Free QSDP is working - Guests are booking Mods!

[Singinglizzie]

What do you think; Is Disney's strategy of limiting free dining to QSDP at the Values working? Sure you can pay OOP to upgrade, but I think more folks are deciding to stay Moderate to get the regular DDP free? I've been checking our dates for free dining and althought our promotion is over it looks like there is plenty availability at the Values, but limited choice at the Mods. Anyone see it differently??

 

[beansmom]

i booked the Pop and upgraded...the costs was less than $100 more than room only at CBR. I think their strategy works.

 

[kerplop]

Definitely working. I mean for us to upgrade to a mod from Pop with a preferred room was only $300. And at that point you're going to get a lot of people saying, "well let's just upgrade to a mod!". We decided on a standard at Pop so we couldn't justify the extra $600 at that point, but if you're only going to stay preferred at a value and upgrade dining it's quite reasonable to move up.

 

[Keri]

It hasn't been reasonable for us in the past - we just upgraded the DDP. We have to get 2 rooms (2 adults, 3 kids), sometimes 3 if my MIL comes with us. Upgrading multiple rooms is way more expensive than upgrading the DDP alone.

I can totally see how it would be worth it to upgrade to a mod if you just had one room ... but why would Disney care so much if it isn't giving them much money?

 

[csparky61]

We stuck with the value resorts as the 4 kids are picky eaters. I looked over the menus for the Table Service restaurants, and felt that there was a lot the kids wouldn't eat. By doing the quick service dining, I know they will at least eat a burger or hot dog, and we will be saving lots of time for the parks.

 

[maxiesmom]

That is what I did. I had booked at the Sports, and upgraded to CBR. We were going to add the regular dining anyway, so even with 2 rooms it is not costing much to upgrade. It was only about another $200 total for both rooms.

 

[yooperfan]

Definitely working. I mean for us to upgrade to a mod from Pop with a preferred room was only $300. And at that point you're going to get a lot of people saying, "well let's just upgrade to a mod!". We decided on a standard at Pop so we couldn't justify the extra $600 at that point, but if you're only going to stay preferred at a value and upgrade dining it's quite reasonable to move up.

Are you saying you went with QS free dining or upgraded to TS with a standard room at Pop?

 

[ADisneyQueen]

Here's what I can't understand- we had a pin code for free dining in June, but it was free QSDP at values and mods. Why do they give the ddp to mods when it is a general public code but not with emailed pin codes( it seems they have been doing this for a while)? If they are trying to get people to stay at mods why do this? We chose to stay at a value in June but if they had offered us free ddp I would have stayed at a moderate.

 

[LindyN]

Here's what I can't understand- we had a pin code for free dining in June, but it was free QSDP at values and mods. Why do they give the ddp to mods when it is a general public code but not with emailed pin codes( it seems they have been doing this for a while)? If they are trying to get people to stay at mods why do this? We chose to stay at a value in June but if they had offered us free ddp I would have stayed at a moderate.

Because its a different time of year... and they can.

 

[Starclassic]

Our last trip was at Music, and we upgraded to DDP. It was less than what it would have cost us to stay at a Mod with free DDP. We plan on doing the same again.

 

[Nohal]

We are going in a few weeks and are staying value with the upgrade DDP. The room at a mod would cost more than the $30 upgrade fee per night.

 

[TheRatPack]

It would cost us a lot more to move up to a Mod so we stick with a value. Last year we didn't upgrade our dining plan, this year we did. Still came out cheaper than 2 rooms at a Mod.

 

[justakrazymom]

What do you think; Is Disney's strategy of limiting free dining to QSDP at the Values working? Sure you can pay OOP to upgrade, but I think more folks are deciding to stay Moderate to get the regular DDP free? I've been checking our dates for free dining and althought our promotion is over it looks like there is plenty availability at the Values, but limited choice at the Mods. Anyone see it differently??

We were going to stay at Pop again but the price to upgrade the DP made POFQ within a very small amount so we just upgraded resorts! So yep..def working!

