By my calculations, the 'free kids' deals are often not the best deals going. It depends which resort - and what kind of other offers Disney is offering. Certainly, any discount is better than no discount. A common 'other' off is about 30% off regular rates. All 'regular' rates are a bit inflated by my calculations, so Disney pretty much PLANS to offer discounts. (Kind of like Macy's....)
Hotel rooms for kids are already 'free.' (once you are already paying for the resort room adult.) Food for kids 3-9 are only about $12-13 per day with dining plan. If you have a junior (ages 10 - 17), then dining for them is about $46 - 48 per day -
Free dining for junios adds up quickly, but not as quickly for kids under 9. Week-long base tickets for kids run about $240 (slightly less if you buy from
Undercover Tourist,
AAA, or another reliable vendor). Add $55 for hopping. If you have two kids under nine, and are staying for a week, free park tickets adds up to about $480. (base tickes with no hopping or water parks)
However, if you are staying deluxe, where rack rates can be around $500 plus 12.5% tax per night - then 30% off room rates offer adds up to a bigger discount very quickly - $168 per day. For a week, $168 x 7 = $1175. In some seasons and for some rooms rates can be as low as the $375+tax range. (so a $375 room would actually be more like $421. The savings (30% off) would be $126 per night, or $882 per week)
Moderate rates run about $190+tax, or about $214 per night. A 30% off deal would save about $64 per day, or $450 per week. In which case the free kids deal could be a slightly better deal, if you've got two kids in the 3-9 age range and were planning on gettgin the
DDP or buying tickets via WDW - but the various discount offers are usually somewhat of a tossup.
Values run between $100- 150 per night, or $112 - $170 A 30% off deal would give you $34 - $50 off per night, or up to $350 per week. so in that case, fixed offers like free kids or free dining usually work out to be the biggest discount.