When is 30% off better?

[Joe'sgirl]

For our family of 6, free dining wins versus a room only discount. My kids definitely eat a full course at each meal and the thought of what it would cost OOP scares me, I'd need to have close to $1000 on me. With free dining we show up and everything is paid for, we just need to cover tips for any table service meals. I should also mention that we would not even be going if it weren't for the super cheap airfare I found. We had dreams of going but no expectation of actually doing so and then with credit card points I was able to secure some very cheap airfare. Free dining coming out for the exact week we booked was a huge plus and a sign that we were meant to be there!

 

[jalmgiven]

Thanks for all the responses.

 

[Polyonmymind]

After 5 years of going with a dining plan, we leaped out to an OOP trip last year. My DD finally became an "adult" by Disney standards and to be honest, the thought of going OOP scared the snot out of me. I booked in advance with a discounted deal (stayed deluxe) with a couple extra perks. Later I received a "free dining PIN". For me to change my reservation to include the "free" dining, it would have cost an extra $900. Our trip was only 3 days, I kept the discount and came out way ahead going OOP. Not only did we save money, our lives did not revolve around ADR's!! When I return this September I'm taking the discount, going OOP, and not looking back.

 

[wdwjeffc37]

Remember "Free Dining" only comes with rack rate rooms. The dining plan costs $60.04 per adult per day(x2 = $120.08). If your discounted room plus the $120.08 is less than the rack rate then the "room only" discount is the way to go. If your meals and snacks are not going to average $120.08 for two then paying for the DDP is not a good value. Look at the menus and figure your expected meal costs and do the math. We have found that paying for the dining plan doesn't work for us and neither does "Free Dining". We try for a "Room Only" discount and pay OOP for our meals. Cheers!!!

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

You really do need to be staying deluxe for the discount to work better than the free dining. If you're staying moderate and only getting 25% discount, you're only saving about $50 a day. That's not enough to feed even two people a day in Disney if you want even a few TS meals.

 

[joannamet]

I check menus and estimate where and what we would eat if we were paying OOP. Then I add that to the price of the resort with the room only discount plus the cost of tickets. Compare that to the cost of the FD package.

FD saves my family of 3 at least $400 but we go value or moderate.

 

[yooperfan]

After 5 years of going with a dining plan, we leaped out to an OOP trip last year. My DD finally became an "adult" by Disney standards and to be honest, the thought of going OOP scared the snot out of me. I booked in advance with a discounted deal (stayed deluxe) with a couple extra perks. Later I received a "free dining PIN". For me to change my reservation to include the "free" dining, it would have cost an extra $900. Our trip was only 3 days, I kept the discount and came out way ahead going OOP. Not only did we save money, our lives did not revolve around ADR's!! When I return this September I'm taking the discount, going OOP, and not looking back.

So...you didn't take free dining, but by OOP do you ean you paid for the dining plan OOP or just paid each meal as you went.

 

[dmband]

Remember "Free Dining" only comes with rack rate rooms. The dining plan costs $60.04 per adult per day(x2 = $120.08). If your discounted room plus the $120.08 is less than the rack rate then the "room only" discount is the way to go. If your meals and snacks are not going to average $120.08 for two then paying for the DDP is not a good value. Look at the menus and figure your expected meal costs and do the math. We have found that paying for the dining plan doesn't work for us and neither does "Free Dining". We try for a "Room Only" discount and pay OOP for our meals. Cheers!!!

And don't forget tickets, you ar going to pay more going through Disney vs other outlets too

 

[Jeannie in NJ]

the only time we got the free dining it was too much for us, too much food and too much time spent at sit down adr's. Last trip, we stayed GF club level and that was the best for us. We would have a nice club level breakfast and then since the parks we visit the most are MK and Epcot, it was just a quick monorail trip back to the club whenever we felt like it. For ex. one day my sil and I went back to the club for afternoon tea. Out of 9 days, we only had 2 adr's, the rest of our meals were quick service or the club level.

 

[Joe'sgirl]

While I am happy to have free dining and it does work to our benefit, I do agree that the whole ADR part of it can be taxing. I was just talking to a co-worker about the fact that you essentially book your meals and then your itinerary revolves around it - it completely dictates what parks you do when. I went into this trip having checked the park hours for when we are there plus factored in the Halloween party so I felt somewhat more in control then the dining : )

 

[eliza61]

What are DVC Points?



Thanks. I always just assumed that the 30% off was for all rooms, will have to look into this more closely.

DVC stands for disney vacation club, disney's version of the time share. when you purchase a time share you get "points" instead of a specified week.

