2018 Free Dining

[Devil13]

I agree.

I think very few number crunchers have gotten get free dining to pay for itself with the Deluxe hotels, they are usually past the break-even point. Instead they often save more than enough on room-only discounts to pay for their DDP if they want it.

I see all sorts of comments where you could save by not doing a sit down, living off free water, getting a job at Disney for a week, tunneling into the parks, skipping this or that etc. Sure you could always save by cutting back on things, but the biggest outright dollar discount for us is the free meal plan.

Family of 4 "Disney Adults", staying at one room in Boardwalk and already planning on parkhooppers.

Would LOVE if someone could show me something better, but I doubt it.

 

[jlundeen]

I see all sorts of comments where you could save by not doing a sit down, living off free water, getting a job at Disney for a week, tunneling into the parks, skipping this or that etc. Sure you could always save by cutting back on things, but the biggest outright dollar discount for us is the free meal plan.

Family of 4 "Disney Adults", staying at one room in Boardwalk and already planning on parkhooppers.

Would LOVE if someone could show me something better, but I doubt it.

I think it all depends on how each person or family chooses to "do Disney." For me, it not about how much everything costs - I save and save, and luckily am able to go more frequently than others...and plan on spending a certain amount of money to have the vacation I plan for. But for some folks, the only way they CAN go is on a shoestring - with all sorts of others who are somewhere in between.

We all do it the way we want to, and the best advice I can give to anyone is: do your homework, educate yourself, know upfront what all the options are - and then make plans according to what YOU want to do, and not what others think you should or shouldn't do.

 

[Disneylover99]

I see all sorts of comments where you could save by not doing a sit down, living off free water, getting a job at Disney for a week, tunneling into the parks, skipping this or that etc. Sure you could always save by cutting back on things, but the biggest outright dollar discount for us is the free meal plan.

Family of 4 "Disney Adults", staying at one room in Boardwalk and already planning on parkhooppers.

Would LOVE if someone could show me something better, but I doubt it.

Yep. If you want to stay at the Boardwalk, you'd need a room only discount of at least $300 per night to make fd not worth it for your family. Doubt you'd see a room only discount anywhere close to that.

 

[saskdw]

sooo..what kind of free dining did US give you or what "huge" room discount did you get to actually spend 10 days just at those 2 parks plus 1 waterpark? There isnt that much of a price difference in tickets! and you get tons less...because you are saying 10 days at Universal...im finding your remark to disney just a bit dramatic.

Do some actual research.

They have a Stay More Save More promo which saved us 35% on the room and when we booked it through the UO website as a pkg we got 14 Day 3 park Explorer tickets for $300 each.

$2100 for 10 days at a Deluxe resort (RPR) and that includes full park passes, Unlimited Express pass for staying deluxe and tax.

It would cost double to stay at a crappy Disney Value resort for that.

 

[maltdizzy]

I see all sorts of comments where you could save by not doing a sit down, living off free water, getting a job at Disney for a week, tunneling into the parks, skipping this or that etc. Sure you could always save by cutting back on things, but the biggest outright dollar discount for us is the free meal plan.

Family of 4 "Disney Adults", staying at one room in Boardwalk and already planning on parkhooppers.

Would LOVE if someone could show me something better, but I doubt it.

Four adults is one way it someone can make it pay off. But even them, often the 40% discount on rack rate will save more than enough money to add DxDP to a package. For us, if we wanted to buy the DxDP (we would never eat enough to justify it), it would have been $300 less to take the room discount and add the DxDP.

For many, it's quite the opposite of what you describe, in order to get the DDP to pay for itself, people have to schedule more dining and eat more food than they ever would under natural circumstance, yes, that food is paid for, but many would never have bought it OOP. Once one adds in tip and booze, it makes it even harder to compete.

All anyone is saying is, always crunch the numbers and see which is better, free dining is often a case of people paying more money for something that's "free."

 

[halfpintpeggy]

I think next year will be the last for free dining

I hope so!

 

[Devil13]

Four adults is one way it someone can make it pay off. But even them, often the 40% discount on rack rate will save more than enough money to add DxDP to a package. For us, if we wanted to buy the DxDP (we would never eat enough to justify it), it would have been $300 less to take the room discount and add the DxDP.

