Free Dining VS Hotel Discounts

[nurse.darcy]

Okay, so many of you are anxiously waiting "free dining" so that you can either keep your ressie or make a ressie. . .

WTH is up with that. If you want to go to the parks, just go. Get a great discount on an off property, DTD or Swan/Dolphin hotel and suck up the costs for the food. I am saving over 2 grand on the hotel because I chose to stay at the Swan instead of going to the Boardwalk Inn with my party this summer. We will eat like we normally do and enjoy the parks like we do when we go to Disneyland. If we have to wait to eat at a TS restaurant, so be it. But we are NOT going to eat an appetizer and a dessert with every meal because Disney wants us to. We would NEVER do that at home. We just spent 3 days at DLR and our food/beverage/video game/alcohol purchases averaged $34 per person per day. This is $4.99 less than the Dining Plan. We did not hold back and ordered everything we wanted to eat, side dishes, extra stuff, etc. We don't care if there is free dining or not, its just too much food and makes me sick that people will actually force themselves to eat that much food. As a formerly fat person I still feel ashamed at the way I used to eat. Please people, eat responsibly. Sorry but hotel discounts are better for us than free dining. . .jmho. . .

I MUST APOLOGIZE FOR THE AGRESSIVENESS OF MY POST. I AM SO EXCITED TO GO FOR THE FIRST TIME THAT I JUST GOT A LITTLE OVERZEALOUS. PLEASE FORGIVE ME. I NEVER MEANT TO OFFEND ANYONE. MY POINT WAS MERELY TO POINT OUT THAT THERE ARE OTHER OPTIONS AND DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE WITHOUT HAVING TO WAIT FOR A FULL PRICED DISNEY HOTEL WITH FREE DINING.

 

[cmwade77]

Here is why I don't like to stay off site:

• No Extra Magic Hours
• I have to rent a car as the shuttles to off site hotels don't run early or late enough
• I would then have to drive to my hotel from the Airport
• The only way that I know of to get to Disney World from the Airport is to use toll roads, something we never HAVE to do in California
• I like the theming of the on site hotels
• The dining plan would not be available and would cost us more for food
• We would have to pay for the entire trip at once in most cases rather than over time

All of that being said staying on site is not for everyone, but we are not waiting for a discount to come out for our reservation, we have one made that we are keeping no matter what we do, we have the dining plan on it as well, it would be nice to have free dining of course, but we are not counting on it or any other discount, again which would be nice to have.

 

[cmwade77]

Also Swan & Dolphin is more expensive for us, as we are staying at All-Star Music.

 

[glitzybabes]

Here is why I don't like to stay off site:

• No Extra Magic Hours
• I have to rent a car as the shuttles to off site hotels don't run early or late enough
• I would then have to drive to my hotel from the Airport
• The only way that I know of to get to Disney World from the Airport is to use toll roads, something we never HAVE to do in California
• I like the theming of the on site hotels
• The dining plan would not be available and would cost us more for food
• We would have to pay for the entire trip at once in most cases rather than over time

All of that being said staying on site is not for everyone, but we are not waiting for a discount to come out for our reservation, we have one made that we are keeping no matter what we do, we have the dining plan on it as well, it would be nice to have free dining of course, but we are not counting on it or any other discount, again which would be nice to have.

Don't forget having to pay $9 or $10 for parking for each park each day that you go!!!

 

[nurse.darcy]

Here is why I don't like to stay off site:

• No Extra Magic Hours
• I have to rent a car as the shuttles to off site hotels don't run early or late enough
• I would then have to drive to my hotel from the Airport
• The only way that I know of to get to Disney World from the Airport is to use toll roads, something we never HAVE to do in California
• I like the theming of the on site hotels
• The dining plan would not be available and would cost us more for food
• We would have to pay for the entire trip at once in most cases rather than over time

All of that being said staying on site is not for everyone, but we are not waiting for a discount to come out for our reservation, we have one made that we are keeping no matter what we do, we have the dining plan on it as well, it would be nice to have free dining of course, but we are not counting on it or any other discount, again which would be nice to have.

And I 100% agree with you. That is EXACTLY what I am talking about. You are booking responsibly. What I should have stated from the beginning is that I am as much a disney addict as most on these sites but I would NEVER book if I had to wait for a special deal like free dining to make it happen. That would not be booking responsibly.

