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PitterPatter11
Baby Boy is Here!
Member since 5/11 7619 total posts
Name:
Momma <3
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Is Disney free dining worth it?
I’m trying to figure out if the Disney free dining is worth it? I’m wondering if we’d be better off upgrading our hotel and buying whatever type of ticket we want.
Thoughts?
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Posted 1/11/19 10:05 PM  |
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Long Island Weddings
Long Island's Largest Bridal Resource |
ANewDayHasCome
Love multiplies, not divides
Member since 11/12 14481 total posts
Name:
Me
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Is Disney free dining worth it?
Price it out in the website. You can select everything and see what the totals would be for each.
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| Posted 1/12/19 7:34 AM |
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ml110
LIF Adult
Member since 1/06 5435 total posts
Name:
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Is Disney free dining worth it?
it sometimes isn't worth it, depending on what you're planning. you have to have park hopper tickets to get free dining, so if you weren't planning on getting those already, that could make the free dining less worth it for you. Also- the only resorts that include the plan with the sit-down meals for free are the deluxe resorts- the other resort levels only include the plan with quick services meals and then you have to pay to upgrade if you want sit-down meals. so again, depending on what you were already planning to do it could end up costing more.
so yeah, you're not crazy if its not working out to save you money LOL we don't usually get the dining plan anyway- we go every year and found usually save money just paying as we go to eat and not worrying about using up credits at the end of our trip, etc. I usually just buy discounted Disney gift cards and use those to pay for our food 
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| Posted 1/12/19 8:09 AM |
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PitterPatter11
Baby Boy is Here!
Member since 5/11 7619 total posts
Name:
Momma <3
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Is Disney free dining worth it?
Thanks!
I have a spreadsheet set up now to try to decide. It’s just hard to know how much the food will cost. Like will we spend $500 on food for the time we’ll be there for 2 adults, 1 child? We plan on bringing or ordering our own snacks and breakfast items.
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| Posted 1/12/19 10:35 AM |
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ml110
LIF Adult
Member since 1/06 5435 total posts
Name:
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Re: Is Disney free dining worth it?
Posted by PitterPatter11
Thanks!
I have a spreadsheet set up now to try to decide. It’s just hard to know how much the food will cost. Like will we spend $500 on food for the time we’ll be there for 2 adults, 1 child? We plan on bringing or ordering our own snacks and breakfast items.
you might... their food prices are high. we usually spend around $1000 or so when we go for 2 adults and 2 kids- and thats with packing a lot of snacks and breakfast stuff. Especially the character meals can add up if you plan to do any of those. we'll usually do things like eat a big character breakfast, and then share a quick service meal later in the day, or get my kids a $5 snack instead of a kids meal somewhere.
Plug in the meals you plan to do in here, and it will give you an idea of how much you'll spend out of pocket...
https://www.distripplanner.com
also remember that even with the dining plan, you still have to pay the tips at sit-down restaurants. so thats something to figure in your budget, too.
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| Posted 1/12/19 1:50 PM |
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mnmsoinlove
Mommy to 2 sweet girls!
Member since 3/09 8585 total posts
Name:
Melissa
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Re: Is Disney free dining worth it?
You really need to play around with it. We had a bounce back offer we were using and when free dining came out it was I was able to add the extra day and get hoppers and still save money with free dining rather than the bounce back offer.
I open 2 tabs on my laptop and do it’s all separate and than do it with the free dining to see if I’m saving.
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| Posted 1/12/19 4:41 PM |
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PitterPatter11
Baby Boy is Here!
Member since 5/11 7619 total posts
Name:
Momma <3
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Re: Is Disney free dining worth it?
Posted by mnmsoinlove
You really need to play around with it. We had a bounce back offer we were using and when free dining came out it was I was able to add the extra day and get hoppers and still save money with free dining rather than the bounce back offer.
I open 2 tabs on my laptop and do it’s all separate and than do it with the free dining to see if I’m saving.
Thanks! I have a detailed spreadsheet with every single option. Discounted room, different number of days for tickets, including/excluding park hoppers, free dining, discounted tickets, etc.
I’m free sure free dining is the best deal.
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| Posted 1/12/19 9:04 PM |
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Aries14
Can't plan life...
Member since 8/08 2860 total posts
Name:
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Is Disney free dining worth it?
it wasn't for our trip in August.. Bc they make you pay full rack rate on the hotel. It is never really "free" lol. For us, it was cheaper for us to have a room and ticket discount then free dining. The DDp (which is the one sit down meal) was $1200 more at one hotel than the price i got for a better hotel without the dining. the dining plan technically would of cost is $840.
Plus I have a 9 year old that wont eat off the kids menu but will share my meals with me. On the dining plan she would have had to order off kid menus and she just wouldn't like anything
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| Posted 1/14/19 9:55 AM |
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lightblue
LIF Adult
Member since 1/17 2249 total posts
Name:
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Re: Is Disney free dining worth it?
You can google disney dining calculators and it will tell you if its worth it or not. I think if you plan on doing character dining then its worth it.
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| Posted 1/14/19 11:38 AM |
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PitterPatter11
Baby Boy is Here!
Member since 5/11 7619 total posts
Name:
Momma <3
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Is Disney free dining worth it?
Thanks Everyone!
From my spreadsheet, it looks like the dining plan is worth it - even if we just do the quick service. I figure we will try to do one character meal and that should be sufficient for our son as I think he is going to be a little nervous around the characters.
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| Posted 1/15/19 7:54 AM |
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