is FREE DINING really the better offer ... HELP

[Lynzer4]

I have a trip booked at the Ploy for Aug 6-13. I have free dining (reg dining plan) now but with the public room discounted released I was looking at my cost.

I am trying to figure out what is the better deal. I guess the question is for a group of 5 (2 adults and 3 children - one of the children is 10 but if we were paying for food she would order off the childrens menu since she eats like a bird) which discount will be better.

I called Disney and the CS said the Free Dining but I'm not really sure. I guess I just want confirmation from someone that has more experience.

It is $786 cheap with the room discount - $4205.43 but then we are paying for food. Will I spend $786 on food for a 8 day/7 night trip. That is around $100 a day for the group. We do have a few character meals book (one being Royal Table that is paid for ... not using TS credits)... but I have booked a TS everyday because of the free dining plan that I wouldn't normally book.


I guess I am just asking (if you are willing to share) what you budget or spent on food.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[momplus3]

I have figured this out several times as we are staying at Poly Nov. 13-19. We are currently booked using a 40% room discount PIN code and have the regular dining plan and 5 day base tickets.

By using the 40% room discount, we are saving approx. $1200.

If free dining becomes available for our time frame, it will save me approx. another $200.

I am almost paid in full but I am not going to post my final payment until fall specials are announced (which will probably be the first part of June)

A CM at Disney shoudl be able to check both discounts and tell you which is better. If not, contact a travel agent and see if they can help you.

 

[mhconley]

For my family of three, 2 adults and 1 child, the 40% off deluxe room PIN was definitely the better deal. I think it would be a wash for a family of 4 and free dining would end up being better for 3 or 4 adults or a family of 5 or more.

Martin

 

[Mrs D]

A CM can tell you prices on the package or room but cannot tell you which is the better value for the money. You will have to do the math on that. In the two scenarios you are suggesting you aren't comparing apples to apples (if you didn't have free dining you wouldn't eat a TS each day). That's OK but it will require a little more on your part to determine which is the better value for your family.
Here's what I'd suggest. Write a list of all the TS locations you would eat if paying OOP. Then will you eat 2 CS a day on the days without a TS ADR? Next add it over your trip and see where you would REALLY spend the most.

For budgeting purposes I typically estimate $12-13 per adult and $6-7 per child for a CS meal (including drinks and tax, no dessert). Using that formula I'd estimate 1 CS to cost your family $42 (I calculating it as 3 children because your 10 y.o. would prefer a kids meal). Do that twice in one day and you could have eaten at a TS restaurant on that day and had a snack credit.

While thinking about it you could always order a kids meal for your 10y.o. save her TS credit and have a extra TS meal or use it towards you CRT meal (I think you might be able to get a refund and have it changed to using the DDP). Or would another child prefer the grown up offerings?

If you need further help please come back and ask more questions!

 

[Cafeen]

Let's put some numbers into play. Since you're comparing Free DDP with Room Discount, it can be a little tricky, but to make the initial comparison easier, we'll assume that you'd get the DDP either way.

Since we're assuming that you'd get DDP whether or not it was free, we're now just comparing the discounts (or savings). I'm assuming that the $768 savings is on a package without a dining plan as well. (If it was on a package with a dining plan, going room discount would be a MUCH better deal!)

3 DDP Adults + 2 Children for 7 nights during peak season would be roughly
A: 47.99 * 3 * 7 = 47.99 * 21 = 1007.79
c: 12.99 * 2 * 7 = 12.99 * 14 = 181.86
1,189.65 is the total cost of the DDP for your family (if paying OOP for it). This puts the difference at about $421.65. In other words, you would be paying $421.65 more by getting the room discount and then paying OOP for the plan.

So, looks like Free Dining is currently better... However, there's one more step that complicates things as this is using that assumption that you'd pay OOP for the DDP otherwise.

