Free Dining??

[tink&her2boys]

You're right. My beef (no pun intended) is mainly with Disney for offering "free" dining in the first place.

The "selfish" comment was in response to the PP who called me selfish for not liking free dining, lol.

No I didn't say you were selfish for not LIKING free dining, I think it's selfish of you to wish it would go away. For those staying Value, with a family, and most of the time a Moderate, it IS cheaper for us to go with free dining. MOST of us can't afford or don't want to afford a Deluxe resort just to basically sleep and shower in to make a PIN work better for us than free dining. In the long run it's more money out of pocket. My comment about not eating much does not mean we don't like Character meals, and TS meal. If I was going to purchase a CS or TS meal out of pocket, no I wouldn't order a dessert every single time, if ever. We go to Disney for the atmosphere and food of the TS restaurants as well as the parks. It comes across kinda snobish...if you can't or don't want to pay for it then you aren't entitled to it. And yes we are all entitled to our opinions

 

[Mommy2Corinne]

No I didn't say you were selfish for not LIKING free dining, I think it's selfish of you to wish it would go away. For those staying Value, with a family, and most of the time a Moderate, it IS cheaper for us to go with free dining. MOST of us can't afford or don't want to afford a Deluxe resort just to basically sleep and shower in to make a PIN work better for us than free dining. In the long run it's more money out of pocket. My comment about not eating much does not mean we don't like Character meals, and TS meal. If I was going to purchase a CS or TS meal out of pocket, no I wouldn't order a dessert every single time, if ever. We go to Disney for the atmosphere and food of the TS restaurants as well as the parks. It comes across kinda snobish...if you can't or don't want to pay for it then you aren't entitled to it. And yes we are all entitled to our opinions

Got it. I'm not selfish. I'm a snob. Thanks.

And I still wish free dining would go away.

 

[Disneylover99]

And no. We wouldn't purchase soda over water. We don't drink soda at home (it's gross and unhealthy)...what would we do it at Disney???
.

But you didn't really answer. You wouldn't buy a coffee, milk, juice?
You wouldn't buy your kids a Mickey bar or icecream cone?
Not one treat?

I mean if you say no to everything extra then kudos to you, because this is the kind of thing that adds up.

 

[Disneylover99]

And the example is just that...an example. We, for example, always stay at deluxe resorts and don't order TS meals in accordance with the dining plan regulations, so we would gain a *much* greater savings using a discount over the dining plan...no matter how you do the math.

Well of course you wouldn't gain savings if you always stay in Deluxe. I thought we were discussing Values and Moderates?

 

[Disneylover99]

Got it. I'm not selfish. I'm a snob. Thanks.

And I still wish free dining would go away.

FWIW it did come across as kind of snobbish.

It would be like me saying, I hope they don't give a good discount for the Deluxes this year because too many people will book it who normally wouldn't, and then the place would be crowded and maid service would be rushed and not up to par.

It sounds kind of elitist. Don't you think?

 

[Mommy2Corinne]

But you didn't really answer. You wouldn't buy a coffee, milk, juice?
You wouldn't buy your kids a Mickey bar or icecream cone?
Not one treat?

I mean if you say no to everything extra then kudos to you, because this is the kind of thing that adds up.

I would not ever buy a coffee (because I can get that in the room or in the CL lounge for free ), and I would not buy a soda or a juice because that is unhealthy and not something we would normally do, no matter what the circumstance. Yuck.

As for milk, my kids drink one glass of organic milk per day. If I was tight on money (which I'm not thank goodness) I would probably buy a quart at the resort CS location for the morning and have my kids drink water throughout the rest of the day.

As for snacks, I do buy my kids the occasional Disney snack, but if I didn't have the money, I wouldn't do that. Period.

I don't have any credit card debt, nor do I think taking out debt for the purpose of a Disney vacation is a good thing, so I am probably unlike a lot of Disney guests.

I hope that answers your questions.

 

[tink&her2boys]

Got it. I'm not selfish. I'm a snob. Thanks.

And I still wish free dining would go away.

