Summer Discounts Announced

[horizons1]

I do exactly what theBIGyowski does and feel less gouged and more free to change plans at the last minute.

[Metalfan]

Every time these come out I feel the need to book a quick trip to Disney.

[theBIGyowski]

We recently vacationed in the Florida Pan Handle and had to pay out of pocket for each meal. It almost ruined our trip as your painfully aware of how much of cost for a large family to eat every meal and for my 7 year old to order his meal and then not eat a quarter of it. Free Dining is psychologically better for us as we just enjoy having our meal and not worrying about the money.

My Mom also enjoyed not having to worry about the prices on the menu. Would your 7 year old be ok with sharing something from someone else's plate? That could help maybe...

Yeah...it is 100% in your head...so if you can't avoid looking at menu prices you should go with the DDP. If you have at least 2 kids that will be staying in the same room as you...Free Dining saves you more money than any room discount you can get. If it is just two people...you will save more money taking the room discount and paying for your food by charging to your room. Trust me...I've crunched the numbers over and over...and it is very, very hard for 2 people to spend more money on food than what the DDP actually costs you because you still have to tip...and saving the money on your room can save your more per night than what the DDP would cost you. And remember that the price of the DDP is already inflated (~$56 per person per night) versus what it would cost you out of pocket.

[Len90]

We recently vacationed in the Florida Pan Handle and had to pay out of pocket for each meal. It almost ruined our trip as your painfully aware of how much of cost for a large family to eat every meal and for my 7 year old to order his meal and then not eat a quarter of it. Free Dining is psychologically better for us as we just enjoy having our meal and not worrying about the money.

My Mom also enjoyed not having to worry about the prices on the menu. Would your 7 year old be ok with sharing something from someone else's plate? That could help maybe...

Yeah...it is 100% in your head...so if you can't avoid looking at menu prices you should go with the DDP. If you have at least 2 kids that will be staying in the same room as you...Free Dining saves you more money than any room discount you can get. If it is just two people...you will save more money taking the room discount and paying for your food by charging to your room. Trust me...I've crunched the numbers over and over...and it is very, very hard for 2 people to spend more money on food than what the DDP actually costs you because you still have to tip...and saving the money on your room can save your more per night than what the DDP would cost you. And remember that the price of the DDP is already inflated (~$56 per person per night) versus what it would cost you out of pocket.

Good to see I'm not the only one who does all that number crunching. I believe it takes three people (pants with a kid) to break even on the plan. If you have just two adults in the room you only break even by adhering strictly to the plan and ordering the most expensive items on the menu. I'm very happy to see others seeing it this way.

[cousininmiami]

As a Florida Resident/Annual Passholder free dining packages or purchasing a dining package does not work for us. We can still do the dining package but must buy a one park one day ticket... kinda defeats the purpose. As well as the fact that we don't like to be confined to eating at a restaurant every night. A lot of the the time we enjoy eating and sampling around the world in Epcot or any of the parks for that matter! Freestyling is really fun!

[Amy]

As a Florida Resident/Annual Passholder free dining packages or purchasing a dining package does not work for us. We can still do the dining package but must buy a one park one day ticket... kinda defeats the purpose. As well as the fact that we don't like to be confined to eating at a restaurant every night. A lot of the the time we enjoy eating and sampling around the world in Epcot or any of the parks for that matter! Freestyling is really fun!

That's why it is a shame that ressies are so necessary ~ I feel bad for international visitors that don't necessarily know about making ressies 180 days out too

[Wizzard419]

I would imagine most people also do not know about that. It is asinine that you would need to make reservations for a place so far in advance when there isn't a Michelin star to be found.

[fancyfeet]

Anybody heard anything about what the fall discounts will be? I'm really hoping for free dining although we're staying at the Art of Animation this year and it seems like the regular rooms (Little Mermaid) have not gotten any discounts so far with with discounted room rates. I feel spoiled, I've gotten free dining for the last several years, so I'm really hoping they offer it for September.

[Amy]

Anybody heard anything about what the fall discounts will be? I'm really hoping for free dining although we're staying at the Art of Animation this year and it seems like the regular rooms (Little Mermaid) have not gotten any discounts so far with with discounted room rates. I feel spoiled, I've gotten free dining for the last several years, so I'm really hoping they offer it for September.

There have been rumblings about free dining around September, but I don't think they have announced anything officially yet.

[Amy]

Anybody heard anything about what the fall discounts will be? I'm really hoping for free dining although we're staying at the Art of Animation this year and it seems like the regular rooms (Little Mermaid) have not gotten any discounts so far with with discounted room rates. I feel spoiled, I've gotten free dining for the last several years, so I'm really hoping they offer it for September.

There have been rumblings about free dining around September, but I don't think they have announced anything officially yet.

Just saw that they have released free dining for Disney Visa cardholders ~ for trips between 9/2 - 9/25. Not a very big window, but you did mention you are planning on a trip in September. Hope these dates work out for you! And if you don't have a Disney Visa, I would think they should release the dining in a day or so for everyone. Good luck!

[theBIGyowski]

Anybody heard anything about what the fall discounts will be? I'm really hoping for free dining although we're staying at the Art of Animation this year and it seems like the regular rooms (Little Mermaid) have not gotten any discounts so far with with discounted room rates. I feel spoiled, I've gotten free dining for the last several years, so I'm really hoping they offer it for September.

There have been rumblings about free dining around September, but I don't think they have announced anything officially yet.

Just saw that they have released free dining for Disney Visa cardholders ~ for trips between 9/2 - 9/25. Not a very big window, but you did mention you are planning on a trip in September. Hope these dates work out for you! And if you don't have a Disney Visa, I would think they should release the dining in a day or so for everyone. Good luck!

Yeah I saw that this morning...seemed weird to me that Free Dining would only last for a month.

[Amy]

I thought that too BIG. I'm wondering if they are sort of offering it as a peace offering. For example, Disney knows that people have come to expect free dining in the fall, they don't want to disappoint, but they don't want to offer it for too long of a period, so they sort of compromise. Or maybe they will come out with further free dining offers depending on how bookings are coming along?

[theBIGyowski]

I think the End of Summer room discounts run until September...so maybe they are using free dining in September...then switching back over to room discounts in the Fall leading up to December. I doubt they will want Free Dining during F&W...but who knows.

[Amy]

I think the End of Summer room discounts run until September...so maybe they are using free dining in September...then switching back over to room discounts in the Fall leading up to December. I doubt they will want Free Dining during F&W...but who knows.

Possibly. I know people have mentioned using their snack credits for F&W, but I tend to forget people can actually buy the dining plan instead of getting it free as part of their package

[WVParkfan]

Every time these come out I feel the need to book a quick trip to Disney.

I couldn't agree more! But, we'll just have to wait until 2014.