If you turn down free dining.....

[wish*i*was*in*the*vi]

The DDP is just too much food. As someone who just lost 60 lbs I have absolutely no desire to have that much food. And I don't want my kids to have that much food either. 2 desserts a day? It's too much food for anybody, in my opinion.
We are staying at the Polynesian at 40% off, I'll take that over free dining when 50% of the food would go to waste anyway. But I definitely wouldn't pass it up if it were the only discount available, food at Disney is EXPENSIVE, regardless of where you eat or how much (or how little) you eat.

 

[aubriee]

You don't HAVE to eat a snack, QS and TS meal each day. If you're on free DDP, you should have no qualms about skipping a meal since you are not paying for it. If you did pay for it, then that's different because the the DDP is not a good value anymore. For people like you, I agree that a room only discount is better, but I can't understand why someone would pass up free dining if it's the only promotion out.

The thing is, free dining is never the only discount out. I go several times a year and some of those trips are always during the free dining period. I've always been able to get a better discount than free dining. With only one or two people in a moderate (which is what I stay at most of the time) the bounceback deals or the AP 35% off the room and TiW will always beat free dining and we get to eat exactly where and what we want without worrying about getting value from meal credits or running out of credits, or having credits left over or having to buy two day park tickets we don't need. We are not snackers and are not fans of CS meals. We prefer an early TS lunch and a later TS dinner (frequently at a Signature restaurant, so the free basic DDP doesn't work for us.

 

[Mamu]

We always take the discount. our last 2 trips we've gotten 42% off our room, and 40% off. Both have been with AP discounts.

We travel with our children and Grandghildren and book 2 rooms.

GF Sugarloaf Lodge-Savings over $3500.00
BWI CL-Savings over $3000.00

Because we stay CL we have breakfast in the lounge, usually a table serve lunch, we stay for the evening offerings then head to the park thats open late. We usually order from counter serve in the evenings.

Total savings pays for all our meals plus.

Yes sometimes the discount is a better choice then free dining. It does depend on what resort your staying at though. We enjoy the freedom of not rushing to meals.

It depends on your personal preferences if you enjoy 3 TS meals a day or you prefer to not have a tight schedule where meals dictate your stay.

 

[Laz]

You just said exactly why I do NOT like the dining plan, free or not. My husband and I could never eat a counter service meal AND and sit down meal in one day. Plus a snack? Our usual is a snack and maybe a counter service meal. If we did a table service, then we would have a snack later but maybe not. We're just not big eaters. And we aren't the type would enjoy the fancy, more high end restaurants. We would waste so much food and even if it's free, I am very uncomfortable doing that.

My family is like that as well. We can not eat that much in one day. Also, I use my Visa reward points for food and extras while we are at WDW.

 

[creativeamanda]

It would be nice to get Free dining once. For a family a five, it is always less expensive to take the free dining over the room discount. We like the convenience of having everything paid for, so it really does not bother us. We typically split up the counter service meals and snack credits for breakfast and lunch, so not everyone has their own CS meal, and then eat a nice dinner.

 

[snykymom]

You don't HAVE to eat a snack, QS and TS meal each day. If you're on free DDP, you should have no qualms about skipping a meal since you are not paying for it. If you did pay for it, then that's different because the the DDP is not a good value anymore. For people like you, I agree that a room only discount is better, but I can't understand why someone would pass up free dining if it's the only promotion out.

Even during free dining, I've always been able to get a AAA room discount of at least 10%. Disney may not offer a room-only discount during that period, but except for the week between Christmas and New Year's, AAA does. So for me, free dining is never "free" - it costs that 10%. Since the structure of the DDP doesn't work for me, I'd rather take the 10% savings and use that for my food.