Bounceback is out for Free Dining!

[blackthidot]

We got a slip in our room to book free dining for 2012.

We are booked!!!

Sorry about the quality. It was taken with my phone in the hotel room!

 

[popsicletrees]

Exactly. It is SO F'ing clear that "Free Dining" helps SO many people. But it IS okay that or if it does NOT benefit you. People get so personal about this...it's so dumb.

If the hotel discount helps you more than free dining...THEN BOOK IT.

If free dining helps you more than the hotel discount...THEN BOOK IT.

On the nose. I like the free dining offer, but there have been some trips that we've taken where it just doesn't make sense to take that offer. However, even when we don't book with the free dining offer we still like to buy the plan. With the way that we use the plan, we save money.

 

[todpatcam]

We had a pin code for 35% off our room for 8 days in Nov 2011 at POFQ and when free dining was offered we called to see what the difference would be to switch; the cost increased by $358 or so. We're not big eaters but we feel pretty confident we would spend more than that in food especially going to a few character meals. We switched over to free dining for our 2011 trip.

 

[Monty]

Here's the scan of the offer that was in my room at POR last week:

 

[blackthidot]

I can't wait until you have kids... :animwink:

I can't wait to beat the snot out of them if they act like the idiot kids in Disney. No chance I am letting my kids embarrass me like that. Colleen was a pre school teacher and feels the same way.

 

[blackthidot]

Don't get me wrong...kids are going to be kids but it's up to parents to take charge and control what is going on. It's not just in Disney World. It's in life all over the world. That is why kids are such idiots...parents fault 99.99999999% of the time.

Like Monty and I discussed a week ago...you find out what they love/enjoy/need and you take that away when they act like idiots.

 

[Monty]

Don't get me wrong...kids are going to be kids but it's up to parents to take charge and control what is going on. It's not just in Disney World. It's in life all over the world. That is why kids are such idiots...parents fault 99.99999999% of the time.

Like Monty and I discussed a week ago...you find out what they love/enjoy/need and you take that away when they act like idiots.

I think you were still pretty shocked that Morgan's punishment was losing his reading time! :lol:

 

[popsicletrees]

I think you were still pretty shocked that Morgan's punishment was losing his reading time! :lol:

What a great kid! Reading time is how I punish my students.

 

[blackthidot]

I think you were still pretty shocked that Morgan's punishment was losing his reading time! :lol:

I told you I am amazed...not shocked.

GREAT meeting both of you! Glad I was finally able to get you whatever the heck it was that you got! Haha

 

[Monty]

What a great kid! Reading time is how I punish my students.

He genuinely loves reading [an expensive habit since he always wants the books while they're still in hard cover ]. His friends don't understand why he gets so upset when I threaten to take away his reading time... :king:

Admittedly, PS-3 time is a bigger threat these days... :lookaroun

 

[Monty]

I told you I am amazed...not shocked.

GREAT meeting both of you! Glad I was finally able to get you whatever the heck it was that you got! Haha

I had a nice bowl of soup and Morgan had seared tuna. :king:

It was great meeting you and your lovely Colleen.

 

[blackthidot]

I had a nice bowl of soup and Morgan had seared tuna. :king:

It was great meeting you and your lovely Colleen.

I remember what Morgan got cause he and Colleen talked about it the whole time!

It was great meeting Morgan and the lovely you! Haha :shrug:

 

[NewfieFan]

Don't get me wrong...kids are going to be kids but it's up to parents to take charge and control what is going on. It's not just in Disney World. It's in life all over the world. That is why kids are such idiots...parents fault 99.99999999% of the time.

Like Monty and I discussed a week ago...you find out what they love/enjoy/need and you take that away when they act like idiots.

Little off topic here... but I completely agree with you to a certain extent. Kids will be kids... but their behaviour is our responsibility.

But this is where I will disagree a little, punishment is only one form of discipline. Children are not loved anymore, their "emotional tanks" are empty, and this is the only way they get attention. You cannot discipline until they are loved.

When and if you have children... make sure they're loved, give them attention, and you'll find you won't have to resort to punishment that often.

And take 'em to Disney... I'm pretty sure if you don't, it's considered child abuse!:animwink:

 

[flynnibus]

I'm curious about those that boast about never paying rack rates.

Is it because...

- you steer your trips around announced discounts?
- you hold an AP so you book around those discounts?
- you book when you get individualized discounts like bouncebacks or PIN mailings?

While there are tons of discount offers - they aren't always just waiting for you to get them or may not be available to you. It seems the only way to 'always' have this is to book when Disney entices you to book.. not when you choose to visit Disney.

I'd like to hear people's strategies on this...

still only one response to this...

since paying rack rates is only for suckers.. you'd think there are tons of answers to this.

 

[blackthidot]

Little off topic here... but I completely agree with you to a certain extent. Kids will be kids... but their behaviour is our responsibility.

But this is where I will disagree a little, punishment is only one form of discipline. Children are not loved anymore, their "emotional tanks" are empty, and this is the only way they get attention. You cannot discipline until they are loved.

When and if you have children... make sure they're loved, give them attention, and you'll find you won't have to resort to punishment that often.

And take 'em to Disney... I'm pretty sure if you don't, it's considered child abuse!:animwink:

Oh I agree completely. Just because I want to beat the tar out of my un-born children already :lookaroun does not mean I am not gonna love the Christ out of them.

And you're right...there were a ton of kids just being ignored or not paid attention to...and again....parents.

