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

[DznyLvr2005]

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.

Do you eat when down there? Beacuse if you do, I don't see how you wouldn't like it, even for free??

I've used it 3 times and there's nothing confusing about it. You just use it and get a receipt after you order your food and it tells you what you have left.

ETA: I'd much rather prefer 40% off code or the 4/3 deal, but I take what I can get. We originally paid for the counter service dining plan and our package came out to $2670 for CBR, hopper tickets and counterservice plan. We love eating down there!! After free dining came out, $600 was knocked off our trip and we got the regular dining plan even!!

 

[kydisneyfans]

The cost of the dining plan is more than the rack rate of a Value Resort room. If I had a 40% code, it would be roughly $40 off. I would spend more on meals than that for the 3 of us.

I am surprised that this goes through 10-3. Ironically this is our check in date for fall break. After a 5 year absence of staying on site, for just over 1K we have a room onsite, and all the food we want while there.

If this is a marketing ploy, Disney just got my money back.

 

[DznyLvr2005]

The cost of the dining plan is more than the rack rate of a Value Resort room. If I had a 40% code, it would be roughly $40 off. I would spend more on meals than that for the 3 of us.

I am surprised that this goes through 10-3. Ironically this is our check in date for fall break. After a 5 year absence of staying on site, for just over 1K we have a room onsite, and all the food we want while there.

If this is a marketing ploy, Disney just got my money back.

The good thing too is that in October (which I found the past 3 years) you really don't have to make ADR's in advance. The only ADRs we made in advance were Le Cellier and Crystal Palace. Everything else we did when we got there. The morning of, we'd call Disney Dining and say "do you have anything for Morocco tonight" and no matter when we called or where we wanted to eat, they ALWAYS had a spot for us for that night!

 

[DAZY3BYZ]

The fall discount code was the 40% discount code. The Free Dining is still a better deal for Informer 1906. Any family that has 4 or more children the Free Dining is going to probably always be their best option. We are a family of 6 and always get two connecting rooms for 8 nights. The 40% off discount saves us $637.00, the 4/3 deal saves us $750.00 and the Free Dining promo saves about $1,600.00

This is how it worked out for my family of five. We had the 40%code and always stay deluxe, mostly because we're a family of five. We have always used codes for our room and have never had the dining plan or free dining. However, this time after running numbers until I thought my head would explode we discovered that even at a deluxe, for us, it was cheaper to go with free dining. My kids are 16,14,10. They like to eat and we always do 1 TS a day anyway. The kids feel that's part of being at Disney. So for us where the 40% code would save us about $1200 on a room at BC, the free dining would probably save us about $1500 (our estimate of food cost based on previous trips). It is an individual thing and people should figure out what discount is best for them based on their own family's needs. One size doesn't fit all.

 

[mommy*RN]

OP - Im with you!! I'll keep my $200/night Poly ressie and forget dining...of course we are traveling outside of the free dining dates...so its kind of a non-issue anyhoo.

 

[Informer1906]

OP - Im with you!! I'll keep my $200/night Poly ressie and forget dining...of course we are traveling outside of the free dining dates...so its kind of a non-issue anyhoo.

Please let me in on the deal, how did you get the Poly for $200 a night.

 

[duffy]

I'd like to try free dining...if it was just me and my husband. I'd pick the most romantic restaurants, which usually are the most expensive.

But on this trip, it will be me, my sister, her 2 young kids and my teen daughter. It's more important for us to be able to go when the crowds are light, and the temps aren't so hot. Neither she nor I do so well when the temps are in the 80s. And I'm spoiled by light crowds-last trip was early Feb. 2008, and most lines were only 10 min. at most. Doesn't "free dining" equal an increase in crowds??

I don't want to have to be a slave to our reservations, either. On our last trip, we ended up changing reservations just about every day during our trip. I want that freedom!

I do still love the dining plan however. It's a great value, even if we can't take advantage of igetting t free. We'll probably pay for the plan.

 

[srwarden1928]

I much prefer the 4/3 deal that I am taking advantage of. Free dining means rack rate for the room. So the discount you could have gotten for the room (at the very least we get the AAA one) and the discount you could have gotten on the tickets (once again at the very least the AAA one) reduce the value of free dining. Since there is no way we would PAY for the dining plan I would consider that we would be "paying" what we could have saved on the room and the tickets for the dining. It may still be a good deal, but nowhere near as good as 43% off like the 4/3 deal.

