Is free dining really free???

[spacemyster03]

I've read that free dining isn't really free, Can someone please explain how free dining works? Please share your experiences with free dining. What would a family a four really save when using this free dining plan.

 

[deegack]

It's not free because you have to pay full price for the room and purchase one or two days (depending on the rules for the promotion) tickets from Disney. Often it is cheaper to get a room discount and purchase tickets from undercover tourist.
As for how much it save, it depends on many variables. Age of kids, resort, etc

 

[disnut8]

It's not free because you have to pay full price for the room and purchase one or two days (depending on the rules for the promotion) tickets from Disney. Often it is cheaper to get a room discount and purchase tickets from undercover tourist.
As for how much it save, it depends on many variables. Age of kids, resort, etc

Agreed. I can get Annual Pass discounts on the resort and since I already have my passes, don't need any of that. So the "free aspect of it" would be at least the difference between any resort discount you can currently get versus how much you would spend in food. For some families, it's worth it. For others, not so much.

In my case, it would probably be worth it for my son and his family of four since my son and grandson can eat a ton so doing the table service, counter service and snack per day would thrill them. But for my mother-in-law, who eats like a bird, it's not a good choice. It wouldn't be for my husband and myself. It would be for my sister and her family.

You really do have to price things out and make the choice.

 

[Reddog1134]

It is free in the sense that you do not pay extra for it.

There are those that will argue semantics and tell you it's not free because you have to book a package or you could save more money with a room discount. While these are true, it doesn't negate the fact that you did not pay an additional cost for the dining.

 

[Robo]

Maybe a better question would be, "Is "free dining" a "good deal," financially?"

 

[damo]

You have to pay for tips.

 

[mking624]

What you'll save really depends on what you're doing...such as what room you're booking and where, if there are any other discounts available and calculating what you'd save between a room discount plus paying for food vs. free dining at a rack rate room, etc. I will be doing free dining in November because I wasn't able to get any room discounts. So since I'm paying rack rate anyway, I might as well get free dining with it. My last trip, however, I had a 35% room discount, which came out to be much better than free dining.

You might want to check out the Disney Discount Codes and Rates forum...people there are pretty well versed in free dining.
http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=93

 

[Reddog1134]

Maybe a better question would be, "Is "free dining" a "good deal," financially?"

 

[MDChris]

The way I look at it is as a discount. "Free" Dining usually saves us about $1000 for a family of 4. Depending on the room discount at the time/resort you are staying at, there may be better options.

In the end, run the numbers and find out what gets you there on your budget. The key is make sure it works for you.

 

[Stitch407]

Like the previous poster said, it's not really "free" because you have to pay full price for everything else, when you can normally find a way to save on your room and your tickets and use the money use saved on food. I have never done it, but my Aunt with five boys did when she didn't know how to search for discounts or use them, and she said a lot of their free dining went wasted or didn't offer what they wanted. I think you should just compare the offer to what you want and see if there is any way you could get it cheaper. If not, get it and use it.

I'm not allowed to post links because my new profile won't let me yet,

but if not, go to Mousesavers.com, which should also help you learn other ways to save money and then type "disney dining plan" in their search engine. They have a section on their webstie about the pros and cons of DDP, which is being offered for free in the promotion your asking about.

or someone post the link please

 

[davedmaine]

I've read that free dining isn't really free, Can someone please explain how free dining works? Please share your experiences with free dining. What would a family a four really save when using this free dining plan.

Seems like once you've done the DDP two or three times you realize it's not really a value... You're always better off with a room discount or Tiw..

 

[Kay1]

You have to pay for tips.

And possibly transportation, though that would be optional. If I were on that plan and had no car, I know I'd spend some money on cabs for meals at other resorts.

 

[stindall]

Seems like once you've done the DDP two or three times you realize it's not really a value... You're always better off with a room discount or Tiw..

My parents "saved" about $1300 with free dining but they had my brother and his friend with them. DDP and "free" dining are often better for larger families but like the others have said, it depends on where you stay. For us, since we tend to eat less and share meals (DH has the smallest stomach, he takes two bites and he's full!) and because there are only two in our party, it's not the best deal for us.

