When do we have the choice to pay OOP?

[mrstomrice]

We got free dining for the first time I upgraded both of my boys (ages 9 and 7) to adult tickets so they could get the adult meal plan. DS7 will likely prefer kids meals at most TS locations. Unless it's a buffet or family service, can I pay oop for him and save his ts credit for another meal for us?

 

[SillyFamily]

Any time you want to pay out of pocket you simply tell the server at the beginning of that meal specify which meal is oop.

 

[davedmaine]

We got free dining for the first time I upgraded both of my boys (ages 9 and 7) to adult tickets so they could get the adult meal plan. DS7 will likely prefer kids meals at most TS locations. Unless it's a buffet or family service, can I pay oop for him and save his ts credit for another meal for us?[/QUOTe

You should have gotten the room discount instead of free dining.. you're really throwing money away here

 

[mrstomrice]

We got free dining for the first time I upgraded both of my boys (ages 9 and 7) to adult tickets so they could get the adult meal plan. DS7 will likely prefer kids meals at most TS locations. Unless it's a buffet or family service, can I pay oop for him and save his ts credit for another meal for us?[/QUOTe

You should have gotten the room discount instead of free dining.. you're really throwing money away here

There was not a room discount available. We have free dining over Christmas week! The price per day for the adult is at least $56 per person per day. It only cost us $20 per child to change their ticket to an adult price. We can now pay about $10 for his meal oop and get an adult meal at and additional adr valued at up to $35. We will have an extra adr with my plan that will be included in our free dining. I think we have an incredible deal.

 

[mickeynut1]

Any time you want to pay out of pocket you simply tell the server at the beginning of that meal specify which meal is oop.

I agree that getting FD over Christmas week is a great deal. RO discounts for December usually end right before Christmas and are date specific, so depending on when you arrive, you can sometimes get a discount for the first night or two, but usually end up paying rack rate for the remaining nights. Even if there was a RO discount offered, it doesn't mean that would have been the better deal over FD as there are too many variables to factor in between the two. Have a great trip and congrats on getting FD. Disney during Christmas time is amazing .

 

[aml3679]

Any time you want, you just let the cashier know.

 

[figment_jii]

If the OP decided to pay OOP for the seven year old at a buffet/family style meal, would they have to pay the adult price because the youngster has been upgraded to an adult on the resort reservation or would he still be considered a child for this purpose?

 

[morethananyonex]

There was not a room discount available. We have free dining over Christmas week! The price per day for the adult is at least $56 per person per day. It only cost us $20 per child to change their ticket to an adult price. We can now pay about $10 for his meal oop and get an adult meal at and additional adr valued at up to $35. We will have an extra adr with my plan that will be included in our free dining. I think we have an incredible deal.

You do have an incredible deal!

The DIS as a whole seems to have a "free dining isn't free!" attitude and a generally negative outlook on the dining plan and free dining, but in some cases it's the best deal possible, yours being one of them. Enjoy your bonus meal

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

I also agree that you got a great deal. Some ppl just hate free dining and aren't real smart about what a good deal is.

When you get 4 ppl free dining it beats ANY ROOM DISCOUNT unless there are just 2 of you and you are staying in a deluxe room that costs more than $350 a night with a 30% or higher room discount.

Let's say you are staying at the Poly and it is just 2 of you. The room is $400 a night and you got a 30% off room discount. That would save you $120 a night. Which is right at the same amount you would save having free dining.

If you are a family of 4 staying in a mod at $200 a night and you get free dining for 4 ppl (DDP) $58 per person times 4 is almost $250 a night FREE. A 25% room discount would save you $50.

So there is very few instances that a room only would save you more than free dining.

If there is a way for the room only discount to be a better deal it is only for those ppl that hate the dining plan and would take any discount rather than take free dining.

Both times we have stayed on property we got free dining and we are all considered Disney adults. So it saved us $200 a day. We upgraded from QSDP to DDp for $20 per person.

