How do I figure the better deal 40% off or Free Dining

[1hero2princesses]

I already have a 40% off code booked at the POR Sept 19 -28th. If all the stars align the moon is full blah blah blah and Free dining actually gets announced during that time how do I figure out which is a better deal? We are already on the dining plan and I am a visa card holder. We are on a very tight budget. I am a little slow with numbers? Any help?

 

[Heathr6913]

look at the menu's on allears. Figure what you and your party would get if you were to order food without the dining plan. See how much that costs. If it costs less than what you saved with the 40% off then just keep your 40% code. If the food comes out to more than what you saved with 40% then switch to free dining. Sorry if this is confusing.

 

[so_are_you]

I went into the disney reservation area
and figured the hotel meal package with the 40% off the room and then the same package sans the meals at the animal kingdon it came out to almost the same
ok I pt your dates in and I gues 2 kids under 10? (I did what it would be for us)
basic meal park hopper no water park and 10 day pass
with 40% it was $2940 with free meals it was $2744

 

[WendyMS]

We too are going late September with a 40% discount at a moderate resort.

On paper 40% off vs. free DP for 2 (me and DS13) was about equal.

Before settling on taking the discount I estimated costs by spreadsheet for all the TS meals we really wanted to eat and used actual costs from our counter service and breakfast meals from our visit last Sept to estimate what we would eat out of pocket. For a party of 2 (myself and DS13) the OOP cost for meals(with 6 TS choices) w/40% discount was nearly identical to estimated cost with free DP. Now, now if we take my son's friend along or share a room with more than 2 adults, then DP seems to become the better deal.

I would note that I was being generous but not extravagant in my estimates. If we want to be very frugal (eating kids meals/sharing adult meals/counter service all but 1 or 2 meals) I could definitely make a case that even with 2 Adults/1 child or 3 Adults per room the 40% might be a better deal.

Staying at a value or delux will also change the equation a bit (at a Value, free DP is worth more, at a Delux, 40% carries greater weight.)

Wendy

Hope that helps.

Wendy

 

[Jenna45]

I just did mine at a mod and it is exactly the same with dining with the 40% as it will work out to be w/ free dining at rack rate, but this is for 2 adults ( well one disney adult )
The difference is less than 20 dollars , so I guess I can stop pulling my hair out waiting for the free dining

 

[bumbershoot]

I already have a 40% off code booked at the POR Sept 19 -28th. If all the stars align the moon is full blah blah blah and Free dining actually gets announced during that time how do I figure out which is a better deal? We are already on the dining plan and I am a visa card holder. We are on a very tight budget. I am a little slow with numbers? Any help?

If you're already on the dining plan, then you know your cost of dining plan and hotel - 40%.

With free dining it will be rack rate for the hotel and free dining. So what's rack rate for your hotel? (assuming your hotel is available for free dining during your dates)

Since you're already getting DDP, it seems really simple to run the numbers compared to those of us who are trying to figure out if paying for the plan is worth it at all!

 

[jerseygal]

If free dining is offered during your stay, you first calculate the savings you got with your pin code...example during value season say August a deluxe room is $325...$325 times the number of nights...lets say 5 nights...you multiply value season cost of room: 5 times 325 is $1,625..lets say you were given a 40% discount. Your discount is $650. Tax of .125 is $81.25..You saved $731.25.

You then compare the $650 to the discount offered through free dining.I would have to believe they will only give discount on Basic Dining Plan, maybe if people are doing Deluxe Dining Plan, they will give credit of Basic Dining Plan...Lets say Basic Dining Plan is I believe $39 per adult(inclusive of tax) and kids over 10...2 adults and 1 kid would be $117 per day times 5 days...$585 is savings through "free dining" and $731.25 is savings through free dining....40% discount in this example is better...You can do the same for 20% or 30% discount.

Hope this helps!!!!!!!!!!!! Lets hope FREE DINING IS ANNOUNCED SOON!

 

[Aliceacc]

For me the difference is about $30. So I'm kind of hoping I miss the free dining dates along with the crowds they'll bring.