Many owners rent out their points for a year if they are not going to use them and folks can save a considerable amount of money by renting points.
For example I have 180 points that I can rent out. let's say you want to stay at the villas at AK during low season. 10/1-10/8 I rent my points at 12 bucks a point
A savanna view studio may run you $461.00 a night so 461.00 X 7=3227.00
A savanna view studio in points would be around 130 X 12.00 = 1560.00

So by renting you can save a chunk of cash. this is only an example. there are definitely some down sides to renting but many, many people do it.

If you go over to the dvc boards you will see dvc members who are currently renting points. some folks are renting them as low as 10 bucks a point.

Imagine getting a savanna view studio for 1000 bucks. that's a great deal.

 

[darrengs]

While I am happy to have free dining and it does work to our benefit, I do agree that the whole ADR part of it can be taxing. I was just talking to a co-worker about the fact that you essentially book your meals and then your itinerary revolves around it - it completely dictates what parks you do when. I went into this trip having checked the park hours for when we are there plus factored in the Halloween party so I felt somewhat more in control then the dining : )

Even though I am going with free dining this summer from a bounce back, to me this is the biggest "drawback" to to the dining plan. You are a "slave" to your ADR's and if you don't have a park hopper, you really are stuck visiting a park based on your dining choices.

 

[Polyonmymind]

So...you didn't take free dining, but by OOP do you ean you paid for the dining plan OOP or just paid each meal as you went.

Paid for each meal as we went. Mostly CS meals with a couple TS meals. We drive down so I am able to bring breakfast items, snacks and waters for the parks.

 

[ErinsMommy]

Is there ever a 30% off for stays in early November? And if so when do those discounts generally come out? TIA. =)

 

[dansdad]

Is there ever a 30% off for stays in early November? And if so when do those discounts generally come out? TIA. =)

This is an excellent source for checking historical discounts.

http://www.mousesavers.com/historical-information-on-walt-disney-world-resort-discounts/#2014

Last year it looks like there was a 15%-30% room only discount for 10-4 through 11-25 released on 7-23. You can go back to 2011 right now to see.

 

[ErinsMommy]

thank you Dansdad =)

 

[sharadoc]

I think Free Dining is the best deal at a moderate. For Deluxe, it almost always works out better to take a room discount. For us, with 4 Disney Adults, we are saving about $240 a night with Free Dining. And right now, our dates do not have a discount so it would cost the same with or without Free Dining, so might as well take free food!

If it becomes available, at OKW, a 30% discount would save us around $150 a night. BUT, and this is a big BUT (lol), we don't eat dessert, we like apps and DH and I almost always get an adult beverage. So the Free Dining may not be as great for us as it sounds. I'm working it out right now so that I can switch if a room discount comes out.

 

[Mortlives]

As a single traveller, room discount is definitely better. I am saving about $150/night (deluxe) next trip. If my dining bill is going to match that, most of it will be alcohol anyway.

 

[jalmgiven]

DVC stands for disney vacation club, disney's version of the time share. when you purchase a time share you get "points" instead of a specified week.

Many owners rent out their points for a year if they are not going to use them and folks can save a considerable amount of money by renting points.
For example I have 180 points that I can rent out. let's say you want to stay at the villas at AK during low season. 10/1-10/8 I rent my points at 12 bucks a point
A savanna view studio may run you $461.00 a night so 461.00 X 7=3227.00
A savanna view studio in points would be around 130 X 12.00 = 1560.00

So by renting you can save a chunk of cash. this is only an example. there are definitely some down sides to renting but many, many people do it.

If you go over to the dvc boards you will see dvc members who are currently renting points. some folks are renting them as low as 10 bucks a point.

Imagine getting a savanna view studio for 1000 bucks. that's a great deal.

Thanks for replying. Something I will definitely have to look into.

 

[Disney Mom 7272]

After 5 years of going with a dining plan, we leaped out to an OOP trip last year. My DD finally became an "adult" by Disney standards and to be honest, the thought of going OOP scared the snot out of me. I booked in advance with a discounted deal (stayed deluxe) with a couple extra perks. Later I received a "free dining PIN". For me to change my reservation to include the "free" dining, it would have cost an extra $900. Our trip was only 3 days, I kept the discount and came out way ahead going OOP. Not only did we save money, our lives did not revolve around ADR's!! When I return this September I'm taking the discount, going OOP, and not looking back.

We have always paid OOP for food and I also think that we come out way ahead. Sounds scary at first but when you add it up at the end it's really not that bad and we do a lot of table and character meals!