Free Dining vs. No Lines

[pooch]

last year and didn't really hit any crowds. Longest wait was for Soarin' (40 min). Everything else was 10-15 minutes. Walked onto Everest 3x's. It was HOT though & Tropically Depressed Ernesto made a visit one day. Going a little later this year, 9/21-9/27, hoping for a little less heat.

 

[moviegirl11]

The problem is that getting rid of free dining does not necessarily equate to the parks being less crowded. Free dining is just a discount like any other discount. If free dining was not around, Disney would figure out some other kind of discount to offer to bring more people to the parks during non-peak periods. If it was up to Disney, the parks would be at full capacity, 365 days a year. It just makes business sense.

I didnt say getting rid of free dining would make it less crowded. I said before they started doing free dining it WAS less crowded. At least from what I can tell. I dont recall people flocking to disney world at the beginning of september before they started offering free dining and when my DH and I were there in september of 03 it was great. Thats all.

 

[WendyisDarling]

LY we had a split stay wewere there 4 nights before free dining and 4 nights immediately at the start of free dining.
Night and day difference. The last 4 nights had unbelievable waits and angry people. Lines were much longer for rides, too. Will always choose to go when there is no free dining. Our only available time for vacation is mid-Aug., so I am glad they moved it back this year.
For those that like free dining. I am sincerely glad they still have that option for you. It just isn't for our family.

 

[skeleton_pirate]

For us, we decided it was worth it to save $600, go an extra day, and have to wait an extra 20-30 minutes for the rides. I think that even during slow times (We last went in January of 2006 when it was "dead") rides like Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh are always going to have hellishly long waits, and we're fine with that. As long as you know the traffic patterns and the rides, either way will be a great time... and with the money we saved, we can buy all the mouse ears and Kungalooshes that we want.

 

[ILVPOOH]

We went the last week in August with Free Dining last year and we are going again this year. There was no wait for any rides and we only had to use one fast pass the entire trip for Soarin. We save a lot of money with the Free Dining, especially since my boys are 10 and considered an adult. Free Dining is the only way I can convince my husband to go. The restaurants are crowded, but we never had to wait to sit down.

 

[MissMichelle]

We always go the week of Labor Day. We went in 2005 w/ free dining and had no waits. In fact there were times when we were able to ride Splash Mtn w/ out having to reboard. We will be going the same time this year. There were even a couple of times that we were the ONLY family on the bus during our stay at CSR, and that was on the way to AK and MK.

Did free dining last year also and as you said, stayed on rides without reboarding a few times..and were the ONLY ones on buses a few times.....It was really nice

I know the week I am going this year may be worse, but I am prepared

 

[shaycamp21]

I would go with the free dining it really is a huge savings. We went in '05 and
'06 for free dining it was great. I just joined the tourguide mike website and got some great planning tips so that even when there were 60+ minutes waits posted we never waited more than 10-15 minutes in any line.

 

[jrsmom]

We went the third week in August last year and never had to wait in line for our meals or rides. There were a couple of meals that we were able to check into a little early and get seated. We are going back the same week this year, I am hoping that it will be the same or pretty close!

Vickey

 

[eliza61]

I hate crowds, I mean really hate them so I will pretty much sell a kidney to avoid long lines. (I think I have adult addh, because my patience is ziip)

So I go during the slowest possible time as possible. Since the free dining moved into September when I normally go, I'm trying early november this year.

 

[My2Angels]

We went last year 2006 from Sept 1-7th. The weekend before and labor day (monday) was slightly crowded, but the day after and the rest of the week was completely dead. My daughter rode her favorite ride Test Track 6 times in a row. They didn't even make her get off of the ride a couple of times. We loved the decreased crowds, we did not like the intense heat!!! The last 2 times before, we went during the first week of December. This is our favorite time of year. Very pleasant weather, and not very crowded at all.

 

[MrsMud]

I voted for FREE DINING!!

I don't think it's possible to go to Disney and "NEVER wait in any lines".
We actually did eat where we wanted, and most of those places we never would have if we had to pay for the meals. Our Le Cellier dinner alone would have cost us $175 for 2 adults and 2 children. No, if not for free dining we would have eaten breakfast in the room, snacks in the parks and 1 CS meal a day for dinner. Or, we would have eaten our dinners off-site and therefore would have had to rent a car. So for us, it's a no brainer.

I also agree that you can have both! Free Dining is offered during one of the slowest times of the year anyway, so the parks are not crowded. I see some people here posted that they had long waits during Free dining, but we never did. I guess some weeks are less crowded than others. We went the end of Sept. into Oct 1st I think, and sure there were lots of people but we never waited on a line longer than 10 minutes (of course we followed TGM faithfully so maybe that made the differnce for us)? We are going the second week in Sept. this year, Yay for FREE DINING!!!