OK, for you: You're going during Value Season. Rooms at POR range from $149-$159 per night, depending on the day of the week. I'll assume a price of $154 since I'm too lazy to play with a calendar.

You're staying 9 nights. Saving 40% x $154x9 nights is a savings of $554.40

For the meal plan, you'll have to either do the math yourself or let us know the number of kids/adults in your party.

For 2 adults at $40 per night, it would be 2x$40x9 or $720 saved. Add in some kids and you'll save even more.

So for you, Free Dining is probably a much better deal.

Generally, people staying at the Values are going to do much better with free dining (Since 40% off a decreased room rate is less money saved.) For people at the Mods, it will depend on the dates and the numbers. As the price of the resort increases, that 40% off looks better and better (since it's 40% off a larger amount.)

 

[choirfarm]

Ok, you have 9 nights booked at POR for value season at 40 percent off. That would be 89.4 a night which comes to 804.6 then add the 12.5 percent tax of another 100.57 for a total of 905.17 for your room. Is that about right?


To pay a rack rate of 149 dollars for 9 nights is 1341 then add the 12.5 tax and your total then becomes 1,508.62. Tips are not included in the dining plan. I allowed you 15 dollars a day in tips (15 percent of a 100 dollar table service dinner...not sure how many are in your party) which is another 135 for a grand total of 1,643 dollars.

That is a difference of about 738 dollars. That works out to about 82 dollars a day to eat. I don't know how big your party is. For my party of 5 the free dining would be a better deal, I think because we would have more food than we would ever eat and we could eat some places I wouldn't schedule. I would probably eat for about 80 a day, but it would be eating breakfast in the room, bringing sandwhiches to the park and getting one CS meal in a park a day. We would get more food. If there are only 2 of you, I'm not sure it would be a better deal.

Christine

 

[esdras]

Okay, I think I have figures this out, and in almost EVERY case, Free Dining will save you more money - this is based on the limited information in your original post. You have stated that you will be at POR for 9 nights, and that you are intending to purchase the DDP anyway. You did not give your party size, and since the cost of having a fifth person (using the trundle bed) requires a lot of messing around with my figures, I'm assuming that your family is 4 people at most, and since you said "we", 2 at least.

Secondly, depending on the ages, you can have any combination of adult and child rates in terms of the dining plan, while keeping the room rate constant. So, in my figures, when I say (for example) 3 adults 1 child, that could assume a child of 13 who has to pay the "adult" rate for the Dining Plan.

So, here are the figures.

For a "Standard View" Room
$149/night at Rack Rate with Free Dining = $1508.67

$149/night at a 40% discount and Paying for dining in the following combinations:

1 adult 1 child $1337.04
1 adult 2 children $1426.95
1 adult 3 children $1516.86
2 adults $1589.04
2 adults 1 child $1678.95
2 adults 2 children $1768.86
3 adults $1930.95
3 adults 1 child $2020.86
4 adults $2272.86

For a "Preferred View" Room
$165/night at Rack Rate with Free Dining = $1670.67

$165/night at a 40% discount and Paying for dining in the following combinations:

1 adult 1 child $1434.24
1 adult 2 children $1524.15
1 adult 3 children $1614.06
2 adults $1686.24
2 adults 1 child $1776.15
2 adults 2 children $1866.06
3 adults $2028.15
3 adults 1 child $2118.06
4 adults $2370.06

Green means stick with the 40% and pay for dining
Orange is basically a toss-up, but stick with the 40% to avoid having to change the reservation
Red means you will start to save a decent amount of money, consider changing to Free Dining.

Chances are, if there are at least two adults in your group, you'll likely want to change, except in the case of having ONLY two adults total in a Preferred Room.

As far as I can tell, I did the math correctly, including the resort tax rate. My figures are based on the following:

9 nights rack rate in Standard = $1508.67
9 nights rack rate in Preferred = $1670.67
9 nights 40% off in Standard = $955.22
9 nights 40% off in Preferred = $1002.42

Dining Plan
Each "Adult" (age 9 and up) 9 nights = $341.91
Each "Child" (age 3 to 9) 9 nights = $89.91

I hope this helps!

