Help Me Decide If We Should Keep Free Dining

[Mousemom]

We will be in WDW in September. Right now we are booked with the Free DD plan. My son and I bought annual passes last fall since we were going to get 3 trips out of them. Now we are trying to decide if we should just book using the room discount, hoping an AP discount will come out before our trip, and pay for food OOP. We are thinking it could potentially save us about 785.00. Don't think our family of 3 will spend that much on food in 6 days....Just want to make the right decisions and I'm hoping that those who have more WDW experience than I can give me some good advice.

 

[Payne]

For myself I would much rather have the room discount. I find the dining plan to be too much food and never get my monies worth. I also prefer to dine at some off-site restaurants because there's some nice ones near by such as the Cross Roads plaza.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I would take the room discount and invest $75 in a Tables In Wonderland dining discount card. If you go to www.tablesinwonderland.com that is the official Disney site with detailed information, including all locations where the card is valid.

 

[siskaren]

You said that you didn't think your family of 3 could spend $785 on food in 6 days, but that only comes to $43 per person per day, which is doable if you don't do TS, but is a bit tight.

 

[ckpoodge]

We will be in WDW in September. Right now we are booked with the Free DD plan. My son and I bought annual passes last fall since we were going to get 3 trips out of them. Now we are trying to decide if we should just book using the room discount, hoping an AP discount will come out before our trip, and pay for food OOP. We are thinking it could potentially save us about 785.00. Don't think our family of 3 will spend that much on food in 6 days....Just want to make the right decisions and I'm hoping that those who have more WDW experience than I can give me some good advice.

We have the free dining with a room at ASMu for 2 adults going from 9/1 - 9/12. I called for the AP discount, and I'd be paying about $300 more than with the free dining.

Now, that being said, we always eat counter service in the parks at least 2 times a day (being commandos, we don't leave until they kick us out yelling and screaming and begging and pleading), so that's over 16 hours (if we do it right). There's no way we could NOT eat 2 meals in the parks.

I look at it like this: we're going to buy the dining plan anyway, so we'd have to add that to ANY room. Yes, the free dining requires a 2 day ticket per person, but we can roll that over to our AP renewal, so we end up paying something like $20 per person per night.

Here are my calculations (confirmed pricing): $1,492.48 for ASMu 2 adults 9/1 - 9/12. If you subtract out the dining ($769.78 which we'd pay for anyway), that leaves $722.70. If you subtract out the 2 day park tickets required per person ($360.48 that we can roll into our new AP), that leaves $362.22. Divide that by 11 nights, that's about $33 per night, and divide that by 2 people comes out to $16.45 per person per night. I know I can't get a better deal than that.

However, it never hurts to call Disney and ask. Let them know that you would like to check the rates with AP discount. The AP discount rates ARE out, because I called to check them. They will let you know what the rates are, and you can decide at that point. Definitely let us know which choice you go with.

 

[hooch11bear]

Just curious. How did you get an AP rate for September when they only have discounts posted until Aug 14?

 

[ckpoodge]

I originally called because of a PIN number that I had. When I got a rep, I also mentioned that I'd like to check the AP rate. They transferred me to the AP people, and they were able to pull up the dates I wanted.

The gentleman that helped me was able to pull up the rates because I said that I wanted dining added to my package, and those were already out.

This was at the end of April, so....I would call to ask. See what happens. It couldn't hurt. The only thing you'd be wasting would be a phone call.

 

[hooch11bear]

Thanks. I was just asking because I called yesterday morning to question an AP discount being applied to our reservation. We had to split our stay into 2 reservations because of how the dates fell. We will be there from 8/12 to 8/25. I think I will call back and see what they have to say.

 

[ZehnJahren]

I originally called because of a PIN number that I had. When I got a rep, I also mentioned that I'd like to check the AP rate. They transferred me to the AP people, and they were able to pull up the dates I wanted.

The gentleman that helped me was able to pull up the rates because I said that I wanted dining added to my package, and those were already out.

This was at the end of April, so....I would call to ask. See what happens. It couldn't hurt. The only thing you'd be wasting would be a phone call.

