For me and my family, we will always try to go during the free dining plan dates! It's the only thing that makes since. It's hard enough for us to save to pay for the trip alone when you have all your everyday exspenses and bills. The free dining plan means that it is at least $600 that we wont have to come up with to pay for our food. Which means more money for shopping and we can use that money to stay at the beach for a few days after disney which is wonderful (we live in tennessee!).
Also, the free dining plan lets us experience great places to eat (ts) because if we were paying out of pocket, all we would be able to afford is counter services.
We also love to be able to actually set down and enjoy a nice meal and relax after we have been playing all day in the parks.
And you dont have to bounce around from place to place to eat. You just need to give it a little thought and choose which days you are going to which park and choose your ts adr for a place that is in or nearby that park. I know that if you are a spontanious person that its not fun but im a planner and planning my trip is half the fun!