To dine for free or to stay cool? That is the question...

[Letsbgoofy]

Have you thought about renting DVC points? That way you would have a full kitchen and much lower food costs.

 

[disneyjunkie]

That being said I was still tempted to enjoy the free dining plan. Here's the kicker though. The cooler months are value season for the hotels. I know I am saving over $100/day staying when its cool instead of the peak months so the extra $100 I will spend on food is offset by the $100 I am saving on the hotel. In my opinion it will probably even out in the end so its all about preference.

The room rates are the same price during the cooler months as they are during the free dining period. Free dining starts when the season change from regular to value.

For the value resorts, I believe value season Starts August 5 or August 13 next year.

It doesn't matter if you travel in August, September, first week of October( )November-mid December, or January-Feb.14, the rack rates are the same.

I think most of October and some of November are regular season.

 

[kaysmommie]

I thought the dining plan was great , but it was so hot and humid in September. Dh and I agreed not totake the free dining next time and go over the Christmas holidays next time. It was so hot. Don't get me wrong free dining is the best deal, DH thought so too. He is a cheap skate but with free dining I got him to spend $800 more to stay at Poly over wL this trip. I would also love to rent points and stay at OKW or BCV next trip and just buy the dining plan.

 

[mama2ella]

we went in Sept one year I will not go back then...it was so hot that it ruined the trip. I would rather pay more and go when it's cool

 

[jcemom]

Although I'm not a big fan of the DDP (if I'm paying for it), since you stay Value I'd take the free DDP and go in September. Stay the extra couple of nights with your savings. Plan to be at the parks for opening, take a break midday when it's hottest, and head back to the parks in the evening. You might even consider using some of your TS credits for lunch to get a break from the heat. Plan to do the longer air-conditioned attractions when it's hottest out (3D movies, etc).

Room only discounts on Value resorts are generally only around 15.00 per night when they're offered. So, even if you were able to get one, that's not nearly the savings you'll realize with free dining. I'd look at it this way, since you'll only be paying about 15.00 extra per night on your room (assuming you could have gotten a discount to begin with), once you've eaten more than 15.00 in food you're ahead each day.

If you don't want to do TS each night, don't. You're still getting a great value, no? How about booking Hoop De Doo Review or some other 2-credit meal? A night out with DH at a Signature Dining restaurant? Something you wouldn't normally budget for.

When we pay for the DDP we (meaning most of us) are constantly looking for the best value for our money...dinner instead of that character breakfast, for example. We went during free dining last year and it was great not worrying about what we were or weren't spending. It was only DS and I, so with just the two of us we didn't get as much 'free dining value' as a family of four, but it far exceeded the 15.00/night AP discount I gave up on our room. KWIM?

 

[momofbuzzfan]

We are staying at PC this December. There are 2A and 2C (3&7). We are paying $1710 ($1100 without dining) for 6 nocs, 7 day MYW base ticket, and dining. I plugged in some dates in Sept. for 6 nocs(3-9), 7 day MYW ticket and no dining (since we are seeing what it would be free) and it came to $1376. The difference is $334. Having had experience with both the free dining and going when it is cooler I would much rather go when it is cooler. Plus after thankgiving the Christmas decorations are up and it is just beautiful! It is our favorite time to go! IMO It is worth the extra couple hundred dollars to be comfortable. Afterall I usually don't have much of an appetite to enjoy the free dining when it is soooo hot and humid!

 

[coastgirl]

If you're going for 10 days, have you considered an AP? (For at least one member of your party, we bought one for dh.) Then you can get the DDE for $60, which I think is a good value (20% off most TS and a few CS). Plus the AP room rates, which are a bit of a crap shoot, but we are getting CBR for under $100/nt (not incl tax) in the Jan value season.

I am considerign the free dining option, as we will be there in January (if they extend the book-before-you-go-home thing), but really, we don't eat that way, so we're probably better off with the flexibility of DDE.

Our only trip so far was in May/June, and while we did ok with the heat (it's not my foremost memory, which is a good sign), it did waste a LOT of time on needed breaks and fatigue. But that's us.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[tiki23]

We just got back on Saturday and paid for the DDP. The weather was awesome! There were a couple of nights that we really needed a jacket and one or two times that the humidity was high for us - oh, and one evening and into the next morning it rained like crazy! - but having been to Florida in September before, I'll take the cooler temps of November, December and January.

The crowd levels were low, too. The longest we waited for anything, including the busses, was 15 minutes.

I loved the freedom of the DDP, being able to order whatever we wanted without worrying about the cost, but dang, it was way too much food, expecially for lunch. Well actually, my teenagers never had a problem with the amount of food. LOL I'm torn on whether I would have the DDP again because we spent so much time rushing to ADR's and then actually eating. The table service meals did provide a really nice break for us though, because we never took a break from the parks. Try as I might, my family just is not early risers so we got to the parks around 10-11 AM and stayed all day.

So after all that being said (my, how I do run on! ) for us it would be cooler temps and lower crowds rather than free dining.

 

[neatokimmo]

If it helps any, we stayed at the Pop in Sept during free dining - 2 adults with free dining with non-hopper tickets was $958 for 2 people for 6 nights/days (stayed offsite the night before). The $20 we could of saved by waiting for a code wouldn't of covered our lunches.

 

[lori1043]

your my kind of WDW'er!!! This is about our budget each time we have gone!