For many, it's quite the opposite of what you describe, in order to get the DDP to pay for itself, people have to schedule more dining and eat more food than they ever would under natural circumstance, yes, that food is paid for, but many would never have bought it OOP. Once one adds in tip and booze, it makes it even harder to compete.

All anyone is saying is, always crunch the numbers and see which is better, free dining is often a case of people paying more money for something that's "free."

This is exactly what I was saying. It really comes down to what works for you, individually.

Some in here like to condemn free dining because it doesn’t fit their needs, but why would you want it to go away?

 

[maltdizzy]

Some in here like to condemn free dining because it doesn’t fit their needs, but why would you want it to go away?

People blame free dining/DDP for a significantly higher demand on ADRs; higher turnout that creates more crowding and decreased quality in food and service at TS restaurants; and slower than normal lines at CS and snack stands because it seems everyone has to have every option under the DDP explained to them for every purchase. I've been stuck behind DDP customers take almost 10 minutes at churro stand trying to figure out how to maximize their credits.These are the common complaints around free dining. Many blame the peak era of free dining (8-10 years ago) and the growth of the DDP in general for an increase in tables and decrease in food selection and service quality, but that may be coincidental, Disney has cut a lot of corners in other things in the same time period and added a lot of hotel rooms.

We avoid free dining time periods if we can. The less they offered free dining, the easier it was for us to avoid it. But it's become a non-factor for us, changing school calendars and increasing Halloween parties has meant we'll go at a different time of year or start flying to DL instead.

I think the thing working against free dining though is that it used to be a way to entice guests to come during one of the longest slow periods of the year...hurricane season and the start of the school year. But F&W, Halloween parties, and successful spreading of the crowds has made it a busier time of year.

 

[Devil13]

Makes sense. I’m very careful not to be one of those people.

The thing is that if it goes away, I wouldn’t count on a bump in quality or increase in selection when it comes to the food at Disney. Lower pricing would be a shock as well.

Would hate to see any discount go away though.

 

[maltdizzy]

The thing is that if it goes away, I wouldn’t count on a bump in quality or increase in selection when it comes to the food at Disney. Lower pricing would be a shock as well.

Totally agree. That's why I added the caveat that FD/DDP make be erroneously taking flak for corner cutting that might have happened anyway.

I try not to worry too much about what might have been at WDW.

 

[brewhome]

Maybe instead of free dining with all of it's rules and regulations, maximizing credits, fights for ressies, long waits for tables, etc, it would be better if they gave gift card promos instead. The money still goes to them, but the customers think they're getting something for free. For example, on our last trip, we stayed at CBR and booked during the window where they were offering a $75 gift card per night as compensation for the construction. We paid rack rate, got $375, and spent it all on the Food & Wine kiosks. So... the "discount" they gave us went right back to them. Did we save our own money? Of course, because that's $375 of our own money that we didn't have to spend... but as usual, we spent WAY more than that on additional food, drinks, and shopping. We didn't skimp on anything and actually probably spent more than we would have overall because we felt we had "free" money, even though we realized it's not free. And we were fine with it! I think gift cards would be a much better alternative and would end up freeing up restaurant space. Since we used our gift card to munch around the world on three separate days, we ended up NOT sitting down at a QS or TS for six meals... thus leaving space open for others. Other people may choose to use the gift card to pay for their room, or buy more stuff at the stores, and eat differently than if they had free dining - i.e. more snacks and QS and less TS, etc.

Hope this makes sense...

