So Disney just released their “Free Dining” dates again, and as usual everyone is freaking out. People on message boards are in a frenzy, either complaining about how they already booked their vacation and can’t do Free Dining because of the blackout dates, or going on about how thrilled they are that it’s being offered again and how much money they’ll be saving.
Here are my thoughts on Free Dining, straight from the book:
“Free Dining” is Not Free!!!:
If you really think that Disney is going to give you something for free, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you. Their “Free Dining” promotion gets everyone up in a tizzy, because they hear the word “free” and start freaking out. But there’s nothing “free” about it. You’re actually paying out the ass for it!
The way the deal works is that you buy a package that includes your room, tickets, and the Disney Dining Plan, aka DDP (Quick Service if you’re staying at a Value Resort, or the regular plan if you’re at a Moderate), except the DDP is supposedly “free”. So they give you a single price for your entire vacation, and aside from souvenirs, once you hit the ground everything is already paid for.
The problems with this are numerous:
1. You’re not allowed to use any other discounts on top of this “free dining” promotion. So the “buy 4 get 3 free” deal, where you get 7 days at a resort for the price of 4? Nope, can’t do it. $500 gift card if you reserve a 7 day vacation? Nope. 40% off code? Not a chance. You have to pay full rack rates for your rooms, and no discounts on your tickets, either, which means Undercover Tourist is out the window. And to be perfectly frank, only suckers pay rack rate at WDW.
It used to be that you could probably do just as well at “Free Dining” as you could with these other discounts IF you were staying in a Value Resort, because everyone got the same version of the DDP, regardless of what kind of resort you stayed at. But now that they’ve changed the “Free Dining” for Values to “Quick Service” restaurants only, that slight edge is put into the negative. In other words, YOU ARE LOSING MONEY BY GETTING “FREE DINING” INSTEAD OF USING THE OTHER DISCOUNTS OUT THERE!!!
2. The DDP itself is overpriced. Just a few years ago, when it first started, it was a good deal. Each day you’d get a quick service meal, 2 snacks, and a table service meal with an appetizer, entrée, drink, and desert (the tip was also included) for $35/day. You still had to eat a buttload of food each day to come out ahead, but at least you COULD come out ahead and have it be a decent bargain. But now you don’t get the appetizer, you only get one snack, and the tip isn’t included. That’s a reduction of 30% at least, and at the price has increased to $48/day. As only Disney can, they’ve increased the price and decreased the service, and people are still buying it. What a rip-off.
Do me a favor: visit http://allears.net/din/dining.htm, check the prices on the restaurants you want to eat at, and then add up what you’ll spend per person per day (without gorging yourself). Most likely over the course of 7 days that amount is going to be equal to or less than what you would pay for the Dining Plan.
3. If you’re on the DDP, by the end of your vacation you’re going to be so f***ing sick of Disney food that you won’t ever want to eat again. But since you already paid for it you’ll feel obligated to keep those dining reservations and keep gorging yourself until it becomes an unpleasant burden. Why would you want to do that to yourself on vacation? Wouldn’t you rather just eat what you want, when you want, knowing that it’s okay if you want to skip a dinner ADR because you ate too much at lunch and you’re not hungry?
4. “But I like that it’s prepaid and I can budget for it,” you say. Yes, budgeting is important, and not being able to go over budget is a nice feature of the DDP. But you could also stash away the same amount of cash on a Disney Gift Card, and only use that to pay for your meals. Every time you use it the receipt printout tells you how much is left on your card, which is a great way to manage your spending.
5. WDW’s food quality and portion sizes have gone downhill big time since the DDP came around. Since the number crunchers have to make a profit on DDP, they can’t have any of the food at any of the restaurants be too different in price or quality. The reason being that if word gets around that there’s one spectacular restaurant, or one amazingly great (but expensive) thing on a certain menu, then everyone on the DDP will go to that one restaurant or order that one most expensive item on the menu, and Disney will lose money (in fact this has happened – as of this writing La Cellier, which often receives great reviews for their food and service, has gone from 1 Table Service credit to 2, effectively doubling the price of the meal. They also got rid of the really high-quality steaks there years ago). As a result, none of the restaurants stand out anymore, and all of the food is kinda blah.
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