How much do you think "free dining" is worth?

[mackay_j]

For us its a no brainer. We got 45% off rack rate and free dining for OKW for july 1st -14 th 2012 Total price for 4 adults = $2536 not including park tickets.

So here's how I work out if its worth it. When we are trying to do it as cheep as possible we stay offsite and only do 2 disney special meals
I stay offsite (villa we have booked before) (infact prefer it to disney) = $960
breakfast in villa =$100
lunch 1/2 in villa 1/2 at parks = $336
eat dinner at villa 4 times and out 10 times =120+ 1300 = $1420
drinks to take into park $100
snack/icecreams/ additional drinks - $120

total = $2936 not including park tickets

So I save about $400 by doing the free dining even if I stay offsite - I would be saving a lot more if I was to compare it to staying at an on site moderate hotel and more again if it I was to be staying in OKW -which I am


Free dining would not be worth anything to us if we infact paid out more than we normally would, even if it meant we had more/better meals out - moneys too tight at the minute

 

[TandLMommy28]

It saved us about $700 last year. I saved all our receipts and added them up. We had four people but only 3 sets of dining credits (son was not quite 3). It was just enough food in our situation...

I look at it this way... I would never pay rack rate for a deluxe, I just wouldn't. Nothing to do with what I can or can't afford. I just think they are overpriced. So 40% off rack rate doesn't actually *save* me anything because I never would have paid full price. It only brings the price down closer to something I MIGHT be willing to pay. However, I think the prices of mods are reasonable. I WOULD pay rack rate for those rooms because it's comparable to what we pay on vacation in other places.

So if 40% off brings a deluxe down to a price I'm willing to spend, somewhat comparable to rack rate at a mod. Now both hotels are within the price range I am willing to pay. But with the deluxe, I still have to shell out for food and with the mod, I pay rack rate and don't have to worry about food. To me, that works out to the better deal.

 

[klmall]

Since Free Dining came out I have used a spreadsheet to determine if it was worthwhile for us even when I didn't end up booking a trip. For our last trip (2007) it definitely wasn't and for our upcoming it still isn't. We like appetizers, desserts and signature restaurants so the current plan (Regular) rules those out now. Without tips included and beverages we like, forget it!

Many years ago when the regular plan included all the above we might have saved some $$$ with Free Dining but not looking at the Plans since 2006. In 2007 I bought an Annual Pass and Tables in Wonderland and ended up saving money even on a 7 night trip. There are ways to save money without doing the Dining Plans!

 

[PrincessTiffany]

On our last trip we had a free dining discount. If you totaled up all the meals and snacks the 6 of us ate, it came up to about $1,500.00. We paid out about $$250.00 in tips, so free dining saved us about $1,250.00 off the cost of our trip vs. rack rate. We are a family of six and we love the DDP and always get 2 connecting rooms at a value resort and a room discount would have only saved us about $650.00 off rack rate. So a free dining discount saves us about $600.00 more than a room only discount.

 

[clanmcculloch]

I looked at all the numbers from our last trip where we paid OOP for 4 Disney Adults using TiW. We averaged $145.26 per night in food (tips not included) so for my family, that's what I use as the "value" of free dining. The dining plan would cost more than that so I look at $145 as the amount we'd have to save per night with another discount in order for another discount to be more valuable for us (though we ate more TS and less CS than the basic plan allows for but for the sake of simplicity, this is the number I'm using). If I'm staying at a moderate or value resort, I'd be pretty hard pressed to find a room discount that equals that much. At a deluxe, a good room discount can definitely be more than that. So for us, we really need to do the math each and every time depending on the type of vacation we want.

I'm already booked for August with free dining (QSDP; we'll pay OOP for a few TS meals) at AoA. Even if we get a 25% room discount, that's only a savings of $70 per night. We would spend more than that in CS meals and snacks paying OOP and we like more CS meals when staying at value resorts since we like to eat at our resort a lot and value resorts have lots of great options. We're probably going to also invite a friend of DD11's to join us (room fits 6 and there are only 4 of us) so free dining value goes up even more.

