U.K. free dining for 2020 is live - what have you booked?

I'm still debating today whether to book AKL. We've never stayed there but we're eloping next October so feel like we would be happy to spend a bit more money on a deluxe resort but can I ask, do you think £5,306 is a ridiculous amount for 2 weeks with a savannah view?
If you bring your dates forward you might see a more budget friendly price for this resort. We’ve booked 10 days from the start of the month with tix and DDP and it came in at less than £3600. Plus we don’t have to worry about transport to and from the airport. It’s possible to ask for a partial savannah view and save. Some cash that way. Having never stayed there before we are looking forward to our vacation now.
 
Last edited:
If you bring your dates forward you might see a more budget friendly price for this resort. We’ve booked 10 days from the start of the month with tix and DDP and it came in at less than £5000. Plus we don’t have to worry about transport to and from the airport. It’s possible to ask for a partial savannah view and save. Some cash that way. Having never stayed there before we are looking forward to our vacation now.
Thank you. We've already booked now but went with a standard room to save some money. It would be nice it we were able to get a partial savannah view but if not … hey, I'm in Disney!

The only thing about September (I realise it's literally the difference of 1 day from 30th Sept-1st Oct) but I was paranoid about potential hurricanes that occur more in September.

We went in October in 2017 and loved it so are going to chance it again and hope the weather stays clear x
 
I booked nine days (eight nights) at Coronado Springs and upgraded our dining plan to the deluxe (as this is what we've had previously and really enjoy the freedom it offers). We're back in the World in August 2020.

Hiya. Can I ask what your thinking is for DxDP? We're staying AKL CL for two weeks in September 2020 with free DDP, and I'm trying to figure out whether it would be beneficial to upgrade to DxDP. Not so much from a cost perspective, but because a) we both like apps as well and b) so many restaurants we want to eat at are 2 credits..

Do you do it for two-credit meals / character meals, or another reason?

Just curious to get another perspective on it..
 


Hiya. Can I ask what your thinking is for DxDP? We're staying AKL CL for two weeks in September 2020 with free DDP, and I'm trying to figure out whether it would be beneficial to upgrade to DxDP. Not so much from a cost perspective, but because a) we both like apps as well and b) so many restaurants we want to eat at are 2 credits.

We are staying AKL - Not CL but SV in September 2020. Two of us to upgrade for 10 nights to DxDP cost £580. We are the same as you - I prefer apps to desserts and want to do a ton of signatures as it is an adult only trip. The DDP we would end up paying for a lot of OOP appetisers - maybe use one of the dining plan calculators. So you can see whether it is worth it and how many meals you would need to pay oop for if not - for us as we are only upgrading the plan we save an absolute fortune.
 
Well if staying at lots of 2 credit places then I guess it can make a bit more sense, but really most of the 2 credit places are not good value. But as you say cost is not your issue here. If it was to eat table service breakfast lunch and dinner and you get starter as well on delux plan it’s a hell of a lot of food and time spent in restaurants. But if most days were 2 credit evening meals and you’re the sort to eat twice a day plus couple snacks then I can see the principle of it.
 
This is very hypothetical as obviously we are still in the planning stage but.. if you were paying full price for the DXDP $117 (rounded up) each credit would cost $39 each.. I think you could easily spend $80 pp at a signature just looking at the menus - and those you don't you would easily recoup elsewhere. That doesn't include snacks either ( and you will be paying no where near the $117)

I think it is a bad deal on the DDP as the apps are not taken into account.

For example one of the days we are planning:

California Grill Brunch (2 Credits) $80 + QS at MNSSHP $17 with drink - technically not the best use at $97 + Snacks ($10)

But another day we are planning:

Tusker House ROL Breakfast : not sure of ROL price but say $39 + drink at $5. and Jikos Dinner roughly $85? + Snacks ($10) = $139

So they cancel each other out - and end up at $123 per day.

I would suggest getting allears or the WDWinfo menus up and just roughly working out if it is worth it... you know your eating habits - I am a seafood girl, bf loves a fillet steak so I just calculated that for each meal. When I say each meal I mean..every night he will order steak -pretty much a guarantee. If not just average out the cost of the entrees and starters etc.
 


our last UK free dining package was in 2017 - and it was brilliant.
But half a year ago we decided to buy DVC - so no more UK free dining for us.
August will be our first DVC stay as owners. Looking forward to it!!