 

[Informer1906]

I much prefer the 4/3 deal that I am taking advantage of. Free dining means rack rate for the room. So the discount you could have gotten for the room (at the very least we get the AAA one) and the discount you could have gotten on the tickets (once again at the very least the AAA one) reduce the value of free dining. Since there is no way we would PAY for the dining plan I would consider that we would be "paying" what we could have saved on the room and the tickets for the dining. It may still be a good deal, but nowhere near as good as 43% off like the 4/3 deal.

If the 4/3 offer is put out for September the only month my family goes to Disney then I will jump on it. Until then this is a sweet deal, as the rack room rates (I need two rooms) are at their lowest in Septemeber, and feeding my family is costly.

 

[JanB]

I'd like to try free dining...if it was just me and my husband. I'd pick the most romantic restaurants, which usually are the most expensive.

If and when you go for the DDP, you'll want to keep in mind that many of those romantic restaurants are "Signature" restaurants ---- which means that they will use up 2 of your Table Service credits. You'll want to keep that in mind if you are an individual who likes to run the numbers to determine the value of the DDP for your situation.

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

I stuck with the 4/3 offer as this time we're going to Disney in early June. We will NEVER again go in late August because of the weather. It isn't the extreme heat that's the problem. It's at the height of hurricane season, soaking rains, thunderstorms and the like. Even with Free Dining, the restaurants are more crowded and I didn't care for that too much.

It's a good deal but not for everyone.

 

[eliza61]

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.

heck no. I tried the ddp once and you couldn't get me to do it again if my entire trip was free.

It does not fit the way my family travels and after all was said an done it saved me about $100. Not enough to change my touring style for. I budget, keep track of and plan enough in real life so when I'm on vacation I don't want to do it.

It's the great thing about going to Disney, there are so many options that you have a lot of choices.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I haven't read all of this...but.....hwat I did read is folks comparing apples to oranges. Like the folks who say it isn't free. Huh?

While I do agree that this promo is overhyped onthe DIS at times. I thikn One also has to keep in mind that this discount is the lowest price offered by WDW ona DIsney vacation offered all year. The otherr was 4/3 with the $200 gift card, but that was an exceptional discount. That 4/3 - mostly was offered during the high season. Free dining is offered when room rates are at their lowest all year. Comparing room rates in March to room rates in September is comparing two different things. SO far, 4/3 has NOT been offered for value season.

Also, as has been mentioned numerous times, free dining is a fixed amount - not a percentage. SO if free dining equals a $100 saving for your family - it is $100 off no matter where yous tay. The 40% deal is a much bigger discount at the deluxe resorts than at the values - and not everyone gets the 40% discount offer. The 4/3 deal is similar, in that it's a much better discount if you are at the deluxe resorts.

 

[DznyLvr2005]

I haven't read all of this...but.....hwat I did read is folks comparing apples to oranges. Like the folks who say it isn't free. Huh?

.

That's the thing, for us it is 100% free since we PAY for dining plan. We paid for the dining plan when we booked the trip 2 months ago. Then free dining came out and got credited $600, so for us, Free!

 

[nwhitehead1214]

I don't much care for the dining plan and we go once a year. At least for my family and we crunched the numbers over and over it is not a savings at all. The plan assumes that when you go to Disney you sit down and eat every night. We never do that at Disney. We are going to Disney to do rides and eat ice cream, etc. Not to sit in a restaraunt and eat (which we can do at home). We don't eat as much as it offers and we don't like to be forced to eat (in order to get what you pay for you really are forced to eat). It really isn't much of a savings and it gets people out of the parks riding on rides and enjoying Disney stuff. Plus we always go in the summer and that equals bathing suit. I really don't want to be pigging out all day and going swimming at night. Anyhow, if its free great but you won't see me paying for a DDP. If your family likes to eat (alot) then its for you. Really, at best, we sit down for maybe two dinners on the week. Mostly on the go.

 

[nwhitehead1214]

I stuck with the 4/3 offer as this time we're going to Disney in early June. We will NEVER again go in late August because of the weather. It isn't the extreme heat that's the problem. It's at the height of hurricane season, soaking rains, thunderstorms and the like. Even with Free Dining, the restaurants are more crowded and I didn't care for that too much.

