Rack Rate vs Sale Rate - Free Dining?

[nic3456]

I can’t seem to find a clear answer. I know when Disney offers “free Dining” you have to pay rack rate for the rooms. But how much more is that than the typical rates? 50%, 100%,etc?

We are staying early Dec 2014 (2 adults, 2 kids under 9 ). I was going to use my starwood points and stay the Dolphin or Swan. But after looking at the rates it “appears” I could could say the Port Orleans for $200/night and get free dining (that isn't available at Swan/Dolphin)– which would mean the net cost of room would be $50/day (after removing the $150ish/day for Dining Plan)

Any thoughts or anything I’m missing? Thanks

 

[morethananyonex]

The rack rates are what Disney has listed on their site. I find a better place to look is here, it's much more user friendly than Disney's official site. I hope that answers your first question, rack rates are the advertised rates you see listed, although Disney frequently releases discounts like a % off the room rate and free dining.

You're absolutely right in your thinking. Free dining is a great deal at moderate resorts. If you would pay out of pocket to eat at a table service restaurant at least once a day, a quick service at least once a day and you don't plan on leaving property, free dining can be the best deal for you. It can be a great deal at deluxe resorts too depending on your family's eating habits, the room cost, other available discounts and the number of people in your party.

We've found that the easiest way to determine free dining's worth to our family is to multiply any available room discount by the rack rate and decide if we could feed everyone in our family the way we would like to at Disney on that amount per day. If it's too low, free dining is the way we go. In your case it's a little different since you'd be going for I would assume no to low cost on Starwood points otherwise, so it really depends on your eating habits and your hotel preferences.

ETA: I forgot to mention that I am 99% sure free dining requires you to purchase a package (room, tickets, and the free DDP) in order to be eligible. I think there's a minimum length of stay for free dining, someone else who knows the exact length can chime in. If you were planning on a shorter trip or already have tickets, free dining probably won't work for you.

 

[sharonabe]

PP is correct. Free dining requires room and tickets. The past few years the required ticket is a 2-day ticket for everyone in the room.

With two adults/ two kiddos, if free dining is offered, it will probably be your best discount.

 

[vinotinto]

I can’t seem to find a clear answer. I know when Disney offers “free Dining” you have to pay rack rate for the rooms. But how much more is that than the typical rates? 50%, 100%,etc?

We are staying early Dec 2014 (2 adults, 2 kids under 9 ). I was going to use my starwood points and stay the Dolphin or Swan. But after looking at the rates it “appears” I could could say the Port Orleans for $200/night and get free dining (that isn't available at Swan/Dolphin)– which would mean the net cost of room would be $50/day (after removing the $150ish/day for Dining Plan)

Any thoughts or anything I’m missing? Thanks

If you have a FD pin, you can call and price it out. If you don't have a pin, the issue is whether there will be FD offered in 2014 during your dates/resort.

For example, this year (2013), these were the dates FD was offered:
September 29 - October 2
October 18 - November 2
November 11 - 23
December 12 - 22

Also, in 2013, the following resorts were excluded:
Art of Animation, All Star Movies, Port Orleans French Quarter, Campsites at Ft. Wilderness, and 3-bedroom villas.

Also, while the dining plan has a Disney cost of $150/day for 2 adults and 2 kids, that does not mean that if you were to pay OOP, you would spend that amount. For example, you may decide to have water, have an appetizer, share an entree and share a dessert, and that is very different than what is included in the DDP. So you have to calculate if the DDP is worth it for your family.

 

[mousehappync]

Like others, I think free dining at a moderate resort is a great deal! Not so great if you are paying regular rates for a deluxe or upgrading to a regular dining plan at a value, though!

 

[nic3456]

Thanks for the info everyone. I consider myself to be pretty good at travel research, but this is my first time planning a disney trip and I am blown away by the mass of information/data on Disney! Its going to take me a while.

 

[TDC Nala]

You also can't be certain that a general public free dining offer will be made for your dates, unless you have already got a PIN offer. You'd have to wait until about July to find out for sure, based on past offers.

I'd think with a free room you would be WAY ahead on the deal even if you have to pay for all your dining (even buying the dining plan is not an option at the Swan/Dolphin).