Free dining

[alisonarod]

Hi. I'm quite new to all of this but even I am chiming in constantly awaiting free dining. I have a couple of questions if someone could help me. My hubby and I booked a room only ressie at the poly in august. Does free dining only apply to package stays or can it also apply to room only deals? Would I have to buy a package to upgrade to free dining? Or could I simply add free dining to my existing room only ressie? I'd like to be able to get my room and my tickets separately and then just add free dining if the code comes out. However, would the code even apply to me since I only have a room only ressie vs. a package? Any feedback would help. I'm concerned that if i upgrade to a package deal for free dining that we won't actually save much money. To complicate things even further, I booked the room only ressie using AAA. Would i be able to use a free dining code since I already got my room discounted using AAA??? I don't think you can use more than one discount at a time.

 

[2forMe]

You would have to buy a package i.e room and tickets to get the free dining.. so you could just buy a one day ticket. As far as I have read you cannot combine the discounts so you would have to give up your AAA rate
You would probably have more luck posting this in the Resorts /Cdes and Rates section

 

[alisonarod]

How would that end up saving me money if i drop the AAA rate. I saved 50 dollars per night on our room using AAA x 4 nights = 200 dollar savings. Also, why would i only purchase a 1 day ticket to get the free dining plan if i am staying for 4 nights? Am i missing something? Which was is more affordable? A AAA room only rate and purchasing discounted tickets separately on mousecents.com and paying for food OR dropping the AAA rate and buying a package at rack rate with free disney dining? Thanks for your response

 

[Bete]

The free dining deal in the past required you to make a room reservation at rack rate and at least order 1 day of park tickets per each person in the room. You can use a room only discount if that works out better for you, but you cannot combine discounts.

Some people have annual park passes and others have left over park ticket days from a previous trip they can use on a future trip, etc.; so, Disney doesn't force you to buy your full length of room stay park tickets for your particular stay. For the free dining deal you need to buy at least 1-day of park tickets per the last two years of doing this promo. Unless, you have these special circumstances, it's probably better to get all you days for tickets with the Disney package.

You can do the whole package with AAA when the deal is announced officially. They can explain this more to you, as well.

What is very good about the free dining is that it's for each person in the room including kids for each night you are there. Also, you don't have to pay sales tax, nor do you have to tip for the sit-down meal which is free; because, it's built into the plan; although, we tip a little extra at our sitdown meals, but not 20% more. You can also order some very expensive items from the menu. Personally, I have saved $75 to $100 a day/person by utilizing the free dining plan to the utmost. You are not ordering from a special menu only for the free dining deal; so, you can order almost anything. There are a few restrictions, but overall you are free to order anything, more or less. There are a list of NOs, NOs on these boards of items that haven't been ok with the plan. Also, the meal credits do not need to be used per day; you can use them anyway you want to for the length of your stay.

You have to weigh the advantages or disadvantages of what discount deal you would like to use, but you cannot use more than one. If you are satisfied with lesser meals or you are light eaters, etc. the room discount may be a better deal for you. You really need to prepare a budget and see what's best for you.

I like the free dining; because, it adds another dimension to our trip. We can try some nicer dining establishments without having to pay. Personally, I probably wouldn't do a sit-down everyday, but if it's included free then I say go for it. If you stay at a low end resort like POP, etc. the room discounts are not that great; so, the free dining is a very good perk.

There are different deals for different people. You need to figure out what's best for you. I'm glad they have different deals to suit all tastes.

 

[Pacha]

How would that end up saving me money if i drop the AAA rate. I saved 50 dollars per night on our room using AAA x 4 nights = 200 dollar savings. Also, why would i only purchase a 1 day ticket to get the free dining plan if i am staying for 4 nights? Am i missing something? Which was is more affordable? A AAA room only rate and purchasing discounted tickets separately on mousecents.com and paying for food OR dropping the AAA rate and buying a package at rack rate with free disney dining? Thanks for your response

You would have to figure out how much you would probably spend on food and compare it to the discount you already have. If it is just the 2 o fyou and you are lite eaters and don't eat a lot of snacks and only plan on eating counter service, you are probably not going to spend more than you are currently saving. You also might check with your AAA agent when the special is anounced to see if you can get a discount on the room. SOME people have reported that in the past they were able to get a AAA discount and the free dinning if they booked it with a AAA agent. Not saying it is a fact, but it can't hurt to talk to your agent to see if you would save money.

 

[mickey2000]

How would that end up saving me money if i drop the AAA rate. I saved 50 dollars per night on our room using AAA x 4 nights = 200 dollar savings. Also, why would i only purchase a 1 day ticket to get the free dining plan if i am staying for 4 nights? Am i missing something? Which was is more affordable? A AAA room only rate and purchasing discounted tickets separately on mousecents.com and paying for food OR dropping the AAA rate and buying a package at rack rate with free disney dining? Thanks for your response

NOT TRUE!!!
If an agent works with you as mine did last year you get BOTH discounts with AAA. I have only posted this fact about a dozen times! They subtracted the cost of dining from an existing package that I already had and I kept the lower price of the room. Maybe the key is to have an existing package when the free DDP kicks in!
Which I have done again this year............

 

[Debbie Jean]

Free dining usually doesn't make sense financially if you're staying at a deluxe resort, as your figures illustrate, because you have to pay full rack rate plus park tickets to qualify.

Folks who really want to take advantage of the offer are families staying at one of the values. Now that will save you some serious money!

In your case, I'd take the discount and pay for the DDP out of pocket.

 

[pixiedustholidays]

As mentioned, you'll have to weigh the cost and see what is best to come up with..... however, my calculations are below (assuming you can't combine AAA and Free Dining promos, which you might be able to do as posted above):

you are currently saving $50 a night
The DDP cost is $39 per person x 2 = $78 a night value, which can get you $150 of food when used. You didn't mention if you have kids staying in the room, but this savings will go up if you do (as free dining applies to everyone in the room)

You can definitely eat for $50 a night for the 2 of you if you only go to counter service, but personally I'd pay the $50 more to upgrade to rack rate (if you have to, as mentioned by another poster, you might be able to combine the discounts!) and then get free dining. If you are paying the $50 a night anyway in meals, you might as well get GOOD meals and lots of choice.

Just my opinion.....

Jen
Pixie Dust Holidays