How did the free dining plan work out?

[cottontail]

Hi:

We were booked for the free dining plan the first week of oct, but had to cancel due to a family situation. I was wondering for the folks who did get to use this feature, were the resorts crowded because of this and would you get this plan again if you had to pay for it?

Thanks,

Deb.

 

[Ishy]

I have been to disney during the spring busy season and during July and August. This was my first Sept trip - my only regret was what kept me from doing a sept trip in the past. Pulling my child out of school - make up work was overwhelming for him. Back on track -> Many posted it was crowded... well compared to the other times of the year I have gone - NO WAY. I didnt use fast pass at all this trip. The only lines I encountered were at the POP on my last couple of days - but it was the opening of Epcot food and wine and MNSSHP weekend.


Free dining was FANTASTIC and I think I would pay for it in the future. It was great. We didnt hesitate to eat and werent worried about the food budget being blown and we did use our counter and table services wisely.

I talked my brother into the free dining package and he hasnt stopped raving about it and agrees, it would be worth the money in the future.

 

[cobbler]

We normally go during a slower time of year and to us this seemed a bit more crowded than what we are used to. Typical wait times (with the exception of things like Soarin') were around the 20-30 minute mark. The restaurants were definatly busy, we saw tons and tons of people being turned away. Even when we had our ADR's, checked in 10 minutes early, we still had to wait an average of 15-20 minutes to sit down for eating.

We didn't use free dining, had DDE but my dad who vacationed with us was on free dining and he got a great deal. There was a lot of food involved. I think it was definatly worth the money for him!

 

[Fast Pass]

The resorts were not really that crowded,then again we went the first two weeks after Labor Day.

We had the dining plan that you paid for then found out about the free plan. The free plan allowed us to stay for a longer vacation and made us realize that if we did have to pay for the plan it would still be so worth it.

We found all but one of the restaurants quite crowded but we never experienced bad service except at Le Cellier. Le Cellier was having a bad night I guess because most people here on the boards say that Le Cellier usually has great service.

We liked the fact that we didn't have to worry about the bill and over extending our budget limit.

 

[LakeAriel]

The free dining was a wonderful promotion! I would definately buy it if I can arrange it with AAA or AP. As a DVC member this was an "extra" trip at POP to try the dining and I am glad we did!

 

[kizmac]

Free dining was awesome! For my family of 8 it was a wonderful deal and allowed for us to have a dream vacation. We never would of done 3 character meals or eaten at Le Cellier, 'Ohana & Boma without free dining. It would have cost me about $1720 to purchase the plan for us all for the length we stayed. Still probably worth it but hard to fit into the budget. I'd be torn on deciding to buy the plan or spend the extra to stay at a better place because I know we can eat much cheaper since we don't normally do all the TS places. Kinda spoiled us now though which I'm sure was Disney's plan.

The dining plan is worth it if your family is small enough and you don't have to pay a small fortune like I would. I would buy it again if I could get it for half the family since we stay in two rooms and just do less meals which really would work better for us anyhow.

 

[LakeAriel]

To Kizmac

If you split your trip you could use the dining for some days, not all. I know what you mean about not wanting a table service meal every day. I think the vouchers that used to be available through Connections or Hotwire would be a better idea.

 

[kizmac]

To Kizmac

If you split your trip you could use the dining for some days, not all. I know what you mean about not wanting a table service meal every day. I think the vouchers that used to be available through Connections or Hotwire would be a better idea.

I didn't think of that! Thanks for the idea. That would definitely be a option for us. Everyday was just too much for us with the amount of time that we had. We ended up missing some park stuff.

 

[cottontail]

Hi Lake Ariel:

The split trip, would it be an 8 day trip take the dining package for example the first 5 days and have the remaining three days as room only.

Just wondering,

Deb.

 

[gigi1313]

we were there in late aug/early sept and took advantage of the free dining... we LOVED IT! (i knew we would and we were planning to purchase it anyway)

we are definitely doing the dining plan for our next trip... it's actually the dining plan that convinced dh to go again... he loved all that "free" (or already paid for) food! LOL!

between free dining and my visa card rewards, we hardly had to reach in our pockets... it's a wonderful way to vacation!

 

[gigi1313]

info re: split trip... the dining plan "expires" the day you check out (at midnight) so you would not be able to spread out the first five days of dining over the course of eight days... we would have loved that as we lost our free dining when we switched resorts for our last two nights and had to stock the room w/food on our last day of dining package to use up all our credits... thank goodness for the free fridge @ AKL!

a better (the only LOL) way to do it for the family that takes two rooms is to book one room (w/the bulk of the people) in one room w/dining and put one or two people in the second room w/out dining and share the pooled credits...

 

[rae662000]

Free dining was a great bonus. We went the went after labor day week and crowds were low like last year. We enjoyed 2 character and great family style meals and the best thing about that was my 2 yr old ate what we ate at the character meals and family style meals including Ohana's, Whispering Canyon and Hoop De Doo. We used up all TS, CS and snacks. I bought 1 chicken finger meal and 1 soda snack for my 2yr old who was not on the meal, more than enough food I would pay for it in a heart beat......

 

[uwate]

Is the free dining promotion over?

 

[gigi1313]

yes, the free dining promo was from late august thru early october... of course, i have my fingers crossed that it will be re-offered for the next value season in january!