In defence of Disney’s free dining offer
Listening to the WDW Today podcast recently has all too often made me scream at my mp3 player. And it’s all been about the same subject, free dining. As I am sure you know, Disney World is offering the free dining promotion again this fall. It’s one of the most popular promotions they do, yet the WDW Today crew seems remarkably negative about it. The show’s host, Matt Hochberg, has written a column on this subject that he’s published on his MGMStudios.org website. (It’s a great site, so check it out. You’ll also find me on those forums quite often.)
The first thing to keep in mind is that, like me, most of these guys are annual pass holders, and Disney Dining Experience card holders. (The Disney Dining Experience, DDE for short, is a 20% off program at mostly sit-down restaurants offered to Florida residents and pass holders.) For us, the value of this promotion is somewhat limited. But to argue the worth of it for others is without merit. Let’s take the first point in the column…
You have to buy a Magic Your Way Package and that means you’re paying what’s known as “rack rates” for the rooms. So if I was going to save $15-$20 per night at a value resort with my annual pass, I’m now $100 behind the 8-ball (assuming a 5 or 6 night stay) for my trip.
Fair enough, don’t you think? So what we need to do is balance the savings of the food against the savings of the room. But wait! There’s more to this. Is the food truly a value? Matt continues…
Truth be told, the reasons I’ve mentioned before are not the main reason why I’m not a fan of the Disney Dining Plan. Sure, they matter and when you add it all up, the sum of it all makes it worse, but what really gets me is the amount of food you get. When you’re on the dining plan, you get a lot of food, especially at the counter service meals. This might sound like a good thing, but the reason I don’t like it is first, I end up not eating everything I get, which is a waste.
Folks, if you are considering the free dining plan, please keep in mind you are not going to be forced into shoving down a dole whip every day or risk losing all that savings you acquired. Let’s take these two reasons for not getting the plan, and put them together. Matt suggests at a value hotel that you save somewhere $15-$20 per night through various room discounts that one can’t take advantage of during free dining. But then says the plan gives you too much food. Besides not understanding how “too much food” can be a bad thing, I’m not sure why it is even a factor here. For example, what do you think you’ll eat in a day, plan or no plan? For just my wife and me, I would say coffee and a muffin for breakfast equals about $8. For lunch we do a counter service, which comes to around $15. Now, let’s say for dinner we are like Matt and have just another counter service meal. That’s another $15. Put that together, and even on our most frugal of days, my wife and I have spent $38 on food, and now it’s free! Already, we’ve nearly doubled the $20 Matt’s saved on his room. Now apply these numbers to a family of four, and you’ll see what I mean.
Even the theory that the Disney Dining Experience card is better, is not always the case either. First Matt says…
If I were going to Walt Disney World for 4 or 5 days, I might have 2 or 3 sit down meals and be satisfied with counter service at the rest.
But then in the next paragraph says…
Plus the DDE card gives me more flexibility in terms of where I can go.
Considering the only theme park with counter-service options available for the DDE is Animal Kingdom, WDW Today’s least favorite, I’m not sure how this can offer more flexibility. The only real way to save money on the DDE is to have sit-down meals, which is no different from the dining plan. But the dining plan also offers the deal at every counter service once a day.
Here’s the bottom line. When doing this you need to determine what exactly it is you are savings and compare it to what you are paying for the rack room rate. If you are making out in the end, which you almost always are, then it doesn’t matter if you stuff your face or not. Keeping money in your wallet is the goal, and at Disney World that can be a tricky proposition.
Matt said,
May 4, 2007 @ 6:34 pm
First, thanks for the mention of the article.
Onto how too much food can be bad, here’s how I see it. If you go on the DDP and go to a table service meal, you get an appetizer, entree & dessert. Would you order all that if you were paying cash? And does everyone need an appetizer? Most appetizers are best to be shared among the people at your table. Regardless, the question is would you buy an appetizer? Dessert? Even a drink can be iffy because when I go to WDW, I get water because I’m dehydrated and don’t need a coke. So you’re getting all this food on the DDP that you might not otherwise order if you were paying for it and saying you’ve saved $xx but if it’s a waste because you don’t eat it and may not have even ordered it in the first place had it not been free, then what’s the point?
Never mind the DDP becomes a worse value if you stay at a Moderate or Deluxe resort (because the AP savings on rooms there start to get more significant than the values). Like you said Dave, you need to figure out exactly what you’re saving and see if you are coming out ahead given one’s plan of attack for eating. The blanket statement “free dining saves money” is false, and I think that’s our (or at least mine) general guideline when telling folks to slow down before believing free dining is the greatest promotion ever.
Jeff Pepper said,
May 4, 2007 @ 11:34 pm
Another point to address is the potential aggravation you buy into as a result of Free Dining. Getting reservations during the Free DDP period is proving extremely frustrating to many. Walkups are pretty much eliminated. Many find that their vacation becomes more centered on planning meals than really enjoying the parks.
We have paid for the dining plan on our last two family vacations. Our choice was based on the fact it was a good value for the places we wanted to eat and the convenience of having it all paid for in advance. I doubt we will ever take advantage of free dining any time soon as it seems, value aside, much more trouble than it’s worth.
Checkwriter said,
May 5, 2007 @ 1:16 am
As a parent of five kids, I like to know what my vacation costs are going to be up front. The DDP allows me to do this. In addition, we find that the dining becomes part of the vacation fun. The kids get into trying new things, experiencing different foods, and the family dinners together become as memorable a part of the experience as the attractions or shows or whatever. For us, the DDP extends the vacation experience.
Larry C. said,
May 20, 2007 @ 8:32 pm
You must be kidding or stupid! last year I saved 1,800 $ on our 10 day trip. How nice it is to walk into a disney restaraunt and not care about price. And as for not being able to make ressies, I have never ever been able not to eat at the place we wanted, if you can’t handle making reservations then maybe don’t travel!
Biblioadonis said,
May 22, 2007 @ 6:51 pm
My brother and I (disneygeeks.blogspot.com) are of two minds on the DDP and it is based solely on our individual experiences.
My trip in December 2006 was frought with terrible wait times and horrific service. Pair that with two finicky eaters (my kids) and absolutely awful kid’s menu choices–and you have a DDP recipe for disaster. They have changed the menu for kids since then. We spent more money on the DDP than we would have spent ourselves. We also felt like we wasted an hour and a half every sit-down meal.
My brother went in April and they had a wonderful time with the DDP–except for Caribbean Beach Food Court. They will do it again.
We won’t.
It is individual choices. No one is being stupid or kidding. It is whatever makes your vacation the best it can be.