Free Dining is Back for Summer…Well, Sorta
A variation of Free Dining is being offered for summer at Walt Disney World, including dates May through August. It’s not the normal Free Disney Dining Plan promotion (which we still expect to be released in the spring–potentially with some dates overlapping this promo) that has developed a loyal following for fall dates.
This discount is available at Walt Disney World Value Resorts and is available for arrivals most nights from May 29 through August 25, for bookings made through February 11. The promotion offers guests staying at Value Resorts one Quick Service Meal per night and requires a minimum 3-night stay and purchase of at least a 2-day ticket.
Free Dining fans should not get excited about this deal. Basically, this is “Free Dining Light” Now with two-thirds fewer calories than normal Free Dining! We think this promotion is Disney’s sly way of catching the attention of potential guests with those magic words that everyone loves (free food!), but without actually offering a great deal. With that said, those looking for the full Free Dining discount shouldn’t freak out, as if this is a sign of a diminished form of Free Dining to come…
We say that because this promotion is becoming an annual thing (the dates this year are literally only a couple days different from last year) having been introduced two years ago and then dubbed the “Summer Meal Plan Offer.” Accordingly, this is an updated post from last year offering analysis of whether the Summer Meal Plan offer is worth it…
This is sure to be a popular topic among Free Dining enthusiasts and our posts on the Disney Dining Plan are some of the most popular on this blog, so we wanted to share the details here and provide our reaction to this new offer.
In addition to the aforementioned minimum stay and ticket requirement, Disney’s fine print indicates that the offer applies only to Value Resorts, excluding the Little Mermaid rooms at Art of Animation and campsites.
Note that the free meal is not the standard Disney Dining Plan definition. Instead, you get a quick service meal consisting of an entree and 1 non-alcoholic beverage. No snack, alcoholic beverage, or refillable mug. If you want more than just the single free meal, you can upgrade to the Quick Service or Standard Disney Dining Plan at a discounted (prorated) price.
While Walt Disney World obfuscates the dollar amount of many of their discounts, the ‘value’ of the Summer Meal Plan Offer is pretty easy to reverse engineer by subtracting the upgrade cost from the full price of the various Disney Dining Plans. In the case of this deal, the dollar value is roughly $19 per adult or $8 per child. (That’s the objective value assigned to the meal by Disney–you can always leverage the Disney Dining Plan to make it worth more…or use it poorly to make it worth less.)
The majority of counter service entrees (thankfully) don’t cost enough to make this actually worth $19 per adult. If I were to get a burger and Coke at Cosmic Ray’s, the out of pocket cost would be ~$15. If I didn’t buy the Coke (I normally just do water), that entree would only be $11.99. There are a lot of counter service entrees in the $10-14 range.
For most Walt Disney World Free Dining regulars, it should be apparent that the numbers simply don’t add up, and that this isn’t as good of a deal as the normal Free Disney Dining Plan promotion. You only get one component of the lowest tier of the Disney Dining Plan, not an entire plan. Normally, with even the Quick Service Disney Dining Plan, each person would receive two meals and one snack per night, plus a refillable mug (per stay).
In other words, this promotion does not even offer half of the value that the normal Free Dining promotion offers. Rather, you’re looking about a little over one-third of the value of Free Dining. That’s a pretty huge difference.
Now, this isn’t to say it’s impossible to get enough value out of this deal to make it worthwhile. Let’s use ourselves as an example: a party of 2 adults booking a room at Pop Century. If you focus on restaurants in our Best Values Uses of Counter Service Credits post, you can find order combinations that exceed $20 per person in value. Not a ton of them, but they do exist.
Summer rates for Pop Century are around $144 for weekdays and $169 for weekends. Let’s convert this to room-only discount terms. For 1 adult staying only weekdays, this would be around a theoretical 14% room discount, for 2 adults a 28% room discount, for 3 adults a 40% discount (due to +$10 for the additional adult), and 4 adults a 49% discount (due to +$10 for the additional adult). In other words, a paltry discount for a single adult, but a pretty solid one for a party of 3 or 4. Of course, all of this math assumes the value of meal ascribed to it by Disney.
That’s rough math, but should provide the baseline for crunching your own numbers. As you can see, this is either a lukewarm discount or a good one depending upon how many people you have. Even with only 2 people, it’s better than the standard room-only discount this time of year–at least in theory. Unless you are flying solo, the Summer Meal Offer is usually a better theoretical deal than a room-only offer.
With that said, keep in mind that you have to purchase full price tickets from Disney. This negates the value of the offer for Annual Passholders, and also means you can’t purchase discounted Walt Disney World tickets from an authorized reseller, which is something to keep in mind when doing the math yourself to determine if “Free Dining” is a good value for you.