So now we have to figure out if getting the DDP for free actually save you money. This is where math comes in handy. What you can do is add up two sets of plans. One as if you had the DDP, and one as if you were paying OOP for it all. Compare the total to the list below. Note that you only have to add up covered costs of meals + snacks, as non-covered items will be the same on both sides!

If the total + tax (but not tip) comes out to:

• $1,190 or higher, you'll be better off on Free Dining
• greater than $769, but less than $1,190, then you'd still likely be better off with Free Dining (this figures that even though the DDP would lose you money if paid for it, it's still savings against paying OOP for the food and taking the room discount)
• less than $769, you'd be better off taking the room discount and paying OOP for food.

Chances are, since the difference is ~$421 between the two, you may still be better off on the free DDP. Now, you may not get "maximum" theoretical potential savings from it, which is fine so long as some savings are realized. Remember that experience is more important than maximizing savings, as you wouldn't want to have a less than desirable experience to save 22% when you will have a much more enjoyable one even if you only save 10% (this is something that a lot of people miss!)

 

[juliebean]

We have the same size family and I would say yes, you'd probably spend that much or more on food - even with all CS, except CRT. But, you'd be giving up some flexibility if you do the dining plan, so that's something to consider.

Since you don't sound too interested in TS, why not get the free dining, use 2 table credits for CRT and plan a couple of other special meals, maybe the fantasmic package or Ohana? You'd still have the CS and snacks and might appreciate the TS for the air conditioned break in August. Probably still need to pay for a few CS out of pocket, but then you aren't paying for CRT and it also builds in some flexibility. You could pay for your 10 yr old to get a kid's meal at CS and maybe save a few adult CS credits over the week too.

 

[marmalade]

I did a very simple approach:

Staying 6 nights at BWV 1br with a 40% discount for a family of 4 (2 disney kids) and paying OOP for the DDP.... Approx $3850

Staying the same 6 nights, with the same tickets (6 day PH) with the free dining discount the cost is ... Approx $4450

So it was obvious for my family to do the 40% off.

 

[peaceluv&mickeymouse]

We booked the ASM last year with the free dining offer for Aug 2011. I upgraded about a month ago to the POLY and was given the free dining as well as the % off offer. The free dining saves us over $1300 for 5 adults.
I hope they offer that again!

 

[raysmom]

We just did the same math and took a trip in Jan we saved so much more just eating ala cart. I dont eat a lot and my 11 yr old is a bird too. We love the dining plan and have done that a ton of times but latley have been going ala cart. We did 2 main sit downs that we wanted to do and just paid for them. The rest of the time we ate when and where we wanted counters. She and I at time both ate kids meals and or shared an adult

for me it has been a nobrainer latley as I have been able to snagged amazing discounted tickets which with the dining plan I would have had to pay full price for all tickets and all hotel

I actually really made out better.


if you think you would have to force feed your family to eat 700 worth of food and would rather be in control of your schedule then its not for you.

 

[C&G'sMama]

We just did the same math and took a trip in Jan we saved so much more just eating ala cart. I dont eat a lot and my 11 yr old is a bird too. We love the dining plan and have done that a ton of times but latley have been going ala cart. We did 2 main sit downs that we wanted to do and just paid for them. The rest of the time we ate when and where we wanted counters. She and I at time both ate kids meals and or shared an adult

for me it has been a nobrainer latley as I have been able to snagged amazing discounted tickets which with the dining plan I would have had to pay full price for all tickets and all hotel

I actually really made out better.


if you think you would have to force feed your family to eat 700 worth of food and would rather be in control of your schedule then its not for you.

OT
I love that picture of your DD with the same dress as Minnie Mouse. I just had to comment, it's so cute. I have a soon to be 11 yo daughter and it's great to capture our tweens still being little girls.

 

[C&G'sMama]

On topic.

It just depends on your family. We have done the DP the last few trips and will be doing so again in May. Part of it for us is convenience. My Brother and SIL who came with us last time are coming again and bringing our mom (93). Mom hardly eats anything. My kids are hearty eaters. And my DB and DSIL loved have everything included and not having to worry about it.