Nope you got it wrong...a little selfish AND snobish! It's all good...I'm sure we've all crunched the numbers and know what we wish or have to have happen in order to go to Disney. For a lot of us, free dining is why we CAN go to Disney

To the OP...I'm still holding out hope FD will be released the latter half of this month! It's been announced in March and May previously...but I just have a feeling it'll be this month! Keeping fingers crossed!

 

[Mommy2Corinne]

Nope you got it wrong...a little selfish AND snobish! It's all good...I'm sure we've all crunched the numbers and know what we wish or have to have happen in order to go to Disney. For a lot of us, free dining is why we CAN go to Disney

Oh! Cool!

And here I thought calling people names on the Disboards was against the rules.

Silly me.

I'm a selfish snob because I don't like free dining. Got it.

 

[ReneeA]

OK. Let's do the math. (I'm not sure why I am continuing to argue the point other than that I am an attorney who has had a few mimosas for brunch .)

Right now, one night at POR river view during Sept value season is $274.50 (incl tax). A 30% discount would get you a savings of $82.35.

Assume a family of four brings cereal bars, bread, peanut butter with them to eat in the room for breakfast. Assume that they are willing to drink water (in refillable bottles which is a good healthy option) throughout the day. Assume that they are at MK. They can grab nice, filling counter service meals for lunch and dinner at MK for $61.82 total per day incl tax (an adult taco salad, an adult cheeseburger meal, a kids hamburger meal and a kids turkey sandwich for lunch at Pecos Bills PLUS two adult battered fish baskets and one kids macaroni meal and one kids chicken nuggets meal at Columbia Harbor House for dinner.) That's a savings of $20.53 per day (assuming a 30% discount on a mod) over free dining. Over seven days, that's a savings of $143.72.

Now, obviously, the math changes per meal per day, but the ultimate savings is real.

Take a family of 4 staying at a deluxe (eating apps over desserts and throwing in a few signature meals) and the savings increases exponentially.

Your math is wrong. A Riverview room at POR in value season is $175 a night, not $275. That is only a $52 savings with a 30% code. I cannot feed my family of 4 with that amt of money.

 

[BigAlsGal]

I would not ever buy a coffee (because I can get that in the room or in the CL lounge for free ), and I would not buy a soda or a juice because that is unhealthy and not something we would normally do, no matter what the circumstance. Yuck.

As for milk, my kids drink one glass of organic milk per day. If I was tight on money (which I'm not thank goodness) I would probably buy a quart at the resort CS location for the morning and have my kids drink water throughout the rest of the day.

As for snacks, I do buy my kids the occasional Disney snack, but if I didn't have the money, I wouldn't do that. Period.

I don't have any credit card debt, nor do I think taking out debt for the purpose of a Disney vacation is a good thing, so I am probably unlike a lot of Disney guests.

I hope that answers your questions.

 

[Disneylover99]

I would not ever buy a coffee (because I can get that in the room or in the CL lounge for free ), and I would not buy a soda or a juice because that is unhealthy and not something we would normally do, no matter what the circumstance. Yuck.

As for milk, my kids drink one glass of organic milk per day. If I was tight on money (which I'm not thank goodness) I would probably buy a quart at the resort CS location for the morning and have my kids drink water throughout the rest of the day.

As for snacks, I do buy my kids the occasional Disney snack, but if I didn't have the money, I wouldn't do that. Period.

I don't have any credit card debt, nor do I think taking out debt for the purpose of a Disney vacation is a good thing, so I am probably unlike a lot of Disney guests.

I hope that answers your questions.

Wow! I thought we were just discussing the best deal.

It sounds like you are assuming that anyone who takes advantage of the free dining offer can't afford to go to Disney and probably shouldn't go to Disney. I think you've made a pretty inaccurate assumption.

 

[Mommy2Corinne]

Your math is wrong. A Riverview room at POR in value season is $175 a night, not $275. That is only a $52 savings with a 30% code. I cannot feed my family of 4 with that amt of money.

My math is absolutely not wrong.

