Is Free Dining really "free?"

[Disneylover99]

We went to Disney last September (wow has it really been a year) on Free Dining. I don't think it was the best deal for our family. I mean we got free food which is always awesome but I also noticed we threw A LOT of that free food in the trash. In our normal everyday we don't get dessert at sit down meals and while I enjoy the occasional diet coke, we drink way more water. My youngest wasn't going through a growth spurt so she ate like a toddler the whole time, I felt like I was forcing her to eat more than she normally does. By the end of the trip I didn't want to see another cupcake or chocolate cake cup.
That being said, we will probably try to get FD for our next trip just to cover the amount of TS restaurants we want to try. I thought after going once on FD we would try all these places and then when we went back do less. I asked the fam what they thought for food next trip and they all had a list of TS!
It will really be interesting because I think we may save money by booking the RO discount and then adding the dining or just paying OOP.

If your family's list of TS meals include multiple buffets, take the FD!

 

[Nancyg56]

If your family's list of TS meals include multiple buffets, take the FD!

And if they don't, look at the restaurants they want, see where you can swap the dessert out for a did at CS meals and share between you. Also look at ts meals and see if there are some you want to share. You can stretch your credits, leave comfortable and big throw food away.

 

[Skjhjb]

Exactly which is why it works for us. We already buy hoppers and we already choose preferred room. So it makes sense for us.
Now moving forward my kids are outgrowing the character meals and becoming more adventurous eaters, I see us next year not taking advantage of it.
Instead I would like to upgrade to APs and rent DVC. My girls are becoming more the "I'll try it type" , lot's of restaurants where we may end up getting 2-3 apps to split among us. But right now at their age, everyone wants their own meals!! no sharing allowed

Don't completely count it out - my kids are older, and we've only ever done one character meal. We love going to Boma, O'Hana, Cape May - and all are as pricey as the character dinners (at least 1900 PF that we did do ) so the meal plan is still great for our family of 5!

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Free dining is a room discount like any other room discount (actually it is a package discount, meaning you have to purchase a room/tickets package in order to get it). It isn't misleading at all. Your discount is the addition of the dining plan to a package without having to pay extra for it (in other words, the dining plan is indeed "free") instead of taking a percentage off the room rate. So, the meals covered by the dining plan are free. Yes, there are extra expenses that may arise from using a dining plan, like tips for table service which are not covered by the plan. But the meals are still free.

It's worth noting that free dining is considered a resort discount, not a restaurant discount - it's a discounted room package. The restaurants have no idea if you got the plan free or you paid for it.

You do also have to meet some other minimum qualifications because it's a package discount (adding park tickets and park hopper or water park) which are designed to help limit the appeal of the discount (if you could get free dining without having to buy park tickets, you'd want it, right? So would far too many others). If you don't enjoy the dining plan, or you don't need the tickets or hoppers, then you don't need the package, discount or no discount; it is likely you would be better off with a percentage discount on just a room, and those are also available.

The point was that people who have "free dining" may overlook the cost of gratuity, and not properly budget for it.

That would be their issue, and not Disney's responsibility. This also occurs with guests who have paid money for the dining plan. Disney has been cautioning users of the dining plan that they still have to pay tips ever since 2008 when the tips were separated from the cost of the plan. It's common sense to include the cost of tips when evaluating the free dining discount, but that doesn't make it any less of a discount.