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

[Sammie]

as with all things, it works for some, does not work for others. Depends on your eating habits, where you like to eat, etc.

Cons: it is very time consuming, we felt like we were watching the clock constantly making sure we had enough time to go eat. We lost a lot of spontaneity.

 

[Disney1976]

I think it's a good offer for those who can take advantage, especially if you are a family of 3+ people (or even a hungry 2 people!). But I'm going solo, I'm happy to just grab a hotdog somewhere, or a quick snack, and keep moving. So I'm not interested in free dining. Sort of hoping that an AP rate or 4/3 will be extended for my dates.

 

[Informer1906]

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

QUOTE]


What kind of point is that? So can most people, but why should that stop a person from taking advantage of free food that they would have to eat anyway. It is not like you are going to get off of Splash Mountain feel a little hungry and order up a steak from Manhattan’s finest eatery. No, you are going to eat from a restaurant at the park so why not take advantage if someone is giving you the same food you have to buy anyway for free. (Side note, many restaurants in Disney can stand up to most restaurant in the country).

 

[Informer1906]

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.

It is two meals a day, that is not a lot of food, it is like having lunch at work and then eating dinner when you get home. How is that a lot of food?

 

[CoolPool]

Please share becuse I have tried to find a deal for a Deluxe, and unless you get a pin (which is random) for Septemeber, what room deal beats free dining? What numbers am I not running

First, if September is your preferred time of travel, by all means. Go with what is your best option. The 4/3 deal through August 15th was, in fact, a great deal at the deluxe level. I personally cannot travel at that time because I have young children in school at that time.

If you look at the historical data for last year on mousesavers, the following room discounts were offered during most of September 2008:

AP room only discount
Florida resident room only discount
Room only discount for general public
Package discount for general public
Room only discount for Disney Visa holders
Package discount for Disney Visa holders

*most of these discounts were not released until June or July 2008. So I would suggest you book your best offer now, free dining, but when new deals are introduced later in the year, you may find that you will save more money by buying the dining plan.

Just a thought.

 

[blissventure]

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

QUOTE]


What kind of point is that? So can most people, but why should that stop a person from taking advantage of free food that they would have to eat anyway. It is not like you are going to get off of Splash Mountain feel a little hungry and order up a steak from Manhattan’s finest eatery. No, you are going to eat from a restaurant at the park so why not take advantage if someone is giving you the same food you have to buy anyway for free. (Side note, many restaurants in Disney can stand up to most restaurant in the country).

Thanks for your follow on comments, Informer1906. Very well said.

 

[NancyIL]

It is two meals a day, that is not a lot of food, it is like having lunch at work and then eating dinner when you get home. How is that a lot of food?

Eating dessert with a meal twice a day is a lot of food at one time - at least to me.

 

[Diznotyzed]

We are another couple who prefer a room only discount to FD. We've mostly lost interest in TS as the quality and variety have declined, and prefer more spontaneity than ADRs now allow. Since it's just the two of us, we can save more with a good room discount and paying OOP for food than with FD. Just another example of how different incentives work out for different groups.

 

[pixietwin]

I do have our CSR booked with the 40% off rate. With the free dining, you have to make ressies at table restaurants unless you don't take advantage of the full offer and only use the counter restaurant. I don't like the idea of having to make ressies and stick to them. I made a ton of ressies for last trip and only kept ONE. It was so nice back in the day when Disney table restaurants didn't need ressies! We are going to be there for 10 days. If I thought I had to keep 9 or 10 table ressies to get full advantage of the free dining offer, I'd scream. I don't like having to make our way across the park just to eat.

 

[Informer1906]

First, if September is your preferred time of travel, by all means. Go with what is your best option. The 4/3 deal through August 15th was, in fact, a great deal at the deluxe level. I personally cannot travel at that time because I have young children in school at that time.

If you look at the historical data for last year on mousesavers, the following room discounts were offered during most of September 2008:

AP room only discount
Florida resident room only discount
Room only discount for general public
Package discount for general public
Room only discount for Disney Visa holders
Package discount for Disney Visa holders

*most of these discounts were not released until June or July 2008. So I would suggest you book your best offer now, free dining, but when new deals are introduced later in the year, you may find that you will save more money by buying the dining plan.

Just a thought.

Thanks for the info, and I will look out for deals as you suggested. But of the deals from last year I am not an AP holder, Florida resident, and do not have a Disney Visa. I believe the package discount from last year was free dining (which I now have). Thus the only one left is the room only discount and since I have more than 2 kids, I have to get two rooms, thus unless the room only discount on a Deluxe is 40%, free DDP will still wins. I hope I get a 40% pin code or they do offer a 40% room discount then I will switch, but until then I am glad to take the free food, as feeding my small army is more than many people spend on their entire Disney trip.

 

[DaisyD]

Eating dessert with a meal twice a day is a lot of food at one time - at least to me.

Not me! LOL! The dessert on the CS meal is a brownie or something similar. Not exactly what I would call a dessert. The dessert at dinner is what I would consider a dessert. I can't see how the regular DP could be too much food for anyone that eats one CS and one TS meal a day. We always eat a light breakfast, CS lunch, and then a nice TS dinner later that night. We invariably eat a snack during they day too like a Pineapple Float or ice cream sandwich. I doubt we even get the so called dessert at the CS as I would rather get my float. Just because you are entitled to all food doesn't mean you have to eat it all.

 

[CoolPool]

TI believe the package discount from last year was free dining (which I know have). Thus the only one left is the room only discount and since I have more than 2 kids, I have to get two rooms, thus unless the room only discount on a Deluxe is 40%, free DDP will still wins. I hope I get a 40% pin code or they do offer a 40% room discount then I will switch, but until then I am glad to take the free food, as feeding my small army is more than many people spend on their entire Disney trip.

The "free dining" was not the same offer as the general public offer. They were broken out separately by mousesavers for the reason that they were different.

Run the numbers. There is no substitute for doing basic math.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

The "free dining" was not the same offer as the general public offer. They were broken out separately by mousesavers for the reason that they were different.

Run the numbers. There is no substitute for doing basic math.

What general public offer are you talking about? I don't understand your post.

 

[CoolPool]

What general public offer are you talking about? I don't understand your post.

From mousesavers historical data for last year.

 

[GC&S]

Good deal for you but only most do not have an AP, or get 40% off thus this deal is a dream if you were going to Disney anyway. Who turns down free food, man, you get trampled by people running to the break room at lunch when a vendor brings free food to work.

This is so true. We don't have an AP, never get a pin code so we always pay "rack rate". So for us free dining is a great deal. I can only hope someday we will get a pin code so we can get a discount but until then, free dining does save us money since we would be going any way and paying the dreaded rack rate. Oh, and I agree about the vendor. You always know when a drug rep is bringing lunch - our people are lined up waiting for them.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

From mousesavers historical data for last year.

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

 

[mousefan1972]

Free dining is not the best deal for us. We stay deluxe, and the room discounts for AP holders save us more. For example, we are saving $136 per night off of our room at the AKL in April. (discounts are similar for Sept.) The DDP for our family of 4 is $102 per night. (2 adults, 2 kids both ages 3-9)
Plus I don't like having to buy a one day base ticket that I don't need. Yes, I know I can save it for later to put towards AP renewal, blah blah. But if I'm not sure I want to renew our AP's, and most good deals are package deals (where you have to buy a ticket!), I would rather just not buy a ticket I don't need at all. So, AP room discount + buying DDP works better for us.

 

[sunluvr]

We had free dining in 2006 and it was great. The changes to the dining plan, however, do not work for us. We generally don't eat dessert and if we do, we share. We do, however, like appetizers. I think it is just a very individual thing.

 

[msteddom]

Free dining just doesn't work for me since they took away the app. and the gratuity. I did free dining once a few years ago and it was good. But since I usually travel solo a room discount goes a lot farther than the free DDP. I'm waiting on AP rates for Aug.

Melissa

 

[cinderella73]

Well its all a big sales tactic to me.( Like when you get a buy one get one free its really 50% off each item and so on , its not really free at all ) I dont see free dining as free dining at all. You are paying a rack rate for a room on rooms that normally have some discount offered anyway.

Now if you are staying in a value resort thaats a great offer . But if you need to stay a extended time in a villa like myself its stinks. The amount of money I would save on dining wont compensate for the overpriced rates of the villa's . Especially since I can get a beautiful ( and closer than most Disney resort's) home with everything I could need or want for 200 versus 550 to 650 a night.

I would love to stay onsite of course. But Disney has to take in factor that people with needs for higher priced room's wont be seeing enough of a benifit to book. Unless of course they have a 40% off pin code. Which some folks were luck enough to get. And since my September trip is looming and there are no discount's on higher priced rooms looks like I will be forgoing free dining and staying offsite yet again.

Ive been waiting to book and literally holding my breath. Cmon Disney give us decent room discounts in Sept!