.
 
We are staying AKL - Not CL but SV in September 2020. Two of us to upgrade for 10 nights to DxDP cost £580. We are the same as you - I prefer apps to desserts and want to do a ton of signatures as it is an adult only trip. The DDP we would end up paying for a lot of OOP appetisers - maybe use one of the dining plan calculators. So you can see whether it is worth it and how many meals you would need to pay oop for if not - for us as we are only upgrading the plan we save an absolute fortune.

It is £812 for us to upgrade to DxDP for 14 nights, so £29 a day each. Will we get £29 each of value from apps alone? Probably not.. From being able to use signature without paying for a meal elsewhere? Possibly? To complicate things, we're eating at V&A one night, and will be down at BGT one night, so that frees up a couple of credits I can use elsewhere. I'll have to give the calculators a try. Any recommendations on a good one?


Well if staying at lots of 2 credit places then I guess it can make a bit more sense, but really most of the 2 credit places are not good value. But as you say cost is not your issue here. If it was to eat table service breakfast lunch and dinner and you get starter as well on delux plan it’s a hell of a lot of food and time spent in restaurants. But if most days were 2 credit evening meals and you’re the sort to eat twice a day plus couple snacks then I can see the principle of it.

Maybe the signature places aren't the greatest value, but they're the kind of places we like to eat, and our trips to WDW tend to be very much geared towards eating at nice places.. I think we'd be more inclined to eat two meals a day, one of which is signature...
 
I rebooked from all star to pop. Got free breakfast and 200 spending. Plan is to use the credit for dinner and spend the 200 and the money from no mouse keeping on the snacks. Anything else will come out of pocket. Just to much food for my 10 year old if i upgraded and at that cost it wouldnt work out
 
our last UK free dining package was in 2017 - and it was brilliant.
But half a year ago we decided to buy DVC - so no more UK free dining for us.
August will be our first DVC stay as owners. Looking forward to it!!

.

Adapt is what we did Beth, after all you will be going back year, after year, after year.

We now eat much more Quick Serve, and get an Instacart shop in.

We found you eventually get pretty sick of rushing around for ADRs to average restaurants at inflated prices, and our teenage kids just are not bothered. So we maybe do 4 -5 table service on a 2 week stay, and it’s enough. Our holidays are actually more relaxed and enjoyable these days. We even take sandwiches into the parks for lunch some days, some days we eat there, other days we are back for lunch, especially if we are staying in an Epcot resort or BLT.

Our stays are pretty cheap now, apart from tickets, and that’s quite good to say we are staying in suits at Deluxe hotels.
 
Adapt is what we did Beth, after all you will be going back year, after year, after year.

We now eat much more Quick Serve, and get an Instacart shop in.

We found you eventually get pretty sick of rushing around for ADRs to average restaurants at inflated prices, and our teenage kids just are not bothered. So we maybe do 4 -5 table service on a 2 week stay, and it’s enough. Our holidays are actually more relaxed and enjoyable these days. We even take sandwiches into the parks for lunch some days, some days we eat there, other days we are back for lunch, especially if we are staying in an Epcot resort or BLT.

Our stays are pretty cheap now, apart from tickets, and that’s quite good to say we are staying in suits at Deluxe hotels.

yes, there is just no way i can continue to pay for all of us to stay in 2 bedroom villas - even at SSR...
that 2017 trip, we were in two 2-bedroom villas at SSR for 3 weeks..
it was a free dining trip, but still, the cost was beyond stratospheric...
when i sat with my son and we worked through the numbers for DVC, it was a no brainer....
and since we have a kitchen, we tend to eat at least 2 of our meals in our villa...
so that's a cost savings right there...
i find that little kids (our grandkids, same as their parents before them), prefer to eat simple food that we prepare in the room..

at most we need a character meal or two and that's enough in terms of table service...
 
Last edited:
This is very hypothetical as obviously we are still in the planning stage but.. if you were paying full price for the DXDP $117 (rounded up) each credit would cost $39 each.. I think you could easily spend $80 pp at a signature just looking at the menus - and those you don't you would easily recoup elsewhere. That doesn't include snacks either ( and you will be paying no where near the $117)

I think it is a bad deal on the DDP as the apps are not taken into account.