I think you got the wrong number. AP rates for September aren't even close to being released. Maybe they sent you to the AP people, but I spoke with CR in both April and May and they told me that the AP rates definitely weren't out. Further, I know that you did not get the AP rate from Disney because you're paying rack rate for your room for free dining, and the AP rate would not be $300 more than rack rate. It would be at least 15% less. This is, of course, assuming you did not add in the dining after the AP rate in order to get your "$300 more than FD" rate. I would also think that the fact he said "there was no availability to add dining" shows that the guy just didn't know what he was saying; there's not a certain number of people who get dining when they have annual passes, anybody can add it because you have to pay for it. Heck, I can add it from the Disney site! Whether or not you can do that with the room discount, I don't know. But Disney will happily take your money for dining since typically they are making money on people on dining plans.

Also, in as many times as I've been on the phone with Disney reservations, they've never had to transfer me to get me an AP rate or to check my PIN codes.

OP, AP discounts will come out in June - that should be before your 45-day mark. Make the decision then. Every time I've looked at FD instead of my AP, it's worked out to being less if I used my AP. This is after totaling up my receipts when the trip was over, since I always used the AP discount.

You know your family, so if they will eat every meal and every snack, it could be a good idea. But if you're the type to have a quick breakfast in the room, a granola bar for a snack, and only one big-sized meal, the DP could be a money-waster. If you miss even one meal, you lose money.

 

[ckpoodge]

Further, I know that you did not get the AP rate from Disney because you're paying rack rate for your room for free dining, and the AP rate would not be $300 more than rack rate. It would be at least 15% less. This is, of course, assuming you did not add in the dining after the AP rate in order to get your "$300 more than FD" rate. I would also think that the fact he said "there was no availability to add dining" shows that the guy just didn't know what he was saying....

I think you may be a little confused (or something got lost in translation). The price I asked for INCLUDED the dining and AP rate. I wanted to add dining, thus the $300 more. If I did not want dining plan (which I do, as I mentioned when I said we were going to buy the dining plan anyway) the AP rate would have been about $500 less.

As to the castmember not knowing what he was talking about: nothing was mentioned about "no availability to add dining". I'm trying to find out WHERE that came from, and I don't even see it in any of my posts. ANYONE staying at a Disney owned property can add dining, whether I'm paying cash/using my AP discount/staying on my DVC points, or any combination of them.

I still stick to my original comment, which is:Call. It couldn't hurt. You may get lucky, like I did.

Just make sure to call the right number. Any Disney reservation number will do; they are happy to transfer you to an AP Castmember.

 

[ZehnJahren]

I think you may be a little confused (or something got lost in translation). The price I asked for INCLUDED the dining and AP rate. I wanted to add dining, thus the $300 more. If I did not want dining plan (which I do, as I mentioned when I said we were going to buy the dining plan anyway) the AP rate would have been about $500 less.

I still stick to my original comment, which is:Call. It couldn't hurt. You may get lucky, like I did.

Just make sure to call the right number. Any Disney reservation number will do; they are happy to transfer you to an AP Castmember.

Yep, lost in translation. It makes sense if you're adding in the dining with the total cost. However, again, you can just talk to whoever answers at CRO. I have booked two trips with an AP and didn't need a "AP Castmember" yet; I just talked to whoever answered the phone. I can't see; are you in the US? Maybe it's different for overseas. Edited to add: ha, you actually live very nearby me, so yes you're in the US!

As to the castmember not knowing what he was talking about: nothing was mentioned about "no availability to add dining". I'm trying to find out WHERE that came from, and I don't even see it in any of my posts. ANYONE staying at a Disney owned property can add dining, whether I'm paying cash/using my AP discount/staying on my DVC points, or any combination of them.

When you said this, I assumed you were talking about the "AP people" you said you were transferred to:

The gentleman that helped me was able to pull up the rates because I said that I wanted dining added to my package, and those were already out.

Which is why I said "anyone can add it". So we're saying the same thing. That's why I was confused.

I agree it never hurts to call and ask. OP, did you make a decision? I'm personally still waiting on AP rates to come out, impatiently! (and yes, I did call myself, twice in the past month, and they told me AP rates hadn't been released farther than the current dates.) Should be June!

 

[davedmaine]

If you're staying deluxe, go with the room discount