Free Dining Experiences

[slpeters]

So I would like sometime to do the Free Dining promotion mainly because I just think it would be fun to get the dining plan and this is really the only way I can see us doing it. On the other hand it's just the two of us and from what I understand it would almost never make sense for us to actually do the Free Dining promo.

So what are people's experiences with the Dining Plan? I know it's excessive--but is it a fun splurge?

 

[Kevlar10]

We have had the free dining plan twice. The first time we didn't really understand how to make the most of it so we had 2 QS credits left over and a few snacks. I still think it worked out because it was free, of course. The second time, we were looking for it and when it came out, we upgraded to a deluxe resort because it was about the same cost as if we had booked a moderate resort and paid for the dining plan. We were much more aware of all of the included stuff, snacks and the refillable mugs so we had coffee, tea and juices every morning and used the snack credits for our breakfasts. We only paid for tips for our entire stay. It worked out very well. The only "down" side was that we had too much food and either didn't finish our meals or were stuffed all of the time. We just got the "free" dining for our next trip but again upgraded to a deluxe resort and although the cost was a little higher for the resort, we saved over $1000 so for me it is another win.

 

[Haley R]

Do you mean experience with the dining plan in general? We’ve done it twice and have also not used it before. It depends on what/where you want to eat. If you do a lot of character meals or want to do a 2 credit meal, it can work in your favor. Dh and I are going in October and aren’t getting the dp because we want to be flexible with eating and eat at the food booths at Epcot.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

We use it when we can get it for free only because we don't have to concern ourselves with what things cost. We eat like the world's coming to an end and don't care. It's my vacation and I didn't come to Disney to graze. I eat good, snack well, drink a lot and have cheesecake at midnight. Love the plan, when its free.

 

[JerseyJanice]

I loved it the 3 times we did it, but I had 4 people in my room and 2 were older children who were Disney “adults.”

I remember that we paid $82 per night at Pop Century and that included 4 adult regular dining plans in 2009 and 2010 with Magical Express. We wound up buying 8 or 9 days of MYW without hopping.

I am out of the loop now on rack rates and Dining Plan prices, but I know that when we took the FD offer, it was an outstanding deal.

 

[Osugal9]

Free dining would make sense if you are staying at a value or a moderate. If it’s just two of you at a deluxe, you would have to run the numbers but may not be a huge savings, or any at all based on room type and discount.
I like the convienence of the plan and it saves us a huge amount of money, but I would not get it if it wasn’t free. I would put the money of the plan on a gift card and use that for meals.

 

[loves to dive]

I'm a bookkeeper so way back when it first came out I had to run the numbers because nothing is really free. We got it one time in the very beginning because the numbers worked but after that, it was always less and more important, more to our style to get room discounts instead. As my son got older and I got older, we found the dining plan just didn't work for our style of eating. While some find it convenient because the thought process is it's prepaid and they don't have to worry about costs on the menus, those same people (in most cases, not always) feel like they need to max it out and so try to order the most expensive thing on the menu and try to find the most expensive snacks and only eat places that offer the plan. That is just too much work for me, I like eating where I want to eat and what I want to eat. We never look at prices on the menu and more often than not, what we want is not the most expensive thing on the menu. I don't eat heavy meals, there are days we don't eat a formal meal all day. We rarely snack between meals. I don't drink soft drinks, I only drink water with my meals. I've found that finding the best room discount and discount on tickets, works better for us.

 

[Moliphino]

Room only discounts at values haven't been great lately (sometimes only 10%), so I think free dining can still be a better option there. I'll be running the numbers when room only discounts come out for our dates, but for now we have a free dining package at Pop in December.

 

[Lovetherodent]

I booked a bounceback during FD time hoping to snag FD; however, with 2 in the room (at a deluxe), the 30% room savings was a better deal. FD was about $400 more for the same stay. You do have to run the numbers, especially when there are just 2 in a room.

 

[crabbygal902]

We go on trips with and without. 2 very different trips, both enjoyable.

With regular DDP:
Grand dinners are scheduled at character meals and/or AYCTE locations, places we generally avoid when paying OOP.
Counter Service meals are at BoG, Flame Tree, Polite Pig, and Wolfgang Puck Express...anywhere we can get the biggest bang for our buck--places we generally avoid when paying OOP.
Snacks are deliberately chosen from the higher end of the spectrum. We do expensive Starbucks drinks as a 'breakfast' and try stuff we never would in real life. Except for using the DDP, I don't know the last time I had an ice cream sundae!

