Would you upgrade for free dining?

[azcavalier]

Yep, run the numbers. For us, we have a party of five (two little kids), and so picked a mod with the newer murphy beds. We are also hoping to snag free dining. We love eating at Table Service restaurants...it's part of the experience. For our group of five (one kid is actually 10, so is considered an adult on the dining plan), we figure that the way we eat, the dining plan vs paying out of pocket is a wash, and the free DDP saves us about $2000 - $2500.

So, for us, worth the upgrade to snag the dining plan? Yeppers.

[Wall-e]

Thanks for all of your replies! I think I will go for the upgrade. As one poster commented eating table service is part of the experience. My kids still talk about some of the places we ate during our first trip almost 5 years ago. "We need ketchup!"

[scooterca42]

Just be certain to watch for which resorts actually offer free dining. We were booked at POFQ but they didn't offer it last year. Karen will let you know, I would think!

[The Hitchhiking Ghost]

From what I seem to recall, especially in the last year or so, POFQ is almost always excluded from the free dining offers. So definitely decide ahead of time if resort choice is a deal breaker or not.

The other thing to factor in is the age (and number) of your kids. If you have a kid 10 or older, they are treated as an adult for the DDP, so the value becomes much better. If your kid(s) is under 10, you may find that a room discount is a better deal for you.

[BigRedDad]

First off, don't confuse the Free Dining Offer with "free". You go from a discounted rate to a rack room rate for the room.

Second, how much do you eat at each meal and can you recover the cost? I looked at the QS dining for our trip ($42 per adult). For the sake of easier math, assume a snack is $4. This leaves $18 per counter service meal to just break even. Most QS meals are only $10. We do not drink soda or anything with all that added sugar. If you do, add $4. That gets you to $14. Then the dessert is another $4. This gets you to $18.

We can never make the dining work for us. We always end up with a large bag full of Mickey Rice Krispy Treats. I for one get sick of them after 2 and when there are 30 more in the bag, you look at how much you wasted. For 3 of us, we can share a meal, a snack, and maybe a dessert at each meal. We get free water (good water) too. That is 3 people eating for about $20 tops for a QS meal.

[EeyoresBestFriend]

Also keep in mind if you downgrade to POP, the free dining doesn't include TS.