Walt Disney World
September 25 - October
2, 2010
Disney's Free Dining Offer…
Disney has a
dining
plan that offers one table service meal, one counter service
meal, and one snack per day. (There's also a Counter Service
dining plan - see next paragraph for more information about that.) The number of days of the dining plan
is tied to the number of nights you spend at a Disney resort. If you
stay five nights at Pop Century, for example, you'll get five
days worth of dining plan credits. The plan usually costs $41.99 per
day for each adult or junior (10-17) and $11.99 per day for each
child (3-9). Children under 3 years old eat free at buffets, and
from their parents' plates at non-buffet restaurants. The total
includes tax, but not gratuity. It also does not include appetizers. If you work the credits right, you can
spread the counter service credits over breakfast and lunch and
every meal would be covered. (See the "dining plan" link above for strategies for
making the most of the dining plan.)
If you are staying at a Value Resort (Pop
Century, or the All-Stars), you'll get the
Quick Service Dining plan (two quick service meals and two
snacks per person, per night of stay, plus one refillable drink mug
per person). You can upgrade this to the regular dining plan for $10
per day for adults, and $2 per day for children. If you're staying
at a moderate or deluxe resort, you'll get the
regular dining plan (one table service, one quick service, and one snack
per day).
In order to participate
in Disney's free dining offer, you must stay at a Disney resort.
Disney's least expensive resorts (the Values - All
Star Music, All
Star Sports,
All Star Movie, and the newer
Pop Century) cost around $82 per night during weekdays (the
rate may jump up a little during weekend nights), plus 12.5% tax for
Pop Century, and 13% tax for the All Star's. You may be
able to get a discount off the full rate, but you won't be able to
take advantage of Disney's free dining offer if you get a room
discount. If you
plan to stay at a value resort, choose Pop Century so your children
can join others for group get-togethers several evenings during the
week. I won't be able to plan group meetings at the other resorts.]
In addition to staying
at a Disney resort, families
can only get the plan as part of a package that includes Disney
rooms and park tickets. They won't let us use our educational group
park tickets as part of the "package" because they're
already heavily discounted.
So, in order to get the free dining,
you'll need to stay at one of the Disney resorts, and
you'll need to purchase a two-day park ticket (in
addition to the group 5-day or 8-day park ticket that I'll be getting for
you). Since you're only buying this ticket in order to qualify for
the free dining, get the cheapest 2-day ticket available ($166.14,
including tax, for ages 10 and up; $141.65
for ages 3-9) for each
person in your party. Children under age 3 get in free and don't
need a ticket. [Note: the campsites at Disney's Fort
Wilderness campground are not included in the free dining
offer. The cabins at Fort Wilderness are included.]
Remember, the
2-day park
tickets you purchase are in addition to the 5-day or
8-day
group park tickets I'll get for you. The only reason you're buying
the 2-day tickets for everyone in your party is so that all of you
can get the free dining. You'll pay for the 2-day tickets when you
pay Disney for your rooms, and you'll pay me for the group park
tickets and registration fees separately.
You can
save the 2-day tickets and apply the purchase price toward a
multi-day park ticket on a future trip to Disney, or a future annual
pass, or use them while
you're there for this trip.
They'll be on your plastic "Key to the Kingdom" card, so make sure you
don't use your card to enter a park if you don't want to
use the 2-day ticket during this trip. Instead, use your educational
ticket (it will be a separate paper ticket) to enter the parks.
You'll use your "Key to the Kingdom" plastic card to enter your rooms and
for your meals.
Free dining will
reportedly be limited this year; each resort is allotted a certain number
of packages. Make your reservations as soon as possible. Don't wait until the deadline because the free dining goes
fast, especially for Disney's Pop Century value resort. If your choice of resort doesn't have any more packages
when you call, try
asking for "preferred" rooms (cost a bit more per night,
but have a better location), or ask for another resort in your same
price range. And remember to purchase the cheapest
2-day,
no-frills park ticket as part of your package; your
educational ticket will cover entry to the parks for 5 days or 8
days. The
number to reserve Disney vacation packages is 407.939.7675. [Note:
when you call to make reservations, make sure that trip insurance
isn't automatically added to your total. If you want it, fine, but
sometimes they'll include it without asking first.]