Even if the DDP is 'free' we still try to squeeze out that value, but we enjoy playing that game.


No DDP:
Dinners at restaurant lounges where we make a meal from sharing apps, no need for ADRs.
Lunches at places like Y&Y CS where we can get a of side chicken fried rice and an egg roll for very little money, or we share an entree with an added side. Maybe we'll have a meal at Sci-Fi or The Plaza since it is less expensive than other TS locations.
Snacks and breakfast: we bring most with us and eat in the hotel room. Perhaps we treat ourselves to an outside snack here or there. It's kinda hard for us to go to WDW without getting at least one Mickey bar!

 

[Rebecca Pocahontas]

I have been to Disney many times without the free DDP and three times with the free DDP. It is only my mom and I that go and it works out well for us. Every time that the DDP comes up I always price out our 2 options - to get the room discount and no free food, or to pay full price and get free food. And the way that it always seems to work out for us is that we would probably spend about $200-250 total for food for 5 days at the resort. That amount of money is about the difference that choosing a room with the discount or choosing the free DDP totals up to. It ends up being a little extra to get the free DDP, but with the amount of fun that we get with getting all that food that we would normally never purchase it is totally worth it for us to get the DDP. It is a fun splurge that will make you stuffed, but we normally eat the cheapest food at Disney because it is a bit pricey. So with the ability to pick whatever food item we want, it makes it all worth it!

 

[mamamelody2]

I'm not sure why you say it would almost never make sense for you to do the free dining promo. It is usually the best promo, only if you are staying Deluxe with only 1 or people is room only discount better.
When DH and I went last November with free dining, we stayed at POP. Room only discount would have been about $20 a night. Obviously there's no way 2 adults can eat for $20 a day.

 

[VikingInMouseEars]

We (2 adults) have used the free dining promo 4 times. Always staying in a value resort and upgrading to the regular dining plan. Each time we have compared it to room only discounts and paying OoP for food and every time the free dining was the better deal. We factor the cost of the room and the price of what we anticipate eating (we typically eat well even when we pay OoP so it's comparing apples to apples). We are on vacation so we like to eat well and the free DDP allows us to save money while doing that. I am thinking it might even be a better deal now that you can have a specialty drink or alcoholic drink included on the plan. Anyway thats us, if you are light eaters then your mileage may vary.

 

[jknc]

We did it one time.

We had the regular dining plan.

My opinion is it’s too much food and you become tied to your ADRs to the point your entire day revolves around when you’re to eat. Not as fun as one would think.

BTW: I priced out “free dining” it’s over $1000 more than what we paid 4 years ago for same party, dates and resort.

 

[Kimberle]

I've done it a few times on "free dining". I would never pay for it. I have it booked for my Dec trip. I'm making a spreadsheet to chart the cost of each meal and snack. I'm having a hard time coming up to the $75 pp per day cost of the plan. I'm searching for the "biggest bang" restaurants/items, too. The added "high end drink" is making the cost so expensive. They are assuming you'll have a adult beverage or fancy type drink (like a milkshake). In reality, many places do not offer these items. Especially at the MK. I tend to do TS for lunch, and the few places that serve adult drinks do so for dinner only. Other than a few places with "slushies", quick serve basically has soda, coffee, etc.

In reality, if I ate the way I normally eat, I'd probably average $50-$60 per day. 1 TS, 1 qs, and a few bottles of water. I'm not a big snacker and would just grab a $3 muffin for b/fast. I'm not a big drinker and would not normally order dessert.

 

[Arielfan98]

I'm going to offer an unpopular opinion here...my family prefers the DDP and we will pay for it. We have booked a room at Pop Century in August and qualify for free QS, but we upgraded to the regular DDP because it's worth it for us. If you're goal is to save money, then most likely the DDP will not benefit you. However, my family uses it as a tool of convenience and for my family the cost is about the same as paying out of pocket. We use our snack credits on water bottles or souvenirs to take home.
I don't feel the amount of food you get on the DDP is as much as people claim....we pay out of pocket for a small breakfast and we share the bounty platter for example. At lunch we each select our own QS entree, and at dinner we select our own TS entree. I never feel overly stuffed (and I am a healthy 5'2 female at 120 pounds). Are our plates always licked clean? No. Do we eat most of the food we order? Yes. We also tend to select the pricier entrees when we go to restaurants and now that the DDP comes with the added bonus of booze, it makes it all the more worth it.

