[leslieh]

I called first thing this morning at 7:05 am, and was on hold until 8:40 am. I knew to expect a long hold time, so that's fine. The CM was nice and helpful.

But.... "free Dining" really isn't the best deal for everyone. If you have AAA (since AP rates aren't out yet), the room discount you get may be greater than the cost you would pay for free dining. I see this especially true for couples or two friends sharing a room. For example, the rack room rate with free dining for us for 4 nights at the Contemporary was $1,658. With a AAA discount, the room only was $1,150. The dining plan cost for 2 adults and 2 children is $400. Total cost: $1,550. This isn't even considering that AP rates are usually very good compared to AAA. The only reason we did it is that the base ticket cost ($71 per adult) can be used towards our APs. That is what pushed us over the edge.

We eventually had to change from the Contemporary to the Wilderness Lodge because this four day trip with "free" dining was getting very expensive! We love WL, so that's fine, too.

Just food for thought (pun intended).

[Dana]

Good point. It may not be the best deal if you already have a room rate that great....if you factor in the cost of your food for the week plus the rack rate, it may be worth the price. You are going to love WL...seriously. It's worth it.

[bosoxx65]

That is really good advice because not every deal is as great as it looks on the surface.

[woohoo]

so does this mean that in order to book the free dining you cannot book it through AAA? Or is it that in order to book it early with the disney visa that this is the case?

[tonyksl]

Free dining is not available through the AAA discounted price. You have to book directly and use your Disney Visa card.

[storzo]

Right now you have to use your Disney Visa, rumor has it that the Free DDP will be available to everyone on Thursday, the 12th.

[tonipotts]

I just checked my AAA rate and it was actually $100 more than what Disney quoted me.
Thanks for the advice, I'm always trying to save some cash.

[ddoll]

That's why I never get the dining plan. I save so much money on the room rate by using the nurse's discount at the swan, that I can't justify paying more for a room that I don't like as much just to get the free dining.

To each his own. Fortunately we DON"T all want the same thing.

[TaraRae82]

Ok, I don't have AAA and I'm not sure what AP is. Can you explain that to me???? I was intending to purchase DDP because DH and I can easily spend $40 each at one meal! We're considering CBR and WL. We won't be going during the free dining time (Oct 5-11 or 12).

[DisneyTeacher]

Originally Posted by TaraRae82

Ok, I don't have AAA and I'm not sure what AP is. Can you explain that to me???? I was intending to purchase DDP because DH and I can easily spend $40 each at one meal! We're considering CBR and WL. We won't be going during the free dining time (Oct 5-11 or 12).

AP is an anual pass. Disney sometimes releases AP discounts at resorts. You don't have to have an AP to book the room but you need one at check in. However, you can't get an AP discount and add the dining plan.

[TaraRae82]

OMgoodness. I've planned several WDW trips before but none have ever seemed this complicated!!! So, to add DDP, I have to book my room at the normal seasonal rate and then I'm not eligible for any discounts? How do I find out about available discounts?

[DisneyTeacher]

Discounts are posted here at MouseBuzz. MouseSavers.com - Disney Discount - Disney World Discounts - Disneyland Discounts is also great at posting current discounts.

Yes, to add the dining plan you basically have to pay rack rate for your room, that's how Disney makes the money back, they want the rooms filled with guests paying full rates.

[leslieh]

Originally Posted by TaraRae82

OMgoodness. I've planned several WDW trips before but none have ever seemed this complicated!!! So, to add DDP, I have to book my room at the normal seasonal rate and then I'm not eligible for any discounts? How do I find out about available discounts?

Yes, as DisneyTeacher said, you can't use a room discount AND purchase the DP. That's why you should run the numbers; your discount could be significant enough to outweigh the DP.

[Soundgod]

When you do your math, make sure you actually add up the meal costs for your counter and table and make sure to add 24% to the table meal for tax and tip and 6% for counter and snacks for sales tax. The meal plan is $38 per adult. Your table meal target is $45 per person, tax and tip. The counter target is $10. Snacks figure $4. Your total daily food target is $59. That means even a party of 2 is spending $120 or better per day for food. If you aren't going to eat good, the dining plan isn't good, but if you want to really enjoy your meals, it is the way to go if you consider you're getting $60 worth of food for $38.

[TaraRae82]

Yeah, that's why we are planning to purchase the dining plan. We don't really "budget" for food. We just go and eat what tastes good! :) That's the one thing we really splurge on. I was hoping we could get free dining so we could stay at WL but it looks like CBR may be what we're doing. The package difference including flight and tickets looks like about a $700 difference for 6 nights. That's based on a Disney Magic plus Dining package, 7 day park hopper, and flight through Expedia on Midwest.