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The Free Disney Dining.

real mad hatter

real mad hatter

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Good Morning Disney People.Yesterday we said ta ta to friends who are off to WDW. First time staying onsite at POFQ.They booked with Virgin for two weeks but somehow didn't get the free dining.I can only presume they bought their 14 day ultimate ticket with another agent,never got time to ask them.There's 2 adults and 1 eight year old girl.Anyway,how important is free dining to yourselves when booking your trip? This year was the first time we've got it as Disney opened up their books for July & August and it saved us a small fortune.Would free dining play an important issue when deciding wither to go to WDW ?:)
 
jimogi

jimogi

Active Member
real mad hatter said:
Good Morning Disney People.Yesterday we said ta ta to friends who are off to WDW. First time staying onsite at POFQ.They booked with Virgin for two weeks but somehow didn't get the free dining.I can only presume they bought their 14 day ultimate ticket with another agent,never got time to ask them.There's 2 adults and 1 eight year old girl.Anyway,how important is free dining to yourselves when booking your trip? This year was the first time we've got it as Disney opened up their books for July & August and it saved us a small fortune.Would free dining play an important issue when deciding wither to go to WDW ?:)
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Not for us as we tend to go every 3 years for the 3 weeks but loved the fact we're saving a fortune with the free dinning this year. Only ever stayed off site once & didn't enjoy the experience.
 
Crush Dude!

Crush Dude!

Back from WDW!Counting down to DLP in November!
real mad hatter said:
Good Morning Disney People.Yesterday we said ta ta to friends who are off to WDW. First time staying onsite at POFQ.They booked with Virgin for two weeks but somehow didn't get the free dining.I can only presume they bought their 14 day ultimate ticket with another agent,never got time to ask them.There's 2 adults and 1 eight year old girl.Anyway,how important is free dining to yourselves when booking your trip? This year was the first time we've got it as Disney opened up their books for July & August and it saved us a small fortune.Would free dining play an important issue when deciding wither to go to WDW ?:)
Click to expand...

When we got it 2 years ago it was a great added bonus! This year we were counting on it as we had a lot of other stuff going on also! And man did we gat bang for our buck :D
 
Dad 2 M & M

Dad 2 M & M

Well-Known Member
real mad hatter said:
Good Morning Disney People.Yesterday we said ta ta to friends who are off to WDW. First time staying onsite at POFQ.They booked with Virgin for two weeks but somehow didn't get the free dining.I can only presume they bought their 14 day ultimate ticket with another agent,never got time to ask them.There's 2 adults and 1 eight year old girl.Anyway,how important is free dining to yourselves when booking your trip? This year was the first time we've got it as Disney opened up their books for July & August and it saved us a small fortune.Would free dining play an important issue when deciding wither to go to WDW ?:)
Click to expand...
Very important...our December trip is partially in and partially out of the free dining promo....we can really feel the charge for the portion of the trip not covered by the freebie....and for a great the food experience already is...free makes it that much better!!
 
CrazyDisneyLady

CrazyDisneyLady

Well-Known Member
We try to aim for free dining as my DH is some what of human garbage can..he can eats massive amounts of food and never gain weight. In December my DD19 and I went without free dining and I was happy we didn't have it because she became very ill with tonsillitis and only ate frozen drinks and dole whips until the last 2 days of our trip. We are going again this may to celebrate my moms 70th and hoping for free dining so I can let them experience what Disney food is all about
 
Monty

Monty

Brilliant...and Canadian
In the Parks
No
Room-only discounts save as much or more for us depending which resort we stay at [Values are about break-even]. AP discount and TiW on one 8-night trip at a Deluxe saves enough on the room to pay for my AP, the TiW card, my son's hopper and everything we eat while we're there. Having "free" dining would cost more and force me to eat the way the credits are set up rather than the way I want.

There are only two of us and we always manage to get room discounts, if we were travelling when there aren't discounts it might be different, but I'm not sure they offer free dining then either.
 
OswaldTheRabbit

OswaldTheRabbit

Well-Known Member
If we hadn't gotten free dining this trip we would have cancelled our reservation. We are doing it up on dining this time. I am guessing for our trip next year we will not get it and just pay OOP for a couple of restaurants. We may be foodied out after this one!
 
BamaDisneyFan

BamaDisneyFan

Active Member
I got it free last year with a promo, and it was nice. We would still go without it. I like the idea of everything paid for when I get there with the exception of souvenirs and extras.
 
real mad hatter

real mad hatter

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Crush Dude! said:
Love the UK Discounts!

Any more thought on what resort ye will book?
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No,not yet.This year was the first time I've been bitten by Mr Mosquito,typical left the deet machine at home,anyway,hence why I asked which resort was worse for the beasties.My DS fancies AKL and DW doesn't really care which one,tho I do fancy WL.But will wait & see what the prices are.Funny enough in my WDW 2012 brochure WL is cheaper than AKL.
 
Crush Dude!

Crush Dude!

Back from WDW!Counting down to DLP in November!
real mad hatter said:
No,not yet.This year was the first time I've been bitten by Mr Mosquito,typical left the deet machine at home,anyway,hence why I asked which resort was worse for the beasties.My DS fancies AKL and DW doesn't really care which one,tho I do fancy WL.But will wait & see what the prices are.Funny enough in my WDW 2012 brochure WL is cheaper than AKL.
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Yeah they seem to vary alot plus both resorts have many different room categories

Will you do the full dining plan so?
 
Lucky

Lucky

Well-Known Member
We've done free (regular) DDP 6 trips in a row. A 40% room discount at the mods we stay at wouldn't come close to paying for our food (family of 4), even if we settled for counter service every meal.
 
UPbeekeeper

UPbeekeeper

Well-Known Member
real mad hatter said:
Would free dining play an important issue when deciding wither to go to WDW ?:)
Click to expand...

It is playing an important role for me. After researching the historic dates for free dining over the past few years, I am basing the timing of my trip around the specific time period the DDP has been offered in the past. I know that's like playing the lottery & there are no guarantees, but I am hoping luck will be on my side.

With 2 adults & 2 constantly hungry teenagers, the savings I can expect is well over any room discount savings I could hope to get on my moderate room. For our 9 night stay, we would save $2000 by getting the free dining plan. Even if we didn't purchase the DDP on our own and paid for meals and ate less extravagantly, I'd still be paying around (my estimates) $1500 for lunch & dinner, if not more.

If the free dining is not offered during the period I plan to go, I will seriously consider moving the date of my trip. We will still go, but I'm willing to wait a few months if it means saving that much money.
 
ShookieJones

ShookieJones

We need time for things to happen.
Love free dining - have had it twice, once as a pin and this year with the public offer.
Totally awesome but not a deal breaker. We've been lucky to afford booking the stay at "regular" price every year and then apply the discount if and when it pops up......

I will say that every single year we've gone I've recieved some kind of a pin or discount..;)..so that's worked out nice!
 

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