Free Fall Dining?

[BattyKoda]

I would prefer cheaper room rates over free dining. Someone has to pay for it and one way is to factor the cost into the room rate.

Nothing in this world is free.

Amazing what the word "FREE" does. I know a store owner who was selling something at 33 1/3 off. It didn't move so he repriced to buy 3 and get the 4th one free it flew off the shelf. The owner had the last laugh. The customer got a 25 percent discount instead of 33 1/3 percent discount. and they didn't even realize it.

They normally give you the choice of either one, some prefer the discount some prefer the "free" dining. I think that by now most, if not all, realize that there is nothing free about it. As always, people should run the numbers to see what works best for them.

 

[Spacedog1975]

The room discount vs. free dining value typically lies in how many people you have in your room. 2 people in the room - get the room discount. Family of 4? Free dining will likely trump. Of course that presumes that you intend to make full use of the dining plan.

 

[slbgnb]

On the two trips we did NOT do a dining plan, we ended up paying less for food that what the plan would have cost. We still ate at least one sit-down meal a day, but if you are NOT on a plan, you can split meals between people, and order only what you want. in the future, unless we stumble in to it, we probably won't buy a dining plan. I really preferred that. But as others have stated, you have to work the math and find what is best for you and your family

This may be true - you certainly have to do the numbers. But, if they offer FREE DINING...then it's definitely cheaper to get the free dining, rather than pay OOP.

 

[Spacedog1975]

This may be true - you certainly have to do the numbers. But, if they offer FREE DINING...then it's definitely cheaper to get the free dining, rather than pay OOP.

Presuming you aren't leveraging another type of discount.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I hadn't thought of this. As of now, I'm going Labor Day week and DO have the Hopper added to my package. I've never used a Park Hopper before and maybe that's because I've always gone in Sept. Hmmm...now I'm just confused and don't know if I should keep it!

I find it best to mock up a spreadsheet for myself. I confirm the number of days of my park passes and then look at Touring Plans, EasyWDW and Kenny the Pirate to help me decide which park I want to go to each day. I also take into consideration things like Food and Wine as it's starting earlier this year. I then add the park I plan to go to each day based on predicted crowds. Hours of each park are added next plus dining reservations I plan to make at the 180 day mark. Yes, it's a lot of pre-planning but after that it's easy to make other decisions such as park-hopper, etc. This year during our 9 day trip, the Magic Kingdom closes at 11:00 once, 9:00 three times, 8:00 once and 7:00 4 times. Since this is the park we are most likely to 'hop' to after a dining reservation, it really does not make sense for us to add the park-hopper option as we'll have such a short amount of time to use it. (We're not ones who tend to go back to the resort midday for a rest.)

If I was travelling 1 month earlier when the Magic Kingdom closes at later times I'd be adding the park-hopper but for our dates, it just does not make sense for us. It might work for others, just not us.

I just took a quick look at the park hours for the week you're there @slbgnb and they're similar to ours.

 

[atm55]

I'm still wondering how to get the elusive "pin".
We have been able to take advantage of free dining the past two years. We will probably go again this fall, regardless ....

What is the elusive "pin"?

 

[slbgnb]

I just took a quick look at the park hours for the week you're there @slbgnb and they're similar to ours.

Yep...I have my mock spreadsheet already done and I'm second guessing the hopper now with those early closes. The 2 days that it might work for us are our 2 MK days. It closes at 8 one day and 7 another day. And it might be nice to hop to Epcot for dinner on one of those days. But, we could just go to a resort for dinner.....We've never taken a mid-day break either, so we've never switched parks before. So very hard to decide. OF COURSE, if FD comes out and requires the hopper....then, decision made!

 

[Spacedog1975]

What is the elusive "pin"?

Disney provides "bounce back" offers to people who've already done a trip. Sometimes these are included with your packet at check in, other times they'll send them to you long after you go home. I've received a pin once via email, but I've never had them at check in. You'll never find one randomly on the internet. They can be good early indicators of an upcoming promotion and the dates for the same.

 

[larissawbb]

I just got a pin code with the same offer as last summer. Up to 30 percent off a room and free hopper added to a five or more days ticket.

 

[slbgnb]

soooo jealous of these pins! Wish I could get one!

 

[Spacedog1975]

I just got a pin code with the same offer as last summer. Up to 30 percent off a room and free hopper added to a five or more days ticket.

I like that offer! Hope to see it in the wild.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

I like that offer! Hope to see it in the wild.

That's basically the current standard offer...which is less of a deal than I can honestly remember.

 

[Spacedog1975]

That's basically the current standard offer...which is less of a deal than I can honestly remember.

I'm not the foremost expert, but I've seen up to 30-35% depending on resort, but not paired with free park hopper, which I always get anyway (unless I already have an annual pass).

 

[lockedoutlogic]

I'm not the foremost expert, but I've seen up to 30-35% depending on resort, but not paired with free park hopper, which I always get anyway (unless I already have an annual pass).

Right...I get that.

But here's the real story:

So you get 15% off your room at POP...and you pay full price for the tickets but get the $65 parkhopper throw in.

The real real story is track what that room cost 10 years ago...or even 5...then look at what the ticket cost.

It's not a big discount...it just costs massively more now in comparison.

Just an observation...the damage is done. It's just sad because the canary died in his cage back when the "free dining" rolled out...and the consistent steep increases flew under the radar.

Wdw Econ 002: Macro theories and practices

 

[Spacedog1975]

This all makes sense, but I need to track the pricing based on where it is today. So the promotional offer I'm working towards is the one that gives me the best opportunity within the current circumstance. Comparing it to ten years ago will get me nowhere.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

This all makes sense, but I need to track the pricing based on where it is today. So the promotional offer I'm working towards is the one that gives me the best opportunity within the current circumstance. Comparing it to ten years ago will get me nowhere.

Ok...let me rephrase:

The discounts are not good...so you are not getting good value for your dollars under it.

Better off to go to wholesalers for steeper discounts within their blocks and book that way.

 

[wrighteous]

I thought when I looked at last years free dining that Labor Day was actually included. Is that not the case? I just moved my trip up a week to include Labor Day

Last year we went from 9/5-9/13, Labor Day week. We were able to get free dining for our entire stay, including Labor Day itself. It was amazing! We booked for the same week this year in hopes of maybe getting lucky again. If not, we feel fortunate to have gotten free dining last year!

 

[stitchfan75]

Booking ahead didn't help our chances at all. We originally booked for November 2015 at CBR. The day the discount dropped there was nothing for open for our week or resort. We ended up moving our dates AND our resort in order to get the promotion. They advertise a range of dates but only certain hotels and a limited number of rooms are available. I could get Pop that Nov week but nothing in moderates.
We were also overwhelmed by the amount of food and ended up wasting quite a bit when it came to counter service.

 

[Eeyore's-tail-tack]

I'm still wondering how to get the elusive "pin".
We have been able to take advantage of free dining the past two years. We will probably go again this fall, regardless ....

I used to receive pins. However once we actually stayed onsite we no longer receive them.

 

[RigatoniFeline]

I admit that I am new to all of this, but if you wait to book how would you get the ADR's you wanted? I just booked mine on Saturday at 6:00AM and still had to give up some of the things I wanted in order to get in. If I waited even a few hours, I wouldn't have got it at all. So how do you wait to try and get free dining and then have restaurant availability?

Also, why would they offer free anything in the peak summer months? Why not wait if they are going to reduce free dining? Again, I am new to this so I may very well be missing something.