Tips for first time free dining packages. Getting the most out of your dining experience

[Tmesser]

This will be the second time my family has reserved the free dining plan... Here are some personal experience tips I recommend if this is your first time

1. Make sure you take advantage of the free refills in the resort area's. We usually filled our mug up with coffee every morning before we hit the parks.
2. Book your reservation for sit down meals 180 days out because these fill up very fast.
3. Take advantage of the character Dining with your dining credits. This can save you so much time waiting in line at the parks to get your books signed.
4. Research what items are available with snack credits and what location they are... We wasted a ton of snack credits on small items not knowing that Disney offers some great snacks for the same credit
5. Research what lunch item to buy.. This is another area you can take advantage of the best bang for your buck.. Some lunch places offer better/more food for the same amount of lunch credit.


Research and try to be as organized as possible... If anyone else has tips I would love to hear them.

 

[Marionnette]

This will be the second time my family has reserved the free dining plan... Here are some personal experience tips I recommend if this is your first time

1. Make sure you take advantage of the free refills in the resort area's. We usually filled our mug up with coffee every morning before we hit the parks.
2. Book your reservation for sit down meals 180 days out because these fill up very fast.
3. Take advantage of the character Dining with your dining credits. This can save you so much time waiting in line at the parks to get your books signed.
4. Research what items are available with snack credits and what location they are... We wasted a ton of snack credits on small items not knowing that Disney offers some great snacks for the same credit
5. Research what lunch item to buy.. This is another area you can take advantage of the best bang for your buck.. Some lunch places offer better/more food for the same amount of lunch credit.


Research and try to be as organized as possible... If anyone else has tips I would love to hear them.

My advice:

• You're there for the theme parks and not the food. Make them your primary focus.
• Eat whatever you want, when you want.
• Remind yourself often that you already got this food for *free*, so don't over-complicate things by trying to get the very most from your credits at every meal.
• Enjoy your trip!

 

[Tmesser]

My advice:

• You're there for the theme parks and not the food. Make them your primary focus.
• Eat whatever you want, when you want.
• Remind yourself often that you already got this food for *free*, so don't over-complicate things by trying to get the very most from your credits at every meal.
• Enjoy your trip!

Yea I agree you do already have the food for free but your paying full price for theme park tickets and hotel. So for your free food your not getting any discounts on hotel/tickets like they usually offer.

I enjoy the dining and the experience so rather than bringing zero to the conversation like you did about enjoying your dining package you should just ignore my topic. It would be better off to take the discounted rooms or ticket promo's than the free dining if you really aren't worry about getting the perks with it

 

[Marionnette]

Yea I agree you do already have the food for free but your paying full price for theme park tickets and hotel. So for your free food your not getting any discounts on hotel/tickets like they usually offer.

I enjoy the dining and the experience so rather than bringing zero to the conversation like you did about enjoying your dining package you should just ignore my topic. It would be better off to take the discounted rooms or ticket promo's than the free dining if you really aren't worry about getting the perks with it

You also paid rack rate for your room.

You can dismiss my comments if you wish, however, enjoying the theme parks and your vacation is very important in my book, as opposed to running about trying to maximize your QS and TS credits because location A has a better deal than location B, or stressing out because your child wants a PB&J from the American Pavilion instead of the awesome Shawarma platter in Morocco that takes the same number of credits. Yes, it's a good idea to be informed about what is available to you under the dining plans, but it is equally important to remember that you've spent a pile of money on tickets to visit the theme parks.

And FWIW, if you're going in Sept. or early-to-mid Oct., you're already inside of the 180-day window for TS and probably have missed out on many of the prime TS reservations unless you secured them prior to booking your *free* dining.

 

[xlsm]

Yea I agree you do already have the food for free but your paying full price for theme park tickets and hotel. So for your free food your not getting any discounts on hotel/tickets like they usually offer.

I enjoy the dining and the experience so rather than bringing zero to the conversation like you did about enjoying your dining package you should just ignore my topic. It would be better off to take the discounted rooms or ticket promo's than the free dining if you really aren't worry about getting the perks with it

the pp DID bring something to the conversation, honestly. You both have good points, your priorities are just different.