 

[bizziemom]

I agree with the last post... We are a family of five, and I figured out how much it would cost us to stay at POR with the 30% room discount, and pay for all our meals, as opposed to paying full price for our package, and get the free dining. For us, Free Dining wins.

As a matter of fact, I had booked our trip last year before the rates went up, and had to re-book to get the free dining and pay the new, higher rates. Also, the room I had booked was no longer available under the free dining, and I had to upgrade to a "Water view" in order to get the new package deal, which, all said,cost us an additional $400.
That said, we are 5 people staying 7 days/nights. If we had to pay for all our meals we would spend over $1000, so again, it was a better deal for us. We are not AP holders or FL residents and this may be our once in a lifetime trip, so its worth it for us.
You would have to crunch numbers to see what saves you more.

 

[dixonismydog]

Being frugal....I know I would try to skimp on meals, if we didn't have free dining. For us, we love that it's all paid in advance and we can get what we want for meals. Plus, we don't eat out very much at home....so it becomes part of our vacation excitement, to be able to do so!

 

[FloridaDreaming]

Free dining is free, by definition. It's just another type of promotion. Sort of like buying laundry detergent at regular price at the store and getting the fabric softener for free. It's a good promotion if you crunch your numbers and see if it will be a good value for you. Many will argue either way.
We did free dining for 3 years. Because September is just a better time of the year for us to travel. So, free dining was offered and we accepted. We then upgraded our tickets to APs last September because we knew we had at least another 2 trips planned within the next 6 months. Turns out, I was able to get DH to agree to a 3rd trip before they expired.
So, when I was trying to decide if it would be worth it to add the Dining Plan, I went to Allears and priced up the menus. Taking out the desserts at about 85% of the restaurants because I would want something from one of the more fabulous treat places, I decided that it was not a good value on it's own, for us.
I realize I'm getting a little long winded here but, my point is, if you have an opportunity to book either a room only OR free dining, I'd check out the menus and see if you think it will be a good promotion for your family. Do the math and see. It works for some, it doesn't work for others.

 

[disfan4life1]

What I like best about free dining is having meals paid for ahead of time .. Not having to worry about how much we spend to eat.. Probably would never pay for the dining plan because we are penny pinchers and would probably cut out desserts all together and mostly drink free ice water. My kids would rather grab a funnel cake later on instead of the chocolate or carrot cake anyways. Lol.

 

[marmalade]

It will be free for us next week for the most part. We are going for 6 nights, 2 adults 2 kids with 6 day tickets for around $1750. If we went with the room discount that was offered and tickets from UT we probably would have saved $200. So since it will cost us a lot more to eat than $200, FD is a better deal for us.

We are staying at a value, if we were staying deluxe we would choose the room discount as that would be a better deal for us.

 

[Celidh]

It will be free for us next week for the most part. We are going for 6 nights, 2 adults 2 kids with 6 day tickets for around $1750. If we went with the room discount that was offered and tickets from UT we probably would have saved $200. So since it will cost us a lot more to eat than $200, FD is a better deal for us.

We are staying at a value, if we were staying deluxe we would choose the room discount as that would be a better deal for us.

This is the same for me. I don't stay at a deluxe though. With the kids, my partner and myself, we need two rooms so we stay at a Value. The best discount you can expect at a value is 20% and we will be going late august so you are looking at most, $50.00 savings if we had a room discount. HAving to buy park tickets is a moot point for us because we would have them either way so having to get them to get fd makes no difference.

So, I can get a room discount and save about $50 per day and pay for food for 5 Disney adults or lose the room discount and get free qs dining, which is around $37.00 per person per day. Even paying oop for food, you can't feed 5 people on less than $50. per day.

For us, it is a great deal.

 

[CalSea12]

I like being able to go to Disney and know all my meals are paid for and I can order what I want without looking at prices. This to me is priceless, well kinda lol.

Also when I was planning my trip I looked at the room discount and I saved much much more when I got the FD discount. We will be upgrading to the regular dining plan, and if my DH would let me I would upgrade all the way to DxDP, but he says we gained too much weight last time.

Oh and another thing I do is look at the places I would eat and how much it costs versus how much the DP is per day, usually the DP is much cheaper, especially with the free drink resort mug, and the snacks!

I just love my DP!