For example one of the days we are planning:

California Grill Brunch (2 Credits) $80 + QS at MNSSHP $17 with drink - technically not the best use at $97 + Snacks ($10)

But another day we are planning:

Tusker House ROL Breakfast : not sure of ROL price but say $39 + drink at $5. and Jikos Dinner roughly $85? + Snacks ($10) = $139

So they cancel each other out - and end up at $123 per day.

I would suggest getting allears or the WDWinfo menus up and just roughly working out if it is worth it... you know your eating habits - I am a seafood girl, bf loves a fillet steak so I just calculated that for each meal. When I say each meal I mean..every night he will order steak -pretty much a guarantee. If not just average out the cost of the entrees and starters etc.
I agree most if not all of the time the regular DDP is not worth it. The only plan that can be worth it is the DxDP but you still need to do the math on beforehand to make sure it really is worth it. If you are not a foodie then even the DxDP might not worth it - too much food. Using credits on signature dining is a poor use of credits cost-wise but not experience wise. When you use the DxDP credits on signature dining you still only get 1 drink not two even if you use 2 credits.

Normally Disney provide a good room discount but then you dont get any DP. If you get a free DP then there are not room discount. IMO even if the DxDP is worth the cost (after you do the calculations) you really need to decide if your trip needs to revolve around food and more food. We have done the DxDP once for an entire trip and I must admit between eating and FP+ reservations the trip felt too stressful.

Now we only do the DxDP if we do a split stay of 1 + xx meaning, we normally arrive late on arrival day and only need a room to sleep. It does not matter which resort it is - we then switch resort the day after and stay there for the rest of our stay. On arrival day we get the DxDP and its usable for arrival day until midnight on checkout day. So we use our 3 credits on breakfast, lunch and dinner. The mug is usable for end of stay so thats a nice benefit.
 
Adapt is what we did Beth, after all you will be going back year, after year, after year.

We now eat much more Quick Serve, and get an Instacart shop in.

We found you eventually get pretty sick of rushing around for ADRs to average restaurants at inflated prices, and our teenage kids just are not bothered. So we maybe do 4 -5 table service on a 2 week stay, and it’s enough. Our holidays are actually more relaxed and enjoyable these days. We even take sandwiches into the parks for lunch some days, some days we eat there, other days we are back for lunch, especially if we are staying in an Epcot resort or BLT.

Our stays are pretty cheap now, apart from tickets, and that’s quite good to say we are staying in suits at Deluxe hotels.
This is more or less how we do our vacations at WDW. Bring our own food to the park and/or visit a restaurant offsite for dinner. Breakfast we eat in our room.

Food is not a major part of our vacation habits.

We normally visit the local Publix and shop for breakfast, lunch, milk etc thats much cheaper and my kids get to eat what they prefer and not what Disney have on the menu. Dinner is whatever we decide for a particular day. Dont get me wrong we enjoy the character dinners but the price you pay is just too much. As I only can spend my $' once I need to be selective of what I use them for.
 
I’ve booked 16 nights for August 2020 at Port Orleans French Quarter in a Garden view (standard not in offer) for family of 4 for £6,820. This is with dinning plan upgraded to regular.

Hope you get what you want, good luck.

£6,820 now thats a lot of money😱, does that include airfare?

I'm sorry when I get to think about it, I have never spend that much money on any vacation.

Last year I took my teens on a trip for both NYC and WDW we spend a tad more that 50% of your cost and that includes the annual dues on our DVC, NYC stay, food, tickets, airfare, car rental and spending costs.

If you on a regular basis spend that much on WDW i'd advise that you look into buying DVC. In the long run you will save money(hmm maybe not if you tend to go more often😋)
 
£6,820 now thats a lot of money😱, does that include airfare?

I'm sorry when I get to think about it, I have never spend that much money on any vacation.

Last year I took my teens on a trip for both NYC and WDW we spend a tad more that 50% of your cost and that includes the annual dues on our DVC, NYC stay, food, tickets, airfare, car rental and spending costs.

If you on a regular basis spend that much on WDW i'd advise that you look into buying DVC. In the long run you will save money(hmm maybe not if you tend to go more often😋)
No it does not include airfare.