Once you call Disney to
reserve your room and buy 2-day park tickets for each person in your
party (age 3 and up), you'll need to research the different
table service
restaurants (read their menus) and call 407.939.3463 to make
Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs) for your family for
each night of your stay. (You'll be able to make reservations up to
180 days in advance). You don't need to make reservations for your counter
service meals, but the popular table service restaurants are often booked
solid and you won't get a seat if you don't reserve in advance.
Having ADRs doesn't mean you'll be seated at the exact time on your
reservation, it means that you'll be the next family seated around
that timeframe. Make these reservations as soon as possible. Don't
delay or you may not get reservations. They tend to fill up fast.
Trust me on this!
If you're not sure if a
specific restaurant will be suitable for your family, or would like
to know if others think it's a good restaurant before you make
reservations, please feel free to post on our message boards in our
Traveling Homeschoolers forum. I (and others) can help you make
your choices.
Disney's table service
restaurants are located in the parks (many are in Epcot), in
Downtown Disney, and at the higher end resorts. When you're
planning your reservations, note where the restaurant is
located. If it's located in Epcot or any of the other parks, you'll
need to use one of your five or eight park days to get in the park before you
can proceed to your restaurant. If you have a 5-day ticket and are
staying five days or less at Disney, this won't be a problem. However, if you're staying
six days or more, you need to make sure your park days coincide with
the days you'll be eating at table service restaurants in the parks.
If you're staying seven days, and all the table service restaurants
you've chosen are in the parks, you'll need to use your extra 2-day ticket to get into the park on the 6th
and 7th days, and purchase an
extra ticket to get in the park on the 8th day. Instead, consider choosing some restaurants
outside of the parks (in Downtown Disney or in the resorts) for the
days you won't be going to the parks. The same goes for the 8-day
tickets - make sure you choose restaurants outside of the parks if
you don't want to use a park day on your ticket just to go to a
restaurant.
Don't worry about the
counter service restaurants (where you'll mainly be eating breakfast
and lunch). They're located in all the resorts, in the water parks,
Downtown Disney, and within the parks. You don't need reservations
for these.
Is it worth it?
In previous years,
definitely. We had to purchase only a 1-day park ticket and were
offered the regular dining plan even at the value resorts. And
before that, the dining plan included appetizers and gratuity. It
was a great value. Now, it's much easier for most of our families to
pass it up.
I recommend that you
compare the cost of staying at a Disney resort (value, moderate, or
deluxe, with or without the free dining plan) to the cost of staying at our off-property
group hotel - then make your decision.
Because there are so
many variables in comparing costs, you'll have to do the work on
your end based on your own choices. Then compare it to the cost of
staying at our group hotel:
For 5-day group
tickets/hotel for 7 nights:
Family of four = $1,420
Family of five = $1,620
Family of six = $1,820
For 8-day group
tickets/hotel for 7 nights:
Family of four = $1,510
Family of five = $1,730
Family of six = $1,950
These rates are good
estimates, but may vary if you have children under 3 in your party
and want to add extra educational programs, the Cirque du Soliel
show, etc. Tickets include the hopper option, 5 or 8 passes to the
water parks and Disney Quest, and one educational program. Hotel
stay is Saturday to Saturday morning (Sept 25-Oct 2), with two
additional nights on either end of our dates available at the group
rate. Rates also include a full buffet breakfast each morning and
transportation to the parks. These rates don't include lunch or
dinner each day.
That's it!
Let me know if you have any questions.
Still interested in
going? Read our Important Things to Know
page next.

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