Flew to WDW and spent one night in a resort hotel to get the free dining bounceback offer. Wasn’t in Florida for 24 hours. Didn’t go into a park. Spent $400 but saved $2,000. Totally worth it.
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Craziest thing you've done in the name of planning
- Thread starter Shouldigo12
- Start date
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
You can have all the breaks you want...however what I said was completely true.
That's some dedication to getting a good deal right there.
ddbowdoin
Well-Known Member
Maybe a stretch on the question posed in this thread but my 20’s were defined by Disney trips first with my girlfriend, who then became my fiancé at The Beach Club, then later my wife back in Boston followed by an epic Disney Honeymoon. The CRAZIEST thing I did in the name of planning was going in general, making extremely poor financial decisions to make every part of the trip epic which always include premium dining , tours, and staying in premium resorts. However, zero regrets... it meant everything to us.
I remember passing on so many things at home with friends and family so we could go, and then extending those efforts via poor credit card decisions to go above and beyond. At 34 I suppose I am a millennial, we make bad decisions in the name of FOMO
I remember passing on so many things at home with friends and family so we could go, and then extending those efforts via poor credit card decisions to go above and beyond. At 34 I suppose I am a millennial, we make bad decisions in the name of FOMO
ddbowdoin
Well-Known Member
Disney is literally the only place on earth where you walk 11 miles a day and gain a 1lb a day.On one of our earlier visits with our teen boys, my DH got a maggot in his brain he wanted to try out all the fun restaurants, so I had to arrange lunch and dinner every day, no matter how close the times were. We might eat lunch at 1pm and have a dinner reservation at 4pm.He and the boys loved it, but not me. I think I gained about 8+ lbs on that trip.
Gainesvillain
Well-Known Member
By my wife's count: 7 going to and 5 going from. In between, fairly light crowds, waited ~70 mins and piloted the MF (crashed into more than I avoided), got a rez @ Oga's, drank a couple of Yub Nubs, had zero wait @ Docking Bay 7 (wanted to, but did not steal my spork), saw Chewie, built an R2 unit, shopped the bazaar (& stayed within budget), got my pic with Rey, was told to move along by a First Order Stormtrooper, and joined the 709th Legion aka the Red Fury. And Dorian thankfully slid East.
KikoKea
Well-Known Member
...Or more.
mdcpr
Well-Known Member
That is correctyou are such a great mom..but lets face it...
and you said it first
you will never go back to disney again
graphite1326
Well-Known Member
I've been getting free dining since 1996.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
A package deal where they discounted tickets, rooms, or some other variable. You could purchase food credits under the old discovery/deluxe magic plans...but they couldn’t package it and sell it effectively because they didn’t want to label it a “food plan”.
Now prior to that...they had some cool all inclusive plans from the 80’s...the famous “gold key” card.
Just off the top of my head
Now...”free dining” is the logical emergency plan off the “hook” that they threw out in a 3 year economic glut. This was AFTER they did intro pricing in 06-07 and then steadily raised it. They also raised the menu prices on the sitdowns 100% on average (no need to check that). What a “deal”
The reason free dining still limps along is there attendance has flattened over the last 6-8 years...only marginal gains. Because the prices have been raised too high.
Anyone can compare their 2010 “free dining” package to their 2018 “free dining” package. You’d go broke if you keep “saving” at this rate.
...Just off the top of my head, though...
Got to be dining. Until recently when Disney have increased phenomenally the vegetarian food options, I downloaded all the menus from across the worlds and where they were located, including Quick serve and snack venues. Used this to create a quick reference sheet of veggie dining in each park by location. Obviously this also included pricing to see if the dining plan would be worth it or not, needless to say with not eating meat, it was WAAAAY cheaper to not go dining plan.
From our previous trip finding somewhere we could eat got quite frustrating and a lot of time was lost walking to different places to find the menu was rubbish and we would have to go somewhere else.
At least now, the plant based dining map is there for MK and veggie options are more widely available, this is a task I haven't had to do for the last few trips.
From our previous trip finding somewhere we could eat got quite frustrating and a lot of time was lost walking to different places to find the menu was rubbish and we would have to go somewhere else.
At least now, the plant based dining map is there for MK and veggie options are more widely available, this is a task I haven't had to do for the last few trips.
Trackmaster
Well-Known Member
I live close enough that I don't stay on site, but I go to the parks a lot. I'm also a coaster and theme park junkie where I go to parks across the world. I see what you mean by it spilling over into life. When I take my lunch break at work, I scramble to make it over to the mall (with the food court) at "rope drop" for lunch so I get the best pick of the restaurants with no line. If I get there too late, I'm stuck waiting in line, or at a worse restaurant. Theme parks have just really showed me the power of getting places earlier and getting jumps on crowds.
graphite1326
Well-Known Member
My first visit with my family 1996. We stayed at one of the All Star resorts. We had a "dining plan". It wasn't a "gold Key" card or anything like that. But you can call it anything you want. It was a "dining plan." AND it was free.
I travel quite a bit and I can tell you for certain their food prices are in line with every other tourist area. So if I can get free dining I will take it.
By the way, the other places I have been have always been more expensive than a trip to WDW, so I really don't know what your problem is.
Horizons '83
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
Don't really get the hate for 9 Dragons. It's nothing spectacular but its solid Chinese food. If in a pinch its not such a bad option.
Good change. I did one to two TS a day on the deluxe dining plan, so we had an app, entree, and dessert at each sit down meal. I don't think there was a single point at that trip I wasn't uncomfortably full haha. We never even ate QS or had a snack because we were so full from the other meals. Even if you take out the app and dessert, they give you so much food I can't imagine eating three of their meals a day.
mdcpr
Well-Known Member
There will definitely be a trip report. FP date is at the end of the month, so let's see how this turns out.
Thanks haha. She's my first Saint, but I'm pretty sure I'll have another one some point in the distant future. They're interesting dogs. And they make very good blankets in the winter.
mdcpr
Well-Known Member
I did take a little break.But you’ve been posting!
HongKongFu
Well-Known Member
I strategically, and patiently, waited for California to pass Prop 64 before returning to Disneyland Resort.
Proper planning, however crazy or unusual, is essential.
Proper planning, however crazy or unusual, is essential.