Thinking about bounceback for free dining already

[TBGOES2DISNEY]

We've booked for free dining this fall - yay! I'm a little sad though b/c this may be our last time in a value unless we make it back in 2010 before our youngest's birthday. Assuming that they offer a free dining bounceback this fall for 2010, I thought I'd ask for opinions while everybody is running their numbers on their savings with free dining vs 40%. I know no code is certain, but once you have to go moderate b/c your family is too big for value, you're already paying a chunk more than values. Is is still a better deal to take free dining (as opposed to other offers, such as 40%) when you're a family of 5 at a moderate?

I'm just trying to figure out what we're going to do. I really don't want to have to resort to staying offsite! lol

 

[catne]

We've booked for free dining this fall - yay! I'm a little sad though b/c this may be our last time in a value unless we make it back in 2010 before our youngest's birthday. Assuming that they offer a free dining bounceback this fall for 2010, I thought I'd ask for opinions while everybody is running their numbers on their savings with free dining vs 40%. I know no code is certain, but once you have to go moderate b/c your family is too big for value, you're already paying a chunk more than values. Is is still a better deal to take free dining (as opposed to other offers, such as 40%) when you're a family of 5 at a moderate?

I'm just trying to figure out what we're going to do. I really don't want to have to resort to staying offsite! lol

If it's like last year, the only bounceback that was available during free dining was for free dining the next year...you didn't get the option of a percentage off like 40% bounceback. When we went last May and again this January, the bounceback offer in the room was for percentage off. But those offers actually were 20% off the values, 30% off mods & deluxes and the 40% offer was only for suites/villas (which are quite high priced to begin with!)

When your family becomes too big for values -- you might want to get two rooms at the values -- that's usually cheaper than getting one room at a moderate. If the kids are all minors, they will give you connected rooms. And you'd still get Free Dining that way, at a pretty good savings still - even at rack rate, two standard value rooms will be less than $200. And you'll have 4 beds & 2 bathrooms. Or you could book the All Star family suites on bounceback free dining (there's a limited number of those available)

 

[Colleen27]

Is is still a better deal to take free dining (as opposed to other offers, such as 40%) when you're a family of 5 at a moderate?

I'm just trying to figure out what we're going to do. I really don't want to have to resort to staying offsite! lol

The math is simple enough. Take the total amount of your dining plan cost per night and divide by .4 to see how much a room would have to cost for 40% off to be the better deal... Assuming all 3 of your kids are under 10, free dining will save you about $113 per night. For 40% off to be a better deal, you'd have to be looking at rooms with a rack rate higher than $282. So for all of you in one moderate room or in two value rooms, free dining is still the better deal.

 

[Brer Shay]

When your family becomes too big for values -- you might want to get two rooms at the values -- that's usually cheaper than getting one room at a moderate. If the kids are all minors, they will give you connected rooms. And you'd still get Free Dining that way, at a pretty good savings still - even at rack rate, two standard value rooms will be less than $200. And you'll have 4 beds & 2 bathrooms. Or you could book the All Star family suites on bounceback free dining (there's a limited number of those available)

We're a family of five. I've just run all sorts of numbers and have changed my reservation for two rooms at a value. Here's what I found - these are rack rate numbers because they're priced during the free dining promotion. They are all for eight nights with 9 days of base park tickets for two adults, three children - 10, 8, 5.

1 room at the Riverside (family of five) - $2,518.22
2 rooms at a value - $2,659.82
1 family suite at ASMusic - $2,840.62

It actually costs a bit more to have two rooms at a value, but you do have two rooms, twice as many beds, baths and floor space.

As I've run over the numbers, we save significantly more with free dining than with the 40% code unless we're going to a deluxe (which we've never done).