I’ve priced up renting DVC vs this type of free dining many times and the free dining comes out better. Of course if going regularly then I see different merits of DVC, but this is just my 2nd trip with last in 2014. This one is only possible because I came into £7,500. So I just decided I’d do another memorable magical trip.
 
£6,820 now thats a lot of money😱, does that include airfare?

I'm sorry when I get to think about it, I have never spend that much money on any vacation.

Last year I took my teens on a trip for both NYC and WDW we spend a tad more that 50% of your cost and that includes the annual dues on our DVC, NYC stay, food, tickets, airfare, car rental and spending costs.

If you on a regular basis spend that much on WDW i'd advise that you look into buying DVC. In the long run you will save money(hmm maybe not if you tend to go more often😋)


that's why we bought DVC last august...
in 2017, we did a 3 week stay at SSR for 8 of us in two 2 bedroom villas there (free dining) and as you can imagine it was stratospherically expensive!!!!
my son brought up the possibility of DVC so we sat down and crunched the numbers comparing UK free dining and DVC.
DVC came out much cheaper and since they're constantly raising prices i knew that i wouldn't be able to continue paying for everything.
With DVC, it was even cheaper than if we stayed at Pop and ate really spraringly.
So we took the plunge and bought DVC resale.
No regrets. We bought enough points so that we can go every 3 years (using 3 years of points - banking and borrowing).
 
that's why we bought DVC last august...
in 2017, we did a 3 week stay at SSR for 8 of us in two 2 bedroom villas there (free dining) and as you can imagine it was stratospherically expensive!!!!
my son brought up the possibility of DVC so we sat down and crunched the numbers comparing UK free dining and DVC.
DVC came out much cheaper and since they're constantly raising prices i knew that i wouldn't be able to continue paying for everything.
With DVC, it was even cheaper than if we stayed at Pop and ate really spraringly.
So we took the plunge and bought DVC resale.
No regrets. We bought enough points so that we can go every 3 years (using 3 years of points - banking and borrowing).
I think to some extent it depends on how you want to holiday. The more times you’ve been you probably start to go less days from rope drop to park close and maybe venture offsite to eat more. So then the dining plan become less of an advantage. I also suspect that having a larger party also changes the numbers, I have done numbers in this respect looking at offsite villa hires where once you are at 10-12 becomes cheaper but for 4 is not.

And if you decide to delay to one in 4 years or longer you can just sell some points. Plus I do think you are right in terms of knowing you’ve bought in now and locked in your price.
 
The last two years I didn't get round to booking until September/ beginning October. They were still offering free dinning but only $100 gift card, however I was able to book OKW with the free dining.
Planning on going at the end of June 2020 with a friend and her two daughters, really want to book OKW with free dining for 5 or 6 nights and then will be using my DVC points for the rest of the trip.
So should I wait until I see an OKW room to book or should I book now before the current free dining offer ends and then change the booking? The problem I have is that at the moment we would need to book two rooms, but I would really like a two bed at OKW. If I was booking the two rooms now, should I book it as one reservation or should I book one room and my friend book the other. I am assuming if I book it all as one reservation it would be easier to change the booking if we want to go into one room. Will the free dining still apply if the free dining offer is no longer available when I want to change rooms?
 
The last two years I didn't get round to booking until September/ beginning October. They were still offering free dinning but only $100 gift card, however I was able to book OKW with the free dining.
Planning on going at the end of June 2020 with a friend and her two daughters, really want to book OKW with free dining for 5 or 6 nights and then will be using my DVC points for the rest of the trip.
So should I wait until I see an OKW room to book or should I book now before the current free dining offer ends and then change the booking? The problem I have is that at the moment we would need to book two rooms, but I would really like a two bed at OKW. If I was booking the two rooms now, should I book it as one reservation or should I book one room and my friend book the other. I am assuming if I book it all as one reservation it would be easier to change the booking if we want to go into one room. Will the free dining still apply if the free dining offer is no longer available when I want to change rooms?
I think you should call Disney and ask them, this is a very unique position and one you need them to agree will work.

My gut is that if you book and then change and if the price is higher you will be ok and not be charged amendment. Of course all will be subject to them releasing rooms technically under free dining. It is far more restrictive this year.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top