 

[denman007]

If you want to save more, stay at a value.

 

[*disgal*]

If you want to save more, stay at a value.

Well, if by his screen name, he has 3 children and IF they are all 3 and older, they don't fit in one room. But maybe he only has 2 children, can't tell.

Free dining is almost always going to save you more money unless it is just two adults in the room. 40% of a value room is like $33, mod is $60?, and deluxe around $136. Two adults on dining is $72, so if they are staying at a deluxe, they should take the room discount.

This is how it works for our family. Our family (5, all children considered adult), with two rooms at a value resort, would be getting $66 off per day with a 40% discount on the room but $190 discount for free dining.

It's hard to tell which way to go unless we know how many are in the room and the ages.

 

[esdras]

Well, if by his screen name, he has 3 children and IF they are all 3 and older, they don't fit in one room. But maybe he only has 2 children, can't tell.

Free dining is almost always going to save you more money unless it is just two adults in the room. 40% of a value room is like $33, mod is $60?, and deluxe around $136. Two adults on dining is $72, so if they are staying at a deluxe, they should take the room discount.

This is how it works for our family. Our family (5, all children considered adult), with two rooms at a value resort, would be getting $66 off per day with a 40% discount on the room but $190 discount for free dining.

It's hard to tell which way to go unless we know how many are in the room and the ages.

If the OP is a single parent, it's still only 4, but if the family IS 5, POR has the trundle bed option.

If it IS 5, even with three kids between ages 3-9, or even two at 3-9 and one under three, Free Dining SHOULD be the better deal.

But you are basically correct, the moment you have two "adults" dining, the moment you add another person, whether child or "adult", the Free Dining comes out better. This is a certainty at values, and appears to be the case for mods.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Free dining is NOT always the better deal.

We had free dining last year and paying rack rate on the room really ate into the savings. And tips were included last year! We would have been better off paying OOP for our food and having an AP discount on the room.

Right now we are booked at AKL with a AAA room discount. IF we could get free dining I would give up the room discount because the discounts for AAA and AP aren't that high. But then we are stuck buying more park passes. There is always something!

 

[esdras]

Free dining is NOT always the better deal.

We had free dining last year and paying rack rate on the room really ate into the savings. And tips were included last year! We would have been better off paying OOP for our food and having an AP discount on the room.

Right now we are booked at AKL with a AAA room discount. IF we could get free dining I would give up the room discount because the discounts for AAA and AP aren't that high. But then we are stuck buying more park passes. There is always something!

Very true. The phrase - your milage may vary - is extremely appropriate when determining the best Disney deal.

Most families of 4 or more will likely spend at least $100/day on food OOP - unless they eat on the cheap as much as possible. However, if you do want to do some table service or character meals, chances are the DDP is a good deal - either paying for it, or getting it free.

For those who want to eat cheap, but stay at a deluxe, the free dining isn't good.

For those who LOVE food, and enjoy the dining opportunities at Disney and aren't as concerned about the resort level - a mod (or better yet, value) resort at DDP is a great deal.

While those of us on the boards can help somewhat and make a few suggestions based on the info given by the OP, it is best if you can start to find out all the info and price EVERYTHING out yourself. It's time consuming, but can save you a lot.

mousesavers.com or here at wdwinfo will give you rack rate info and keep you updated on public discounts - you'll have to do the math yourself if you get a PIN.

allearsnet.com has quite accurate Disney menus and prices - if you want to eat OOP, it will help you make a pretty good estimate.

What we have done is start by pricing out our "ideal" package online with Disney - no codes, nothing. The full RACK rate for that time period.

Then, we start to see what deals we can pull off - codes, dining offers, ticket discounters, ticket upgrades - etc.

Price it all out, and see how much we can take off each time.

For us, it is usually between $500 and $1000 by the time we finish.

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

A mod at base value season rate of $149 plus tax is $167.63
At 40% off it is $89.40 with tax $100.58. The difference is $67.05. You can compare a savings of $67 dollars a day versus what you would spend on the dining plan a day. Then multiply that by the number of days you are staying to figure out your total savings.