Is "Free Dining Plan" false advertising?

[2TxAgs]

American Airlines is always advertising "free" status and use of their lounges, but it comes with getting their $600 annual fee credit card. Or keep the cheaper card and lose those "free" benefits. Definitely gotta understand the cost of your "free"!

 

[bluezy]

We got the disney+ subscriber free dining promo for a trip this August. We're a family of 5 with my kids all considered 'adults'. The free dining has always worked out better for us more so pre-2020 but even still now according to my math.

We're not big eaters and will probably not reserve buffets and character meals, but after my calculations if I took the room only discount and added in the cost of 1 QS meal per day per person that is our break even point. Taking the free DDP will allow us a decent TS meal for only the cost of tip and at least will bring some variety plus some healthier options to our meals. It'll also allow my Husband to order a steak and a beer without the guilt.

I was really struggling with this since I'm sure if I did get the room discount, cut back on tickets so no parkhoppers and was super careful with meals ie ordered snacks for our room and just limited the meals people order we'd possibly save a few hundred vs the DDP.. either way it's a bit of a mind shift. Hoping to do all my planning now so I can just live with my choice while on vacation.

Yes, Free Dining is usually the better discount for families with several children. So as long as the dining plan isn't forcing you to eat in a way that you wouldn't normally eat or may not take full advantage of, it's probably the right deal for your family.

The DDP doesn't work for our family because we just don't eat enough food and don't need an alcoholic beverage with every meal to get the full value out of it. We also don't like being tied down to eating at a certain place at a certain time. For us, if the free dining plan offered is the DDP as opposed to the QSDP, we'd probably take the room/package discount instead (or I would schedule a few 2-credit meals so we'd only be tied down to reservations a few time rather than every day). That being said I know we're the exception rather than the rule and that most people are thrilled to get the DDP for free. You've done the math and know it's a good value for your family and probably the best discount available for your trip. So take advantage of it and enjoy it!

And good luck on being "done" with Disney. We took our 2 oldest children back in 2001 and figured we'd make 1 more trip when the "littles" were a little older (they were 1 & 2 at the time of the first trip so they stayed home with grandma and auntie as the older kids were 10 & 12 at the time and the trip was a "reward" for them.). So we went back in 2004 but since I was pg on that trip, we knew we'd have to make one more trip for the new baby. Yeah, we've made 8 more trips since then -- not because we had more kids, just because we wanted to. And I have no doubt we'll make a bunch more because all of the "kids" (youngest is in college now) love Disney and we go as an extended family every 2 years. I don't think we'll ever be "done" with Disney.

 

[gmi3804]

The stipulations on qualifying for “free” dining ensure that you sure as h*ll are paying for dining.

 

[saraheliz]

Not false advertising. Just different discounts that people don't understand.

When we booked out upcoming trip, I initially booked two trips as we were still deciding where to stay:
AoA with the free dining plan (we would pay to upgrade to regular)
BLT with a room discount

The room discount for AoA was small since it's a value resort, so the free dining plan for 5 people (4 Disney adults) was worth more to us.
BLT? We snagged an amazing room discount ($350+ a night), so that made more sense for us- even though the pricing vs dining wasn't *worth* it, we typically eat less food than the dining plan includes so the savings equalled out once you factored in the upgrade and tips etc. But, it was close...
If we had been willing to pile all 5 of us into a moderate room? Free dining definitely would have worked in our favor.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Free dining is not false advertising. It simply cannot be combined with other offers. Every offer comes with its own terms and conditions. Determining which offer to take vs not take is where thinking comes in. Free dining. Room Discount. Package discount. Package from an outside source. It's all up to YOU to think about which ones are available for your trip if any and which will be best for YOU. If you're unwilling to do that, that isn't Disney's fault.

 

[meremac]

It's deceptive and misleading. The terms and conditions contradict the normal meaning of free. Contrast that with free DME.

