Is there such a thing as a discount on dining plans?

[triciari]

Originally Posted by Dawner I totally understand you wanting the 'free dining', but the only 'not so magical' part is that they will charge you 'rack rate' on the room ... I've done the math up, down, backwards, and sideways for the free dining, annual passholder, room only with dining, etc..., and the best price I've gotten is to do a 'room only' with your 40% (standard room) and to add the dining plan ... OH, I should have asked if you were a passholder - because if you are, when you do a room only package (No park tickets need to be purchased, and this can save you lots of $$$), and you can add on the dining plan for a 30% discount.
I hope that they sprinkle some 'pixie dust' on your ressie and you get a great price !!!

 

[Mrs D]

Ok, many people will say "free dining isn't free". Well, my take is yes it is free - you do pay full price for the room but you pay nothing for the dining plan. Granted, for some a room discount ends up being a better savings but free dining DOES represent a savings.
Now onto the issue of the dining plan being 30% off - that is incorrect. Disney advertises the dining plan as a savings of 30% versus paying out of pocket. Whether that is realistic is debatable, but I find I at least break even or have a small savings using the DP. However there is no discount off the price of the dining plan exclusive of free dining.

 

[aubriee]

The previous poster is correct. No one gets a discount on the price of the DDP, even AP holders or DVCers. As AP holders we can get discounts on our rooms (unless we are doing free dining), but everyone pays full price for the DDP if they buy it.

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

For our trip upcoming, we are now booked at the 20/30/40 PIN (didn't get the Monster one, but wouldn't make a difference as dates are not included) and are staying at a value resort. Would gladly give up the 20% discount for free dining-each case is different and you have to make up your mind which discount is better for your party-I can certainly understand them not allowing you to combine discounts-very few hotels, airlines, cruise lines, etc allow discounts to be combined!

 

[Missytara]

Ok, many people will say "free dining isn't free". Well, my take is yes it is free - you do pay full price for the room but you pay nothing for the dining plan. Granted, for some a room discount ends up being a better savings but free dining DOES represent a savings.
Now onto the issue of the dining plan being 30% off - that is incorrect. Disney advertises the dining plan as a savings of 30% versus paying out of pocket. Whether that is realistic is debatable, but I find I at least break even or have a small savings using the DP. However there is no discount off the price of the dining plan exclusive of free dining.

For a person traveling solo, like me, the room savings is fantastic - I got the monster pin code and the savings for my package was almost $600.00 dollars, which doesn't come near the cost of getting free dining for one.

I also have to admit I break even for the two times I have used the dining plan - some times it seems like I get the snack for free, but pretty much most days I break even.

 

[TDC Nala]

Disney advertises the dining plan as a savings of 30% versus paying out of pocket.

They advertised it as a savings of UP TO 30% as the percentage of savings you might get on the dining plan depends entirely on how you use it. (And the website is now advertising the dining plan as savings of up to 20%, not 30%.)

And no, they never offer discounts on the price of the dining plan itself. You can either pay for dining, or snag one of the free dining offers (with rack rate room plus tickets) if you are eligible for one.