When we stay at Poly, dining plans don't make sense since we stay CL with good room discounts and we mostly just pay for a big TS lunch every day and eat light breakfast and dinner from the lounge and buy a few snacks in the parks when out and about so not full dining plan allotment meals. The discounts we get when staying there definitely are greater than the amount we spend in food or even the price of the dining plan.

ETA: When we have APs, the "value" of free dining goes down as I have to take the cost of the 2 day MYW tickets per person, divide that by the number of nights we'll be staying and subtract that from the "value" as it's money I have to spend. If I know (I mean have an actual plan) I've got a use for those tickets down the road then maybe not but generally they do factor into that "value".

 

[Missytara]

Free dining is well worth it to me, because I was able to not only save money for my traveling companions (my next door neighbors Holly and Alex), but their roommates and two children are able to go with us as well now.

So free dining to me is heaven to share an experience with people I care about who wouldn't have been able to go without it.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

I look at it this way. We won't pay for the dining plan anymore. However, we still took advantage of it when we went in January. I added up the amount I would normally pay OOP the way we had planned on eating without the dining plan. (Less TS, more CS.) That was how much free dining was worth to me. I didn't want to account for meals we wouldn't have eaten without the dining plan (like Akershus.) Then I compared that to how much we would save with a room only discount. BTW our food budget is around $100/ day for 2 adults and 2 children.

 

[goofyredraider]

For us, it is a big discount, even when you factor our military discounts we could get.

Right now, I have two trips booked because we are waiting on some things that will determine when we can go.

-end of May/June 2012- booked POR w/ military discount + dining. Still have to buy tickets (8 days worth, 3 using military tickets, 2 usuing MYW tickets).

-March 2012 - booked POR w/free dining. Added 8 day park tickets to make it a package.

When I factored the cost of tickets, our MARCH trip is about $1500 cheaper for the same vacation. (using NO military discounts, just free dining).

 

[daraddg]

we're doing free dining with an upgrade to deluxe DDP,I was trying to pre plan tips so went thorugh every ADR we have ,guessed what we would order etc,figured it out against what we paid and we are saving about $1400 compaired to what that would all be OOP and that didnt include the mugs and snacks,granted if we were doing OOP we wouldnt do alot of those resturants but for us that was the point of doing the free dining,to get a chance to do alot of TS we wouldnt

 

[JennSaint]

Just an FYI we booked the free dining for February 2012 staying at CSR with reg dining plan and the mugs are included.

 

[ciera321]

Free dining is a much better savings for us. We are staying at CSR June 1 for 11 nights. A 30% room discount will save us $627, but free dining will save us about $1,400 after gratuities. I've got my fingers crossed...

 

[DaymanX]

To maximize our free dining value, I tried to have us eat our dinners at buffets to get the most dollar-worth out of our TS credits.

My wife was sick of buffets by day 3.

That being said, I recommend 1900 Park Fare and Boma. Tusker House was awesome as well, but that's less than $30 a person (so not the best use of a TS credit).

 

[sandymandr]

fun post! We are staying 8 nights and want dxdp becuase the kids eat like crazy, we never have to count credits, love early am breakfasts before parks open, and relaxing TS dinners. If we stay moderate fd is a better deal, but if we stay deluxe than we would be better off with a 40%room only. Any discount less than that and we are better off with fd. I have a whole spreadsheet with the calculation so when the deal hits, I can compare costs. Compared to no discount, it is significant savings for us (like 1600 bucks!) since we would get dp without it. It really does help to do the math for your family and situation.

 

[AJA]

It all depends on family size, how you like to eat, and where you want to stay.

For my family of 3 (2 adults 1 child) the dining plan is right at $100 a night. A good deal if we want to stay at a moderate and have a TS meal every night. However if we want to stay deluxe, spend more time at the resort and eat more CS meals then "free dining" would be more expensive than a 35-40% off room only discount. Of course room discounts are not a sure thing, but then again neither is free dining.

