Man, why'd they have to release Free Dining?

[sparkyboy]

Just remember, even when it's advertised as Free, it really isn't. Wouldn't trade the bathrooms and condo size for "free food".

 

[MomofLogan&Evan]

I too was on the phone this morning comparing prices between staying onsite and offsite. I even have a reservation on hold until I talk it over with my husband. We are a family of 5 - (ages 6, 4, and 3 1/2 months). We are originally scheduled to stay at Marriott Horizons for 5 days then switch to Buena Vista Suites for 3 more nights. I was trying to compare what it would cost to move to the Carribbean Beach instead of buena vista. It's about a $400 difference.

Now I'm trying to decide if we would spend more than $400 on food for 4 (well really 3 1/2) days. Buena vista offers free breakfast, so we would only be paying for qs for lunch and then a ts for dinner. It comes out about even - we'll be paying $400 either way!

Plus BVS has a living room which might be good to have with a young infant!

WWYD? Stay onsite for the "magic" or stay at Buena Vista Suites???

 

[Brian Noble]

I only have two kids. I consider a 2BR unit "just right", a 1BR unit "a tight squeeze" and a regular hotel room "one night, maybe two, tops." All things being equal, I do prefer staying onsite, but a hotel room is not equal to a two-room suite. Different people have different preferences, but I'm just not that interested in hotel rooms. Ever.

I think the word "Free" is what's getting me. It's like "Hey, they're giving away something for free, I should take it, right?" But for our family, "free" is not better.

This comes up a lot in the comparison between onsite and off. "Free" parking. "Free" transportation. Sure, they're all "free". But, what matters to me is the total bottom-line cost. Normally, one can get a well-located 2BR unit, plus pay for a rental car and theme park parking, for about the same cost as a single Moderate room, and often a little bit less.

 

[floydfamily4]

I too was on the phone this morning comparing prices between staying onsite and offsite. I even have a reservation on hold until I talk it over with my husband. We are a family of 5 - (ages 6, 4, and 3 1/2 months). We are originally scheduled to stay at Marriott Horizons for 5 days then switch to Buena Vista Suites for 3 more nights. I was trying to compare what it would cost to move to the Carribbean Beach instead of buena vista. It's about a $400 difference.

Now I'm trying to decide if we would spend more than $400 on food for 4 (well really 3 1/2) days. Buena vista offers free breakfast, so we would only be paying for qs for lunch and then a ts for dinner. It comes out about even - we'll be paying $400 either way!

Plus BVS has a living room which might be good to have with a young infant!

WWYD? Stay onsite for the "magic" or stay at Buena Vista Suites???

I would skip the magic and go for the comfort The more I think about it the more I cannot fathom being comfortable with the 5 of us in a small space. Also, are you comparing apples with apples? When I compare oranges with oranges there is no comparison to Windsor Hills for me but I don't know what Buena Vista is like. Good luck!

 

[luvmyfam444]

don't know if yuou know about the suites they have now @ All stars - you should call & check it out - I think its at the music - they took 2 rooms & combined them -perfect for 5 & more folks & then I think Port Orlean holds more than 5 folks too.

Now in our case we stayed off prop ones & though the hotel was ok we didn't like the fact that the busses only ran scarcley so if you miss the bus you're out of luck!

also in our case we only crash in the hotel - we don't typically even swim - so wer're after the best deal

 

[luvmyfam444]

I too was on the phone this morning comparing prices between staying onsite and offsite. I even have a reservation on hold until I talk it over with my husband. We are a family of 5 - (ages 6, 4, and 3 1/2 months). We are originally scheduled to stay at Marriott Horizons for 5 days then switch to Buena Vista Suites for 3 more nights. I was trying to compare what it would cost to move to the Carribbean Beach instead of buena vista. It's about a $400 difference.

Now I'm trying to decide if we would spend more than $400 on food for 4 (well really 3 1/2) days. Buena vista offers free breakfast, so we would only be paying for qs for lunch and then a ts for dinner. It comes out about even - we'll be paying $400 either way!

Plus BVS has a living room which might be good to have with a young infant!

WWYD? Stay onsite for the "magic" or stay at Buena Vista Suites???

you can add a crib in the Allstars & still stay in there with 5 - we've actually stayed with 3 adults & 2 kids there - but again we're only there to sleep - but if you add a crib then everyone has a bed

 

[Gr8t Fan]

OP - are you going to be cooking some serious meals in your rental? If so, FD would win out for me because there's no cooking involved, no matter how small the room is. Vacation is not a vacation for me if I have to cook like I do at home. If you're just planning on an occasional sandwich here and there, take-out or a few breakfasts, then I'd stick to your guns and stay offsite.

