Am I the only one who DOESN'T care about free dining?

[frisco]

I feel like such an oddball. I have no desire to do the dining plan at Disney, even for free. I've seen so many people have issues with what they have left, what they've used, not understanding how it works.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's awesome that so many people can take advantage of it. I'm just wondering if I'm all alone in my little world.

 

[Eeyore's-tail-tack]

even if you were to use it only for counter serve it would be a savings

 

[RMulieri]

I don't either.But that is because I have a bounceback for Sept and a trip in Dec.

 

[purplebelle]

I wasn't sure it was for me either, but figured I'd give it a try this year since I haven't gotten a 40% off pin. I'd like to see a thread on issues people have had with the Free Dining plan... Anyone know of one?

I'm not concerned with character meals so I figure it'll be easy for me to find table service. I just wonder if I have to book everything in advance which I don't like doing. Part of vacationing is doing everything spur of the moment!

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

even if you were to use it only for counter serve it would be a savings

We will use it mostly for counter service. We are not big eaters. Still, it is free, and over 14 days, we will still save over $1k...

 

[DaisyD]

I was one that never cared for the DDP but after running the numbers this time it works out great. I am more or less paying only $500 more on my room and get lunch and dinner for 4 adults for 7 nights. Considering our dinners are over $100 per night, right there is great savings. Add in our lunch each day, which is over $50 day and our savings get even better.

 

[Informer1906]

I feel like such an oddball. I have no desire to do the dining plan at Disney, even for free. I've seen so many people have issues with what they have left, what they've used, not understanding how it works.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's awesome that so many people can take advantage of it. I'm just wondering if I'm all alone in my little world.

I do not know if you are the only one, but I will say this DDP is the best innovation at Disney since the FastPass. While I have kids I will never visit the park without it, if I have to pay or if it is free. I am a believer, to those who do not understand it; I do not know what to say it is a pretty simple system. To those who have food left over unless you get the premium, I do not understand as we ran out of credits by our last day. To each his own, but when you add the fact that it is free in the month that we normally go to Disney-- it is like manna.

 

[bartleby1]

I'm not all that thrilled by it either, but we may be giving it a try this year. I'd much rather have a 40% room code.

I did receive a 40% room code, however, we are going for 12 nights and only 6 of them fall in the valid dates for the 40% off. Originally we had an AAA 20% off discount for the first 6 days and 40% pin code for the last 6. So, when free dining was announced I crunched numbers and for us it seems like a larger savings than the 20% off, but not the 40% off. We decided to do the free dining for the first 6 nights and keep our 40% off for the last 6.

We don't usually do sit down meals, just counter service. While I'm looking forward to trying a couple of new places to eat, I don't like being tied down to a reservation each day and missing out on time in the parks when I could be doing rides and shows. I might switch back to room only if disney offers 30% off or more. I don't know yet.

 

[CarolA]

Nope, OP you are not alone

1. It's not FREE! You pay rack rate for the room. Since IMHO the rooms at Disney are VERY overpriced FREE means "we marked up something else to give you the deal"

2. It's not good to overpay for a room that will include more food then I need or want. That's just wasteful. (And I don't buy the "you don't have to eat it all" Folks on here will force themselves to eat it because "it's free" or "we paid for it " LOL!)

3. It's Disney Dining. With some exceptions it's not that outstanding. I live in a major city and can eat better!

I admit I just dropped into this board this morning to watch the frenzy!

 

[labsrus1]

Here's how I look at it. If you book a moderete room at 150.00 a night and get 40% off that it comes too $60.00 dollars savings for the number of days stayed. If you use FD, you will get back $80.00 a day times the days stayed.So if you don't get a pin for anything you will save $80.00 a day. We sit down for dinner when we're there, last time with FD we ate $1100.00 worth of disney food

Chuck

 

[ottawa-newbie]

I feel like such an oddball. I have no desire to do the dining plan at Disney, even for free. I've seen so many people have issues with what they have left, what they've used, not understanding how it works.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's awesome that so many people can take advantage of it. I'm just wondering if I'm all alone in my little world.

You're not the only one... DH and I just can't eat that much food, and I'm happier with the 40% off pin code.

 

[PrincessV]

Nope, I'm right there with you. I assure all naysayers - I spend considerably less than this "deal" by taking advantage of AP discounts, DVC points and the TIW discount on TS than Free Dining could ever add up to.