It's a good deal but not for everyone.

Our family got stuck last year in August during Hurricane Faye. It never stopped raining the entire time we vacationed. Not just small downpour, the entire trip just a flood of rain constantly. It was horrible. This is a great point to make to anyone who thinks this is a good time to go. We go this time every year because we have too and the rain is much heavier this time of the year.

 

[purplebelle]

This will be my first trial with the free dining plan. I book 40% pin if I get it, but I haven't gotten it yet, so I booked FD in the meantime and will educate myself on dining and revisit the 40% off if I get it.

I'm not crazy about planning table service dinners 3 months in advance so I'm wondering if you free dining experts can offer some advice. I'm going with another adult to Disney and we have no interest in character meals or any fancy Hoop-Dee-Doo review or whatever it's called. Will I still have to make plans in advance for table service? I'd rather decide on my trip where I want to eat and when instead of arranging my day around meal plans. Will I have trouble getting table service on the spot? I just don't want to get stuck with specialty restaurants that carry only certain cuisines. I'd prefer to stick to hamburgers, fries, salads, chicken, etc.... The FD plan sounds really great so I'd like to give it a try, but I want spontaneity on my trip if I can have it!

 

[DznyLvr2005]

This will be my first trial with the free dining plan. I book 40% pin if I get it, but I haven't gotten it yet, so I booked FD in the meantime and will educate myself on dining and revisit the 40% off if I get it.

I'm not crazy about planning table service dinners 3 months in advance so I'm wondering if you free dining experts can offer some advice. I'm going with another adult to Disney and we have no interest in character meals or any fancy Hoop-Dee-Doo review or whatever it's called. Will I still have to make plans in advance for table service? I'd rather decide on my trip where I want to eat and when instead of arranging my day around meal plans. Will I have trouble getting table service on the spot? I just don't want to get stuck with specialty restaurants that carry only certain cuisines. I'd prefer to stick to hamburgers, fries, salads, chicken, etc.... The FD plan sounds really great so I'd like to give it a try, but I want spontaneity on my trip if I can have it!

Depends when you're going in Sept, if you're going end of Sept, it's a different story. I said before that we used to call the morning of in our room the disney dining # to see what was available for the night. 9 times out of 10 we got what we wanted. We are EPCOT people and we eat there every night. We are also the type of poeple that enjoy the dining just as much as the park. On the spot, I'd say you would have some trouble, but I heard a story of people that went to the Mexican Restaurant on the spot. They walked in and the staff told them there was a 3 hour wait. Of course they weren't going to wait, so they took their cell phone and called the Disney Dining # and asked if there was availability for Mexico. The person on the phone said "as a matter of fact we have availibility in a half hour, would you want the reservation?" and they took it, walked back in a half hour later and got a table. THere's a certain # of tables "reserved" for callers, walk in's and reservations.
Le Cellier is an advanced reservation, you can never just walk into that place. Also Cinderellas royal table. But in the past few years, we've only made 2 reservations for table service, the rest of the table service meals, we'd make the reservation when we got there. It works out so well for us, well I guess you can tell since this is the 4th year since 2005 that we are going!

BTW- you can get FREE DINING with just the counterservice meals if you want as well. When I called to get my free dining changed from my original reservation, the lady on the phone asked me what free dining I wanted. Of course we picked counter and table because we love it so much!

 

[PrincessTiffany]

BTW- you can get FREE DINING with just the counterservice meals if you want as well. When I called to get my free dining changed from my original reservation, the lady on the phone asked me what free dining I wanted. Of course we picked counter and table because we love it so much!

You can pay the $32.00 difference and upgrade to the Deluxe dining, but the counter service dining is not an option. There has been no code put out for the counter service and there are many people posting on the Dining Thread on the DDP board that they tried to downgrade to the counter service option and were told that it is not available under the promotion.

For the last couple of years, FD table service restaurants have been so over-booked that WDW has given people the option of trading TS credits for CS credits, but that isn't usually announced until Free dining actually starts.

 

[Karlzmom]

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 are not the only one We like the TIW card, take our discount and eat what we want, when we want, how we want. I sometimes like to have a couple of appetizers instead of an entree, and its not a problem. Because I'm only spending when I eat, I don't have the urge to "use all my credits", etc. Its a "to each, his own" thing....