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Walt Disney World

Walt Disney World - Free Dining Promo Released

  • Last Updated:
  • Apr 27th, 2018 2:51 pm
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Jan 10, 2004
5077 posts
2788 upvotes
Edmonton
Jlmcneil wrote: So it's safe to say 2 people are better off doing a room discount. 2 adults, one who eats very little. I've done free Disney dining multiple times in previous years. Probably 10 years ago and it was an amazing deal. Then 2 years ago but the trip was payed for by a family member so have no idea of cost. Disney seems to have tightened the promo quite a bit.
We've never found it that great of a deal. You have to get the park hopper option which normally we would never use. It's a better deal if you have a larger group staying in one room (ie 4 people) since in theory the food discount is better than the room discount.

But if you're light eaters, and maybe only having 2 meals a day plus a snack, it's probably not worth it. Heck, most of the time I try and grab a kids meal because I'm not a huge eater. (I tend to bring trail mix or similar when we're doing the parks)

I think overall, a room vs food discount will be about the same, so it's really just a marketing thing to sway you to think you got an awesome deal. It's not like you're saving hundreds and hundreds of dollars.
Member
Jun 14, 2017
407 posts
296 upvotes
Montreal
These points about eating offsite are all invalid. WDW is over 47 square miles in size, the closest restaurants to the magic kingdom for example will take over 45 minutes to get to. (15-20 minutes for exit and monorail back to transportation center, 10-15 to get back to the car from the transportation center, then about a 12-20 minute dive in the best conditions)

You would be looking at taking around 2.5 hours out of your day when all is said and done.
😱
Newbie
Oct 26, 2011
19 posts
16 upvotes
Winnipeg
bobcat99 wrote: You can save a lot of time with the dining plans. Aren't you paying for parking at the Disney lots. Exiting the park for lunch just eats into your time where you could be enjoying time inside the park.
If you are doing Disney one in a lifetime the dining plan is well worth it.
Oh, you are preaching to the choir, my good person ;)
We've been only once to Disneyworld (once before to Disneyland) and we were going with a full hardcore mentality of getting there 45 minutes before rope-drop until closing time, and we did for the first couple of days. We were dead tired but with a giant grin in our faces. But I think on the 4th day, around 4pm, one of my kids had the blessed initiative of commenting: "I wish I had a Wendy's right now" to which we all automatically agreed and seeing that we had already covered 70% of what we wanted to see/ride, we left the park, went to Wendy's, and came back totally relaxed and restored in about 90 minutes. Lesson learned, we did that again in Animal Kingdom, in Islands of Adventure, and in the Epcot day we even went all the way to the apartment to chillax in the pool for an hour (so, we "wasted" 2 hours including travelling).
Compared to our acquaintances' experiences (most staying in Disney hotels, the rest staying in hotels nearby) we covered so much more of the parks (because of our no pain-no gain attitude) and for a considerable percentage less of their costs (I would say at least 30% less costly staying at least 4 days more).
So, yeah, I would love to stay in the resorts and just walk casually to Mission:Mars, then go back to my room to enjoy my privacy while puking, but with the money we spend in those vacations, we would have been able to just stay probably 7 days in the resorts, and miss the 3 Universal parks, a couple of leisure days in Daytona and Cape Canaveral (witnessing a launch too and visiting NASA), and a quick 4 nights cruise. I would totally do the resorts if I was made of money (because when I do vacations, I have to do a bunch of things, not just the parks, and that gets expensive).
Cheers!
Newbie
Oct 26, 2011
19 posts
16 upvotes
Winnipeg
bman95 wrote: These points about eating offsite are all invalid. WDW is over 47 square miles in size, the closest restaurants to the magic kingdom for example will take over 45 minutes to get to. (15-20 minutes for exit and monorail back to transportation center, 10-15 to get back to the car from the transportation center, then about a 12-20 minute dive in the best conditions)

You would be looking at taking around 2.5 hours out of your day when all is said and done.
Your example (maybe) applies only to Magic Kingdom, although I'm sure that it would take much less than what you're describing.

