Am I the only one who doesn't want FD?

[patty57]

We have never used the DDP, and never will. Absolutely zero interest in it, so personally, I don't wish for free dining. Give me a good room discount any day.

[married2mm]

I never knew of such hatred for free dining..
In the UK it's been offered nearly all year round!

Not often many room rate discounts,however there is a current offer on.

We actually prefer qsdp to ddp- if free we're happy to have it- but we would not win by paying for dining.

[fbb]

Originally Posted by minnie mum

dislike the decline in the quality of the food and the increase in prices that the DDP has spawned. I could continue but....I just want to see it all fade away.

I agree that the DDP was a cause of this, but I think ever higher prices and lower quality is the new normal regardless if the DDP or FD goes away.

[TDC Nala]

No you are not. I quit using the dining plan entirely after the changes made in 2008. Besides, I have AP and DVC, neither of which is really workable with the free dining offer which requires you to buy 2 day park tickets and a rack rate resort package.

It does not create extra crowds in the parks. No more than any other resort discount would (and free dining is a resort discount - not a restaurant discount). It does create extra crowds in the restaurants.

[mickey2000]

Originally Posted by TDC Nala

No you are not. I quit using the dining plan entirely after the changes made in 2008. Besides, I have AP and DVC, neither of which is really workable with the free dining offer which requires you to buy 2 day park tickets and a rack rate resort package.

It does not create extra crowds in the parks. No more than any other resort discount would (and free dining is a resort discount - not a restaurant discount). It does create extra crowds in the restaurants.

[DisneyFive]

I totally understand the dislike (hate, whatever you want to call it. ) for FD, but we love it. Dining is a big part of our park enjoyment (were not foodies, but love the atmosphere, flavors, and downtime of a good TS meal).

We have stayed at Mods and Values, so for us this is by far the largest discount versus others like room discount, etc& It saves our party of 4 adults, one Disney adult, and two kids $2500 versus paying for the regular dining plan. (8 night stay) At best, with a 25% resort discount at a mod resort, we would save $800. (8 night stay, two rooms) Sooo, $2500 or $800? You do the math. Granted, if we paid OOP we would probably not hit $2500 for meals, maybe $2000 for where/how we eat, but still&

I think the impact of FD on crowd levels is overblown, at least according to the data. We go late Sept, and even with FD the last few years the crowds are rated at 2s on average, and thats based on actual crowd data, not observations. So yes, FD does bring in crowds (just what its intended to do), but its not like the parks are anywhere CLOSE to swamped during FD when we go.

It does make dining reservations more difficult, and it does fill the restaurants during that time. So yes, I understand your dislike, but for our family and MANY others it is the best discount that Disney offers. If we only ate a few TS meals each trip or liked to pay OOP I would probably be in the anti DP group too.

Dan

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

Originally Posted by DisneyFive

I totally understand the dislike (hate, whatever you want to call it. ) for FD, but we love it. Dining is a big part of our park enjoyment (were not foodies, but love the atmosphere, flavors, and downtime of a good TS meal).

We have stayed at Mods and Values, so for us this is by far the largest discount versus others like room discount, etc& It saves our party of 4 adults, one Disney adult, and two kids $2500 versus paying for the regular dining plan. (8 night stay) At best, with a 25% resort discount at a mod resort, we would save $800. (8 night stay, two rooms) Sooo, $2500 or $800? You do the math. Granted, if we paid OOP we would probably not hit $2500 for meals, maybe $2000 for where/how we eat, but still&

I think the impact of FD on crowd levels is overblown, at least according to the data. We go late Sept, and even with FD the last few years the crowds are rated at 2s on average, and thats based on actual crowd data, not observations. So yes, FD does bring in crowds (just what its intended to do), but its not like the parks are anywhere CLOSE to swamped during FD when we go.

It does make dining reservations more difficult, and it does fill the restaurants during that time. So yes, I understand your dislike, but for our family and MANY others it is the best discount that Disney offers. If we only ate a few TS meals each trip or liked to pay OOP I would probably be in the anti DP group too.