 

[Hasil72]

When this was released, I struggled for a bit over what to do. For our family, it makes more sense to keep our 4BR WH villa in November even with the added cost of renting a car.

MomofLogan& Evan, some things you may want to consider...how late are the parks open during your stay?, will you be taking breaks or touring commando style?, and how old are your kids? Most of the parks close early (6 or 7), other than Epcot, during our stay so we look forward to swimming and relaxing in our own space when we get back to our villa. Our last trip was when our DD was only 18 mos. and teething so it was a godsend to have another area to go with her if she was cranky or wide awake at 2am so she didn't wake my then 5 year old.

Good luck whatever you decide.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

Run the numbers with two value rooms. The ease and benefit of on-site is something to check out.

 

[Mic_E_Man]

We have always stayed off site and loved it. (One year for spring break in Windsor Hills, 5 bedroom house was less than $200 a night. Split that between two families, and you can't do low season value accomodations on-site.)

As far as the food goes, you are going to feed your family if you were at home, so go to the grocery store and shop for your stay in a similar fashion that you would at home. It will end up being a little more expensive because there may be some splurge purchases, but still better than DDP.

The cons include missing the extra park hours, and parking, and transportation to the parks, but at 10:30 sipping an adult beverage in the hot tub in the back yard while the cherubs are sleeping, it is WORTH it.

Sorry, but had to chime in, and of course IMHO.

 

[mnrose]

In our 6 br 5.5 bath house for a grand total of $1150 per week (ALL included, pool heat, taxes, cleaning, everything). There is simply no way that staying in two double beds compares to sleeping in all king beds, with the freedom and flexibility to have extra friends and family join us at the last minute.

Plus, I'm going as part of a "youth group" (DD is dancing in downtown Disney), and I'd be forced to give up our cushy "youth group" rates in favor of regular rates for my park hopper passes. That alone would cost us over $400 more for the three of us.

And, when we went in March, we had the DDP. It was a HUGE hassle planning all of our ADRs. Figuring out which parks on which date and then a touring plan that coincided with the times we were able to get for dining. Dining became the "focal point" as opposed to something one did as needed. Also, for us, with few exceptions, the food simply isn't that good.

For our return trip in October, I've made a single reservation for Tusker House in AK, because we very much enjoyed the lunch buffet. Other than that, the eating we will do "in the parks" will be counter service as necessary, and whenever we darn well please. LOL!

Don't give in. Frankly, it's not as attractive as they make it out to be. You end up paying for it with higher room rates. There is no such thing as a "free" meal!

 

[mnrose]

We have always stayed off site and loved it. The cons include missing the extra park hours, and parking, and transportation to the parks, but at 10:30 sipping an adult beverage in the hot tub in the back yard while the cherubs are sleeping, it is WORTH it.

Excellent point!

Also, I'll just say that I avoid EMHs AT ALL COSTS even when staying on-site. It's just too crowded. You can tour the other parks so much easier than the park with EMHs! Thus, EMH were never a selling point for on-site for me.

 

[MomofLogan&Evan]

Thanks everyone for the responses! I think we are staying put offsite. We have a 6 1/2 year old, a 4 year old, and we'll be taking our new 3 1/2 month old. God only knows how well he will sleep so having extra space (and a microwave to warm his bottles) overrides the free dining and staying onsite.

The parks close between 7-8, put we like to eat a late dinner, so we'll probably go to one of the resorts for dinner after the parks close, especially since we have a rental car. We are not rope drop people (we usually get to the parks around 10:30-11am) so staying all day is what we normally do. But things might be different this trip with a baby!

 

[powellrj]

Look at it this way, free dining really isn't free anymore because you have to add tips. Disney meals tend to be on the expensive side for what you get. By the time you add at least an 18% tip to your already expensive meal you may not really be paying that much more for your food. Eat breakfast in your room and you have saved even more.

The extra room is the main selling point for keeping off-site!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

I didn't waffle much when it came out b/c we are a family of 8 this trip and didn't want to cram into a hotel room with our teenagers...we wouldn't have saved anything, I think it was a 20$ difference when I crunched the numbers. BUT, I was annoyed b/c I purposely chose our dates so that we did NOT go during free dining b/c we have a TS reservation almost every day and didn't want to fight the free dining crowds.

Oh well, hopefully most people have booked for Sept. free dining and this won't make the restaurants overcrowded. I've already got all our ADRs and got everything we wanted!