What's With The Attitude Towards "Free Diners"?

[jhaig]

I have read several posts on other threads about the so-called "free diner types" and was just wondering why people who took advantage of the free dining promotion have been given such a rough time on the boards. "Free diners" have been classified as penny-pinchers who will squeeze out every hour of EMH park time, who clog up the restaurants with their kids and do nothing but eat all day, and other ridiculous generalizations.

When exactly did us "free diners" become such a problem? I have never seen such attitude, like anyone taking advantage of the free dining offer is now a second-class citizen or something.

 

[candielips]

Don't worry about the haters. People will complain about anything. I think I have seen it all on this board.
A lot of folks do not like the "Free Dining" since it makes the restaurants so busy which makes some people try and avoid the free dining period.
Me? I am so excited to be going Free Dining for the first time this year and can only hope for a Bounceback offer, so I can keep being one of those "free diners" year after year after year.......

 

[hroyale]

Yeah, don't worry about any vibe you might read on the boards. You won't see it when you're in the parks.

Enjoy your discount and have a great time.

 

[danissmart]

Free dining is the problem. Not free diners.

 

[kehlyrsmom]

We have the free dining bounce back offer for Sept, yesterday we actually decided that we should be able todrop the park hopper option since I added the water parks. Anyway I was looking at the park hours for the major parks and based on that I decided that I want to change a couple of my dining reservatations. I am surprised of what is actually available at least for us a party of 6 and the two days I want to change I can actually get the restaurants I want, there are times available for several good restaurants. Some of the more hard to get reservations like Le Cellier may not be there but there are several good ones with decent times.

 

[dancin Disney style]

I really dislike it when those on a discussion forum start taking an attitiude about something. Isn't the whole point about having a 'discussion'. Not giving harsh words and attitude. Anyway, off my soapbox now.

I've 'free dined' more than once and hope to again next year. With or without it we will vacation at WDW but having it allows us to have several meals that we would not have other wise. For us the TS places are too expensive and paying for the DDP is out of the question....both my kids are over age 10 and we like to stay for 8-10 days.

 

[Pats Dragon]

Free diners are taking advantage of a good deal which is what we all like. The problem with the free dining is that the menus have been scaled down to help pay for them. Menus are now less interesting. We've been behind people who need to take their CPA with them to every spot including fast food because it is apparently difficult to keep track of free dining points and even cm's are confused. This makes wait time for others VERY LONG. Lastly, ADR's are booked more because of course you will book a lot of meals if they are free. I would rather DW go back to one seasonal price for rooms which is the price on the day you check in. I think that would make more people stay longer and vacations would be less expensive.

 

[nomolos]

I dont think that people are ranting about free diners so much as they are ranting against the changes that have occured since. Scaled back menus, longer wait times and less availability now that more people are using TS are the cause of thier dismay. Even though I have never taken advantage of the free dining i am a proud "tightwad" and wouldn't hesitate to do so if it would fit in our plans. That being said i would still prefer the way it was before the days of free dining. A few years ago you could get a decent fillet at almost any TS restaraunt and the menus had alot more to choose from....now...not so much. One benifit you never see mentioned about free dining though...when people take the time to sit down and relax with thier children at a nice TS meal during the day everyone is alot more pleasant (less cranky / whiny) during the evening. Shame that disney does require mandatory breaks or naptime for everyone

 

[dominicsplace]

I wouldn't worry about it. Nothing wrong with taking advantage of a good promotion. I wonder if those same free dining haters take advantage of the hotel discount pins?

Free Diners Unite!

 

[jlk806]

Im a long time free diner and proud of it!! But this trip Im only a half free diner because we have a split between POP FD and AKL-Kidani with 40% off and added dining plan. Well to be honest the 40% actually saved more than the free dining! So why dont people hate the people who used 40% off and added dining plan like me? LOL people dont make sense.

 

[USAswimmer626]

I have a quick question. Since the free dining promotions started running during the late summers since 2006 or 2007, were the menus remaining scaled down for the entire year or just during those time periods?

 

[dancin Disney style]

It is a very common practice in the restaurant industry to change/scale back menus. This is how they control costs. It is also a means for keeping regulars from getting bored with the menu.

 

[JerseyJanice]

I have a quick question. Since the free dining promotions started running during the late summers since 2006 or 2007, were the menus remaining scaled down for the entire year or just during those time periods?