So with this logic, there would be no T & C and everyone in the world should just get free dining at Disney no matter what because, well, they said it was free!!! But in reality, nobody would expect that. There was never a time when you could just walk into Disney World and get a free dining plan without booking something else. There have always been T & C to this and every offer. And this isn't specific to just Disney World. Lots of companies do this. For example, when a restaurant has a Kids Eat Free day, the T & C usually requires that an accompanying adult purchase an entree for their kids to qualify for the promotion. Hotel chains sometimes have a Kids Stay and Eat Free deal, but only if there are adults paying full price for their stay and eating meals too. This is normal. It's how promotions work.

 

[Lewisc]

when a restaurant has a Kids Eat Free day, the T & C usually requires that an accompanying adult purchase an entree for their kids to qualify for the promotion

To complete your analagy...adults otder from a special kids eat free adult menu, 20% higher then the regular menu.

 

[meremac]

To complete your analagy...adults otder from a special kids eat free adult menu, 20% higher then the regular menu.

But it's not 20% higher than the regular menu. It's rack rate, which IS the regular menu.

 

[BostonEd]

This conversation reminds me of the following, the best write-up I've seen as to why the DDP is bad for almost everyone, even if you don't participate:

The DDP allows you to avoid thinking about money by guaranteeing you overspend in advance, notwithstanding a small number of edge cases where people come out ahead. Yet it adds a byzantine level of complexity that is the opposite of convenience, and designed in part to hide how much you are overpaying.

When you have to research how to game the system or end up with junk food in your luggage because you had several unused snack credits, I do not see convenience. Instead of keeping track of money, which everyone does all the time and is essentially second nature to any adult, people choose to puzzle over a an unfamiliar logic game. Frankly, people on the DDP obsess over their food budget more than people who use cash. It's just that the budget is based on credits instead of dollars.

While I'm normally in the camp of "to each their own" the DDP annoys me because I think it makes dining at WDW generally more expensive and has flattened the range of quality. Because the credit system is a very blunt tool there is less room for simply having a wide range of choices and quality sorted by price.

I've added emphasis to a point I think doesn't get enough attention. But all the points in the post are valid.

 

[robinb]

This conversation reminds me of the following, the best write-up I've seen as to why the DDP is bad for almost everyone, even if you don't participate:

Frankly, I think the "I don't have to worry about how much I'm spending" is one of the more valid reasons why people choose the DDP. Many people have responded in the past that it makes a more relaxing vacation because they (or, their spouses) order what they want and not the cheapest thing on the menu. They are wired to decide on price and would otherwise skip what they really want because they think they "should" order something cheaper.

It took me quite a while to understand those people, but that's what makes them happy so why not?

 

[Lewisc]

But it's not 20% higher than the regular menu. It's rack rate, which IS the regular menu.

I've never seen a Kids Eat Free promotionwhere the adults ordered off the regular menu and childless adults order off a special discounted menu. You prefer this wording?

Disney used to stagger the promotions. Room discouts were offered after the free dining offer expired.

 

[_19disnA]

Some people on here have indicated they like to pre-pay for their meals as the main reason to use one of the dining plans. I don't think that is good/bad and mostly a matter of personal preference. Some look at a Disney vacation and want the 'all inclusive' approach so they know ahead of time their dining costs will not exceed some specific amount. The main benefit to Disney is you are unlikely to eat off-site if you have already paid Disney for all of your meals.

If the supposedly 'free' dining comes with other strings attached, you have to do the math to see how the total works for your family. To me it isn't really any different then shopping online for airline tickets. The 'base' price shown on most websites is NOT the total you will pay and shouldn't make comparisons only considering that. If they also charge for your seat, checked baggage, carry-on/etc...........those are all added costs that are part of the total price.

 

[Lewisc]

ome people on here have indicated they like to pre-pay for their meals as the main reason to use one of the dining

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

But it's not 20% higher than the regular menu. It's rack rate, which IS the regular menu.

How dare you confuse the issue with facts!!!

I've never seen a Kids Eat Free promotionwhere the adults ordered off the regular menu and childless adults order off a special discounted menu. You prefer this wording?

Disney used to stagger the promotions. Room discouts were offered after the free dining offer expired.

So Disney is giving you MORE choices and MORE discounts than before and you're finding a way to grouch about it.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Some people on here have indicated they like to pre-pay for their meals as the main reason to use one of the dining plans.