We don't find the dining plan to be of value to us on our normal trips, and were planning to pay full price for everything on our week-before-Christmas trip this year, so free dining is just a bonus that people will probably think we're "wasting". But I spend so much time and effort planning our Disney trips and making sure we have our ADRs, that I don't want the extra work of adding up my costs to get the best deal - I've done that a long time ago to determine we won't be dining plan people on a regular basis. Having free dining this go around is just a nice surprise.

Your suggestions were very helpful to people who are looking to have that kind of experience, but the PP's suggestions will be helpful to others who need to know it doesn't have to be extra work, or a stressful experience. You asked for people to give advice for first timers on the dining plan, and not everyone is going to have the same advice.

 

[Tmesser]

You also paid rack rate for your room.

You can dismiss my comments if you wish, however, enjoying the theme parks and your vacation is very important in my book, as opposed to running about trying to maximize your QS and TS credits because location A has a better deal than location B, or stressing out because your child wants a PB&J from the American Pavilion instead of the awesome Shawarma platter in Morocco that takes the same number of credits. Yes, it's a good idea to be informed about what is available to you under the dining plans, but it is equally important to remember that you've spent a pile of money on tickest to visit the theme parks.

And FWIW, if you're going in Sept. or early-to-mid Oct., you're already inside of the 180-day window for TS and probably have missed out on many of the prime TS reservations unless you secured them prior to booking your *free* dining.

Yea but my question was about tips for getting the most out of your dining plan and you added no value to what is ways to get the most out of your dining plan. We have different views and I'm a person who would rather get a massive snack the entire family can enjoy rather than a coffee from my snack credit like I did in the past.. I was looking for tips on dining plan on how to get the most out of it not your opinion on you shouldn't really care about the dinning plan. Once again you brought nothing to my question I ask

 

[wendow]

OP, I disagree with you that @Marionnette brought nothing to the conversation. She is trying to point out that in the midst of trying to maximize the dining plan that you got for "free", don't forget to relax, have fun, eat what you want (not necessarily most $$ item on menu) and enjoy the theme parks themselves. She may not agree with you on the value of 'free' dining but her points are good ones as well.

 

[Tmesser]

the pp DID bring something to the conversation, honestly. You both have good points, your priorities are just different.

We don't find the dining plan to be of value to us on our normal trips, and were planning to pay full price for everything on our week-before-Christmas trip this year, so free dining is just a bonus that people will probably think we're "wasting". But I spend so much time and effort planning our Disney trips and making sure we have our ADRs, that I don't want the extra work of adding up my costs to get the best deal - I've done that a long time ago to determine we won't be dining plan people on a regular basis. Having free dining this go around is just a nice surprise.

Your suggestions were very helpful to people who are looking to have that kind of experience, but the PP's suggestions will be helpful to others who need to know it doesn't have to be extra work, or a stressful experience. You asked for people to give advice for first timers on the dining plan, and not everyone is going to have the same advice.

Yea I agree but doing some I guess my point was to do some research on items available with snack and dining credits. I'm not saying to be across the park and make a B-line to a snack item since your hungry. If you know what location has some great deal on snack and if your in the vicinity its worth going there.. I think the big thing with snack credit is to know what you have and use them. We ended up spending all our credits we didn't use for the week coming out of the park the last night. My point starting the topic was to inform travelers they are perks to the free dining and you will be much happier getting the max out of those instead of leaving the park realizing you left 10 snacks un used.

 

[Marionnette]

Yea but my question was about tips for getting the most out of your dining plan and you added no value to what is ways to get the most out of your dining plan. We have different views and I'm a person who would rather get a massive snack the entire family can enjoy rather than a coffee from my snack credit like I did in the past.. I was looking for tips on dining plan on how to get the most out of it not your opinion on you shouldn't really care about the dinning plan. Once again you brought nothing to my question I ask

Then I strongly suggest that you visit the Free Dining discussion on the restaurant board. They have a full list of the items that are available for a snack credit and whether you can exchange QS or TS credits for snack credits. I've found that the people who post there are masters at getting the most dollar value for their credits.

But I prefer to look at packages like these through a wide-angle lens instead of a microscope. You paid for a complete package...room, tickets and food. I prefer to consider each of those components when I plan a Disney trip. I can get cheap, bad food anywhere. I can only ride Space Mountain at Disney.

