Who's worried about the crowd now because of the free dining?

[kruggel2004]

I'm a little worried..DH and I planned our trip during the low crowd season now with the free dining deal I'm thinking it's going to be packed..we have no children and are going for first anniversary..we really like the down time at WDW with less crowds..what does everybody else think?

 

[califred]

I was and then I realized at least 1/2 of the people on here already had reservations and were going anyway.

I'll be going during this time frame myself and taking my Mom for the first time so I hope it's magical for her.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

wow good point i never thought of it
i was tehre last sept the crowds were not that bad
but you never know
it seems like a great deal and they also a an email code out for the same time
so it couldbe busier

 

[dznyntnh]

I don't think the free dining is going to bring in the number of people that the Fairy Tale Package did two years ago. When you got 7 nights for 4, that was a deal. The dining thing will save you some money (especially families), but its not a HUGE discount.

Also, remember, September is one of the few times that just about everyone is in school (even with the year round systems).

I think they are throwing a bone to get some of the 'Hurricane' shy people to visit. If they weren't doing so good with the 50th Anniversary stuff, they probably would have offered deeper discounts in September.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

I don't think the free dining is a big deal. I'd much rather have a room only discount code or PIN #. If you think about it you really aren't saving money because your room rate is high. And after trying the dining plan on our last trip I wouldn't do it again.

 

[PoohHappens]

I agree about the hurricane thing. That was a huge factor for them last year. Although this discount is open to the public so far it is not being advertised. The 5+ was advertise on TV and the web site. So far this dinnig thing is not on the web site nor have I seen it on TV ( of course it only came out today and all I have see today is Thomas videos ) So the only people who are attracted by this so far are disneyphiles

 

[susy]

If hurricane season is anything like last year a lot of those "free meals" wil be box meals anyway!

 

[lisatradingspaces]

really aren't saving money because your room rate is high. And after trying the dining plan on our last trip I wouldn't do it again.

Would you mind telling me why you wouldn't do it again?

I currently have two reservations booked and I need to cancel one. I have an AP rate booked and also the MYW with free dining. I was definitley going to do the free dining, but now you've made me wonder.

Thanks!

Lisa

 

[SpecialK]

I'd like to hear about why you wouldn't do the dining plan again, too. We're currently trying to decide if we should book a pkg. or stick with our room-only ressie.

 

[califred]

I was fortunate to get a discounted room with the Military discount. I crunched the numbers and actually we come about almsot even whether we keep out discounted rooms or pay rack rate and then have free food for 7 days. The room discount is a tad bit more of a savings.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

lisatradingspaces -

We love to eat and we love WDW restaurants, don't get me wrong, but the dining plan wasn't for us. We felt sick from eating so much. We never order appetizers, entrees, and desserts at one meal. It's too much food. But we felt like we had to order it and eat it because that is what comes with the dining plan. After about 3 days of eating like that we dreaded every meal. We were fighting over the tums and pepto bismol let me tell you!!!

Another thing I didn't like about it is you are tied down to eating at certain restaurants, so you have to make your PS's in advance for those certain restaurants and stick to it. We like to have flexibility with our daily schedule... but we always were rushing to get to where we needed to eat. We just felt it ruled our trip.

Also I really missed not being able to eat in the World Showcase more. Those are usually some of my favorite meals, but since they weren't part of the plan we couldn't fit them in our schedule.

Our sitdown meals were: Ohana, Kona Cafe, Concourse Steakhouse, Cape May, CRT, Crystal Palace, 1900 Park Fare, and Spoodles.

Normally we wouldn't eat 4 buffets, that was another thing I didn't like.

OK, enough complaining from me. Hope that helped give you an idea what it was like for us. It's just my personal decision not to do the dining plan again. I'm sure many people like it.

 

[WDWorBUST]

I wouldn't worry about the dining package effecting crowds for two reasons.

1.) We went in 2003 with the fairytale package (pay for 4 nights 5 days get 7 nights 8 days) which was an amazing deal and it was still light crowds in my opinion. We had an awesome trip.

and

2.) The dining package is great - however if you still have the expense of the rooms etc it may not make much difference for some people. I mean you can eat pretty cheap without the package.

Oh...and just a personal experience. I have a friend going with her entire family - 6 adults and 1 under 3 child and she isn't doing the dining package because she has a discount on the room and even though the cost of the dining package is a better savings for her she knows her dad isn't going to be willing to mess with the hassle of having to eat at certain locations, etc.

So I wouldn't worry about it at all.