Hollywood Studios, for example, the parking lot is right outside, 5 minutes and you are in your car, another 3 to 5 minutes driving and you arrived to McDonalds, Wendy's is a whole minutes or two farther, sick of burgers? Olive Garden, 10 minutes - and the same applies to Animal Kingdom, and even Epcot (although in Epcot you will want to have a taste of some international stuff they offer).

Is al about planning and wanting.

P.S.
When we went to Volcano Bay we left the older girls and took the teenage boys to the bus, back to the car, drove to Papa Johns (ordered beforehand online), and returned in less than 40 minutes - we enjoyed some pizzas on the sand and relaxed a bit before going back to those lazy rivers for the rest of the day.
Deal Guru
Jul 20, 2006
12707 posts
6222 upvotes
Nuncio29 wrote: Oh, you are preaching to the choir, my good person ;)
We've been only once to Disneyworld (once before to Disneyland) and we were going with a full hardcore mentality of getting there 45 minutes before rope-drop until closing time, and we did for the first couple of days. We were dead tired but with a giant grin in our faces. But I think on the 4th day, around 4pm, one of my kids had the blessed initiative of commenting: "I wish I had a Wendy's right now" to which we all automatically agreed and seeing that we had already covered 70% of what we wanted to see/ride, we left the park, went to Wendy's, and came back totally relaxed and restored in about 90 minutes. Lesson learned, we did that again in Animal Kingdom, in Islands of Adventure, and in the Epcot day we even went all the way to the apartment to chillax in the pool for an hour (so, we "wasted" 2 hours including travelling).
Compared to our acquaintances' experiences (most staying in Disney hotels, the rest staying in hotels nearby) we covered so much more of the parks (because of our no pain-no gain attitude) and for a considerable percentage less of their costs (I would say at least 30% less costly staying at least 4 days more).
So, yeah, I would love to stay in the resorts and just walk casually to Mission:Mars, then go back to my room to enjoy my privacy while puking, but with the money we spend in those vacations, we would have been able to just stay probably 7 days in the resorts, and miss the 3 Universal parks, a couple of leisure days in Daytona and Cape Canaveral (witnessing a launch too and visiting NASA), and a quick 4 nights cruise. I would totally do the resorts if I was made of money (because when I do vacations, I have to do a bunch of things, not just the parks, and that gets expensive).
Cheers!
Did you need a vacation after you came back from Disney, Universal, Daytona and Cape Canaveral and the cruise? Winking Face
Not everyone has the luxury to take, what seems like a 2 week vacation.

If limited on time buying the dining plan is the way to go, you don't want to be constantly looking for food, driving around and so on. You had that extra time to relax after Disney was over.
Deal Addict
Mar 26, 2011
2086 posts
1510 upvotes
Toronto
TomRFD wrote: The dining plan is accepted at most of the restaurants around the resort. Other than the restaurants at the Swan and Dolphin hotels, I can't think of any others off the top of my head. There are around 15 signature restaurants where you'll need to redeem 2 credits but the vast majority of restaurants only require 1.

Character dining is included with the Disney dining plan and is a great use of a credit since they're typically more expensive (dinner at Chef Mickey's for example is $35-60 for an adult) and most are only 1 credit (Cinderella’s Royal Table is 2 credits). You'd be paying up to $190 for 2 adults and 2 kids out of pocket otherwise.

Here's a list of all participating restaurants: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/media ... _added.pdf
stack1 wrote: Actually, I think the character meals are the ones where the Dining Plan has an advantage, just because they are so expensive. When I went on the dining plan, the table credit covered Chef Mickey, Crystal Palace and Akershus, I think Cinderella's Royal Table was 2 table credits, though I didn't bother going. Those character meals can easily cost $200US+ for a family of 4. (I had a family of 5 which made it even more expensive) Note the dining plan doesn't cover tips. Unfortunately, the current free dining offer doesn't include table credits unless you book deluxe accommodation.