We also really need the freedom to cancel without penality up until the week before we leave. It makes me way too nervous to travel with the 45 day out deadline. And I like being able to wait and pay in full when we arrive.

Another thing that is a personal choice, we find the TS restaurants to be like zoo's with free dining, since the dining is NOT really FREE (you choose it over the room only discount) the loud packed hurried dining scene, with food choices that are absolutely going down hill, is just not for us.

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

The only way staying onsite with Disney is affordable for us is being able to get the free dining promotion. Without the free dining promotion, we would most likely stay offsite. As a family of six, free dining saves us a lot more than a room only discount. Because of our family size, the only WDW resort options that are within a comfortable price range for us are either two value resort rooms or a value resort suite, so a room only discount would not save us nearly what free dining does. I know some people may suggest looking into DVC or renting DVC points, but we are not interested in renting DVC points since we would only fit in a 2 bedroom villa which is still way too pricey for us even on rented points. So for right now, it is either stay onsite at a value resort with free dining or stay offsite. Since we prefer an all inclusive vacation experience, we are going to try to stay onsite for as long as we can get a good deal like this.

 

[tink1953]

If you don't have any other discounts then it is FREE dining...I don't understand why posters don't think its a great deal if you re paying rack rate anyway???

We just got back a few weeks ago and would have spent around $1400..we stayed 11 nights at a value....even with the upgrade it saved us lots of money.

We would not pay for the dining plan but if it is offered to us for free then heck yea we will do it!

To us free dining is great...we eat at places we would never have experienced and had some great food...I never dreamed I would eat in the castle or LeCelliur...we go for the highest priced items on the menu and enjoy

so bring on the free dining!!!

BArb

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

If you don't have any other discounts then it is FREE dining...I don't understand why posters don't think its a great deal if you re paying rack rate anyway???

We just got back a few weeks ago and would have spent around $1400..we stayed 11 nights at a value....even with the upgrade it saved us lots of money.

We would not pay for the dining plan but if it is offered to us for free then heck yea we will do it!

To us free dining is great...we eat at places we would never have experienced and had some great food...I never dreamed I would eat in the castle or LeCelliur...we go for the highest priced items on the menu and enjoy

so bring on the free dining!!!

BArb

I am not sure why people get the highest priced items...I get the food I want to eat regardless of the cost.

 

[MSUmom]

My family is getting the DXDP. There are 6 of us; my husband, 23 year-old and 19 year-old daughters, 16 year-old son and his friend 17. My one daughter is vegetarian (and doesn't like a lot of salads.) Finding quick service meals that she will eat is horrible. We tried last year at Universal. No one liked their meal plan. I figured it out and we should save money rather than any of the other meal plans.

 

[MSUmom]

The only way staying onsite with Disney is affordable for us is being able to get the free dining promotion. Without the free dining promotion, we would most likely stay offsite. As a family of six, free dining saves us a lot more than a room only discount. Because of our family size, the only WDW resort options that are within a comfortable price range for us are either two value resort rooms or a value resort suite, so a room only discount would not save us nearly what free dining does. I know some people may suggest looking into DVC or renting DVC points, but we are not interested in renting DVC points since we would only fit in a 2 bedroom villa which is still way too pricey for us even on rented points. So for right now, it is either stay onsite at a value resort with free dining or stay offsite. Since we prefer an all inclusive vacation experience, we are going to try to stay onsite for as long as we can get a good deal like this.

I found getting 2 connecting rooms at Port Orleans was cheaper than a suite at Coronado Springs. We are doing a guys room and a girls room.

 

[Eliza32]

My take is slightly different. We always stay at POP - no free dining at all. So, if we upgrade to the cheapest moderate to get free dining (QSDP) what is the difference in cost? We worked it out this morning using next year's costs and this year's menu prices....free dining would actually cost us £400 more!!!
I know the hotel would be better, but we only sleep there, so we're doing POP with no dining........
Incidentally, we also priced staying off site at the Marriott Village LBV.....this would have cost us more than staying at POP by the time we added in the parking at WDW!!!