 

[band_man]

Anybody wondering if this free dining deal is a test run for a future where Disney is all-inclusive? i.e cruise ship????

 

[bellarella]

I wouldn't worry too much about the dining package. I think the main draw for that is to get people who would stay off site to stay on site. I don't think too many people are going to decide to come to Disney because of free meals. In bugeting it is often an afterthought for people and not the major expense anyway.

As for why to not do the dining plan, for us it didn't make sense because we don't eat the way the plan is set up. It doesn't cover room service, which was an important part of our planning for breakfasts.We also tend to do more than one TS restaurant in a day, but only do appetizers or something. We are light eaters, but eat frequently and that just doesn't fit the dining plan set up. It would have been a total hassle to rearrange the way we ate to fit the plan and we would have still had to spend money on top of it. We did better just doing it on our own.

 

[lisatradingspaces]

TigrLvsPooh,

You actually pointed out a couple of my concerns. One being that we originally planned to eat a lot at EPCOT since we are staying at the Yacht Club. The other was that we love having flexability and I don't want to feel ruled by the dining plan like I fear I might.

It's only a little more than $300 extra for us to go with the "free" dining plan though (instead of buying an AP for me, AP room rate, tickets for the others, etc)and I think in 8 days we would definitely spend more than that on food. 'Ohana ale which we plaonn on doing will be around $100 and that is just one meal.

I will try to keep in mind though that we don't HAVE to eat everything we are allowed. I am a light eater and I am uncomfortable when I eat too much so I don't want to feel full all day, every day. LOL You made a good point about the buffets. Hubby is already picking out all the ones he wants when originally 'Ohana was the only "all you can eat" we were going to do. I'll try to gently remind him not to over stuff himself!

I hope it works out for us. I have to just be careful not to let it rule us! I definitely would never pay full price for the dining plan. Too much pressure! LOL

Thanks so much for your response,

Lisa

 

[califred]

Most of hte Epcot restaurants have been added to the plan also, don't forget!

 

[Trinity721]

Maybe I'm just not paying attention.... what is this free dining?

 

[califred]

Trinity they just released a general public code today for dates between August 21st? and October 4th.. bascially if you pay rack rate for your room and buy at least a one day ticket you get to eat for free!

 

[foxtrotter]

I did think briefly about the crowds being up due to this promotion so it's nice to hear most of you don't think it will affect them that much. We had already planned on going in Sept. so this was just a really nice added bonus for us. We're going to stay at Pop, $77 a night. I figured that even if a great code came out like the one we got last year ($55 at Pop), we'd only save maybe $20-25 a day. But with the dining plan and the nicer restaurants my husband wants to try (all covered with the plan), it looks like we'll be saving around $80-$100 a day, which is just fantastic for us. I'm sure it won't work out that way for everyone but I'm really really happy with it.

 

[LongIslandCouple]

I'm not at all concerned. Last year, during the same time I believe the deal was buy 5 nights, get 2 free nights. This isn't as good of a deal, but it's still an incentive.

We are going the same week as last year (last week of August) and the crowds then were completely manageable.

I forgot who asked for the details on the package, but here it is....

Code: YMP

FREE Dining with a Three Night or Longer Magic Your Way Package
Check in between 8/21/05 and 10/4/05 for a Magic Your Way vacation package of 3 nights or longer at a Walt Disney World resort and get the Dining Plan added at no extra cost!

Sample prices for a 5-night/6-day vacation, including 5 nights accommodations at a Value resort, 6-day Magic Your Way Base Ticket and FREE Dining Plan:

$425 per adult
$209 per junior (ages 10-17)
$168 per child (ages 3-9)
Other resorts and lengths of stay (3-10 nights) available at varying rates. The passes can be upgraded at an extra charge to include Park Hopper option, Magic Plus Pack option and/or No Expiration option.

Disney's Magical Express, providing FREE transportation and baggage transfers between the airport and your Disney resort, can be added to this package.

Stay must be 3-10 nights. Sample prices are based on adult double occupancy in a standard room in Value season. Promotion is only for travel most nights 8/21/05-10/4/05 and the number of packages available is limited. No group rates or other discounts apply. You must book by 7/3/05.

Helpful hint for those who already have tickets or Annual Passes: This package is just like regular Magic Your Way packages in that the minimum ticket length is only ONE day! So you could even book a 10-night package with 10 days of FREE dining plan and a 1-day ticket. Because of this, it may be worthwhile to consider the Free Dining package even if you already have tickets.