No free for me

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Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Matt Hochberg

On the podcast I host, we’ve recently run into a real hot topic and it’s free dining.  For those who don’t know, Disney has recently announced that in the fall, they will offer the Disney Dining Plan for free for guests who book a Magic Your Way package.  Great, right?  Well, I have my reservations regarding the “deal” because I’m not sure it’s such a great deal and there are many folks who swear by free dining. 

As an annual pass holder, I’m not a fan of free dining because I can’t take advantage of a great benefit of being an annual pass holder, which is the discounted Disney resort room.  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. Moreover, you must buy theme park tickets and although I can buy a one day ticket and later use it towards my annual pass renewal, it’s still another $70 per ticket that I need to put money out for in advance.

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.  Also, I wouldn’t order all that food if I was paying out of pocket, so I can’t say “Well look at all the money I’m saving on food” because I wouldn’t have ordered all of that food in the first place if I were on my own.  In addition, although I love eating at full service restaurants, I’m not the type to eat at one every day.  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. 

The other glaring reason I don’t like the free dining plan is because I think, given my eating habits, I save more money with the Disney Dining Experience card (saves 20% off most sit down restaurants as well as on alcohol).  Plus the DDE card gives me more flexibility in terms of where I can go.  Finally, the Disney Dining Plan saves you the most money when you order the most expensive items off the menus and don’t eat at buffet meals (especially the cheaper priced buffets).  I hate looking over the menu and having in the back of my mind “I better order something really expensive even if something else sounds better so I can save money” when I’m trying to think of what to get.

I do admit the free dining plan does work for some people and others swear by it because there’s that perception of getting something for free, but for me, I’d rather take my annual pass discounts, retain some flexibility and spend more time enjoying the parks and less time figuring out if I’m still coming out ahead if I have the chicken instead of the steak.

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