Which 'special' would you choose?

[megamay]

I am pre-planning a trip for the fall of '11 for a family of 3 including 6 yr old girl, Mom and either Dad or Grandma. There are so many choices!

I LOVE food and wine from various places so I'd love to try the food and wine festival, but we really need to save money, so maybe the free dining promotion although I feel like if I tried I could save money on food without that promotion. My DD's birthday is the day before Halloween so the Halloween party might be fun. But on the other hand, I REALLY hate crowds, so maybe I should just pick a time that is 'off' for lower crowds. On the other hand, I did a good job of dealing with the crowds the last time we went, so I just dont know!

So given these options and knowing most of the pros and cons (but feel free to chime in with pros and cons to whichever option you want to chat about), which would you choose?

 

[Sorsha]

All of the above!

If you go for free dining, and check in on or near the last day of the free dining promotion (historically the end of september) you get free dining for your whole stay. Food and Wine historically starts right about then as well, and the Halloween parties start sometime in September too! So you CAN do all three! I realize you wouldn't be there FOR your DD's birthday, but it could be her "early" birthday trip.

When we went in September 2007, we were there the last week of September. We had free dining, and Food and Wine started September 28, while we were still there. We could have also gone to MNSSHP, but we elected not to.

Some of the Food and Wine offerings can be purchased using your snack credits (good way to use them up).

 

[Sorsha]

Also wanted to note that the crowds were WONDERFUL during this time - not crowded at all. And the weather - although HOT - was nice as well. Not stormy at all save for the occasional cooling afternoon sprinkle.

The exception to this would be the opening day of Food and Wine - we made the mistake of being in Epcot on that day - WOW. I think the entire population of central Florida was there along with us. A few days later though it wasn't nearly so bad... try to avoid being in Epcot during F&W on the weekends - that's when the locals come out to play.

 

[megamay]

awesome! thanks! I think I will try to do that!

 

[AlternateEgo]

I was thinking "all of the above"

You can go in late September, they historically have had free dining then. The halloween party usually starts early September and F&W is generally late September...

 

[rt2dz]

I've done all of the above, including the suggestions of hitting all 3 at once. I have to say, go for Halloween.

I HATE free dining. 1) We save more money by not getting dining for "free" but by buying discounted tickets and using a room only discount] code (instead of paying rack rate) and paying for dining out of pocket. I'm a firm believer that free dining is a rip-off if you truly run the numbers. [ See HERE or HERE. Both old but serve a good point 2) It makes getting into restaurants next to impossible. You must book at 180 days out, and must be firm in where you choose to eat. Moroccan might sound good 6 months out, but maybe not so much the day of--even changing 2-3 months out is very difficult.

I love the food and wine festival. It's fun, but it isn't anything extra special. It's food and it's wine, but it isn't anything you can't do at home with a trip to a wine bar/good wine store and a little prep of appetizers And all without the lines! And crowds. It just can't hold a candle to Halloween. And, I'm sorry, but Halloween doesn't feel like Halloween in September.

We went for Halloween in 2008 and my kids kept complaining in 2009 that it just wasn't as fun as last year. They weren't talking just about the Halloween party. They had a blast doing all the other Halloween activities at Disney. Not that we didn't do similar things here at home, but to them, it just wasn't the same. Put celebrating a birthday on top of it--what could be more fun than having a birthday at Disney?--and you will have an extra special trip. And crowds were not bad at all--lower than free dining!

No matter what you choose, you'll have fun. You can do anything at any time of year (minus the parties). Eat at the various countries for your own food and wine festival. Save and put money on a gift card to feel like your meals are pre-paid.

 

[Sorsha]

I HATE free dining. 1) We save more money by not getting dining for "free" but by buying discounted tickets and using a room only discount] code (instead of paying rack rate) and paying for dining out of pocket. I'm a firm believer that free dining is a rip-off if you truly run the numbers. [ See HERE or HERE. Both old but serve a good point 2) It makes getting into restaurants next to impossible. You must book at 180 days out, and must be firm in where you choose to eat. Moroccan might sound good 6 months out, but maybe not so much the day of--even changing 2-3 months out is very difficult.

To each their own, but I have to disagree.

Yes, if you crunch the numbers, it may not be much of a savings, but to us, the freedom was wonderful. And yes, I say freedom. We never had to carry cash for meals or snack, and no matter what we chose to eat (within the limits of the dining plan) it was already paid for. For my husband, especially, this was so very important to his enjoyment of the vacation. He is the type who will fuss and stew over money. IF he were to go into a restaurant at WDW and order a $35 prime rib plate and pay OOP, he would spend the rest of the day stewing over the cost - "I can't believe I paid that, where do they get off charging that", etc. He would end up ordering a salad plate and a glass of water everytime he sat down if he had to pay OOP just to make himself feel better about the expenditure. HOWEVER by having the dining plan, and knowing that he didn't pay anything for it (free dining) he could feel free to order whatever he felt like having, and for him that was very liberating. For me too, since I didn't have to listen to him fuss about it. It also freed us up to try many new places. If I had to pay out of pocket, we would eat counter service the whole trip. If I have to pay OOP no WAY will I schedule restuarants like Ohana and Yachtsman Steak House every night, but on free dining I will. We tried so many wonderful new places in '07, and all because we could look at the menus and choose to never even glance at the price tag. So for us, it was totally worth it.

Also, we have never had a problem getting reservation. I am a planner; I know when i make my reservations what park I will be in on what day, what time I will be catching what parade or show, and what activities I want to try to do and exactly what restaurants I want to try. Therefore it was very easy for me to make my dining reservations the day I booked my vacation. I didn't have one problem at all, and NEVER felt constrained by my dining plans.

As I said to each his own, and YMMV, but that was our take on it.