 

[justakrazymom]

It hasn't been reasonable for us in the past - we just upgraded the DDP. We have to get 2 rooms (2 adults, 3 kids), sometimes 3 if my MIL comes with us. Upgrading multiple rooms is way more expensive than upgrading the DDP alone.

I can totally see how it would be worth it to upgrade to a mod if you just had one room ... but why would Disney care so much if it isn't giving them much money?

we have 2 rooms..but we have 5 of us that are "adults" on the DDP.. so for us from a standard at a value and upgrading the DDP to a garden view at POFQ with that level DDP was a negligible amount especially when you factor in the bigger rooms, the waterslide at the pool and of course the fact we can use 2 resorts amenities.

 

[backinoz]

We were going to stay at Pop again but the price to upgrade the DP made POFQ within a very small amount so we just upgraded resorts! So yep..def working!

This was us too. We're a family of four with DD13 & DD15 so it was less than $5 extra a night to stay at POFQ over staying at POP and upgrading DDP. Plus DH is 6'2" so a QS bed will be very welcome for the week we're there.

 

[ctl]

I know I'm being dense here, but when I looked at it, it was considerably more to book 2 rooms at a Mod than 2 rooms at a value (if there was FD). Am I wrong? It seemed if I only booked 1 room the difference was not that much. I have 2 teens and so we no longer fit in 1 room (If we were desperate I guess we would have to, but someone would be sleeping on the floor). DS and DD need their own separate beds.

 

[backinoz]

I know I'm being dense here, but when I looked at it, it was considerably more to book 2 rooms at a Mod than 2 rooms at a value (if there was FD). Am I wrong? It seemed if I only booked 1 room the difference was not that much. I have 2 teens and so we no longer fit in 1 room (If we were desperate I guess we would have to, but someone would be sleeping on the floor). DS and DD need their own separate beds.

Not dense... Just not quite thinking in the right direction. The reason it (staying at a Mod) works for us, is that all 4 of us are in the one room (I'm lucky to have a DD13 & DD15, who are happy to share a bed, and the QS bed at a Mod will make this much more comfortable). Free dining for 4 people for the price of one room is good value - if we were to purchase the DDP, the extra we would have to pay is more than our room rate (which is why we've never done DDP before).

BUT, if there's only two people per room, the savings just aren't there. The question you need to ask yourself is - Are you happy with the QSDP if you are staying in a Value? And if not, what is the difference in price between two rooms at a value with an upgrade to the DDP vs the cost of two rooms in a Mod with free dining. For example:
Staying 10-14 Dec
ASMu Value Resort Free QSDP 2 rooms, 4 ppl, 5 day park hoppers $2005.08, with upgrade to deluxe DDP $2269.88
CBR Moderate Resort Free DDP 2 rooms, 4 ppl, 5 day park hoppers $2667.32

This is all based on the cheapest room at each resort, and of course there's a whole heap of other questions re facilities that you need to answer too. Hopefully this has helped you understand why the savings of staying at Moderates which is working for those of us with four in the room, isn't working for you.

 

[maxiesmom]

I know I'm being dense here, but when I looked at it, it was considerably more to book 2 rooms at a Mod than 2 rooms at a value (if there was FD). Am I wrong? It seemed if I only booked 1 room the difference was not that much. I have 2 teens and so we no longer fit in 1 room (If we were desperate I guess we would have to, but someone would be sleeping on the floor). DS and DD need their own separate beds.

I just it depends on what you are calling considerably more. For us, it was less than $300 for 2 rooms for 5 nights. But then we were planning on upgrading to the standard dining plan anyway.

If you would really rather be in a Moderate, bring along an air mattress, and have the kids take turns sleeping on it. If you request a room near a pool you can use that bathroom to help get ready in the morning if need be.

 

[chrisw127]

There's always less availability at the mods, in part because there are fewer rooms but also because families of 5 will snap up POR very quickly. You can still get FD for most dates at Coronado and CBR, just not at Port Orleans.