 

[Mariposa]

Yeah, 'cause I can pay $82/night and get a hotel room AND my family's entire food needs met EVERYDAY of our trip anywhere else? And stay on WDW property the whole time? Not going to happen. :

Yeah, if you want to stay at a Deluxe, free dining won't seem like a great deal to you. If you stay at a value or a mod- it's a pretty deep discount.

 

[rjeash]

I have to concur. There are alot of added costs when you stay off-site but the biggest appeal for us to stay on-site is convenience. As for the dining plan (free or not) vs hotel discount, we would never be able to afford character dinners for our children if we POOP. For us, that is going to part of the whole experience. My children are very excited to "eat" with Mickey Mouse and I am thrilled to be able to "eat" with Eeyore.

 

[nurse.darcy]

Yeah, 'cause I can pay $82/night and get a hotel room AND my family's entire food needs met EVERYDAY of our trip anywhere else? And stay on WDW property the whole time? Not going to happen. :

Yeah, if you want to stay at a Deluxe, free dining won't seem like a great deal to you. If you stay at a value or a mod- it's a pretty deep discount.

Okay, my point was not to dis on Disney property hotels. Trust me when I say I would rather be at a Disney owned Deluxe than the S/D if I could get the same price for it. My point was more about the Dining Plan. We are 5 "adults" in Disney eyes and would NEVER be able to eat all the food that comes with the TS meals. A table service meal for us would be 5 appetizers, 5 main courses, and 5 desserts. When we go to a restaurant to eat we NEVER eat that much. We could I guess if we wanted to because we don't really care about the cost of the meal, but we are just so full and really enjoy the meal itself. If we want an appetizer or two we order them. And I can count on one hand the number of times we have ordered dessert. When we do it is usually one dessert and we just share it because we are so full from dinner. JMHO

 

[CanadianGuy]

Nurse:

There is a certain freedom in looking at the menu without having to look at the prices all that closely. Want to try the steak! Go ahead.

And the 'feeling' that you've gotten this great deal while staying at a Disney resort can be magical in and of itself.

Knox

 

[slmcn66]

Two of my three children fall in the 10 & up kid category. They definitely do not eat like an adult. Paying for the DDP does not make sense for my family now, but maybe when they are older and their appetites increase it might. Free dining would be nice only because we could apply the credits to our charachter meals and "splurge" on park snacks.

 

[LisaNJ25]

Okay, my point was not to dis on Disney property hotels. Trust me when I say I would rather be at a Disney owned Deluxe than the S/D if I could get the same price for it. My point was more about the Dining Plan. We are 5 "adults" in Disney eyes and would NEVER be able to eat all the food that comes with the TS meals. A table service meal for us would be 5 appetizers, 5 main courses, and 5 desserts. When we go to a restaurant to eat we NEVER eat that much. We could I guess if we wanted to because we don't really care about the cost of the meal, but we are just so full and really enjoy the meal itself. If we want an appetizer or two we order them. And I can count on one hand the number of times we have ordered dessert. When we do it is usually one dessert and we just share it because we are so full from dinner. JMHO

Just because you can get and eat all of that food doesn't mean everyone will and does. I am not getting free dining but did get 40% off my deluxe hotel. We are getting the dinning plan. I don't want to worry about what I will spend on food when I get there. I will also have 2 toddlers under 3 with me so they will eat some of the appetizers and desserts.

 

[Disney Kim]

Food is the way to my heart

...

 

[Mariposa]

As for the dining plan (free or not) vs hotel discount, we would never be able to afford character dinners for our children if we POOP.

It took me about a minute and a half to realize that was an abbreviation, and probably another minute to figure out what it was an abbreviation of. Then it took me about two minutes to stop laughing at my stupidity and come post a reply.

I am SO immature.

 

[Ziggy]

I am SO immature.

Me too, I am sat here rolling laughing and DH is giving me some very strange looks

 

[Ziggy]

I MUST APOLOGIZE FOR THE AGRESSIVENESS OF MY POST. I AM SO EXCITED TO GO FOR THE FIRST TIME THAT I JUST GOT A LITTLE OVERZEALOUS. PLEASE FORGIVE ME. I NEVER MEANT TO OFFEND ANYONE. MY POINT WAS MERELY TO POINT OUT THAT THERE ARE OTHER OPTIONS AND DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE WITHOUT HAVING TO WAIT FOR A FULL PRICED DISNEY HOTEL WITH FREE DINING.