A POR river view room right now on the Disney website for 9/5 (I happened to pick that date because that's when we are arriving at VGF) is $274.50 (incl tax). I am not sure where you are getting your numbers.

 

[tink&her2boys]

Oh! Cool!

And here I thought calling people names on the Disboards was against the rules.

Silly me.

I'm a selfish snob because I don't like free dining. Got it.

Again...it's not the fact you don't like it...it's the fact that you want free dining to go away. Period. You don't want to have to deal with "us" who do go using free dining...it just makes YOU not have as much of an enjoyable time..."we" are in your way.

I have a feeling you'll never "get" it so I'll stop commenting on this thread

 

[tink&her2boys]

Wow! I thought we were just discussing the best deal.

It sounds like you are assuming that anyone who takes advantage of the free dining offer can't afford to go to Disney and probably shouldn't go to Disney. I think you've made a pretty inaccurate assumption.

THANK YOU!!!!!!! (oops I DID post again!)

 

[Mommy2Corinne]

Wow! I thought we were just discussing the best deal.

It sounds like you are assuming that anyone who takes advantage of the free dining offer can't afford to go to Disney and probably shouldn't go to Disney. I think you've made a pretty inaccurate assumption.

Oh good grief! I never said that. You said that free dining is "always" a better deal than a discount. I was simply showing actual math/numbers that that is NOT always the case.

The rest if it was in direct response to your question of whether or not I would purchase certain things if I were not on the "free" dining plan.

Give me a break.

 

[texasroni75]

Just because one takes advantage of FD doesn't mean they "wouldn't normally be able to afford" a TS meal! It's like saying a supermarket shouldn't let people use coupons, because too many people are using them, which makes the grocery store "too crowded" - and those who can afford to pay full price for their groceries can't find a parking spot. Wah wah wah!

You hardly endear yourself when you imply you deserve something more than someone else based on how much you can afford and you feel they can't. Period. With all that $$ you have, you could likely afford a book on manners! Pay full price for it, even if it's on sale - because you CAN AFFORD IT! LMAO

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

Well, count me in with the lower class who LOVES free dining! No, I probably wouldn't eat as many TS meals without it, but with it I get to do just what I want.

But on one hand, I'm told that I'm being taken. That FD isn't free. That I'm a sucker for buying into it and it's not a great discount at all. You're telling me I could do better with a room only discount. Sooooo......does that mean I'm spending more than I should and I'm actually MORE entitled to those TS meals than you????


And your math is wrong, because the room only discount wouldn't be on the tax included amount.....just sayin'.

 

[tink&her2boys]

Just because one takes advantage of FD doesn't mean they "wouldn't normally be able to afford" a TS meal! It's like saying a supermarket shouldn't let people use coupons, because too many people are using them, which makes the grocery store "too crowded" - and those who can afford to pay full price for their groceries can't find a parking spot. Wah wah wah!

You hardly endear yourself when you imply you deserve something more than someone else based on how much you can afford and you feel they can't. Period. With all that $$ you have, you could likely afford a book on manners! Pay full price for it, even if it's on sale - because you CAN AFFORD IT! LMAO

...and THANK YOU!

 

[Disneylover99]

Oh good grief! I never said that. You said that free dining is "always" a better deal than a discount. I was simply showing actual math/numbers that that is NOT always the case.
.

Except that you were unable to prove your point. You chose the most expensive moderate room category on a weekend night. Then you admitted that you would buy your kids treats but you would get your coffee Club Level.

I don't get why you wanted to argue about this in the first place if you've never stayed in a value or moderate resort?

 

[ReneeA]

My math is absolutely not wrong.

A POR river view room right now on the Disney website for 9/5 (I happened to pick that date because that's when we are arriving at VGF) is $274.50 (incl tax). I am not sure where you are getting your numbers.

I just priced a garden view for 8/28-29 (when we will be there) and it's $184. 30% of that is $55. That is from Disney's website, and no...my kids wouldn't be happy with pbj sandwiches, and just water to drink...especially when they could have gotten the DDP.