 

[bartleby1]

Here's how I look at it. If you book a moderete room at 150.00 a night and get 40% off that it comes too $60.00 dollars savings for the number of days stayed. If you use FD, you will get back $80.00 a day times the days stayed.So if you don't get a pin for anything you will save $80.00 a day. We sit down for dinner when we're there, last time with FD we ate $1100.00 worth of disney food

Chuck

Absolutely, if you were planning on purchasing the dining plan anyway, then free dining is the way to go.

However, if you aren't, it gets a little more complicated. I compare the "cost" of free dining to how much we would spend eating counter service which is how we normally eat there, to see which is better. With free dining, I add in not only rack rate for the room, but the extra it costs me to buy tickets through disney (rather than at a discount thru undercovertourist), and also the amount I'll pay for tips (since we don't pay tips with counter service). Figuring it this way for my family 0f 5, the 40% off is better for us. 30% off we break about even. Free dining is better than the 20% off though. However, we also travel with my parents, who are only 2 adults for their room. For them, it is a harder call and the room discount works out better for them quicker since they only spend roughly $35 a day to eat counter service for the two of them. We figured that for them, free dining breaks about even with a 20% off room code.

So, each family really needs to do their own math to decide which discount is better for them. Unfortunately, doing all of the figures is enough to drive a person CRAZY!

 

[disneyjunkie]

I'd like to see a thread on issues people have had with the Free Dining plan... Anyone know of one?

There are issue threads out there.

I don't understand how anyone can complain about something they receive for free.

I admit I just dropped into this board this morning to watch the frenzy!

Not much of a frenzy this year.

It only took me 20 minutes to book this morning. I would have been done sooner, but the CM had to cancel our June trip and transfer the payments to FD.

 

[FSUSammy]

I was willing to give it a try to see what it was all about until I realized we are booked in a deluxe with 40% off and that's a MUCH larger savings than the FD would be for us. I'm not willing to downgrade to a mod for our stay since this is a special trip for us (even though we go several times a year) this is my big 30th bday and our 5th anniversary so might as well live it up.

 

[ckenlady]

I'm with you. Seems like everyone is sooooo worked up about getting free dining this year. We did it last year and because it was free we didn't hate it. But I would never ever pay for it. No fun trying to think about where your going to eat 3 months in advance. It also takes away a lot of the fun of going to Disney and being able to walk into a restaurant and getting a table because that is where you decided you wanted to eat that night.
Way to much food for us and no matter what, you'll never convince me that its a good way to save money. I'd rather not gain 20 pounds trying to get the best value from the dining plan.

 

[justtobeme2]

We paid for dining and we feel, for us, it's the only way to go. Having said that for a couple it's better to get 40% off or the 4 for 3 deal and pay for dining than FD. We love it because we are a couple and we enjoy dining. We aren't all about the rides and kids. We enjoy at the end of the day having a nice enjoyable sit down dinner with a nice glass of wine. I did make reservations but with the exception of one restaurant were able to just walk up and get in if we weren't where we could get to our reservation.

If you don't eat in Disney or your family are snackers or fast food type eaters then dining of any sort may not be for you. But we prefer real food and not burgers and sandwhiches for a whole week. Can you say Yak and Yeti?

My niece and her family (with children) saved 1000.00 on food with a 9 day stay and didn't have to worry about drinks (in the summer) snacks or food. I think it's great but it's not for everyone or every family.

 

[disneyjunkie]

I'd rather not gain 20 pounds trying to get the best value from the dining plan.

Why would you do that?

We've paid for the plan in the past. We only order what we know we'll eat. I don't worry about trying to max out the plan.

That steak or lobster isn't a good value if what you really want is a salad or chicken.

We skipped many appetizers and dessert during our last trip. What's so hard about ordering what you know will eat, and saying no thanks to the rest?

 

[JusbKoz]

We usually go during free dining and have always enjoyed it. I think people get excited because it does save them money if you have 4 or more in your family. This year we decided to go with the 4/3 because we wanted to stay at the Poly and you couldn't beat that deal. Also the DDP has really stop saving us money this year since I have a 10 yr that is charge as an adult to eat ,she eats like a bird and would rather eat off the child menu. My other daughter turned 3 this year so she falls into the childs menu which is hard because she doesn't eat mac and cheese or PB&J. We are not big dessert eaters so for us the DDP wasn't worth it.

 

[Tink561]

We love to do the character dining and eat at nice sit down places. We would do it with or without free dining so it is a bonus to get it free. When you're feeding a family it does help a lot. The savings for us is more than if we got a discounted room and paid for dining.