A lot of it comes down to personal budgets. DVC and APs are out of budget for many people so it's very difficult to compare apples to apples as each family has a different disposable income. I often eat a lesser priced meal because I don't have the option to choose the $50 steak. I will eat the $30 chicken dish and likely make it stretch to 2 meals even though I could eat it in 1 sitting if I chose to. (And, I make a very fair wage. Just not a DVC, AP, steak wage. If I didn't make a fair wage, Disney wouldn't even be an option for me in the first place.)
Your bolded part is correct. Food quality suffers when free dining is offered. Cheaper cuts of meat are used/ordered, same with produce. Lesser quality is ordered, the chefs have to trim their budgets and it can result in items being taken off menus, too.
While your point about personal budgets is true, you're comparing apples and oranges. I was specifically talking about people who book with the DDP to prepay for meals and mask the true cost of items to themselves. Not general affordability of dining at WDW.
What?
I am getting a week at WDW for what we could spend on a long weekend at home. I win..Well said! Now the idea is in your head -- even if you don't go for that promotion, you want the trip!
The analysis leaves out a few potential advantages of the DDP.
You don't even realize that the DDP is the reason those buffets are $60 in the first place. People see the buffet price and then say "maybe I'll get the DDP and save some money." The DDP, as it is now, is bad for everyone.
Chef Mickey's was $49 in 2019 when the DDP was in place. It's now $66 which outstrips inflation by 10%. Current pricing is more than just due to the DDP.
Don't realize? What a silly thing to say!
You're never done. Last two years two of 3 of my late 30's kids went to Disney with me and the wife. One brought my 3 wonderful grandkids! The Grand Floridian was a great choice both times. October going to Polynesian. We'll see how that works. In May this year it still looked like they had a lot of work to do. Did not do dining plans just oops.Yes, Free Dining is usually the better discount for families with several children. So as long as the dining plan isn't forcing you to eat in a way that you wouldn't normally eat or may not take full advantage of, it's probably the right deal for your family.
The DDP doesn't work for our family because we just don't eat enough food and don't need an alcoholic beverage with every meal to get the full value out of it. We also don't like being tied down to eating at a certain place at a certain time. For us, if the free dining plan offered is the DDP as opposed to the QSDP, we'd probably take the room/package discount instead (or I would schedule a few 2-credit meals so we'd only be tied down to reservations a few time rather than every day). That being said I know we're the exception rather than the rule and that most people are thrilled to get the DDP for free. You've done the math and know it's a good value for your family and probably the best discount available for your trip. So take advantage of it and enjoy it!
And good luck on being "done" with Disney.We took our 2 oldest children back in 2001 and figured we'd make 1 more trip when the "littles" were a little older (they were 1 & 2 at the time of the first trip so they stayed home with grandma and auntie as the older kids were 10 & 12 at the time and the trip was a "reward" for them.). So we went back in 2004 but since I was pg on that trip, we knew we'd have to make one more trip for the new baby. Yeah, we've made 8 more trips since then -- not because we had more kids, just because we wanted to.
From a UK perspective the free dining will entice more guests. Prior to 2020, the amount of people waiting for the announcement of free dining was phenomenal. Groups I am a member had other members asking daily from march through to April if it was on offer yet. So going on your answer I believe youve hit the nail on it's head. We have done it also, now though we just book an odd meal on our trips & are not tied in to ADR daily.
Do you have to pay for airfare, transportation or spending money?We have always found the dining plan to work for our family, but we, too, got the disney+ for this summer and it blows any other option we have ever had out of the water. For 2 of us, for tickets, hotel, food for the week - 2000. Do I love that I will have to always go to QS? No. But, for that price, I will eat Mickey's Leftovers from the buffet
I totally agree.
Airfare we had miles, so only paid the taxes...11.20/each way. Mears is 65 or so round trip. I will have cash for tips, and we are doing 2 table service dinners, but my kid is paying for one of them. I plan on 500 in cash for everything, and plan to bring some home.