I thought Free Dining started in 2005? Not sure though.

IMO, the menu "scale-downs" didn't start with Free Dining, but rather with the paid DDP in general.

I wonder how many people actually go for Free Dining. It sounds a big thing on the boards, but it was surprising how many people we met while there who had no idea it was going on. When we were flying home in 2008, we met a family who was angry at the airline over their seats. The lady in the group who booked the trip was sitting across the aisle from me. We started talking, and she was saying that she was going to freak out on her American Express travel agent over the flight issues. When I told her we had a free dining plan for the week, she was fit to be tied. She honestly had no idea such a thing existed and was really mad at her travel agent for selling them a very expensive vacation.

 

[CathieArms]

I'd sell my first born for free dining. Okay, scratch that. I probably wouldn't sell her, but there are days I'd loan her out for babysitting and house cleaning in exchange for free dining.

Seriously, though...we've never been fortunate enough to be there during free dining, but don't think I haven't tried to make it work!

Ignore the haters. If they're not hating on this, they're hating on something else.

 

[Pumbaa_]

I have never seen the level of animosity on the boards that the OP indicates

What many here on the boards are unhappy about is not necessarily the free diners, but the changes that free dining and the dining plans in general have caused

If the free dining discount works for you, go for it. If the dining plans work for your family enjoy! If they don't, no harm. Get the best discount you can for your trip

I have a 40% off bounceback offer for the fall (in the spring had an AP 45% off offer)

Just don't pay rack rate!

 

[dawnmommy]

I haven't noticed a lot of hate toward free diners, actually. We are saving more money with the 40% off pin, so I would think any haters would hate us more, lol?

Seriously, free dining is just one kind of discount, and it works great for a lot of families. It is no different than other discounts, in my opinion.

 

[HunnyJar]

Sometimes you will run across someone who doesn't care for "free diners" sometimes that same person will even dislike someone who pays for the dining plan just because of the changes Disney has made to the dining plan and the menus over the years. Just ignore them. We have done free dining just the one time and while it was a decent deal we tend to go for the 40% off discount instead. It just works out better for us. We do add the basic dining plan, though. We are big fans of the dining plan. Just love having not to worry about anything while we are on vacation since it is all pre-paid that way.

 

[Cafeen]

The restaurant boards are pretty civil toward them. Other boards here, not so much (there's a thread in the Strategies forum right now that displays this quite vividly).

As for me, I frankly don't care if you're paying full price or no price (though, if no price, take me with you k? ). I'm just too lazy to give a crap about that stuff.

As far as the menu scale backs, I'm not convinced that the restaurants would not have scaled back without the DDP getting involved. Sure, the restaurants make less per meal they serve than they would otherwise, but they do make up for it in volume. The question is, have any non-DDP restaurants cut back at all (I simply don't know)? If so, this is pretty strong evidence that the DDP did not have this effect and all the DDP places would have otherwise. Of course, non-DDP locations are typically not owned by Disney, so business decisions would be different anyway, but logic dictates that the cut backs would have happened anyway. (Is the DDP to blame for the cutbacks in CM staffing? What about other non-dining areas of Disney?) Again, it just seems strange that the DDP is blamed for everything, when in fact it very well could have saved the restaurants.

But, I'm rambling...

 

[beroh2253]

I haven't noticed a lot of hate toward free diners, actually. We are saving more money with the 40% off pin, so I would think any haters would hate us more, lol?

Seriously, free dining is just one kind of discount, and it works great for a lot of families. It is no different than other discounts, in my opinion.

Hay I love us. This year so far the last week in October we are booked with the 40% off pin (for all you 40% off pin haters), but will switch to free dining if that comes out like it did last year cause this will save us a little more $, and you know that is the only way we can do it. Us not so rich people love Disney also.

 

[HoneyPooh]

Im a long time free diner and proud of it!! But this trip Im only a half free diner because we have a split between POP FD and AKL-Kidani with 40% off and added dining plan. Well to be honest the 40% actually saved more than the free dining! So why dont people hate the people who used 40% off and added dining plan like me? LOL people dont make sense.

This is us as well. For a couple of years we were FD because we traveled in September anyway (and why wouldn't you accept free food?). This year we are vacationing with friends who can't go until October so we are using a 40%discount and buying the plan. We need a subgroup of our own