For others, the problem is as simple as a counter service meal not being worth $19 per adult. This is why we keep calling this a good theoretical deal. When we crunch these numbers, we land on an actual value of $14 for us, meaning our actual discount with this promotion on that same room at Pop Century would be less attractive than a room-only discount. (That’s before you factor the money saved on park tickets. In any case, this deal is a non-starter for us since we have Annual Passes.)
The question that remains for a lot of people is whether this means Free Dining will still be offered this fall, or if the promo is being reduced and offered earlier this year. Given current trends, I will say with about 95% certainty that Free Dining will still be offered this fall. First, this same promo was offered last year, and Free Dining was released later. Second, the bounceback Free Dining dates have already been released for this year, and they are exactly what you’d expect them to be.
There is the possibility that the full Free Dining promo will be scaled back this year. Attendance trends were very strong for Walt Disney World last fall, with an uptick in crowds across the board. Given that, it’s very well possible there will be fewer dates, more resort restrictions, or less availability for Free Dining. None of that would surprise us.
The thing is, the existence of this discount does not offer any insight into that whatsoever. This discount is nearly identical to what it was last year, and its dates fall mostly over the summer months (arguably, a time when more aggressive discounting could be useful for Disney given crowd trends the last couple of years).
We don’t expect Free Dining to disappear…at least, not this year. Even though Toy Story Land will likely be a big hit, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge won’t open until the very end of 2019, and there’s nothing new to market at Magic Kingdom or Epcot this summer. This year, Disney will still have to incentivize people with discounts to draw them to the resorts during lower occupancy periods. Next year? Well, the jury is still out on that, but if the buzz ahead of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is strong, we may see next to nothing in the way of special offers for October through December 2019. But that’s a long time from now in a galaxy far, far away.
Overall, our take is that this is an okay offer, so long as you have at least 2 adults in the room and can’t find a room-only discount that works for you. Room rates for the Value Resorts have creeped up over the last several years and are now in ‘absurd’ territory for what you’re getting, and this bumps them down into a more realistic realm. It’s not the best promotion ever, but it might be the best you’re going to get for this time of year. People often travel during the summer months for lack of better options; Disney does not typically offer aggressive discounts for the summer, presumably because those aren’t necessary to ‘lure’ guests to the parks that time of year.
If you are still unsure of whether the Summer Meal Offer might be right for your party, or you want personalized recommendations for Walt Disney World, click here to get a vacation quote from a no fee Authorized Disney Vacation Planner. If you’re doing the planning yourself, we recommend reading our comprehensive Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide to make the most of your experience.
Your Thoughts
Do you agree or disagree with our assessment of the Summer Meal Promotion at Walt Disney World? Will you be taking advantage of this deal? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
So if we book now with a quick service meal plan at Caribbean and they come out with free dining we can get the dining plan and they will either refund us the money if we pay up front or they will take off the quick dining plan? But we have to call Disney right? It’s our 1st trip and my sons 3rd birthday so I want everything to be close to perfect lol
Hi. I was wondering what the latest news was for free dining in 2017?
So if we upgrade the dining plan, will those quick service credits be forfeited?
In my experience, I’ve been about 10 times, I’ve made the reservations way ahead of time, then if a promotion came out, I would call them and change to that. They are very nice about doing that. I’m thinking about going in November and they guy from Disney told me last week to go ahead and make the reservation so that the rooms don’t give out and then if a promotion comes along, they will change it.
that is exactly what we do
I did that last year to take advantage of this same deal, and the Disney rep was so nice and said there was a room discount available that would save even more money! They know the math and will help you figure it out if you ask.
I did that last year to take advantage of this same deal, and the Disney rep was so nice and said there was a room discount available that would save even more money! They know the math and will help you figure it out if you ask.
If you’re fully paid up will they refund you the difference?
Hello, I just booked 3 rooms (10 people) last night at Pop Century and upgraded to the Disney Dining Plan. We’ve stayed at Pop before and enjoyed it, but as with anything else, always looking to try something different. I read your article and you mentioned something about another offer that may arise and it could overlap this current offer. I know in the past that the higher the tier of hotel, the better meal plan you received. If that is the case and there is a better offer available for us if we stay at say Coronado Springs or Caribbean Beach (where we’ve also stayed before) do you know if Disney is prone to making adjustments in reservations for people? Just looking ahead…and for possibly more info. Thanks!
I have a reservation for check in on May 8th and they say all reservations for free dining are already booked for the dates starting on May 1st. Just letting people know.
Hi Tom!!
I was wondering if you could tell me, until when I could wait to see the anouncement of the fall Free dining plans? I wanted to go with the family for the week previous the halloween day. Thanks a lot in advanced for all the info!!
Javier
Thanks a Lot for the Info!