 

[jharvey]

I have my next stay booked for the time on the bottom of that card. I know the offer shown is for people who re-up, and promising not to quote anyone, is it likely that this will extend to the rest of us?:veryconfu

 

[MickeyPeace]

Your point of view is common, but too absolute. Yes, it is based on rack rates, and yes you must trade one form of discount for another. There are several things to consider.

1) Physoclogical impact of the offer... People often times jump on free dining because free food sounds better than a discount on a room... thats borrong.

2) Value level free dining is nearly ALWAYS a good deal. Of course it varies from person to person, the more people in your group the better it is. Rack rate discounts on a value room are in the 25% range. 25% off of a $90 room is $22. Free dining is a $35 (ish) discount per person... so free dining wins, in most cases. If you were not going to do the dining plan, or are going to spend a lot of time at universal, etc, then you might still do better with room only discount... most of the time however free dining wins easily, even if you upgrade to the regular plan.

3) Moderate levels... now its a break even. You really need to do the math. on the surface if you have more than 2 people in the room then you are better off with free dining over room discount. However, IF you were not planning on doing all that TS meals, you would have to add the tips in to the cost of the food, and now you might end up spending more money than you had thought... a lot of people forget about the tips, they add up. If you were planning on lots of TS meals, and you have 3 or 4 people in your group then free dining wins again... if not, then go with a room only discount.

4) Deluxe.... NEVER GET FREE DINING! No matter how you do the math there are very, very little chance that the free dining is worth it. Nearly every single room only discount will save you money vs free dining.

No, the food is not truly free, but nothing in life is. You CANNOT STACK DISCOUNTS so you need to do the math and see what works better for you. Free dining can be a great offer, for some people... more than you would think.

In my case (2 adults, 2 kids, pop for 7 nights with dining even if it was not free) the room only discount was $143, the kids play free offer was $496 in savings and the free dining was $658 in savings. So I was very happy to be stupid and pay rack rates. :sohappy:.

(plus with F&W during my free dining trip this year, we are banking half of our snack credits and using them at the booths... love it!)

Thanks for the detailed analysis Boufa. I'm understanding now that the true value of "free" dining comes if you are in a value resort with three or more people. I never looked at it that way.

For me, I'll take the room discount. Usually I'm paying for the room myself and I like to eat wherever I want and whatever I want. Also I don't eat a dessert with every table service meal.

Currently the way to go for me is- annual pass and resort room discounts. I'm thinking of adding TIW this year also. Though that would only pay off for me if I go to WDW often enough. I'm up to three trips this year. Ideally I'd like to make four a year. Time for a second job. :animwink:

 

[MickeyPeace]

I essentially paid $1000 for my "free" dining with "lost" room discounts ( 2 rooms) and upgrading the plan.. we got about $3900 worth of food while we were there.. for $1000.. yeah..thats a deal!

Hey Alison,
What do you mean "lost" room discount? Disney allows combining room discount and free dining? I thought it was one or the other.

You ate $3,900 worth of food?!! How many people were in your group?

 

[MickeyPeace]

The value of "free dining" depends on the number of people in your party and the level of resort you're planning to stay in.

For me, with myself and my son, it's not worth getting at all. I get an AP discount on a room-only reservation and we much prefer table-service to quick service eating, so I have to factor in upgrading to the regular DDP if we're at a Value resort. Combine that with the Tables in Wonderland discounts on dining, I'm at best at break-even if I take the "free dining" at a Value. At a Moderate or Deluxe it's not even close.

But it really needs to be calculated separately for each reservation and group size. As the catch-all in commercials say: "Your results may vary." :animwink:

I called while there last week to ask if room-only discounts were available for next year and was told no, the only current offers were for "free dining" packages. I'll try again in a few weeks. The trip last week was on a room-only bounceback and every offer that came out after I'd booked I would call and be told that my current offer was better. :king:

Same situation with me, free dining or even dining plan is not best.

I have a question- a bounce back offer is even better than an annual pass discount?

You said you called but if you have an annual pass you can just check on-line to see what current offers are. If bounce backs are less expensive, I'm asking about it on my next trip.

 

[MickeyPeace]

Unclear- Is free dining for the length of your stay and given to everyone staying in the room?

What are the restrictions?

 

[MickeyPeace]

Sandy and I have APs. We go to WDW twice per year.

Stratagy is simple - book well ahead at our favorite delux. Book rack, then lurk.

As soon as WDW announces a GP or AP discount? CALL. Get that discount. To date? I've only had to change a Res number once - NEVER had to change our favorite Delux. Why? Well, the one time I had to change a Res number, I booked the "new" res, confirmed it, then cancelled the old res. It cost me nothing - it cost WDW a LOAD in people time. Never happened again .

This year, we booked rack for November. The AP deal arrived - and we snagged it on day one. We saved over $2000 for a party of three. On one trip. I can buy a lot of food for $2000 .

Now - if one frequents POP? Our method probably isn't for you. And we HAVE snagged bouncebacks in the past... ROOM bouncebacks. I love these, when they materialize.

Oh - on the "snag a GP or AP discount"? Just grab them. WDW MAY offer an AP discount... get the GP first (bird in the hand). Later, if a better AP discount shows up? CALL. Own a Magic Jack... be a Columbo (just one more question?).... Work the system. If you do this, and you ARE an AP? You will provide positive business feedback to WDW to offer AP discounts FIRST - simply because if they do not? The APs will steal all the GP discounts that they can .

This is a great idea. I can only foresee one potential draw back. What if the resort that you have booked does not have discounts when they are announced?
For example I have want to stay at the Contemporary but it never seems to be available during discounts. What if I booked a room there then called for a discount? Do they have discounts available on the phone that aren't on the site or would I just be out of luck?