FL Resident Discount vs. Free Magic Your Way Dining

[wdwmkmom]

Has anyone compared the benefits of getting FL resident or annual pass discount on the room rate vs. paying for the Magic Your Way package with free dining? We always try to get the FL resident rates, which seem to be better than any other rate they offer to us. But, I'm curious if the benefits of having the dining plan would off-set that savings.:mickey:

[faline]

Welcome to Intercot!

I don't have a Florida resident discount but I am an annual pass holder. I think I would be hard pressed to decide if free dining were offered. I suspect I would stick with the room discount as well as the dining experience disocunts rather than select the free dining - only because I find the dining doesn't really suit my eating style.

But...I haven't run the numbers either!

[magicofdisney]

We're a family of six, though only five would need the DDP. Staying at a value makes the free DDP worthwhile for us. We have seasonal passes, which offer the AP discount (slightly better deal than a FL resident discount). An AP discount would offset our costs by approximately $40 a day but then we'd pay OOP for meals, which would run around $140 a day. So without the free DDP we'd run about $210 a day times the number of days of our trip (roughly $1680 for 8 days). This doesn't include any snacks.

With the free DDP our cost will be around $1620. This includes the one day base ticket we're required to buy. It also gives us unrestricted ability to order whatever's on the menu (within the plan). The numbers I ran previously, without the DDP, limited DH and me to $25 TS meals. So not only do we save a little money, but we have more freedom in our food selections.

I did not include the cost of breakfast in these figures because we'd need to pay OOP for that either route we go.

[scrappy]

Basically you need to crunch the numbers. I did this last year when it was offered and what I came up with seemed to jive with the general consensus. If you stay at a Value you will probably be ahead of the game, at a Moderate you may break even, and at a Deluxe it would be a loss.

You have to remember that with the MYW package you're paying rack rate, and you have to purchase at least a one-day ticket. It used to be you could upgrade that one-day ticket to an AP or a Fl resident AP pass (seasonal in our case) but I've heard rumors that they're closing that loophole, so don't count on that benefit either. Even with that upgrade option it still wasn't worth it for us to stay at a Deluxe with the "free" dining.

Hope this helps some!

[magicofdisney]

It used to be you could upgrade that one-day ticket to an AP or a Fl resident AP pass (seasonal in our case) but I've heard rumors that they're closing that loophole, so don't count on that benefit either.
I heard this same thing last year when free dining came out and frankly it had me worried until Wendy at Magical Journeys assured me we would be able to upgrade. I don't really see it as a "loophole" per se. What does Disney have to lose? :confused: