Help Me Understand...

[davedmaine]

At first there was no way we were going to be able to stay on-site. We are staying for 13 nights and have things other than Disney planned. There are 6 of us, 4 of which are girls so 2 bathrooms is a must. I didn't want to pay for 2 rooms, and honestly, we just don't have that kind of money.

Then we decided to move our trip from April/May to September. We decided that while we are going to melt, it's better to melt with fewer people watching us. This wasn't a decision that was made BECAUSE of the possibility of free dining, but once I started researching September I realized that it was more likely that we would be able to stay on-site if, in fact, we were able to take part in it. So we came up with the plan...

We'd do a split stay. Initially I had rest days and days doing other things mixed in with our Disney days so we wouldn't wear out. Now we thought what if we started our vacation go-go-going and then ended our vacation with the rest portion.

A short novel later we come to my query. I'M SO LOST!!! I don't understand how the on-site thing works AT ALL. Not the actual tickets, or travel, or pools or anything like that, but all the pre-stuff. In conjunction, I don't know what I need to purchase in order to qualify for the free dining.

Someone said I had to pay rack rates? Does this mean I will be paying what I would pay during peak/holiday season even though I will be there during a "low" season? We have enough adults to do the 2-room split if that's what needs to happen but is it possible to get connected rooms? Which resorts would I do this at? Do I book directly through Disney? How does payment work? Do I have to be paid in full before our vacation? Does free dining apply if I book a package? What about canceling our reservation? I'll be honest, the ONLY way we can stay on-site is if we get free dining. That being said, if it ends up that it will NOT be offered during our visit, I will have to cancel our reservation. I have heard that people make payments - how does that work? Any other booking tips, tricks or advice you can offer would be VERY much appreciated. Like I said, I'm LOST as to how to get this thing going!

Thank you guys SO much, in advance! You have no idea how much I appreciate the help and having a place of knowledgeable people to point me in the right direction.

Get free dining out of your head. You aren't going to save money with it. There will be room discounts then that will save you a lot more $$.

 

[Sue M]

In my mind I thought booking in advance would reserve our "space" at a resort so that when switching we would be "priority" instead of a person who is just booking. First come, first served kind of thing.

However, I understand now that whichever resort I book might not be included in the promo so it would be silly to do this.

Correct!

Get free dining out of your head. You aren't going to save money with it. There will be room discounts then that will save you a lot more $$.

I don't necessarily agree with this. It would depend on the # of people and resort level. If you are a large family, I think free dining would save money.

For us, being 2 adults free dining is a fairly good deal staying moderate, but room discount and buying the DDP (if we want it) or no ddp, is a better deal when we stay deluxe.
I'm referencing the basic DDP with 1 TS, 1 CS & snack.
It would also depend on how you want to eat. Yes, we can come in under cost taking room discount, and still eat 1 TS daily. But without DDP we do our TS for lunch, and go to the cheaper ones like SciFi, Kona, etc. we also don't have dessert after every meal, and not being pop drinkers, order ice water.

When we are on the DDP we make it work for us, and go to the more expensive CS & TS, and order the more expensive menu items.

OP would have to do the Disney Math to figure out the best Promo for them, room discount or Free Dining. But I suspect with a large family free dining will be. And for a first time visit it would be fun for them to try all the different restaurants.

 

[msjprincess]

Get free dining out of your head. You aren't going to save money with it. There will be room discounts then that will save you a lot more $$.

That's not always true. It depends on the size of your party and the resort level.

We are a family of 5, two of our kids are considered adults. We usually stay at POR. I don't usually go during FD, but 2 years ago I received a FD Pin. I saved a lot more than I would have if I booked the room at the 30% discount that was being offered. That would have only saved me $45 per night.

The room discount being offered for this September is 20% for most values, 25% for mods and 30% for most deluxe.

 

[Missytara]

Free dining does work, the more people you have in the room. For their case, it would work.

Especially for families, where you are paying for two adults and two (or three, like at POR AB).

The room discount would only be beneficial if you were two adults, because you are paying double occupancy. The kids are not included in paying towards the room until over the age of 18. You would still have to pay the full extra adult fee for each adult over two, so no savings there.

If you book free dining with two adults and two (or three at POR AB)kids, you are getting a discount on everyone.

 

[JustAKid]

Get free dining out of your head. You aren't going to save money with it. There will be room discounts then that will save you a lot more $$.

At the time of travel we will be paying for 4 adults and 2 kids. I don't see how I could save MORE with a 30% room discount staying at a value or moderate?

You mind elaborating? Perhaps you're seeing something I'm not -- break it down for us!!

 

[BebopBaloo]

Free dining has been a great value for us in the past. Room rates are lower in late August and in September than at other times of the year...so if you plan on doing table service meals - free dining is easily the better deal.

 

[DisneyMom5]

Get free dining out of your head. You aren't going to save money with it. There will be room discounts then that will save you a lot more $$.

definitely NOT the case all the time. We have a big family...and tend to stay value...free dining is always a better deal for us.

That's not always true. It depends on the size of your party and the resort level.

We are a family of 5, two of our kids are considered adults. We usually stay at POR. I don't usually go during FD, but 2 years ago I received a FD Pin. I saved a lot more than I would have if I booked the room at the 30% discount that was being offered. That would have only saved me $45 per night.

The room discount being offered for this September is 20% for most values, 25% for mods and 30% for most deluxe.

Not all the resorts are even 20% this year. That definitely affects it.

 

[DisneyMom5]

Another reason to not book early is that dates may vary. We thought that this year's free dining would be end of Aug. - Oct like other years, but it doesn't start till Sept. 2. Many people had airfare booked based on previous years.

Wait, and be the first to call, and you'll be good. One way to get an earlier chance at whatever discount occurs is to have a Disney Visa.

 

[jnoble82]

just me and my mom. we booked free dining. the room discount (30%) plus tickets (from UT) was approx 150 dollars cheaper than getting everything as a package. Not sure how much we will eat in food but we are there for 8 days and 150 dollars seems more than reasonable to we went for free dining. I was back and forth because I don't eat a lot but my mom does (just no visits to Cosmic Rays. Mom and the bacon burgers don't get along) so in the end it was worth it.

Free dining works for some people. If i was on my own, I likely wouldn't go for free dining since i don't see myself eating enough to make up for the difference in price from a room discount. It depends on the group.

 

[JustAKid]

just me and my mom. we booked free dining. the room discount (30%) plus tickets (from UT) was approx 150 dollars cheaper than getting everything as a package. Not sure how much we will eat in food but we are there for 8 days and 150 dollars seems more than reasonable to we went for free dining. I was back and forth because I don't eat a lot but my mom does (just no visits to Cosmic Rays. Mom and the bacon burgers don't get along) so in the end it was worth it.

Free dining works for some people. If i was on my own, I likely wouldn't go for free dining since i don't see myself eating enough to make up for the difference in price from a room discount. It depends on the group.

Yes, I think you are right. With tax at a QS, if everyone's meal is only $5 (which they won't be) we're looking at, what? $32? Per meal. For counter service. At the very low-balled price of $5pp. Plus, my kids eat a TON. I swear they are like teenaged boys.

If we save the $45 per day that a PP had mentioned as their savings for the resort discount, we're still paying $50 OOP per-day in food, MINIMUM. For our group, I think FD is very much the way to go.

 

[jnoble82]

Yes, I think you are right. With tax at a QS, if everyone's meal is only $5 (which they won't be) we're looking at, what? $32? Per meal. For counter service. At the very low-balled price of $5pp. Plus, my kids eat a TON. I swear they are like teenaged boys.

If we save the $45 per day that a PP had mentioned as their savings for the resort discount, we're still paying $50 OOP per-day in food, MINIMUM. For our group, I think FD is very much the way to go.

I know a few people whose kids eat enough to feed a small country. At least they aren't picky (my problem) It works for some and not others. If someone's child has a severe food allergy, avoiding dining would work for them.

To the OP, I would wait for the announcement. mom and I booked for AoA at first and when FD was announced it was a bit of a pain to switch (LM rooms aren't included). It was quick on the phone but it would've just been easier in the end to have done it all fresh when the announcement was made. And there's a chance we'll be heading back in Sept 2014 (though Mom wants to hit DL so we'll see) too so maybe we'll see you.

 

[JustAKid]

I know a few people whose kids eat enough to feed a small country. At least they aren't picky (my problem) It works for some and not others. If someone's child has a severe food allergy, avoiding dining would work for them.

To the OP, I would wait for the announcement. mom and I booked for AoA at first and when FD was announced it was a bit of a pain to switch (LM rooms aren't included). It was quick on the phone but it would've just been easier in the end to have done it all fresh when the announcement was made. And there's a chance we'll be heading back in Sept 2014 (though Mom wants to hit DL so we'll see) too so maybe we'll see you.

...I've never been to WDW and live on the West Coast so please forgive my bias but I'm with mom - HIT DL!!! It's, obviously, my home park and if I could, I would be there ALL the time. Not that it's any better or worse than WDW, it's just....CLOSE!

 

[BebopBaloo]

If someone's child has a severe food allergy, avoiding dining would work for them.

Actually, WDW is the best place to vacation if you or anyone in your family has a food allergy. All counter service locations (and many snack stands) have a notebook w/ a full list of ingredients for each menu item. There are pre-packaged special items (breads, desserts) that are free of the most common allergens. At pretty much every (if not all) table service restaurants the chef will come to your table and discuss your allergies with you. They will go above and beyond to make sure that you are accommodated. Many places even have special blenders/pans/etc. to make sure that there is no cross contamination. You can make a note on your ADRs that you have certain allergies and thus give the chef a heads up, so that they will be able to help you out even more.

Most chefs will go out of their way to make sure that you have a pleasant and safe experience. I once had a chef offer to make me a whole new pot of stew at Boma because the other one that I asked about on the buffet line contained dairy. I declined because I already had plenty of food, but it was a very kind gesture and much appreciated.

 

[tarak]

In my experience, room only is only a better discount if you stay at the deluxe resorts. We prefer to stay at AKL, but since we're a party of five (six when my youngest turns three in a couple of years), we either have to get two rooms connecting, or get a suite, which is prohibitively expensive for us. We rented DVC points for the last trip and had a 1BR suite in Kidani for $1885. I bought tickets from undercover tourist (five-day passes from them saved us about $125 what Disney charges). We added the QS dining plan because we didn't plan any TS meals.

I priced out a week at BWI (they have standard rooms that sleep five) with both discounts and the room only was the better deal. But when I used those same dates for a room at Port Orleans (can't remember whether it was Riverside or FQ - whichever has the trundle bed option), free dining was the better deal because the difference was a few hundred less than what we'd pay OOP for food for a week.

 

[jnoble82]

...I've never been to WDW and live on the West Coast so please forgive my bias but I'm with mom - HIT DL!!! It's, obviously, my home park and if I could, I would be there ALL the time. Not that it's any better or worse than WDW, it's just....CLOSE!

I'm not against DL at all! i would like that to be our 2014 trip but it will depend on funds and such. Flying out of Syracuse is expensive since there aren't many direct flights to the West Coast. We will try to get out there it just may not be until 2015.

 

[JustAKid]

I'm not against DL at all! i would like that to be our 2014 trip but it will depend on funds and such. Flying out of Syracuse is expensive since there aren't many direct flights to the West Coast. We will try to get out there it just may not be until 2015.

The flight is a real kick in the pants for us, too, going East. It's why it has taken us so long to get out there. We have tried SO many times but it just never happens because we look at airfare and go, "*sigh* It's not going anywhere anytime soon. Next year..." We haven't been to DL since 2010, though. We've got the Disney itch for sure.

 

[bumbershoot]

Yes, I think you are right. With tax at a QS, if everyone's meal is only $5 (which they won't be) we're looking at, what? $32? Per meal. For counter service. At the very low-balled price of $5pp. Plus, my kids eat a TON. I swear they are like teenaged boys.

If we save the $45 per day that a PP had mentioned as their savings for the resort discount, we're still paying $50 OOP per-day in food, MINIMUM. For our group, I think FD is very much the way to go.

Well, remember that the kids will only be able to get kid's meals at *most* places. (if there's no kid's menu, they can order other things, but most places have kid's menus) If they have such nice appetites, you're going to need to budget more just to fill them up.

My son, since he was 6 and we went to Universal Orlando, has required lots of food. We sat at Lombards (nice restaurant at Universal) and he ordered TWO meals and ate all of it. One was a half adult portion, and the other was a full adult portion. He's done that more than once at that restaurant. Kids with big appetites aren't cheap, so you will be spending over the dining plan with them!

At the time of travel we will be paying for 4 adults and 2 kids.

Just making sure...the 8 year old will be 10, and a Disney dining adult, by that time, I take it? Good gracious, by next year September, mine will be, too!

And I think he eats a lot now.....

 

[Bob NC]

I'm sorry, to clarify, I don't mind paying for the 2 rooms if I will be able to participate in the free dining promo. I just cannot pay for 2 rooms on-site AND pay OOP for food (dining plan would cost us more). That's way more than our budget allows.

Ya know, there is something you REALLY should do some research on. Many, many, many folks keep track of their dining costs when they are on FD and discover the difference in price vs free dining and a room discount w/ OOP meals is very small and sometimes actually tips the other way than what you would expect.

Don't pigeonhole yourself into believing FD is the only way you can afford to go. You see many posts where people KNOW they could have saved money without FD, but they just like the idea of having it all paid for in advance. I don't quite understand that one, but it's a very prevalent opinion.

We never refer to it as "free dining", but rather, "prepaid dining", with the realization that we may not even get what we paid for.