Dining Plan Price Increases 2013

[The Hitchhiking Ghost]

I wondered that, too. Or if maybe it makes Free Dining seem like more of a value, so people keep going for it? Because we all know (even if we love a good free dining plan) that getting a room discount is usually a better deal. But this way, people still think, "wow, a room discount is good, but I've got to eat and that's saving me $55 a day per person," even though the pricing is insane when you break it down.

I still think its situational. While the days where I pay for the DDP are certainly long gone, I don't think you can make a blanket statement that a room discount is better than the free dining.

We are booked 10 nights into POR, dw and 3 dd (one of which will by then will be considered a Disney "adult").

10 nights of free dining for 3 adults and 2 kids, basically equates to $1900-2000 of value.

I don't know that a moderate ever gets discounted more than 30%, but 10 nights at POR value season, even using the weekend rate of $200 per night equates to about a $60 per night savings or about $600 for a 10 nights stay.

To me, that's at least a $1,300 spread (probably more) with free dining vs. a room discount. I realize that if we were paying oop that we wouldn't order nearly as much food and could get by much cheaper than the daily DDP $$ allotment. But even so, it wouldn't amount to $1300, so for us the free dining is much better than the room discount.

Now, if you are two adults, with maybe just one kid staying at the Poly, then yeah, I could see a 30-40% room discount providing better value. But larger families staying at a moderate with one or more "child adults" the free dining generally provides better value, imo.

[ChipNDale79]

Unfortunately I think that's food prices in any major theme park. We went to Carowinds, a local theme park, about a year ago. For two of us a counter service lunch of chicken fingers, fries and soft drinks cost us $40ish, and it was awful .

Disney is right on par with other theme parks when it comes to food.

Price wise I agree, they are right on par, but I wouldn't' agree the food compares at Carowinds vs Disney.

Sure I've had a few burgers at counter service places at Disney that tasted like stadium food and were disgusting (ABC Commissary and Restaurantosaurus), but just about all other counter services are pretty good.

I can't say the same for Carowinds, you pay top price for frozen food that's very unappetizing. We had season passes a few years ago and after purchasing a few meals in the park, we decided we would either run back to the house (only a few miles from Carowinds) or go to the Wendy's outside of the park for lunch, they won't get my money for food.

IMO the DDP doesnt really save you anything, it's basically a pre-paid meal plan. I recently did the math on it and we like to have nice sit down meals on our vacations, so it still makes sense to purchase it for us.

I wish they would continue to raise the prices so people wouldn't get them. I'm very tired of waiting in lines behind people on the dining plan, who have no clue and don't decide until they are at the register and have to ask every person in the party. Otherwise, Disney should have a separate line for them, so people paying at the register can order and get their food, while they poder their options. Then when they are done realize that they also get a dessert, and start all over again!

I've been behind people who have paid of out pocket who have taken forever in line as well.......wonder if we need a fast pass for counter service also, or if we should price those people out of the experience also.

I've got maybe a better idea, why not have a kiosk that allows you order from, that way people like us, who know what we want, can go in and order our food quickly.

[joonyer]

. . . . .
I've got maybe a better idea, why not have a kiosk that allows you order from, that way people like us, who know what we want, can go in and order our food quickly.

It's coming. "Next Gen" will allow you to place an order for your meal before you even get to the park, if you want to. Smart phone apps!

[ChipNDale79]

It's coming. "Next Gen" will allow you to place an order for your meal before you even get to the park, if you want to. Smart phone apps!

I mean that's cool, but I don't know what I want days before I get there. If I can order via smart phone while standing in the restaurant, or someone in the park...then cool.

[TheVBs]

I agree with The Hitchhiking Ghost. You have to do the numbers to see whether the room discount or the free dining is the best value for you. I checked 2013 prices on our usual resort ASMu. I think the best room discount you can get is 30%, correct? That would save us about $40 a day on a preferred room. We usually stay 10 days, so $400 overall. Based on the 2013 prices for 4 people (2 adults, 1 adult age child and 1 child) on the DDP, free QS dining would give us $127 in free food a day. Over 10 days that's $1270 in food credits. Would we normally spend that much on food if we were paying out of pocket? Probably not. Would we spend more than $40 a day? Absolutely!

We would never buy the DDP, it's not a good value for us to purchase. However, the across the board statements that everyone is better off with the room discount is wrong.

[Dulcee]

Price wise I agree, they are right on par, but I wouldn't' agree the food compares at Carowinds vs Disney.

Oops! I meant it compares price wise, I agree I think many of the offerings at disney are of far better quality then other theme parks.