What’s the value of free dining?

[DisneyDillyDally]

I have a seven day trip booked in Sept for me, DH and DS3. We can get free dining, or get about $1,000 discount on room thru bounce back offer. What would you do?

 

[Meglen]

Depends how you eat. If your going to use every snack credit and every meal credit on high price items, and also like things pre paid it might be worth it. I would price out how much you will spend in food and see if it's close to 1k. Food is much cheaper when u split quick service meals and just have a snack for a meal.

 

[Malyficent]

As PP said, you have to run the numbers based on how your family eats.

I priced it out for our family - including two boys 6 and 8 years old. The dining plans don't work for us. Way too much food. For future trips, we'll be buying Disney gift cards whenever they're on 9% discount (BJs.com) and will use those to pay for dining (and more) our next trip.

For our December trip I made a spreadsheet for each meal and then ran numbers using the highest priced item - and also the item we'd likely select. It didn't work out to our advantage in either scenario.

We got the popcorn bucket (actually we inherited a popcorn bucket) and my kids were generally happy with popcorn refills. We didn't buy nearly as many snacks as I'd anticipated and my kids are snackers - not meal eaters. I also brought some snacks - goldfish, pretzels, leftover baked goods - and handed them out while we waited in lines.

I also dropped a few of our ADRs once we were there and I wouldn't have wanted to do so if we were on the dining plan. I thought not being locked into the DP gave me more freedom and flexibility. I also found the child meals to be enough for me - I didn't have any issue ordering them even at TS restaurants.

 

[DisneyDillyDally]

Thanks.

I just got an email from our travel agent and the plan with “free” dining is actually more like $1,500 more as she has to upgrade us to hoppers and to a more expensive room category. Think we will pass on the free dining this time.

 

[siren0119]

Yeah the dining is definitely a "your mileage may vary" situation. The WORST thing you can do is opt for the free dining and then try to force yourself to eat in a way that makes it worthwhile. We (like PP) ran the numbers for our last family trip and dining plans would have been much more expensive than the way we normally eat. My work-around was to buy Disney gift cards for our food budget, so that those expenses were covered and separate from other trip spending. It wasn't any different from having a pre-paid dining plan since the money was already spoken for in the gift cards, we just had a LOT more control over how it was spent.

 

[DisDreaming4116]

If the math comes close, then I say do it. Whenever we are on the dining plan, we don't look at prices where if I'm paying OOP, I tend to order something other than what I'd most like, just because it costs $1.29 less.

 

[disneycat321]

If the math comes close, then I say do it. Whenever we are on the dining plan, we don't look at prices where if I'm paying OOP, I tend to order something other than what I'd most like, just because it costs $1.29 less.

I had the opposite problem on the Dining Plan! I felt like I had to order the most expensive thing, even if that's not what I really wanted, just to make it worthwhile.

OP, I'd run the numbers on where you're likely to eat and how much it would cost OOP, and then see if the savings is as much as the room discount. We've used the Dining Plan twice, but we're not on this trip, and for a totally different reason than others on this thread. We love our TS meals, and the DP doesn't allow enough. The DxDP is way too many. Last time, we ended up having to pay for a few OOP TS meals because of signatures taking up 2 credits. (We aren't foodies, but Hoop De Doo Revue and Le Cellier are signatures.) We also aren't big dessert people, and I'd rather have water than a drink - I don't really do soda or coffee, which also made the mug useless to me. I'd also sometimes rather have an appetizer than dessert, or even than an entree! I felt really limited by the DP. That said, I did look into this again this morning, because our trip is during free dining and I was shocked it's being offered then. For us, the room discount is going to save more money, and we won't feel so limited by the DP's parameters.

I will say, the sticker shock of paying OOP for these meals is going to be a tough one. I do like having it prepaid! We certainly don't eat like this at home!

 

[rdaky]

For us, it has always been a better deal to pay out of pocket for food and take a room discount. And we eat plenty of Table Service meals and snacks. We just stock up on a bunch of Disney gift cards and it is the same as prepaying for a dining plan.

 

[wendlle]

use a disney dining plan calculator, it will quickly tell you if it's a good deal for you or not.