Ironically at one point the Disneyland Dining Plan was exactly that. A prepaid voucher. If you came in under the voucher, you didn't get the money back. If you went over the voucher, you paid the extra. But some people still bought it because they didn't want to pay for meals and such on their vacation.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

It’s not false advertising. You are technically getting the DDP for free after paying full price for everything else and booking what Disney deems necessary to get the deal.

We did free dining a few times. It was a great deal when you have two adults and two kids (one over 10) in a moderate. No way 20-30% off the room would cover our dining. But this was many years ago when it included TS dining and rooms were cheaper. We haven’t done free dining or any DDP since 2011. We’ve been paying OOP since then and doing other deals (renting points, “magical” deals)

Now TS dining is only for deluxe, you have to book a certain number of days in tickets and they must be park hoppers. There’s also so many restrictions on what you can get with the plan. So many items don’t qualify as snack credits and too many items on menus are up charges from the plan (from what I’ve seen in articles/blogs).

 

[Nancyg56]

The “free dining” promo is just a racket. Much better to eat how you prefer & get discounted room + tickets.

Perhaps much better for your family. Budgeting a vacation includes truly understanding what your family wants to eat and where they want to eat it. If they like a cocktail or dessert with their meal or if they prefer not. I know how to do basic math and I know where and what my family generally will choose. I run the numbers with the discounted room, or a free dining promo and go with the least expensive option that does not include compromise.

But you qualified by paying rack rate for your room. Now if you were always used to paying rack rate I suppose it was free for you.

I've been going the fall "free dining" time frame for 35 years and only once have I paid rack rate (without the dining plan). I did Free Dining for about 7 years. It is just a choice of which discount works best for you.

And you are right that in the olden days it was a much better value. You could stay Value and get the DDP that included 1 TS, 1 QS 1 Snack each day plus Refillable Mug. On top of that our Table Service included Appetizer, Entree, Dessert, Drink AND GRATUITIES. Over the years they slowly took away most of that. Then Value lost the full DDP, then moderate lost the full DDP. Math is needed to see if it is a value for your party.

Oh that DDP! 35.00 per day. And folks still griped that the server was getting the gratuity included, or that they wanted a discount because "it was too much food" so here we are. LOL!

There is no such thing as free. There are discounts or "sales" and folks need to do the math. We do that everywhere don't we?

Not false advertising. Just different discounts that people don't understand.

When we booked out upcoming trip, I initially booked two trips as we were still deciding where to stay:
AoA with the free dining plan (we would pay to upgrade to regular)
BLT with a room discount

The room discount for AoA was small since it's a value resort, so the free dining plan for 5 people (4 Disney adults) was worth more to us.
BLT? We snagged an amazing room discount ($350+ a night), so that made more sense for us- even though the pricing vs dining wasn't *worth* it, we typically eat less food than the dining plan includes so the savings equalled out once you factored in the upgrade and tips etc. But, it was close...
If we had been willing to pile all 5 of us into a moderate room? Free dining definitely would have worked in our favor.

We were going during the free dining promo, but if we did, the math would win for us. We are paying for our dining plan because this trip our dates were non negotiable. For my family, we still are doing better with the DDP than without and paying OOP for the meals we want. My daughter can run numbers better than I can, and we both came up with the same results.

Frankly, I think the "I don't have to worry about how much I'm spending" is one of the more valid reasons why people choose the DDP. Many people have responded in the past that it makes a more relaxing vacation because they (or, their spouses) order what they want and not the cheapest thing on the menu. They are wired to decide on price and would otherwise skip what they really want because they think they "should" order something cheaper.

It took me quite a while to understand those people, but that's what makes them happy so why not?

This is kind of where I am. I get the "put money on gift cards" strategy, but for me, money is money. Gift card, prepaid debit, credit card, cash, regular debit. I cannot avoid looking at prices. I want that steak, but the chicken is less money. Maybe one day I will get the meal I really want, but on a 9 day trip? Nope. It is going to eat me alive by the end. I cannot help it and I don't want to do that in WDW, so we look at menus and I see the things I like, that my daughter and her family wants, and the DDP wins.

