Is FREE Dining, Really FREE?

[ptcbass]

I'll give you the heat--it is really and truly hot in September. The crowds, though are non existent. I've gone during free dining for the last two years (though I actually paid for dining in 2006) and most rides ranged from walk on to 5 minutes wait. I planned well (TGM and Touringplans). It may also have helped that my kids are school-aged---we saw longer lines in Fantasyland where the younger kids tended to be. People say it's hard to get into restaurants, but I didn't have a problem even with the more popular places. We eat in the off hours (early or late to avoid the rush), so maybe that helped. All in all, I think September is a great time to go and I plan to be there for a couple weeks next year if they do free dining again.

I have been wondering about the crowds. I even started a thread asking about the week I am going during the free dining time and the only response I got back was that they were really busy last year during that time. I will be going the first week of September. Have you been during that week? I am really hoping it isn't as crowded as when we usually go (last week of July).

 

[tasha99]

I have been wondering about the crowds. I even started a thread asking about the week I am going during the free dining time and the only response I got back was that they were really busy last year during that time. I will be going the first week of September. Have you been during that week? I am really hoping it isn't as crowded as when we usually go (last week of July).

In 2006 I went from Sept 8-17 or so and in 2007 it was Aug 28-Sept 4. The restaurants were crowded but not the parks (if you toured sensibly). Even with crowded restaurants, I was able to make a last minute change and walk in to Olivias. Probably couldn't have done that at a restaurant in a park, but I was still able to be a little flexible.

My friend went the week after me in 2007 and said it was very crowded. I'm not sure how much of that was real crowds and how much of it was poor planning on her part since I was there in 2006 at that time and had no problems. I will say when we were planning our trips together at work, she seemed to always go for the most obvious choices (ie, EMH parks), and she did say they slept in every day.

If you're used to going in July, I bet you'll find it much, much less crowded. Just as hot, though . . .

 

[pepperw23]

The free dining, when offered, is considered a discount, so you can't have another discount like on the room rate.

When I have looked into it for myself, I looked up the resort at the basic time I would want to stay, BEFORE free dining was offered. Found out the cost of what I would want (without adding dining). Then looked up the same after free dining was announced and you could book it (adding dining), and found that the costs were the same.

But I wasn't using any codes or TAs that might have different prices, I was just comparing disneyworld.com travel info to the same.

Just like when deciding if a package of ANY kind is better for you than getting things separately, you just have to run the numbers for yourself, see what's better for what you want at the time you want it!


But regardless, the free dining offer for this year is not being offered anymore, so for your situation this year it's pretty much a moot point.

I did the same thing and it was exactly the same.

 

[LadyOmega]

The restaurants were crowded but not the parks (if you toured sensibly).

If you're used to going in July, I bet you'll find it much, much less crowded. Just as hot, though . . .

Exactly. We've only done free dining once (in 2006), but this was our experience.

 

[ptcbass]

In 2006 I went from Sept 8-17 or so and in 2007 it was Aug 28-Sept 4. The restaurants were crowded but not the parks (if you toured sensibly). Even with crowded restaurants, I was able to make a last minute change and walk in to Olivias. Probably couldn't have done that at a restaurant in a park, but I was still able to be a little flexible.

My friend went the week after me in 2007 and said it was very crowded. I'm not sure how much of that was real crowds and how much of it was poor planning on her part since I was there in 2006 at that time and had no problems. I will say when we were planning our trips together at work, she seemed to always go for the most obvious choices (ie, EMH parks), and she did say they slept in every day.

If you're used to going in July, I bet you'll find it much, much less crowded. Just as hot, though . . .

We plan pretty well and don't always hit the EMH parks cause I figure more people are at that park that day. We also already have our adr's that line up with where we will be that day. It is just really great to hear that there is hope that the parks will be less crowded than our trips in the past. We always try to grab the fast passes but have seen lines with 2-3 hour waits. There is no way I am spending that much of my vacation time in lines.
Thanks again for the info! I will be doing the happy dance all the way up to the day we leave.

 

[kimgof]

We are staying at the POR for 8 nights and wind up saving almost $1100 with the free dining. If we used the AAA discount we would only save a few hundred dollars for the week. The POR is a very reasonable price to begin with. Our oldest DS is 13 so he is an adult price(and eats as much if not more than my DH ) So for us the free DDP is a great way to afford a really nice vacation. It really does depend on where you want to stay and how many adults are in your party as to wheather the DDP special is worth paying the rack rate.But as I said, for us it was a no-brainer. Now we just wait....till September.

 

[disneygourmet]

I could have booked the same room for $20 per night less if I didn't get the DDP. Plus, I had to buy two extra tickets that we didn't need since I had purchased our tickets at a group rate separate from my hotel room. That works out to $22.50 per day per person for our 6 night stay. Honestly, I wouldn't have spent that much on our meals without the DDP. The "free dining" gave us an incentive to stay on Disney property when I was undecided before and will allow us to eat some places we wouldn't otherwise have been able to. If there weren't so many wonderful TS selections, it wouldn't have been worth it at all.

 

[inkedupmomma]

Well, in your case you would have been paying $97 more per night for your room. The dining plan costs $37.99 per adult (age 10 and up) and $9.99 per child (ages 3-9). You can pay those costs to add dining to your $259 rate, so basically if you have two adults and two kids, it's pretty much a wash. If you have just two adults, it's cheaper to pay for the dining plan yourself. IF however, your kids are over 10 years old and therefore charged the adult price for the dining plan....you'll save money. Of course, you also have to buy at least one day ticket for each person, but except for Annual Pass holders, you'd have to have tickets anyway. So you really have to run the numbers for your family size. And of course the value resorts are like $100 a night with free dining.....so that might be a bargain IF you don't mind the tiny rooms.

Now...the rub for me is that the free dining is only in August/September....frankly a totally miserable time to be in Florida's dripping heat. And let's not forget about the crowds too.....read the boards a while and you'll realize that getting an ADR for even the unpopular restaurants is about as easy as winning the Lottery. And let's not forget that all those ADRs which equal capacity filled restaurants also mean very long lines for the rides and shows and just standing around.


Personally, even with two kids considered adults, I'd rather go during an off season when the lines are shorter, the weather is more pleasant, the crowds are lighter and I have a fighting chance to get a few decent ADRs. It may cost more, but I'll get more rides in, more shows seen, and less frustration waiting in crowds. Heck, for some people they could just go a day or two less, spend the same amount of money and still get the same amount of things done because it's less crowded....and have a little more magical time with less stress and frustration (I'd probably still go the same length, lol). But then again, I'm not a crowd person for any reason.

The ones I really feel sorry for though, are the ones going during free dining but NOT getting free dining. Maybe they didn't know about the promotion, or they didn't get in on it before it ended....or the free dining rooms were all sold out.....whatever reason, they're going to have endure all the negatives of free dining season and still pay for their meals.

end of august/september is off season

 

[inkedupmomma]

ddp really was free for us. originally we planned on going in oct and paying for dxdp so when we switched our trip to sept and got the free dining all we had to pay was the difference. either way we were staying at a value and paying for the plan, so it was nice to have it given to us for free.. well in our case half off.

 

[CleveRocks]

. So, with that said, it appears to me that the dining isn't really free, or am I missing something.

On the message boards we all tend to use the phrase "free dining." But Disney never calls it that. They offer the Disney Dining Plan for free. They never claim their dining to be free, they are just offering a free product.

In order to get this product, you can't have another discount on your room rate.