Free dining

LuvtheGoof

Grill Master
Premium Member
Id rather pay full rack rates and get free dining for my family of 5 (4 "adults"). it saved us over $1800.00 versus the room discount. Just because you don't benefit from a particular deal doesn't make it a bad one for everyone.
Exactly how do you save $1800 over the room discount????
 

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
Exactly how do you save $1800 over the room discount????
If you take the full value of the dining plan ($69/ per day) for a family of 5 adults it works out to a discount of $345 per day.

I had this perfect storm of 5 adults in the eyes of Disney per room for a couple of years and it often made the free dining promotion a no brainer even when we had APs. This of course is not the case for the majority of Disney guests.
 

LuvtheGoof

Grill Master
Premium Member
If you take the full value of the dining plan ($69/ per day) for a family of 5 adults it works out to a discount of $345 per day.

I had this perfect storm of 5 adults in the eyes of Disney per room for a couple of years and it often made the free dining promotion a no brainer even when we had APs. This of course is not the case for the majority of Disney guests.
Well yes, but it was stated that it was $1800 less than the room discount. I just don't see how that is possible. A few dollars cheaper, sure, but $1800?
 

CaptainAmerica

Well-Known Member
If you take the full value of the dining plan ($69/ per day) for a family of 5 adults it works out to a discount of $345 per day.

I had this perfect storm of 5 adults in the eyes of Disney per room for a couple of years and it often made the free dining promotion a no brainer even when we had APs. This of course is not the case for the majority of Disney guests.
Even then though, the full price of the dining plan is a poor proxy for "value". I'm a large adult and I just about break even on the dining plan. It's not "worth" anywhere near $69 per day for the average 11 year old.

People are comparing "rack rate rooms plus free dining" versus "discounted rooms plus paying for the dining plan." I think the most appropriate point of comparison would be "discounted rooms plus no dining plan and instead paying cash for your meals based on the actual amount of food you'd eat."

I'm not saying you, @Master Yoda, are wrong with your family's case, but I think it's even more rare than you're letting on.

2 Adults 3 kids (13,11,9) @ CBR
8/26-9/2 6 day Park Hopper w/ Regular Dining Summer Room Offer = $5811.63
8/26-9/2 6 day Park Hopper w/ Free Dining (upgraded)= $4008.00
Price it out with no dining plan and paying cash for your meals and I bet it would be even less.
 

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
Even then though, the full price of the dining plan is a poor proxy for "value". I'm a large adult and I just about break even on the dining plan. It's not "worth" anywhere near $69 per day for the average 11 year old.

People are comparing "rack rate rooms plus free dining" versus "discounted rooms plus paying for the dining plan." I think the most appropriate point of comparison would be "discounted rooms plus no dining plan and instead paying cash for your meals based on the actual amount of food you'd eat."

I'm not saying you, @Master Yoda, are wrong with your family's case, but I think it's even more rare than you're letting on.
True, but it is the easiest quantifiable number you have.

Even if you figure out down to the penny what you will actually spend on dining with the typical 1 TS, 1 QS 1 snack formula and use that number in place of the $69 cost of the DDP, free dining can still win out over a room discount when you have 5 adults in a single moderate room.
 

EpcotEric01

Active Member
Even then though, the full price of the dining plan is a poor proxy for "value". I'm a large adult and I just about break even on the dining plan. It's not "worth" anywhere near $69 per day for the average 11 year old.

People are comparing "rack rate rooms plus free dining" versus "discounted rooms plus paying for the dining plan." I think the most appropriate point of comparison would be "discounted rooms plus no dining plan and instead paying cash for your meals based on the actual amount of food you'd eat."

I'm not saying you, @Master Yoda, are wrong with your family's case, but I think it's even more rare than you're letting on.


Price it out with no dining plan and paying cash for your meals and I bet it would be even less.

ok, so the same dates, park hopper, ages, etc. just minus the dining plan it comes out to $3694.00. I'm not feeding my family of 5 for 7 days for $300.00, no matter how you break it down.
 

maxime29

Premium Member
I still haven't seen an answer to my question: What's a better deal than the free dining promotion if you are staying during the week of Christmas?

We secured our rooms w/ the dining promotion. The 7am EST hour was nothing but busy signals or "the call could not be complete" signals. Finally got on about 10 till 8am. Spent literally 3 hours on the phone (including hold time) from 8am-11am. We did change our arrival date to one day earlier than we originally wanted.
 

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
I still haven't seen an answer to my question: What's a better deal than the free dining promotion if you are staying during the week of Christmas?

We secured our rooms w/ the dining promotion. The 7am EST hour was nothing but busy signals or "the call could not be complete" signals. Finally got on about 10 till 8am. Spent literally 3 hours on the phone (including hold time) from 8am-11am. We did change our arrival date to one day earlier than we originally wanted.
It all depends on your particular situation including, party size, party ages, resort choice, etc.

Depending on those factors, a room discount might be better deal that free dining.
 

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