RO vs. FD

[mom2AidanAndEli]

I know this has been debated before, but I'm still curious. I'm a huge fan of the Free Dining for our family. But I've heard people on DIS tell me that I'm crazy to pay rack rates, that FD is only for "suckers", that it's just a gimmick and isn't really free, that it's a bad deal no matter what. I disagree but no one ever seems to follow up their comments with an actual fact-based argument.

I do agree that for a couple staying at a deluxe resort, the RO may turn out better. But for our family of four (DS11 and DS13) who stays at moderate or value, the FD is a HUGE savings.

So I just checked it out using the new spring discount, just to see if I was getting "suckered" as so many claim. Here's what I found...

POR, garden room, 6 nights, 7 day base tickets. Same exact thing for both scenarios.

If I were to pay rack rate for both tickets and room, and get free dining, my package would be $2700. That would include pretty much all food for the whole week, since we buy very, very, very little out of pocket beyond the dining plan.

Now, if instead I took advantage of the RO discount and 7th day free ticket, my total would be $2313. Subtracting that from the rack rate leaves me exactly $387 to feed my family of four at Disney for 7 days. Would love to see how that could happen!

So for our family, the FD is BY FAR a better deal.

But for all the naysayers, please explain to me how the RO works out better and how I'm a sucker for "paying" for FD. Would love to hear the argument!

I know there are many that say it totally depends on your individual circumstances and I agree 100%. But there are others who flat-out, across the board say FD is a bad deal. Those are the people I'd love to hear the explanation from.

 

[aaarcher86]

Lots of people just don't like the dining plan. It works for a lot of people, particularly in a situation like yours.

Don't worry about the people who,say you're crazy! What works for one person doesn't work for another.

 

[black562]

Free dining is almost always the better deal for values and moderates. The money you save for a room discount isn't nearly enough to feed you for the day.

However, typically the room discount does bed up being the better deal when looking at a deluxe resort, due to saving quite a bit more. It's a larger percentage off of a higher priced room.

These things aside, don't listen to the naysayers and always do the math. You know how much you eat and what it takes to feed you for each day.

 

[mickeynut1]

Don't worry about the people who,say you're crazy! What works for one person doesn't work for another.

don't listen to the naysayers and always do the math. You know how much you eat and what it takes to feed you for each day.

 

[Shaden]

It also depends on the number of people going, for us its just my wife and I ... Free dining saves us much much less than it does if you have a family of 4 Disney "adults"

Even ROs at Moderates are generally a better deal for us.

You also have to calculate what you actually spend on food, rather then what you get on the dining plan. People like to argue they get x, y, and z on the DP, and therefore saved x amount of $$$.

In actuality they only saved the amount of money of the food they actually eat, or would have eaten if not on the DP.

A family of four at Disney for 7 days on less than $400 ... that's tough to do, so its pretty obvious that FD would be a better deal in your case.

 

[wdwmaw]

We FREE DINING and just about can't go with any other option. We like to spend at least 12 nights when we go and enjoy the eating. In my planning for our upcoming trip I added up what food will cost if we don't get free dining and came to $ 2200. That is for the cheapest thing on the menu at 8 places instead of 12 with free dining, water, and no dessert, no snacks (going during F&W so that's gonna be a hit), and one $10 counter service (figured we could eat cheap and would cover some snacks) each per day for 5 adults since my DD and her 2 friends will be considered adults. I priced out a room with 3 of us for the new promotion released today, we will need 2 rooms for this trip. My mom will pay for her room//food and DD friends will pay for their tickets and without FD we will need to cover the cost of their food, so this food thing is a big issue for us this trip. I priced out standard rooms for 12 nights, 10 day WP/Hopper ticket, and included dining plan in the new offer just for comparison.
POP with new discount- $5069.91
CBR with room/tickets to book like free dining - $ 4001.70
WL with new discount - $ 6686.31

I don't understand either how anyone can just not see the value in FD, at least for us it does not make sense for 2 adults/1 teen. Even if I booked room/tickets and went with $2200 food estimate I still can't beat FD offer.

 

[black562]

We FREE DINING and just about can't go with any other option. We like to spend at least 12 nights when we go and enjoy the eating. In my planning for our upcoming trip I added up what food will cost if we don't get free dining and came to $ 2200. That is for the cheapest thing on the menu at 8 places instead of 12 with free dining, water, and no dessert, no snacks (going during F&W so that's gonna be a hit), and one $10 counter service (figured we could eat cheap and would cover some snacks) each per day for 5 adults since my DD and her 2 friends will be considered adults. I priced out a room with 3 of us for the new promotion released today, we will need 2 rooms for this trip. My mom will pay for her room//food and DD friends will pay for their tickets and without FD we will need to cover the cost of their food, so this food thing is a big issue for us this trip. I priced out standard rooms for 12 nights, 10 day WP/Hopper ticket, and included dining plan in the new offer just for comparison.
POP with new discount- $5069.91
CBR with room/tickets to book like free dining - $ 4001.70
WL with new discount - $ 6686.31

I don't understand either how anyone can just not see the value in FD, at least for us it does not make sense for 2 adults/1 teen. Even if I booked room/tickets and went with $2200 food estimate I still can't beat FD offer.

I've seen some people who really eat on the cheap on vacation. As for me, part of a vacation for me is eating different things than I can get at home. I always eat dessert with every meal and I always get the best entrees I can (fillet instead of sirloin, etc...). Many times, even on the dining plan, I order an appetizer as well, which is out of pocket.

If I paid out of pocket for my food, it would be outrageous. I much prefer the benefit of knowing I don't have to worry about my bill (except for appetizer), plus being able to just grab snacks at a whim.

 

[nervous1sttimer]

I like FD, so you're not going to get an argument from me - but we are going Feb 20-Mar 1st and staying in a 1BD villa at OKW. Regular nightly price is $600, so our 35% discount saves us $210 PER NIGHT. Over 9 nights, we're just shy of $1900.

We are two adults and two young kids who do a ton of character meals and signature restaurants, so I find DDP to be at least a break-even value for us.

But you can't tell me that we wouldn't be able to eat well - even if not as extravagantly as we will with DDP - for $1900. I know why some people don't like FD and I can see how it would be a bad deal.

 

[wdwmaw]

I've seen some people who really eat on the cheap on vacation. As for me, part of a vacation for me is eating different things than I can get at home. I always eat dessert with every meal and I always get the best entrees I can (fillet instead of sirloin, etc...). Many times, even on the dining plan, I order an appetizer as well, which is out of pocket.

If I paid out of pocket for my food, it would be outrageous. I much prefer the benefit of knowing I don't have to worry about my bill (except for appetizer), plus being able to just grab snacks at a whim.

Exactly!!!!

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[Disneylover99]

Our family of four went to Disney for three nights this past October. It was the first time not having free dining. We were kind of excited to try it out. It cost us about $100 per day to eat and we shared all of our meals and snacks, ordered cheaper meals, just asked for water - so no pop or other drinks.

Well with the RO discounts we would not be able to save $100 per night at a value or moderate. Plus we were watching every dime and not choosing to eat what we really wanted. So the reality is if we really ordered what we wanted, it would probably cost us about $150 per day to eat.

So for our family it's a no-brainer......free dining wins hands down.

 

[KNovacovschi]

I've seen some people who really eat on the cheap on vacation. As for me, part of a vacation for me is eating different things than I can get at home. I always eat dessert with every meal and I always get the best entrees I can (fillet instead of sirloin, etc...). Many times, even on the dining plan, I order an appetizer as well, which is out of pocket.

If I paid out of pocket for my food, it would be outrageous. I much prefer the benefit of knowing I don't have to worry about my bill (except for appetizer), plus being able to just grab snacks at a whim.

This is us exactly. I like my desserts and my DH likes his appetizers so for us the dining plan just makes sense.

 

[wdwmaw]

I like FD, so you're not going to get an argument from me - but we are going Feb 20-Mar 1st and staying in a 1BD villa at OKW. Regular nightly price is $600, so our 35% discount saves us $210 PER NIGHT. Over 9 nights, we're just shy of $1900.

We are two adults and two young kids who do a ton of character meals and signature restaurants, so I find DDP to be at least a break-even value for us.

But you can't tell me that we wouldn't be able to eat well - even if not as extravagantly as we will with DDP - for $1900. I know why some people don't like FD and I can see how it would be a bad deal.

DDP would cost you $1396 for the 4 of you, great savings on the room. Happy Eating

 

[Darcy5288]

In my experience, FD is offered to help sell rooms that are a little more expensive. I've stayed twice with FD and have the elusive pin code for next month. Without the pin code, I had to book the Royal Guest Rooms at POR, which run roughly $40/night more. So a discount on a less expensive room is usually significantly less per night than the full price of an upgraded room.

It was still a good deal because we took advantage of character meals that we wouldn't have paid out of pocket for and thought less of costs. Each meal ends with "Wow! We got all this for free?"

In total costs we probably saved less than $200, but we ate like kings!

 

[wdwmaw]

In my experience, FD is offered to help sell rooms that are a little more expensive. I've stayed twice with FD and have the elusive pin code for next month. Without the pin code, I had to book the Royal Guest Rooms at POR, which run roughly $40/night more. So a discount on a less expensive room is usually significantly less per night than the full price of an upgraded room.

It was still a good deal because we took advantage of character meals that we wouldn't have paid out of pocket for and thought less of costs. Each meal ends with "Wow! We got all this for free?"

In total costs we probably saved less than $200, but we ate like kings!

We have stayed in a standard room with FD every year, sometimes twice a year, since free dining was started. We have have enjoyed FD in June, August, September, October, and December and have always had our choice of standard rooms at the resort we wanted for 12-14 nights each stay. I have noticed a cut back in the standard room offerings and even resort offerings but I think that more of an inventory issue, why would they discount a room that's already booked?

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[buzznina]

You are not crazy and it is not for suckers This is how it does not always work for our family. Our favorite resort level are the Mods and when we do a trip and do a couple of character meals FD works best. But, DW and 2 DD's do not eat a lot. Example: Cosmic Rays(our DD's favorite) we will get 2 half chicken meals for $20 and that feeds the 4 of us, and I do not skimp on eating The biggest thing for us is that we do not like doing many TS meals, because it doubles the time it takes to eat. Like some PP mentioned, TS dinning is an important part of their vacation and for us its just not.

 

[Maggie Lizer]

This is actually the first trip I will be going on for which FD would work out to be a slightly better deal for me than RO. When it was just my husband and I, our eating patterns didn't lend themselves to maximizing the value of the dining plan. We like our drinks with dinner, and prefer appetizers over desserts. Also, we tend to graze rather than eat full meals with desserts for QS.

Now, with 2 kids, once the younger one is 3, FD is definitely a much better deal for us (we always stay moderate-level) than RO. For our trip this spring, FD would likley be a slightly better deal, but so far no pins or FD offers, so RO it is.

 

[wendybeth75]

It totally makes sense for my family as well. We are 2 adults and 2 (kids)Disney Adults. We typically stay at POR so FD is much bigger than RO. My kids love knowing they are "allowed" to order the most expensive thing on the menu. That being said, we stayed at the Poly in October on the rundisney discount and it came out a better deal than the FD did. That was different than a RO as the tickets had a slight discount as well. We ended up paying for the DDP because we were so used to having it and it is such a relief for me knowing it is paid for. It fits our style of eating and with the mugs going up in price it made sense for us. It doesnt make sense for everyone though.

 

[morethananyonex]

The attitude towards free dining on these boards is annoying. Free dining can be by far the better deal in some situations, just like room discounts can be by far the better deal in others. It always depends on your party size, desired eating habits and hotel cost. The only right answer to the which is better question is that there is no right answer. Some people can't seem to understand that.

For my family personally, free dining is a better deal compared to room discounts (going up to 35% for deluxe & villas) when the rack rate is about $800 a night. We are a party of 6 with 5 Disney adults. We could save money taking the room discount instead and changing our eating habits, but IMO the question isn't can you feed your family on the amount per day the room discount provides, it's do you want to? We eat at expensive TS restaurants that are 1 credit on the DDP. We eat there because we want to, not because the DDP forces us to. For our family, we would choose to eat similarly on the DDP and off (if money was no object) therefore, our break even point for FD is fairly high.

If you are 4 Disney adults in a standard room, even at a deluxe and eat at at least 1 TS a day, FD will generally be a much better deal. The only exceptions may be Poly and GF. If the goal is to save the most money possible, FD probably isn't a great deal (unless you're talking 4 adults in a std moderate room) because you can save more packing food/eating QS OOP.

 

[bcbmommy]

I agree with this! We are a family of 6, as well, with 5 of us considered Disney adults. We have outgrown our one room at BC, so we are going with a 2-bedroom BC Villa. I can't use my 35 percent PIN code there, but can use the free dining. For us, it's really a wash. Even if I could use the RO discount, it's about the same as FD because of our family size and ages. Yes, we could get by without the dining plan, since there's a kitchen, but that isn't a vacation to me.

The attitude towards free dining on these boards is annoying. Free dining can be by far the better deal in some situations, just like room discounts can be by far the better deal in others. It always depends on your party size, desired eating habits and hotel cost. The only right answer to the which is better question is that there is no right answer. Some people can't seem to understand that.

For my family personally, free dining is a better deal compared to room discounts (going up to 35% for deluxe & villas) when the rack rate is about $800 a night. We are a party of 6 with 5 Disney adults. We could save money taking the room discount instead and changing our eating habits, but IMO the question isn't can you feed your family on the amount per day the room discount provides, it's do you want to? We eat at expensive TS restaurants that are 1 credit on the DDP. We eat there because we want to, not because the DDP forces us to. For our family, we would choose to eat similarly on the DDP and off (if money was no object) therefore, our break even point for FD is fairly high.

If you are 4 Disney adults in a standard room, even at a deluxe and eat at at least 1 TS a day, FD will generally be a much better deal. The only exceptions may be Poly and GF. If the goal is to save the most money possible, FD probably isn't a great deal (unless you're talking 4 adults in a std moderate room) because you can save more packing food/eating QS OOP.

 

[nansmama]

RO discount is pretty much always a better deal for my daughter and I, especially if staying for more than a few days. We just don't eat enough to justify the dining plan. We can easily share a Disney-sized meal or even a snack. We also don't eat out much at home, so aren't used to the rich food at most Disney restaurants/quick service stands. We always order groceries if we're staying more than five days, so that we have something healthy and familiar to eat. This also has the effect of cutting food costs, but that's not why we do it. We do it because if we eat only Disney food (or any restaurant/fast food) for more than a few days in a row, we feel gross.

I'm not saying people are wrong for taking free dining. I'm sure it's a better deal for people who stay value and like to eat out a lot. But you did ask to hear from people for whom the RO discount is always better. That would be us.