I agree that so many ppl on here will say "free dining isn't free" YES IT IS. If you have a vacation booked with room, tickets and dining plan and free dining comes out for your dates you get refunded a huge chunk of cash. Now paying rack rate for your room doesn't mean the dining isn't free. That is just ridiculous. I got dining and didn't have to pay for it so yes indeed it was free. Our vacations were already booked and there were no room discounts so we took the free dining. But staying in a value suite the discount on the room would have only been a small fraction of what the free dining we got would have cost us.

And YES you can pay OOP at ANY restaurant for the 7 yr old, even buffets and save his credits for another ADR. Which is a great idea if he prefers kids meals.

 

[morethananyonex]

I also agree that you got a great deal. Some ppl just hate free dining and aren't real smart about what a good deal is.

When you get 4 ppl free dining it beats ANY ROOM DISCOUNT unless there are just 2 of you and you are staying in a deluxe room that costs more than $350 a night with a 30% or higher room discount.

Let's say you are staying at the Poly and it is just 2 of you. The room is $400 a night and you got a 30% off room discount. That would save you $120 a night. Which is right at the same amount you would save having free dining.

If you are a family of 4 staying in a mod at $200 a night and you get free dining for 4 ppl (DDP) $58 per person times 4 is almost $250 a night FREE. A 25% room discount would save you $50.

So there is very few instances that a room only would save you more than free dining.

If there is a way for the room only discount to be a better deal it is only for those ppl that hate the dining plan and would take any discount rather than take free dining.

Both times we have stayed on property we got free dining and we are all considered Disney adults. So it saved us $200 a day. We upgraded from QSDP to DDp for $20 per person.

I agree that so many ppl on here will say "free dining isn't free" YES IT IS. If you have a vacation booked with room, tickets and dining plan and free dining comes out for your dates you get refunded a huge chunk of cash. Now paying rack rate for your room doesn't mean the dining isn't free. That is just ridiculous. I got dining and didn't have to pay for it so yes indeed it was free. Our vacations were already booked and there were no room discounts so we took the free dining. But staying in a value suite the discount on the room would have only been a small fraction of what the free dining we got would have cost us.

And YES you can pay OOP at ANY restaurant for the 7 yr old, even buffets and save his credits for another ADR. Which is a great idea if he prefers kids meals.

If you eat at least one TS meal a day and you don't venture off property, it's easy to figure out if free dining is better than the discount. Especially easy if most of your TS are price fixed buffets/family style meals. Multiply the cost of the room per night by the available discount. If you can feed everyone in your party at a TS, QS (and a snack) per day with that amount, the room discount is better. Otherwise, free dining is better than a room discount.

It doesn't take much for free dining to come out ahead when you have have 4 or so Disney adults in a room. For us, we were working with 5 adults (1 under 3) and a 35% discount on Deluxes. At about $700 a night, the room discount became a better deal for the way we dine.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

If you eat at least one TS meal a day and you don't venture off property, it's easy to figure out if free dining is better than the discount. Especially easy if most of your TS are price fixed buffets/family style meals. Multiply the cost of the room per night by the available discount. If you can feed everyone in your party at a TS, QS (and a snack) per day with that amount, the room discount is better. Otherwise, free dining is better than a room discount.

It doesn't take much for free dining to come out ahead when you have have 4 or so Disney adults in a room. For us, we were working with 5 adults (1 under 3) and a 35% discount on Deluxes. At about $700 a night, the room discount became a better deal for the way we dine.

That is why free dining would always be a better deal for us. We have 5 Disney adults and I would never pay, even with a discount, for a room that costs $700 a night. But even with a 30% discount that $700 a night room would only save you $210. So money wise getting 5 ppl's free dining at $58 per person per day comes out a better savings.

However you can eat paying OOP and get 3 meals a day for about the same price as the DDP costs unless you hit pricey buffets.

ETA I see you said 35% discount so your room discount would actually be $245 but the free dining would save you $300.

But like you we don't really eat in the manner the DDP leads you to. We eat 3 meals a day and we never eat dessert. But when it was free we took it. I would never pay for the DDP.

 

[mrstomrice]

OP here ! We went to BOG tonight. We paid about $8 oop for Ds 7 meal and used the free dining for our Ds 9 and us. Thanks for the help!!