Not so "FREE" Dining

Is the free dining sold out for parts of August? We have a bounceback offer, but I wanted to play with numbers to see if there was another/better option for us, since we want regular ddp, and will have to pay the difference..however, every resort is coming up as unavailable for those dates (Aug 13-20)
 
Is the free dining sold out for parts of August? We have a bounceback offer, but I wanted to play with numbers to see if there was another/better option for us, since we want regular ddp, and will have to pay the difference..however, every resort is coming up as unavailable for those dates (Aug 13-20)
You already know that those dates are only open to Disney Visa cardholders, right? I just checked, and there are a lot of resorts still available for the free dining promotion for Aug 13-20, but in the middle of checking, the website gave me a message that people will be unable to book reservations on 6/22. (Hasn't this been true for the better part of 2 weeks now)?
 
Even without a free dining promotion, we buy the plan every time. Every day we spend snack credits in breakfast, have a comfortable sit down lunch, then dinner at a signature. To do this out if pocket and still get the soup at yachtsman or their charcuterie board before the steaks deserts roll by would require a psychologically devastating reach for the pocketbook.

Based on how we eat, we've figured it comes to as much as a 35% savings to buy the dxdp assuming food and wine snack credits getting me $6-8 small plates all day.

I look forward to the new booze changes..
 
Airfare has no bearing on whether or not free dining is a good deal for you, since that has nothing to do with Disney. The only comparison you can make is if you were going the same dates, staying at AKL, and getting the dining plan, and now you're getting it for free, or if it came out cheaper for you to add the free dining than it was for paying for just your room and tickets without a dining package.
:teacher: I've noticed some really wonky/fuzzy mathematics on this thread...
 
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You already know that those dates are only open to Disney Visa cardholders, right? I just checked, and there are a lot of resorts still available for the free dining promotion for Aug 13-20, but in the middle of checking, the website gave me a message that people will be unable to book reservations on 6/22. (Hasn't this been true for the better part of 2 weeks now)?

No, I didnt know that, as I am not a cardholder, nor as Canadians am I eligible, I believe. Also, I was checking yesterday which was June 21, so I am not sure if that was why.
 
No, I didnt know that, as I am not a cardholder, nor as Canadians am I eligible, I believe. Also, I was checking yesterday which was June 21, so I am not sure if that was why.

The Canadian offer has different dates than the American offer. Canadian FD begins as early as Aug. 13th and the FD promotion is bookable til August 31st. So it may still be possible for you to change your dates if there is availability.
 
We are 5 adults and two 16 year old boys staying in a 2BR at Saratoga Springs in September. 9 days with Park Hoppers Plus, DDP, and Memory Maker came to $9,860, including tax. If we booked it with the 25% room only offer, added Memory Maker, and bought the tickets from Undercover Tourist, and averaged $60 per person per night out of pocket on food (which might be low - in addition to the teen boys we have 2 other people with big appetites), we would have spent $11,358, a savings of $1,498 using the Free Dining. Naturally, I was thrilled.
 


Free Dining is completely specific to your family and your needs. There is no one size fits all. Everyone has to crunch the numbers and do their own homework to see if it works. It works for me as a solo guest, staying at a value resort (paying rack rate and giving up the modest seasonal discount), and even paying the upgrade to table service for one person. If I wanted to/needed to stay a moderate or deluxe resort, then it would be a very different scenario.
 
Whether it's "free" or not, I can tell you it is a HUGE savings for our family of four that includes two teenage boys! There's no way any room discount is going to come close to saving me enough to feed everybody! Even paying for the upgrade to regular DDP instead of QSDP is a major savings, since a TS meal every day is a key part of our vacation.

Everyone needs to do the math for their own situation. But I'm amazed at how many people scoff at those of us using the free dining, as if we're being taken advantage of. I challenge anybody out there to find me a deal that's better for a family of four adults, who have at least 1 TS a day, and want to add park hopper anyway. Please, please...if you can come up with math that works better for our situation, I'd love to hear it!

My thoughts exactly! I love the relative peace of a TS at either lunchtime or dinner time. The air con is also appreciated as we're tied to visiting in July / August (4.5 days until we're due at the airport :flower1::flower1:)And with two teen girls, one who loves to graze, one who would eat her body weight in Mickey waffles then spend the next 12 hours A type -touring, its cheaper, easier and guarantees our dining costs. We visit from the UK for 14 nights at a time and wouldn't contemplate visiting without the dining plan.

Free Dining is completely specific to your family and your needs. There is no one size fits all. Everyone has to crunch the numbers and do their own homework to see if it works. It works for me as a solo guest, staying at a value resort (paying rack rate and giving up the modest seasonal discount), and even paying the upgrade to table service for one person. If I wanted to/needed to stay a moderate or deluxe resort, then it would be a very different scenario.

this! it's different strokes for different folks :love:
 
You cant double dip on discounts. So naturally if they give you free dining, you'll have to pay rack rate for the room. And btw one could easily argue that the room discount isnt really a discount since you have to pay for food. It drives me nuts when people talk about FD like its a rip off! DO THE MATH!!!!! Just because it doesn't work for your family, it doesn't mean it wont work for others. For other families, its a great deal. It all depends on how many are in your party and where you stay.
 

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