Dan

We have used free dining twice and I don't understand why people who DON'T like the dining plan say free dining isn't free. YES IT IS. You pay rack rate for the room but that doesn't make the free part of free dining any less free.

For 5 of us free dining is always going to be the better discount. That saves us $275 a day that we would have been paying for the DDP.

Example...last year...our trip we had booked for October we had booked at rack rate with no room discount and no free dining. What we paid for our vacation is what we paid. Period. Then a free dining promo came out and I called and had it applied to our already paid for vacation, and VOILA...we now have free meals for our entire trip.

If you stay in a value or a mod and have more than 2 ppl free dining will always be a bigger discount than a room discount. Now if you stay in a deluxe resort and get a discount for 35% off a $400 a night room and there are only 2 of you, then the room only discount would be more.

We always go in the off season and have never run into big crowds...in the parks or at restaurants. SO I don't mind free dining.

But it seems they are cutting way back on it this year so those of you who hate it may get a break from it for part of the year anyway.

Our next trip we are renting DVC points and paying OOP for food so I don't care if they have free dining this year or not to be honest.

[patsal]

Originally Posted by Cheshire Figment

Personally I hate the DDP with the power of 10,000 Suns! I hate "free" dining even more!!

My sentiments exactly!

[puppawuppa]

Originally Posted by patty57

We have never used the DDP, and never will. Absolutely zero interest in it, so personally, I don't wish for free dining. Give me a good room discount any day.

I agree . For us it isn't a good deal. We don't eat that much when in the parks.I mostly get kids meals anyway. Mostly we "graze". Give me my room discounts and I'm a happy camper.

[Danibelle]

Originally Posted by kiddisney

i agree - it creates extra crowds when it's supposed to be a 'slow' time - and it's not even worth it - we never did a dining plan before - but tried one on our last trip & it's way too much food - for the cost we could be fully satisfied for less - and free dining isn't really free - just a hassle all the way around for us

I would much rather have a room discount. My family does not do desserts much anyway. I think we come out better paying OOP for food and getting a good deal on the room. I also think that the quality and variety of food served is not as good as previously.

[Dan Murphy]

Originally Posted by Danibelle

...I also think that the quality and variety of food served is not as good as previously.

The dining plan and the 'free' dining have dumbed down the restaurants to an unbelievably low level.

[mickey2000]

Originally Posted by Dan Murphy

The dining plan and the 'free' dining have dumbed down the restaurants to an unbelievably low level.

Then why did the prices also sky rocket ! DI$NEY

[mickey2000]

Originally Posted by Danibelle

I would much rather have a room discount. My family does not do desserts much anyway. I think we come out better paying OOP for food and getting a good deal on the room. I also think that the quality and variety of food served is not as good as previously.

Sorry not in my case Two people 11 days 10 nights POP with park hopper and water park tickets with regular DDP FREE for $2300
Some don't eat I only sleep and shower in my room! Too busy all day having fun both on and off property

[Rivka]

If Disney gets rid of free dining, they'll replace it with some other steep discount or marketing ploy to get more people to the parks during slow periods. It seems silly to me to hope or expect that Disney will take things back to the "good old days" when the parks would be practically empty for long stretches. Those weren't "good old days" for Disney. Those lovely days when you can wander the park with no lines are precisely what Disney invented free dining to avoid.

[pauly's girl]

Originally Posted by mickey2000

Sorry not in my case Two people 11 days 10 nights POP with park hopper and water park tickets with regular DDP FREE for $2300
Some don't eat I only sleep and shower in my room! Too busy all day having fun both on and off property

I agree!!! We tay at value or Mod bc I cant justify paying 4 times as much to sleep n shower!!! Just my preference. The discounts for value only ever equal out to about $250 (room only). Even with the quick service dining We will save $1324. because both my children are considered adults. I would be paying OOP if the dining was no free so Yes this is a huge savings for my family. I will be going to Disney either way, so I will not be creating a larger crowd only if FD is offered but if it is, you better believe we will be reaping the benefits!!