 

[xlsm]

Yea I agree but doing some I guess my point was to do some research on items available with snack and dining credits. I'm not saying to be across the park and make a B-line to a snack item since your hungry. If you know what location has some great deal on snack and if your in the vicinity its worth going there.. I think the big thing with snack credit is to know what you have and use them. We ended up spending all our credits we didn't use for the week coming out of the park the last night. My point starting the topic was to inform travelers they are perks to the free dining and you will be much happier getting the max out of those instead of leaving the park realizing you left 10 snacks un used.

If you click edit on your first post, in the upper right you will see a thing that says "edit title" or something similar to that. To get more of the responses you're seeking, you might want to change your title to something like "tips for first time FD users to maximize credits" or something. Otherwise, you're probably going to get more responses that don't fit in line with your way of thinking.

I hope you enjoy your vacation and welcome to the Dis boards!

 

[Tmesser]

Then I strongly suggest that you visit the Free Dining discussion on the restaurant board. They have a full list of the items that are available for a snack credit and whether you can exchange QS or TS credits for snack credits. I've found that the people who post there are masters at getting the most dollar value for their credits.

But I prefer to look at packages like these through a wide-angle lens instead of a microscope. You paid for a complete package...room, tickets and food. I prefer to consider each of those components when I plan a Disney trip. I can get cheap, bad food anywhere. I can only ride Space Mountain at Disney.

Well didn't know I was talking about the entire package... I was talking about dining and thats the only thing the topic was started about... If I said I would like to hear your thoughts about the entire package and how to maximize everything in your vacation that would be different. I was talking about maximizing your dining experience and tips. Like I said you bought ZERO thx

 

[Marionnette]

Well didn't know I was talking about the entire package... I was talking about dining and thats the only thing the topic was started about... If I said I would like to hear your thoughts about the entire package and how to maximize everything in your vacation that would be different. I was talking about maximizing your dining experience and tips. Like I said you bought ZERO thx

I brought "zero" in your opinion. Your asked for tips for first-timers. Those are MY tips for first-timers. This is a discussion board. Not everyone thinks with the same brain. IMO, a first-timer should remember why they are traveling to Disney in the first place. It's not for the turkey legs and Dole whips.

 

[Tmesser]

I brought "zero" in your opinion. Your asked for tips for first-timers. Those are MY tips for first-timers. This is a discussion board. Not everyone thinks with the same brain. IMO, a first-timer should remember why they are traveling to Disney in the first place. It's not for the turkey legs and Dole whips.

Yes Topic was starting about dining tips on how to get the most out of your dining. Like I said unless you can give me some advice on that please don't post your not doing anything but trolling. First time dining plans btw

 

[Vijoge]

It's not for the turkey legs and Dole whips.

Well, maybe for the Dole Whips lol

 

[Marionnette]

Yes Topic was starting about dining tips on how to get the most out of your dining. Like I said unless you can give me some advice on that please don't post your not doing anything but trolling. First time dining plans btw

Sorry, but this is a discussion board and not your personal blog. You cannot dictate who responds to a thread that you've started, nor censor their opinions because you don't agree with them.

 

[wendow]

Well, maybe for the Dole Whips lol

I used to agree with you but now we have several of these frozen yogurt/ice cream places around us that also have Dole Whips! Real dole whip!For a lot less $$ too. Kinda ruined that for me.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

My advice:

• You're there for the theme parks and not the food. Make them your primary focus.
• Eat whatever you want, when you want.
• Remind yourself often that you already got this food for *free*, so don't over-complicate things by trying to get the very most from your credits at every meal.
• Enjoy your trip!

I have to agree.

 

[ellie05]

I am going to have to agree with marionette. I think for first timers it will be a waste of time to plan around food! Disney is know for its theme parks the food is just there because is necessary. Not exactly gourmet or out of this world.

The best tip will be not to get carry away by the free dinning offer and actually crunch the numbers, we never found it to be a savings for us.

 

[wendow]

The best tip will be not to get carry away by the free dinning offer and actually crunch the numbers, we never found it to be a savings for us.

Same. I have crunched the numbers every single trip (we always go when FD is offered) and it's never once been a better deal for us. But I know many others love it and won't go unless they get the FD offer.

 

[Tmesser]

Same. I have crunched the numbers every single trip (we always go when FD is offered) and it's never once been a better deal for us. But I know many others love it and won't go unless they get the FD offer.

Yea I have never really tried to compare each deal by numbers (30% off rooms ect)... I really enjoyed the free dining and personally the much needed table sit down to take a break from the park for an hour or so. You could probably come out ahead though taking a different discount and eating on a budget