My name is Javier I am writing form Argentina, and It is too early, but I am starting to see how much it cost now, to plan and have an idea how much it could cost me next year!!
Thanks a lot again. I will suscribe now.
JS
Does anyone know why the Little Mermaid rooms are excluded from hotel discounts and any free dining plans? As an annual visitor, I am very excited to stay in the LM room, and depending on my budge, I like to try different hotels. I was disappointed to see they are excluded from special deals. Any guess as to why they are excluded? I know the family rooms are not excluded. Thanks!
Disney feels the prices are competitive enough because they have no problem filling those rooms without any promotions.
This offer is refreshingly less complicated… you each get 1 free QS meal per night’s stay.
No crazy planning of TS meals. No deciding exactly which park at what time you plan to be 180 days in advance like when using the Standard DDP.
It’s much easier to plan a few “must-go” TS meals, and wing the rest according to your mood & appetite when you get there.
Kids 9 years or older pay the same as an adult on these plans, and receive the same offerings. For a family of 2 adults & 2 kids over 8 yrs, the food comp is almost $80 a night. Not bad 😉 If you have to go in summer, this makes it a bit easier to digest.
Unfortunately they won’t let us use it even though we will be there at this time. We are going May 23-31, have 5 day park tickets, and we don’t get to use it for our last few days.
You could split the reservation, but you’d lose the value of 5 day tickets bought thru WDW.
Have you tried comparing the costs if you split your reservation (May 23-29 & May 29-31) & buy the tixx thru an authorized reseller? Depending on your family size, it might be worth it.
To follow up from my post above….we just got back from Disney and it definitely SAVED us money NOT to get the dining plan (keep in mind, it wasn’t a free dining offer, so we would have had to buy it). In total, it would have cost us $1609.92 for the dining plan (which would not have included alcoholic beverages and tips). 4 adults, 1 child. We spent just under $1500 INCLUDING alcohol and tips. Also it was way less hassle AND much less wasteful.
My 11 year old still orders off the child’s menu at most restaurants, but in the “Dining Plan World” she pays the adult rate. Strike 1. We’re also not a huge eating family so dinners at places like Rainforest, TRex and 50’s prime time were far less costly than the assumed dining plan charge rate.
Moral of the story? If you’re not getting the dining plan for free…do your research. It may not make sense. Cheers!
thank you for breaking this down. as parents with 4 kids this deal is pretty great for us. more so that we HAVE TO go during summer since my step sons dont live with us during the year. secondly, 3 of our kids are considered adults (over 10)! this saves us eating lunch or dinner for 5 nights. a better deal imo than 20% off a value resort.
I agree. I have 1 kid older than 10, she’s charged as an adult. The younger kid is 9. The summer deals should save us more than 20% off room only rates as there’re 3 adults and 1 kid in a room. I am going to opt for this .
You can easily share many of the larger meals. Honestly, the 4 of you could share 2 credits for lunch & the other 2 for dinner. You can save a TON of money by spreading out the credits, then just buying snacks or sides here & there.
Hi Tom! First off…thank you for all the info you provide. We’re about to embark on our 4th annual family trip and your site is my go to each year. You’ve helped make us “Disney Pros” and I thank you for that!
This year, is going to be our first year NOT using the dining plan. Now that one of my daughters is over 10, she’s charged like an adult and to be frank, we simply do not eat half of what they make you get with the quick service and dining packages. We also bring my mom with us who hardly eats anything at all. With this, we’re flying free of the dining credits this year. We still made some nice dinner reservations, which we’ll gladly pay cash for. We tend to eat simple in the morning for breakfast and usually what they serve for lunch, we can split (my wife and I split and my two kids split). It’s not because we’re cheap or don’t have the money. It’s more because of how wasteful it all seems and what a pain in the neck keep track of it is.
I’m not sure if we’ll save money doing this (although…my research shows we will), but we’ll certainly feel less wasteful and I won’t be stressing over using the credits all week! (it becomes and obsession with me…I’m like that).
Anywho, wish us luck and thank you for the great info. Keep up the good work!
The free dining plan was offered in the UK for early bookings (before Oct 2015) for visits during summer and fall 2016 on packages and direct hotel bookings with Disney.
We have 3 adult dining plans for September 2016 at no extra cost on our booking along with the photo package which has been heavily pushed as a free add on and free Disney dollars
We would never have paid for these but we have a great price and know what our costs will be in advance.
I just called WDW and booked the offer. It is a discounted quick service meal plan – instead of $45 a day per adult, it’s $26. The discount is the “free meal.” It’s still the quick service plan (2 meals plus a snack per day) with the resort mug. For our large family on a longer trip already booked at AoA, it was an easy call.
Thank you Jane!
Ah, that makes perfect sense–and makes the promo much more useful and flexible. Thanks for the info. I’ll update the post when I have a chance!