 

[Shughart]

If you're at a value and already planning on park hoppers, the quick service dining plan probably isn't too much food. If you have to upgrade and maybe more to get the dining plan it's probably not worth it. We had the regular dining plan in 2016 and not only did we feel like we needed to eat so much to make it worth it, but with all that activity and walking, and food, my kid got sick after the second day of it. We cut way back. We left a lot of credits behind. We're not doing a DDP this time (also not staying on site though so). But we're saving money compared to what the dining plan would have cost. I like this tool https://www.distripplanner.com/

 

[CrankyDad]

We got the popcorn bucket (actually we inherited a popcorn bucket)

Heads up. Popcorn buckets are length of stay. So new visit equals new buckets

 

[DharmaLou]

Our TA told us that the snack credits can be used for Food & Wine booths, so that right there is great for us.

 

[DisneyDillyDally]

Thanks for the comments. Leaning towards going with the room discount - we often order an appetizer instead of an entree, and can see our pre-schooler eating off our plates/living on Mickey bars. I’ll have to track our spending and see how it compares to the free dining!

 

[DisneyDillyDally]

We also aren't big dessert people, and I'd rather have water than a drink - I don't really do soda or coffee, which also made the mug useless to me. I'd also sometimes rather have an appetizer than dessert, or even than an entree! I felt really limited by the DP. That said, I did look into this again this morning, because our trip is during free dining and I was shocked it's being offered then. For us, the room discount is going to save more money, and we won't feel so limited by the DP's parameters.

I think this is exactly how I feel - when we are there we will want what we want whether it is covered by the plan or not, and if on the dining plan will end up paying extra to get it.

 

[disneycat321]

I think this is exactly how I feel - when we are there we will want what we want whether it is covered by the plan or not, and if on the dining plan will end up paying extra to get it.

I’ve been so excited while preparing for our ADRs this trip, looking at all the appetizer menus! Since we were on the DDP the last 2 trips, I’d always avoided looking before. The freedom is definitely a big deal to me!

 

[DisneyDillyDally]

I’ve been so excited while preparing for our ADRs this trip, looking at all the appetizer menus! Since we were on the DDP the last 2 trips, I’d always avoided looking before. The freedom is definitely a big deal to me!

Yes! A lot of the appetizers were much more appealing to me than some variation of sandwich plus fries!

 

[Princessclab]

I like the QSDP because the TS at Disney is very over priced, takes too long, and that is not even going into the ADR issues and having to work around them. JMHO, but I am also a long time WDW visitor.
I like the DP for the convenience and really do at least break even, especially when I have wine with my meal.

I tried the BB offer this year and it was no bargain. I used the room discount offer and bought the DP which saved me $$, I am not a park hopper. I was also able to get visit dates that worked better.

Nice to know there are options out there for everyone; I agree with others you have to have an idea on how you 'do' Disney.

 

[KellyHonos]

I honestly see no value. I compared prices between going when free dining isnt offered versus when it is and it was more expensive to go during free dining than not. I think they spike up the prices of the rooms to offset the free dining. Sometimes I find it to be a scam lol.

 

[siren0119]

I honestly see no value. I compared prices between going when free dining isnt offered versus when it is and it was more expensive to go during free dining than not. I think they spike up the prices of the rooms to offset the free dining. Sometimes I find it to be a scam lol.

When they offer a free dining package, the rooms are at full, regular price. No discounts or anything. That's why - if getting value is your main goal - it's SUPER important to look closely at the numbers. Figure out how you plan to eat for the trip, and what it would cost out of pocket. Then add up the cost of a room on whatever discount they are offering, park tickets (especially if you're not park hopping), and your projected food costs. Compare that number to the Free dining package number (which also requires that you buy parkhoppers). In my case it worked out slightly in my favor because we only have Free dining for half our stay and will be paying OOP for the second half. it allowed me to schedule all of the most expensive dining during our Free Dining stay, plus I can do a few things for my kids that we don't normally budget for (those snack credits are going to make them very happy!)

 

[KellyHonos]

When they offer a free dining package, the rooms are at full, regular price. No discounts or anything. That's why - if getting value is your main goal - it's SUPER important to look closely at the numbers. Figure out how you plan to eat for the trip, and what it would cost out of pocket. Then add up the cost of a room on whatever discount they are offering, park tickets (especially if you're not park hopping), and your projected food costs. Compare that number to the Free dining package number (which also requires that you buy parkhoppers). In my case it worked out slightly in my favor because we only have Free dining for half our stay and will be paying OOP for the second half. it allowed me to schedule all of the most expensive dining during our Free Dining stay, plus I can do a few things for my kids that we don't normally budget for (those snack credits are going to make them very happy!)

I kid you not, as soon as Free Dining was offered, I hopped on the website and was looking at what I could do for a solo trip... I was astonished that when I looked at the same trip for the same resort, just different dates (no free dining) I was astonished that the price was hardly any different!!!