I can't decide. military discount or free dining.

[jazzyscoob]

Hi everyone, long time lurker here first time question post

When calling to book my ASM reservation with the military discount the agent informed me that I had a pin for free dining.

My original plan was to use the MD for the room and then purchase 6 day park hoppers when we got to ASM. (2 adults and 2 kids)

I have never gotten the dining plan before so I am having a hard time deciding if it would be a better deal for us.

We have 3 TS reservations which we would have to be OOP anyway. Unless we upgrade from QS to dining plan?

We bring loads of water, water juice boxes for the kids and snacks as we drive from NJ to Disney. The kids usually do a cold breakfast, and I am just a coffee person until lunch. DH loves to eat all day everyday. We also have a dessert every night. (dole whip, cookie from confectionery etc)

So I guess I am asking what others would do. Stick to the MD room only discount and pay OOP for everything. Skip the discount and take the free QS dining and pay OOP for the 3 TS or upgrade and pay the difference for dining plan?

Thanks for any input

 

[sflyboy]

For us it's always been a better deal to go with Free dinning. We have three kids and the Free dinning has always been better for us. I mostly like the fact that we dont have to budget for food when we go. The military discount is nice, but I hardly ever use it.

 

[magicbob]

We opted for FD once several years ago instead of the room discount. You have to crunch the numbers, but for a value resort, the discount is not that much. We upgraded from QS to DDP and even with the upcharge, we came out ahead by a LOT. We were asked to complete a "log" of our meal and shopping expenses as part of a survey when we checked in. I kept all the receipts and filled out the log at the end of our trip and we ate about a thousand dollars worth of free food. And I don't mean DDP marketing "free." I mean it was actually free (above and beyond what we paid for the "free" dining after I factored in the loss of room discount and what we paid for the DDP upgrade).

But every trip is different. We have been since and it made more sense to pay for meals OOP. You just have to crunch the numbers to see if the room discount is more beneficial.

 

[smiths02]

You need to crunch numbers first.

What is the value of the room discount vs. what is the monetary value of free dining? (Also, you have to buy tickets with free dining, correct? so would you lose your military ticket discount?)

Military Room + tickets=?
Rack Rate Room + tickets + Dining Plan= ?

Could you feed your family for the difference?

 

[jazzyscoob]

Thanks for the responses. Since we wouldn't be using the military discount tickets I think I will get the package and upgrade the QS to the regular dining. We are going in Aug and like to have a sit down lunch to beat the heat. It will be nice to only have to worry about gratuity.

 

[DisGirl819]

We always use the military discount, but we stay deluxe and with a 40% discount that is better than free dining. I would price it out both ways and go with the cheaper option.