Unsure about free dining

[jordcamjae46]

I'm planning a trip to DisneyWorld in August during free dining. I currently have room only reservations at the BC with the 40% off pin. I'm so confused as whether to change to free dining. I have two kids (DD16 and DS11) that would be considered adults and are very light eaters. DD many times will just get an appetizer as her meal, and DS usually still eats off kids meals. We will have a car and on our last trip 2 years ago did travel off site to eat several times. I am planning on Chef Mickeys for a character breakfast and the dinner buffet at Cape May, but other than that nothing specific. Do you think it's worth it to go with the plan with the way the kids eat, or just keep the room only discount and pay out of pocket?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[jjohnson]

In your situation, I think you would be better off with the 40% off discount.

 

[1hero2princesses]

Well I had the 40% off code last year and compared it to the free dining offer. For us Free Dining saved more because we wanted to do a lot of character meals and the baby could eat free at all those buffets. For you it may not be if your kids are such light eaters. It is a a lot of time in sit down restaurants. I suggest you look at the menus on All Ears and get an idea of what you would order/spend on food. Then just do the math. Also, last year I actually called and talked it through with a CM (he just used the Disney estimate of how much food you are "saving" money on -which is the cost of the plan) for us the free dining was cheaper. It would definitely be cheaper to do the 40% off if you will do almost all counter service with light eaters because you are staying at a Deluxe.

 

[JoePa4Ever]

Usually free dining is best for value resorts instead of the 40% off code & vice versa. For instance, we had a 40% off code & are staying at Pop Century, but chose free dining instead because it saves us an extra $400-$500. Because the value resort rooms are fairly cheap, the 40% off code isn't as good as free dining. In your case, I would imagine that 40% off the BC room would be the better deal. Plus it seems like you are only planning a couple adrs at WDW - bear in mind, that during free dining you will definitely need to have adrs made ahead of time or risk having a difficult time finding places to eat (especially popular places).

 

[ExtinctDino]

I agree. 40% off at BC is a pretty big discount.

If you were staying at a mod or value and planned to eat at a lot of table service restauratns, the free DDP would be better.

In your situation it sounds like you're better off keeping what you have.

 

[beroh2253]

Maybe you can check the menus and do some math.

http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm

 

[TDC Nala]

Deluxe resort and "Disney adult" kids who don't eat much sounds like a job for the 40% discount, especially since you do eat offsite. (But you'll still need to make even the limited ADRs you want as soon as you possibly can because Chef Mickey's especially will fill up rapidly with free diners)

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Usually free dining is best for value resorts instead of the 40% off code & vice versa. For instance, we had a 40% off code & are staying at Pop Century, but chose free dining instead because it saves us an extra $400-$500. Because the value resort rooms are fairly cheap, the 40% off code isn't as good as free dining. In your case, I would imagine that 40% off the BC room would be the better deal. Plus it seems like you are only planning a couple adrs at WDW - bear in mind, that during free dining you will definitely need to have adrs made ahead of time or risk having a difficult time finding places to eat (especially popular places).

I agree with this post. I am staying at PC 8/23-8/27 and will be enjoying our first FD trip. Then we check in to YC for 8/27-8/30 to use our bounceback rate that we got in December. I could very easily go for the FDP with PC because the difference between rack rate and the AAA discount I was getting was only about $20. But the difference between my BB and rack rate for YC is about $100/night. I also have 2 light eaters, and actually my DH and I don't eat a lot either, so using the discount at YC was better for us.

 

[CoolPool]

I'm planning a trip to DisneyWorld in August during free dining. I currently have room only reservations at the BC with the 40% off pin. I'm so confused as whether to change to free dining. I have two kids (DD16 and DS11) that would be considered adults and are very light eaters. DD many times will just get an appetizer as her meal, and DS usually still eats off kids meals. We will have a car and on our last trip 2 years ago did travel off site to eat several times. I am planning on Chef Mickeys for a character breakfast and the dinner buffet at Cape May, but other than that nothing specific. Do you think it's worth it to go with the plan with the way the kids eat, or just keep the room only discount and pay out of pocket?

Thanks for any advice!

The best way to look at this is with real numbers. I don't know how long you are staying nor what view you actually want. I see you are a new poster so I thought I'd run an example for you:

BC/Standard View: 7 nights
2 adults/2 children over 10yo

1) 40% code:
BC: $1582.80 + 7 day tickets including PH $1112.00 = $2694.80
To add the dining plan: $1120 = $3815

2) Free dining
BC package: $3827.04 (including 7 day PH tickets)

As you can see Disney gets their moolah coming or going in your case of having 4 "adults" in the room.

If my numbers are wrong, I bow to the superior mathematicians in the house. To me, the thing you really need to look at is how much you really spend on eating and decide if the dining plan really fits your family.