 

[Roxyfire]

Maybe instead of free dining with all of it's rules and regulations, maximizing credits, fights for ressies, long waits for tables, etc, it would be better if they gave gift card promos instead. The money still goes to them, but the customers think they're getting something for free. For example, on our last trip, we stayed at CBR and booked during the window where they were offering a $75 gift card per night as compensation for the construction. We paid rack rate, got $375, and spent it all on the Food & Wine kiosks. So... the "discount" they gave us went right back to them. Did we save our own money? Of course, because that's $375 of our own money that we didn't have to spend... but as usual, we spent WAY more than that on additional food, drinks, and shopping. We didn't skimp on anything and actually probably spent more than we would have overall because we felt we had "free" money, even though we realized it's not free. And we were fine with it! I think gift cards would be a much better alternative and would end up freeing up restaurant space. Since we used our gift card to munch around the world on three separate days, we ended up NOT sitting down at a QS or TS for six meals... thus leaving space open for others. Other people may choose to use the gift card to pay for their room, or buy more stuff at the stores, and eat differently than if they had free dining - i.e. more snacks and QS and less TS, etc.

Hope this makes sense...

Makes perfect sense. Much like how cruise lines or Vegas resorts will do room credits. You're spending their money in their shops. If I remember the posts correctly, I believe the dining plan was to bring people into the table service restaurants in the first place. Now it's totally unnecessary, especially including for free. I think they could easily consolidate their discounts to be a flat rate with the disney gift card or for a ticket package maybe get 1 free day after 7 days or something like that. I would fully expect them to shift to this kind of strategy for less popular resorts once Star Wars opens up.

edited to add statement in italics

 

[Nancyg56]

I agree.

I think very few number crunchers have gotten get free dining to pay for itself with the Deluxe hotels, they are usually past the break-even point. Instead they often save more than enough on room-only discounts to pay for their DDP if they want it.

This depends on the family dynamic. I generally need to book two rooms for my crew and look for discounts that will give us the best value. For my family the FD on one room and RO on the other has worked out well. RO will pay off it there are two in one room. 4? Nope. FD for that room. We are going to eat, and we will purchase hoppers anyway, so those restrictions are not a consideration in the total value of the package.

I know that folks shoudl always do their homework to determine what discount, if any works for their family. I just get frustrated when someone insists that the FD is not worth it, and folks should opt for RO without actually looking at the family dynamic, including dining preferences. I know you did not do this, but so many folks do.

 

[tlmadden73]

Maybe instead of free dining with all of it's rules and regulations, maximizing credits, fights for ressies, long waits for tables, etc, it would be better if they gave gift card promos instead. The money still goes to them, but the customers think they're getting something for free. For example, on our last trip, we stayed at CBR and booked during the window where they were offering a $75 gift card per night as compensation for the construction. We paid rack rate, got $375, and spent it all on the Food & Wine kiosks. So... the "discount" they gave us went right back to them. Did we save our own money? Of course, because that's $375 of our own money that we didn't have to spend... but as usual, we spent WAY more than that on additional food, drinks, and shopping. We didn't skimp on anything and actually probably spent more than we would have overall because we felt we had "free" money, even though we realized it's not free. And we were fine with it! I think gift cards would be a much better alternative and would end up freeing up restaurant space. Since we used our gift card to munch around the world on three separate days, we ended up NOT sitting down at a QS or TS for six meals... thus leaving space open for others. Other people may choose to use the gift card to pay for their room, or buy more stuff at the stores, and eat differently than if they had free dining - i.e. more snacks and QS and less TS, etc.

Hope this makes sense...

I like that thought.

I used the Dining Plan in 2010 and my parents found it so confusing. (it was frustrating) .. how many credits do we have left? Can we use the dining plan here? How many credits does it use? What can we get with a snack. I mean I found it easy to understand, but they just couldn't grasp it. It is just overly complicated.

Since Magic bands can charge back to your room .. the no-cash convenience of getting the Dining Plan is pretty pointless. So I am not sure why anyone would get the Dining Plan when you can just charge it back to your room and pay as you go (which in a lot of cases) would be cheaper than the dining plan anyway

Your idea of getting a gift card (or a dining "credit" on your Magic Band) would be a lot easier.

 

[DisneyLore]

I like that thought.

I used the Dining Plan in 2010 and my parents found it so confusing. (it was frustrating) .. how many credits do we have left? Can we use the dining plan here? How many credits does it use? What can we get with a snack. I mean I found it easy to understand, but they just couldn't grasp it. It is just overly complicated.