That said, not sure I would do the character meals again, bc my kids are older. I think those are a good option for a way to see the characters without waiting in line.

One other thing with the free dining is that it ends up being a pool of credits, and you don't have use everyone's credits at once. E.g. For quick service, we discovered that for my family of 5, we could get away with using 3 QS credits for lunch. (at that time QS inlcuded a drink and dessert and you could change the dessert for drinks etc -- but QS doesnt include dessert anymore) , but you can then exchange a QS credit for 3 snacks. We did have a bunch of credits left over, but then on the last day I changed them all for things like packaged candy (mickey shaped licorice or mickey rice crispies) as souvienirs to take home.

For those who are booking with Free Dining, I'd advise doing some research on how to dine in DIsney and "best value" for your credits. Disney is one of those places that are more enjoyable if you do your legwork beforehand.
I stand corrected.

I have nothing to offer other than anecdotal evidence, but I felt like there were quite a few places we went to that either didn’t qualify (maybe because of the tier of the restaurant) or that they required 2 vouchers. That list would be great but the link is showing down for me (could be my work’s firewall). Is there another link by any chance (or instructions how to get to it)?
Deal Addict
Sep 15, 2008
1763 posts
4499 upvotes
Pawtucket
I think we can all agree that it can be much cheaper eating and staying offsite and buying discounted park tickets. I feel the real value of the dining is in the Table Service (sit down) restaurants. There are a ton to choose from within the Parks, the Disney Resorts, Disney Springs and Disney Boardwalk and as Stack1 pointed out, many have a Character experience. Those alone would have cost us $170-$200 for the 4 of us if we had to pay out of pocket. Our kids really enjoyed meeting all the characters and princesses without having to line up. They come to your table and you can take pics with them and have their autographs.

For the Quick service and snack credits, I like the fact that we can use them anytime we wanted to. The kids enjoyed being able to order their own food and snacks using the Magic Band. We actually had to scramble on the last day to use all the snack credits because we still had so many remaining. Ended loading up on a lot of Goofy Candies and chocolates.

Other convenient factors of staying on site is the free transportation to/from MCO courtesy of the Disney Magical Express, efficient buses running from the Resorts to the Parks, and having the ability to book Fastpasses 60 days in advance rather than the 30 if staying offsite.
We were so happy to be able to score Fastpasses for Pandora Flight of Passage. That was an amazing ride but definitely not worth lining up for 3+ hours in the Florida heat.

For large families or groups, it would be more economical to just rent a house but for a family of 2 adults and 2 kids, I think its worth it to try the Free Dining if you haven’t done so.

We actually booked free dining again for Pop Century this fall and look forward to checking out the refurbished rooms. Also, alcohol is included in the dining for the first time.
Administrator
User avatar
Jun 17, 2013
18196 posts
36555 upvotes
Scarborough
Alexandero2 wrote: That list would be great but the link is showing down for me (could be my work’s firewall). Is there another link by any chance (or instructions how to get to it)?
That link was to the PDF file they host with all the restaurants on it. You can also see all the participating restaurants here. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/en_CA ... ning-plan/
RFD Staff - Got a question? Send me a private message.
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Jr. Member
Dec 26, 2007
195 posts
36 upvotes
Guelph
Just booked for this as well. Had already booked a Disney Springs hotel, but I have done the meal plan before and this seemed like better value (for my family of 5). We are there for 5 days of parks and won't have a car, so the airport transport and various shuttles are considerations. FYI - the price dropped $500 for the resort I was looking to book between this morning and now. A 'standard view' room came available that was cheaper than the better view rooms. I will be having groceries delivered to the room to cover breakfasts/additional snacks and wind-down beers...

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