd skip park hoppers.... it would save money that we could put towards the food budget, but park hopping has always been a huge part of our trip. One park first then a rest in the middle of the day and visit another park in the evening.

 

[penguin29]

So, I bet someone here knows the answer to this question! We are trying to book for November, but are still unsure of our dates. I am getting nervous about making dining reservations because we will not know when we are going for sure until beyond the 180 mark. We are def. staying on site. I sort of have a ballpark idea as to when we will be going, give or take a few days. Should I just book a "fake" reservation in the mean time so I can at least begin to book our ADRs? The ADRs are not connected to my reservation, right? So, if end up needing to cancel that reservation and make a new one with the correct dates, I will still have my ADRs and can just modify those if needed?

 

[sharonabe]

So, I bet someone here knows the answer to this question! We are trying to book for November, but are still unsure of our dates. I am getting nervous about making dining reservations because we will not know when we are going for sure until beyond the 180 mark. We are def. staying on site. I sort of have a ballpark idea as to when we will be going, give or take a few days. Should I just book a "fake" reservation in the mean time so I can at least begin to book our ADRs? The ADRs are not connected to my reservation, right? So, if end up needing to cancel that reservation and make a new one with the correct dates, I will still have my ADRs and can just modify those if needed?

You don't have to have a reservation, fake or otherwise, to make ADRs.

 

[penguin29]

But I do need a reservation (fake or otherwise, haha) in order to make an ADR more than 180 days in advance, right?

 

[disneymom0104]

But I do need a reservation (fake or otherwise, haha) in order to make an ADR more than 180 days in advance, right?

I think you can book 180 without the reservation, but won't be able to do 180+10

 

[sharonabe]

But I do need a reservation (fake or otherwise, haha) in order to make an ADR more than 180 days in advance, right?

No one can make ADRs more than 180 days out. Without a reservation, you would only be able to do them one day at a time. With a reservation, you could do your entire stay.