Since Magic bands can charge back to your room .. the no-cash convenience of getting the Dining Plan is pretty pointless. So I am not sure why anyone would get the Dining Plan when you can just charge it back to your room and pay as you go (which in a lot of cases) would be cheaper than the dining plan anyway

Your idea of getting a gift card (or a dining "credit" on your Magic Band) would be a lot easier.

One of the main reasons that I like the dining plan whether it is free or not, is because of the type of person I am and my financial situation. I went twice with free dining and once without the dining plan. When my daughter and I went without the dining plan we allotted a specific amount for food. But what I found was because I didn't have extra money or even extra credit in case I needed it, I began to worry as soon as we were half way through our allotted money. The money we allotted was fine for the amount of time we were there but once again I spent half my vacation worrying about whether we were going to have enough or whether we should get this or that at a given restaurant. I do that all year long and I don't want to do that at Disney. So for me (and maybe only people like me) having the dining plan makes my vacation so much more nicer. I don't worry about the cost at any restaurant, I don't worry about running out of food or money, I just relax and let go.
Last year was the best because we had 5 adult women in 1 room at CBR, got the free dining and got the $75 gc. the GC paid for all the tips and a few souvenirs and it meant that we spent about $1000 per person for everything. It also meant from the time I got on the plane in Ottawa until I got to MCO to fly home, I never once had to pull out my wallet. That is a luxury I only get from Disneyworld and I love it.

 

[tlmadden73]

One of the main reasons that I like the dining plan whether it is free or not, is because of the type of person I am and my financial situation. I went twice with free dining and once without the dining plan. When my daughter and I went without the dining plan we allotted a specific amount for food. But what I found was because I didn't have extra money or even extra credit in case I needed it, I began to worry as soon as we were half way through our allotted money. The money we allotted was fine for the amount of time we were there but once again I spent half my vacation worrying about whether we were going to have enough or whether we should get this or that at a given restaurant. I do that all year long and I don't want to do that at Disney. So for me (and maybe only people like me) having the dining plan makes my vacation so much more nicer. I don't worry about the cost at any restaurant, I don't worry about running out of food or money, I just relax and let go.
Last year was the best because we had 5 adult women in 1 room at CBR, got the free dining and got the $75 gc. the GC paid for all the tips and a few souvenirs and it meant that we spent about $1000 per person for everything. It also meant from the time I got on the plane in Ottawa until I got to MCO to fly home, I never once had to pull out my wallet. That is a luxury I only get from Disneyworld and I love it.

I guess, for me, that just means you need to "Let it Go".

You can have that same carefree attitude just by putting everything on the credit card via Magic Band .. or just getting a Gift Card in the same amount that a Dining Plan would cost ($70/day). Odds are you would spend the same amount or less and if you can just "let it go" you wouldn't have to worry about it either.

The dining plan is not really a deal. It is just a convenience that you pay for. And they are banking on the fact that people like "bundling" it into their vacation, when in reality, most families would spend LESS money without the dining plan. Take the money you save and splurge on something else.

I have learned on vacation to (especially at Disney) to not worry about the money. I mean .. I'm not going to throw money around like I own the place, but when it comes to the dining .. I just pay it .. ignore the price tag *gulp* and move on. It's not worth the headache and worry .. you already know these meals are going to be vastly more expensive than what you are used to "back home". You are paying for the ambience as well, and its hard to put a value on that. I don't even tell my wife how much the meals cost .. otherwise she would probably freak out. ($40 for a buffet!!)

Obviously you still need to stay within your budget, but sometimes "letting it go" on vacation can make it much more enjoyable like you said.
I am just saying you can still do that without the dining plan.

 

[DisneyDude71]

Well, I am booked for November with the dining plan. I am hoping an offer does come out but if not oh well, i will just throw a room discount at it.
As far as "ignore the price tag" I can do that easily but my wife and grown daughter do not. The wife will get over it but my daughter will just go for the chicken tender basket, and let her husband do the splurging. 75 dollars a night is a little steep but you have to be sure to make it work for you. Yes there will be days when it gets you, but if you plan right, you can come out ahead.
But I geuss when the dining window opens for my trip, after I book what sitdowns we want I may double check, and see what it works out to. I know we are planing on at least Disney Jr. Breakfast, one credit each, and Boathouse at Disney Springs - 2 credits each. which will leave us with 4 more to figure out.
I try to book the bang for my buck, I will eat steak every night to get my moneys worth!

 

[DisneyLore]

I guess, for me, that just means you need to "Let it Go".

You can have that same carefree attitude just by putting everything on the credit card via Magic Band .. or just getting a Gift Card in the same amount that a Dining Plan would cost ($70/day). Odds are you would spend the same amount or less and if you can just "let it go" you wouldn't have to worry about it either.

The dining plan is not really a deal. It is just a convenience that you pay for. And they are banking on the fact that people like "bundling" it into their vacation, when in reality, most families would spend LESS money without the dining plan. Take the money you save and splurge on something else.

I have learned on vacation to (especially at Disney) to not worry about the money. I mean .. I'm not going to throw money around like I own the place, but when it comes to the dining .. I just pay it .. ignore the price tag *gulp* and move on. It's not worth the headache and worry .. you already know these meals are going to be vastly more expensive than what you are used to "back home". You are paying for the ambience as well, and its hard to put a value on that. I don't even tell my wife how much the meals cost .. otherwise she would probably freak out. ($40 for a buffet!!)

Obviously you still need to stay within your budget, but sometimes "letting it go" on vacation can make it much more enjoyable like you said.
I am just saying you can still do that without the dining plan.

I think you missed the point! Obviously I cannot just "let it go" or this likely wouldn't be an issue. I have been a single mom for 22 years, worrying about money is a way of life for me, so for me it is completely worth it to not stress and not worry for the time I'm there. But clearly for you it is not worth it at all.

 

[jlundeen]

Just thought I'd share my latest experience.

We just returned from a 7 night, 8 day on-property stay. The group I was with always gets the regular dining plan, just for the convenience of not having to worry about their menu choices and spending on a day to day basis. So to compare the actual costs, and include taxes and mug, (but not tips as you pay these either way), to dining plan cost, I kept all my receipts.

For us, the dining plan cost $528.43 each for 7 TS, 7QS, 14 snacks, and the refillable mug. Paying out of pocket for the very same meals, adding taxes (about 6.5%), and mug, the cost would have been somewhere over $600 each, and we were not automatically just getting the most expensive thing on the menu. We enjoyed all our meals, and ended up with lots of left over snacks which got us lots of bags of pretzels, etc., for taking home. We could have used these for breakfasts items instead if we had wanted to.

This discussion will go back and forth, with no right or wrong - whatever works for your particular travel party, and your particular trip, is the best way to plan, but you need to do the math upfront.

Personally, I prefer to NOT go during a FREE DINING offer, and instead try to find a time that is less crowded - but with all the festivals and extended Holiday events (Halloween in August???), Extra hours for on-property guests, etc., that really is getting harder to do.

 

[tlmadden73]

For us, the dining plan cost $528.43 each for 7 TS, 7QS, 14 snacks, and the refillable mug. Paying out of pocket for the very same meals, adding taxes (about 6.5%), and mug, the cost would have been somewhere over $600 each, and we were not automatically just getting the most expensive thing on the menu. We enjoyed all our meals, and ended up with lots of left over snacks which got us lots of bags of pretzels, etc., for taking home. We could have used these for breakfasts items instead if we had wanted to.

Interesting.
I'd love to see your breakdown, because I am always going on the assumption that I can't possible spend $75 a day on food (and thus the dining plan isn't worth it). I am sure I COULD spend $75/day on food if I wanted to, but I would find it more stressful with the dining plan trying to "maximize" my value and not have anything go to waste.

Was there one or two big cost meals (Character meals) that brought your average meal price up? I am sure it is different for each person and obviously it depends which restaurants you choose to go. (Like a difference between going to the Plaza restaurant for your TS compared to Crystal Palace).

Did you find yourself eating differently because you are on the dining plan? Would you have bought those snacks (that you didn't use) had you been spending cash? Did the dining plan encourage you to try a "more expensive" restaurant?