 

[DaniMoon]

In 2013, we had free dining. It was the first time we went when this was offered and we upgrded to the DDP, my kids were young and the price to upgrade was reasonable considering we had quite a few character meals planned. 2015 no plan, 2017 we had the summer meal deal which was 1 QS meal a day and that worked well for us.

This upcoming trip, we switched from POP to AS Sports to get the FD promotion. The price difference was $242. We are going to 13 days, so we consider that $242 quite a bargain. My youngest turns 10 a week before our trip, so to upgrade to the DDP would require us to pay for 4 adults. Which is ridiculous for kids 10&11. So we will be happy with the QS plan and still do about 5 TS meals and pay out of pocket. My 10 year old still orders off the kids menu and my daughter and I usually split a meal.

My husband LOVED when we had the DDP, he loved not looking at prices on the menu and ordering steak quite often. When we pay OOP he tends to look at prices first and then finds something he wants to order in the price range he wants to pay.

 

[bluejasmine]

Ive done the free DDP many times a few times just DH and I and the rest with family. It was defanitely worth it we love the DDP if we dont get FD or if the RO discount saves more we still pay for DDP! We love to eat good on vacation, so its worth it for us

 

[leebee]

We have done free dining three times; the rest of our trips have been paying OOP for our meals. Travelers are me and DD, who is an adult, and we stay at value resorts so when we have free dining we upgrade from QSDP to DDP. We don't do character meals, but do some buffets (Biergarten and Boma) every trip. Here's what I've learned about the DDP.

1) Until recently I was a Pooh-sized lady who could put away a considerable amount of food in one sitting (20-24 chicken wings on wing night, for example)- but I always find the portion size at Disney to be MORE than generous. The DDP is a LOT of food for us. When we have the DDP, DD and I will share a bounty platter for breakfast, a larger "meal" for lunch, and then each have our own TS for dinner, as well as our own snack. This way with free dining we are not paying for any additional meals. This is ALWAYS enough food for us. In fact, we tend to eat the same way when paying for food OOP.

2) Keeping track of what we ate, each time we've done "free dining," it's cost us more than if we'd made the same food choices and paid OOP. We don't try to maximize the dining credits by eating the most expensive choices, but we are both happy to order entrees such as scallops, lamb, duck, etc., and these are usually some of the more expensive entrees. The three times we've done "free" dining, it's cost us about $250-$300 more than if I'd booked a Disney value hotel at a discount, purchased discounted park tickets, and paid for the food.

3) I had free dining for our upcoming trip (Aug 2018). It was going to be about a break-even proposition for us, so the fun and convenience won out. WHY did I think it'd be break-even? Because the DDP now includes adult beverages and two snacks a day. We enjoy a drink or two so being able to get one beverage at lunch and one each at dinner adds up fast, and that's what really makes "free" dining a break-even proposition... that and the second snack credit.

HOWEVER.... notice I said "had" free dining. We decided to give it up, for a variety of reasons. I was very conflicted about having free dining, as I had bariatric surgery 18 months ago. I just don't eat the way I used to, which is a good thing! However, it means I eat very, very little. Any entree Order is going to go to waste; I can eat about 3/4 of a cup of food at a sitting, not too many times a day. Eating 3 times a day keeps me very full; there's no way I can include one snack, much less 2 a day, and DD doesn't eat that way, either. I realized that, while FD would allow me to order whatever without worrying about wasted food vs. cost, there was no way we'd get the full value of the DP, and we have no interest in bringing home a ton of Goofy's candy to use up the credits. When I found a TA offer for 6 nights at AKL with park hopper for the same price as the FD offer, we decided that would work better for us. I have some gift cards and lots of rewards money from my Disney VISA, so we'll use that to pay for our food and drink. That's going to work best for us this trip.

SO... Free dining, and/or the DDP, is a good deal only if it works for the way your family eats. Even then, like us you might find that you would spend less money paying out of pocket. There is no hard and fast rule about whether or not the dining plans are a good value... you have to consider how your family eats, look at menus online, run the numbers, and THEN decide.

 

[MrWonderful]

There is no such thing as "Free" dining... In the room discount vs. rack rate/free dining, we usually save more going with a room discount (a couple); But depending on your family size and children's ages, and eating habits, you can break even or possibly save a small amount, and enjoy the convenience it provides. Try this tool to see where you work out:

https://www.distripplanner.com/