No problems I did not read it like that. I would much rather have a good room discount than all that food .

 

[rjeash]

Oops, I didn't even see it till just now. We need to add it to the abbreviation site

 

[DaisyD]

Nurse:

There is a certain freedom in looking at the menu without having to look at the prices all that closely. Want to try the steak! Go ahead.

And the 'feeling' that you've gotten this great deal while staying at a Disney resort can be magical in and of itself.

Knox

True but not everyone has to look at the menu prices before deciding. We are not rich but I don't stress over a $50 lobster. We eat what we want and never take the price into consideration. The DDP is just not for us because we stay deluxe and have gotten a $200 off the room per night. No way would we eat $200 of food a day for 2 adults and one child!

 

[iloveeeyore]

nurse.darcy

I'm glad you didn't mean to sound aggressive.

I prepare 4 meals, 21 times a week, plus snacks. When I go on vacation, one of my greatest pleasures is in the variety of restaurants I can enjoy. I can eat what I want and someone else serves me and cleans up after my family. Therefore, when we go on vacation (especially in Disney, where we really love to immerse ourselves in the themes of it all), quite a bit of the budget is used on dining, because that is important to me.

The first time we went to Disney as a family of four, we spent about $1000 on food. Now my kids are older and eat more, both in quantity and variety (no more "kids meals" because they have more sophisticated taste), and it would cost us even more to eat where we want. The DDP would cost about $160/day for our family, and we figure we would about break even if we paid OOP, so free dining for 7 nights would equal roughly 1100 savings for us. And then we wouldn't have to think about what we're ordering.

Why do you care how I choose to save my own money? Or about how I choose to feed my family? I didn't get a 40%, or a 30%, or even a 15% discount. But if free dining is offered and we choose avail ourselves of it, we will save even more than that if we stay at a value or moderate resort. I know I don't need to rationalize anything to you, but your post made me pretty irate. You should take my BP right now.

 

[CanadianGuy]

Let's try to keep it calm and on topic .. she was asking a question and wasn't targeting anyone specifically.

It's a reasonable fair question. I personally disagree with the premise.. but hey.. it's a free country/internet right?

Knox

 

[twinspluscade]

Okay, so many of you are anxiously waiting "free dining" so that you can either keep your ressie or make a ressie. . .

WTH is up with that. If you want to go to the parks, just go. Get a great discount on an off property, DTD or Swan/Dolphin hotel and suck up the costs for the food. I am saving over 2 grand on the hotel because I chose to stay at the Swan instead of going to the Boardwalk Inn with my party this summer. We will eat like we normally do and enjoy the parks like we do when we go to Disneyland. If we have to wait to eat at a TS restaurant, so be it. But we are NOT going to eat an appetizer and a dessert with every meal because Disney wants us to. We would NEVER do that at home. We just spent 3 days at DLR and our food/beverage/video game/alcohol purchases averaged $34 per person per day. This is $4.99 less than the Dining Plan. We did not hold back and ordered everything we wanted to eat, side dishes, extra stuff, etc. We don't care if there is free dining or not, its just too much food and makes me sick that people will actually force themselves to eat that much food. As a formerly fat person I still feel ashamed at the way I used to eat. Please people, eat responsibly. Sorry but hotel discounts are better for us than free dining. . .jmho. . .

Sounds like "sour grapes" to me

We've already booked for Sept 8-16, and are going regardless whether dining is free or not (Dh refuses to go any other time--we went last year also w/out free dining and it was VERY UNCROWDED). But if they did offer free dining, it would be a great bonus! It would save us $892.00. Maybe were you're standing that isn't much, but for a budget concious family like ours it's a huge savings.

You really have to do the math to see if free dining is a better deal, or if room discount/staying off site is. For anyone with several children--especially since many hotels won't allow 5 in a standard room--the free dining will probably be the better deal.

And why is it your business how my family and I eat during vacation . I read so many posts about people b*tching about all the food you get on the dining plan. Why does anyone care?? It's simple, if you don't want the DDP--don't buy it.

[B