Would we save money not getting it? I bet we would and that is because we would probably avoid some of what we really want. If i want that fancy pants cocktail in DHS with my lunch I am now going to get it. If we did not have the plan, I would likely not.

People know how they are and prepaid works better for some of us.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Perhaps much better for your family. Budgeting a vacation includes truly understanding what your family wants to eat and where they want to eat it. If they like a cocktail or dessert with their meal or if they prefer not. I know how to do basic math and I know where and what my family generally will choose. I run the numbers with the discounted room, or a free dining promo and go with the least expensive option that does not include compromise.

This is true. The DDP does work for some people. Some people can’t believe that there are people that eat how the plan is designed and can save a few bucks with free dining.

For us it no longer works because I only go with DD18 now. I don’t want a cocktail or specialty drink at QS especially if I’m in the parks. She can’t drink alcohol so that kills some of the value. I drink tons of water so that’s what I get at QS. We don’t each want a dessert for TS. We tend to snack some days so one snack credit a day isn’t going to work.

I rather rent points or do a room discount and buy my tickets at a discounted site. Then we pay OOP for food. It’s worked the last 3 trips.

But way back when we killed it with free dining. Two kids and doing a ton of character buffets. I know we came out ahead.

 

[robinb]

This is kind of where I am. I get the "put money on gift cards" strategy, but for me, money is money. Gift card, prepaid debit, credit card, cash, regular debit. I cannot avoid looking at prices. I want that steak, but the chicken is less money. Maybe one day I will get the meal I really want, but on a 9 day trip? Nope. It is going to eat me alive by the end. I cannot help it and I don't want to do that in WDW, so we look at menus and I see the things I like, that my daughter and her family wants, and the DDP wins.

Would we save money not getting it? I bet we would and that is because we would probably avoid some of what we really want. If i want that fancy pants cocktail in DHS with my lunch I am now going to get it. If we did not have the plan, I would likely not.

People know how they are and prepaid works better for some of us.

I really didn't understand why people didn't just get what they wanted to eat for the longest time. It has never been an issue with me and we do use DGCs and DVC/AP discounts for food so I know I'm often paying less than someone did for the DDP. BUT, after having it explained to me multiple times (I'm a slow learner sometimes, LOL) I finally got it.

People are weird about money.

Nearly everyone economizes at one time or another whether they need to or not. Some folks can't bring themselves to pay for a $50 steak when there is a $30 chicken dish on the menu. Me, I just posted yesterday that I can't bring myself to pay for DCL when I'm perfectly happy with NCL. Is DCL a better product than NCL? Probably ... but I won't pay twice as much for it. However, If Genie visited and sold me a voucher for a 7-day cruise on DCL for 20% more than NCL, you bet I would try DCL.

 

[Nancyg56]

I really didn't understand why people didn't just get what they wanted to eat for the longest time. It has never been an issue with me and we do use DGCs and DVC/AP discounts for food so I know I'm often paying less than someone did for the DDP. BUT, after having it explained to me multiple times (I'm a slow learner sometimes, LOL) I finally got it.

People are weird about money.

Nearly everyone economizes at one time or another whether they need to or not. Some folks can't bring themselves to pay for a $50 steak when there is a $30 chicken dish on the menu. Me, I just posted yesterday that I can't bring myself to pay for DCL when I'm perfectly happy with NCL. Is DCL a better product than NCL? Probably ... but I won't pay twice as much for it. However, If Genie visited and sold me a voucher for a 7-day cruise on DCL for 20% more than NCL, you bet I would try DCL.

I drive my husband crazy. My daughter has an annual pass so for the extra meals etc we will use the discounts if they are available. When we vacation I know how we we are as a family. This trip we are bringing a teen who is like my DGD. She has a real issue with spending money on her, so for her, telling her it is paid for, use it or lose it, is going to be the best thing.

Its funny, I am not cheap. But I do look at prices and I dont like to do that on vacation. I know that we at least spend on food what we paid for the plan, and we dont try to beat it. I also know we dont add in tips as the cost of the plan becasue we would go to dinner anyway, and we would tip. Is it a bit hgher? probably, but that is because we ordered what we wanted.