Next time we go we have talked about forgoing the dining plan if it's just the four of us. We always have a car with us so we can go offsite and go to the store or eat offsite.

 

[raysmom]

I think that is why I love Disney so much. it stops time, and everyone can act like a little kids. My daughter still loves Disney and she still will let me dress her up, not sure how long that will last but I love it. I was sad when she started to know that there was people inside the costumes but it is still magical for her she asked the other day if we could live in Disney if we happen to hit the power ball Saturday LOL LOL
Tia

 

[Toeknail]

I don't understand why people sometimes say you can lose flexibility with the dining plan? I feel like you gain flexibility by being able to eat where you want to eat (at the nicer table service places) for one meal per day (on average) then go wherever you feel like for counter service. We usually end up doing one or two meals that require 2 TS credits over a week, so we try to use fewer CS credits for the remaining meals so we can get by without too much more out of pocket.

If you plan on a few character meals for a family of 5, then the free DDP should absolutely save you a fair amount of money. For my family of 4, it will save us about $500 vs the 40% room discount, and $300 vs the kids stay and play free offer. Caveat - we will be there in the summer so we will want that break every day for a sit down meal (out of the heat)... if I were to go during a cooler time of year, I would likely not opt for the DDP.

 

[Peapicker]

The way we always try to figure it out is we first pick the resort we want to try (staying at Coronado Springs) and then we pick the restaurants we want to eat at for sit down meals. This trip we are a party of four, two adults and two 16 year old boys. We have 7 day park passes. As stated we will eat a sit down meal each day and a counter service meal also (plus all the extras the 16 year olds will need). We will be eating at LTT, Hoop De Doo, Coral Reef, Kona, Whispering Canyon and Italy for sit down meals. Then for lunches we will be at Peco's Bill, Cosmic Ray's, Sci-Fi, Sunshine season, Flame Tree, Pizzafari and our resort. I then asked everyone what they would most likely order as far as an entree was concerned. Just for the entrees (no drinks, no desserts, no tax or tip calculated) the cost would come to $1205 for those meals. Then we priced out the room and 7 day tickets (no discounts) and that came to $2370 (7 nights). Using free dining we are getting all those restaurants plus a drink, dessert, tax and a snack for each person each day and the cost using the free dining is the same $2370. So I look at it like I am saving well over $1205. If I were to get a 35% discount on the room that would only save us about $460. I do not see how we can lose with the free dining. And yes we would eat at all of these places anyway, however we would not get the desserts most likely.

 

[Pine View]

I ran the numbers thru the Web site for planing a cruise.

My first option was 40% off which ran $250 more than
the second option of kids stay and play free which was $350 more than
The third option;
Free DDP full rack rate on the room whihk saved me over $700-now that was in a Value resort, your savings should be more.

But, you can run your numbers and see which is best for you.

Also My daughter and her family of four thought they wouldn't eat the $600 difference on their last trip for a 7 night trip and they were wrong.

 

[JJsmama]

I can't say which discount you should use, but you asked: Will I spend $786 over 8 days for 5 people, I say Absolutely YES since you said that you will do one TS meal/ day. I too have 5 people (kids 12,10 and 3, so mine would be slightly more than yours..) All character meals for us are at least $125-130. That is breakfast and lunch. Character dinners are more. For us to eat at cheaper TS like LTT or Sci Fi would still be close to $100 eventhough we would not eat apps. If you could talk yourself into only a couple TS the whole week, you could spend less, but for one a day, I think not. Good Luck

 

[Wendy5055]

It seems that it really matters what hotel level you are staying at.

I have done the Free Dining and stayed at POP...it was an AMAZING deal!!! However, as we the Grand Floridian I tend to lean more towards the room discount and get the meal plan anyway.

I just watch the specials that come out. For instance, I just switched our package and dates and managed to add a day at the Grand Floridian for only $200 more!!! We are getting the DlxDP too...go figure.