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!

 

[Alison1975]

Can someone explain this to me. If you are paying "non discounted" or rack rates for the package, in essence you ARE paying for your dining. It is not free.

I don't think any one savvy enough or who is enough of a Disney fan to be on these boards would pay rack rate.

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!

 

[Monty]

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:

 

[blackthidot]

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:

That is exactly correct. I posted my numbers and you saw how Colleen and I can and will eat. It is WAY more worth it to us to do free dining.

 

[blackthidot]

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 univeral, etc, then you might still do better with rack rate... 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!)

zing!!!!

 

[BigShot2421]

I wish Disney would come out with a "Choose your own" Dining Plan or something.

We like the QS Plan because we don't like to be tied down to so many reservations.
We do however like to eat a meal or two at a TS.

We wish they would come out with a plan where you could have "options"
Say the Quick Service Dining Plan with 3 Table Service Options.

Similar to the options you get a park pass maybe.
Obviously the price would go up per option.

 

[Crush Dude!]

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!

Congrats :wave:

 

[WDWFigment]

Sept 14th - Sept 27th!

Good. Now I know when not to go!

 

[blackthidot]

No believe me...after seeing what we see for two weeks...there is just no chance it is happening unless we bring Gram(s) down to take all the load. I hate carrying my camera with me...let alone a 30 pound jerk that whines and cries about everything.

Well Sarah does actually carry Tom around and he is a little heavier than 30 pounds so I guess it CAN be done.

Well Sarah does carry Tom around all trip and he is slightly heavier than 30 pounds so I guess it's not THAT bad!

 

[wendysue]

I could care less about Free Dining. Without a discount, I refuse to stay on Disney property anymore. And that's really sad, because just 5 years ago, I wouldn't have stayed off property if it were free. That just goes to show how ridiculous Disney Resort pricing has gotten to be.

Absolutely! My husband and I don't eat enough to justify the hike in rack rates to offset the "free" dining. So this will likely be the last time for awhile that we stay on site. Maybe it's time to explore the rest of Florida....

 

[boufa]

I wish Disney would come out with a "Choose your own" Dining Plan or something.

We like the QS Plan because we don't like to be tied down to so many reservations.
We do however like to eat a meal or two at a TS.

We wish they would come out with a plan where you could have "options"
Say the Quick Service Dining Plan with 3 Table Service Options.

Similar to the options you get a park pass maybe.
Obviously the price would go up per option.

People complain that the tickets that have really only 3 options are too complicated. Makes me wonder sometimes. I like the Meals My Way options, but it is never going to happen. Unused credits are a big part of the profit for the program, and forgetting to use a CS meal because you chose to pay OOP for a TS meal is a win win for Disney. The biggest difference is that there is no way into the parks without a ticket. You MUST participate in some level in the ticketing program.

On the other hand, I refused to stay at a Moderate during free dining because I did not want the TS dining plan.

 

[DisneyRunner]

From past experience, I've learned to call reservations, 8844 from your room phone, and ask about bounceback offers, the code is WDW, before I check out. I had the clock offer sitting out to remind me to call, when it was replaced with the Remy offer. I did book the FD offer, but I will probably change it. The time period just does not work, because of my daughter's high school swim season. She missed to many things while we were there 8/19-8/27. I booked, because I wanted to be safe, rather than sorry. As for paying rack rates, this time period is some of the cheapest rack rates. So, cheap rates plus FD is a win win to me. A rough estimate in food consumption for my group was over $1200. Of course, if I was paying for food on my own, I would never order dessert, use the mug for my drink and split meals. Having a whole box of create your own pasta at POR is, too much. So, is a pizza. Whether it is a flatbread, one from WPE or the carry out one from the resorts. Those resort pizzas can at least feed my family of three.

 

[boufa]

Good. Now I know when not to go!

Lately there are 2 times of year... wall to wall people and free dining. Good luck picking your poison. They have already started the free dining for 2012 for much of the year. They have the bounceback offer, there is a Canadian offer I believe with free dining for much of the non-busy time of 2012.

 

[blackthidot]

Lately there are 2 times of year... wall to wall people and free dining. Good luck picking your poison. They have already started the free dining for 2012 for much of the year. They have the bounceback offer, there is a Canadian offer I believe with free dining for much of the non-busy time of 2012.

He meant since he knew when I would be there that he would go different dates. Haha

 

[blackthidot]

pffft - give me a room discount & I'll buy my own food.

Yeah it only saves me around $700 big pffft there...

 

[Crush Dude!]

Yeah it only saves me around $700 big pffft there...

Saves me minimum $150 a day which equals at least $3000 thank you very much :sohappy::sohappy::sohappy:

 

[BigTxEars]

If you're there just call the number(s) on the photo I posted WHILE YOU ARE BOOKED AND IN YOUR ROOM. It won't work if you call from home...supposedly.

Great ideal thanks!

 

[blackthidot]

Saves me minimum $150 a day which equals at least $3000 thank you very much :sohappy::sohappy::sohappy:

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.

 

[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...

 

[Monty]

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...

I book when I want to go. I have an AP and if discounts come up I take advantage. As yet, I've never gone at a time when there weren't discounts of some kind offered. Usually they don't offer at really busy times [holidays, spring break], I wouldn't want to go then anyway. :shrug:

 

[NewfieFan]

No believe me...after seeing what we see for two weeks...there is just no chance it is happening unless we bring Gram(s) down to take all the load. I hate carrying my camera with me...let alone a 30 pound jerk that whines and cries about everything.
Well Sarah does actually carry Tom around and he is a little heavier than 30 pounds so I guess it CAN be done.

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