Free Dining worth it?

[ottawamom]

I am planning for a trip 4 years from now. I have just come across a great deal on park tickets before the price increase. The only thing that puts a twist in this is the possibility of free dining. We are a family of 5, 3 teenage boys. Usually we eat counter service meals because we want to maximize our time on the rides so I'm not certain if free dining would be a bonus for us. I have also heard that it is difficult to get reservations etc.

I have the money set aside already to purchase park tickets it is sitting in a bank account not earning much interest so purchasing now is possible.

Questions?

When you book free dining are you able to take advantage of room discounts
(ie. room only discount at value resorts this fall) or do you pay the full rack rate for that time period?

If I wait and purchase the package if available 4 years from now does the package fall under those prepayment rules? I like the room only reservations because you can pay when you get to Disney and can change your plans if necessary only a few days before travel.

Is it worthwhile to purchase park tickets now to be used 4 years from now (US $ changing and park increase hedging) or is it safer to just wait and leave my options open?

Any feedback greatly appreciated

 

[calgarygary]

So many things can happen between now and when you are planning on going that I would not yet be spending your money. Yes, you might miss out on a great price for tickets but having that money should an emergency arise is much more important.

 

[squirrel]

To qualify for free dining you need to purchase a package at a certain time, this year by June 22. You also pay full price for the room. It still worked out to be a good deal for me as I am staying in a value room. When you move up to a mod or deluxe you will have to figure out if it is a good deal.

Your trip is so far away. We don't even know what the dining plan is going to look like in 2009 yet. I would wait. You should check around and see about opening a US account. I have one that doesn't cost me any money to have open.

 

[drcandon]

I agree with all the pp's..I would wait and see what the free dining plan even looks like 4 years from now..I would definitely start to book at the 1 year out mark- since as of this morning Diosney is still at the 180 day mark for ressie's.

I do like the free dining as it minimizes the amount of cash you have to lug around..the only thing I don't like about the dining plan this year is the tip is not included...and I refuse to tip 18% on buffets.. If I have to get up off my lazy butt to get food then forget the 18% and if you charge it to your room to avoid carrying around tip money then they automatically crank on 18% ..no matter whether service was good or crappy..

Yes, I know in the past the 18% tip was included in the plan..yep - but out of sight out of mind ..

That rant aside the dining plan is a real good idea - believe me the counter service meals are great but you tire of the same thing - and a good sit down meal is worth it..you can only plug on the rides so long before Disney becomes a burnout and you need a vacation from the vacation..

And, with the economy as it stands who know what Disney may offer to incite visitors..lets face it gas may be coming down a bit, but it is sure to go up again slowly... $1.50 CDN is not far away and they are predicting it to be near $2.00 late next year...in the US the "recession" is hitting harder then it is here, but I am sure that is coming...Disney survives on traffic in and out..the numbers have to be constant..so something has to give...

I would wait..IMHO

 

[cdnmickeylover]

If you want dining -- free or otherwise you have to book a package which is payable in full (at this time) 45 days before you travel. You are paying full rate for the room but you aren't paying a different rate for each night of your vacation either (or at least you don't see the difference).

With room only reservations you now can pay a different rate for each night - with the weekends being at a higher rate than weeknights.

We've done the free dining every year that it's offered and found that it's a great deal (although the tip thing this year makes it less of a deal). We enjoy doing the TS restaurants but it depends on your touring style as well but with free dining - well free is free. Reservations aren't that hard to get as long as you do some planning ahead of time. We've only done the regular dining plan so we are only looking at one reservation per day. We are quite flexible too though so that helps.

If you still wanted to buy the tickets now you could still book the free dining package with a one day ticket for everyone. We've done that because we have AP's and we just apply the one day ticket to our AP renewal.

I would wait to buy the tickets though since your trip is so far in the future that nobody knows what the ticket structure is going to be like then nor the dining plan.