Upon further research, I think the offer is a bit of both. My payment confirmation from WDW wasn’t clear as to what we were getting (one free meal v. a true quick service plan), so I circled back around. Looks like you can just opt for the one free meal a day alone OR you can upgrade to the quick serve or even regular dining plan at a “discount” equal to the value if the one free meal. For us, the upgrade to quick serve plan was a great deal because we planned to buy mugs and eat on property anyway.
I found the details. At breakfast it’s an entree and a non alcoholic drink. For lunch and dinner, it’s an entree, non alcoholic drink, and dessert (which can be substituted for something they approve).
https://wdpromedia.disney.go.com/media/wdpro-assets/cart/resort-add-ons/dining-plans/2016-disney-summer-quick-service-meal-plan.pdf
I did the math, the exact value is $17.05 per adult per night. (I priced the promotion and then compared that to the regular price. Then I divided by the number of nights and the number of adults. I did not calculate for a child.) The weird thing is that Disney is only offering this for their value resorts. On the surface it looks like they are discouraging you from upgrading your resort. That seems odd. Upon further consideration I am tempted to guess that the more expensive moderate and deluxe resort are at capacity levels that Disney is happy with and that the least expensive value resorts have a lot of available inventory.
It doesn’t make a huge difference but there is sales tax when paying out of pocket, making that 17.05 closer to $18.15 (6.5% sales tax on prepared food in WDW).
I am from Canada and seeing how low our dollar has slipped (1 dollar US cost 1.50 Canadian) I feel has affected the amount of Canadians going to WDW. A trip that is $2000.00 US would cost $3000.00 Canadian. I know I am not willing to pay that but if discounts and incentives like this are offered I might consider it. There are a lot of Canadians that vacation in WDW that are cancelling or just not considering it now. I think Disney is seeing this and offering more to try to offset this.
This is a really good point, and one I did not consider. It’s also true with the Euro slipping as compared to the dollar, which I’d assume has similarly impacted Europeans. By contrast, the UK deals for Walt Disney World always seem really aggressive in the deals offered, so maybe they haven’t lost as much business there? Or, maybe they have…
I live in Niagara Falls and being a border city we watch Buffalo TV stations as well as Toronto. We also have time shift with our cable plan and get Seattle and Vancouver channels as well. Since last fall we are seeing WDW ads on the Buffalo station more than in past. Same for Disneyland ads in Seattle. Toronto channels are showing more WDW ads than in the past and Vancouver is showing more Disneyland ones. I also am receiving many more offers by email from WDW than I ever have. It certainly seems like they have seen a decrease and are really advertising more to entice. I know many businesses in the Niagara/Buffalo area are really suffering.
Yes! Tom, They are aggressive (compared to the US) but always have been. We’re not coming back for a year or two (did 2014 & ’16) but the on resort cost is just too high now. Our flight deals are also expensive. I need to consider off resort and a longer stay from now on I think. This year 2 weeks (12 nights at OKW and 2 at Universal Royal Pacific) free dining, all passes, memory maker, $200 gift card and Orlando Flex pass was £7200. Next year it’s nearer £9000. Even without considering the exchange rate. A European pool holiday would be £4500 for us with a decent villa. I can’t justify WDW against that.
Completely agree one year we went from the UK and we got an exchange rate of £1 for $2, everything felt so cheap we went for three weeks ( not just wdw) we ate at several signature restaurants and didn’t feel like anything cost a lot, then one year we went and the exchange rate had crashed to £1 for €1.3 dollars, that one hurt
Tom the big plus for gong at the moment from the UK at least is the low air fares. They are definetly marketing disneyland Paris in the UK heavily as compared to a few years ago. I would say that wdw marketing in the UK has decreased And we Askaig have Disney ads now that end with disneyland Paris and fusneyworld being mentioned which we never had before
In terms of UK deals they are aggressive with the tickets 14 days for the price of a 7 day ticket and 21 days fir the cost of 14 being most common
Darrin, count me in as a Canadian who might have to rethink our WDW Christmas trip if our dollar keeps slipping. Already I’m looking at staying at a value resort instead of moderate like we usually do. I don’t want to go from value resort to not going at all…
I agree with you Martha, I check WDW website almost dialy to check if they come up with something that will allow us to go back this year in August. I HOPE they do… Family of 5.
If you have a family member in the us you can avoid this by asking them to make you an authorized card member in ine of there credit cards, offer to pay them up front for the trip and give them the card back when your finished.
I think Free Dining as we have known it, is on it’s way out. Especially after Star Wars Land opens. Heck, maybe even after this year! People are realizing with Food and Wine, Halloween Parties, Fall decor, and better weather, it’s a great time to visit. Interested to see if they would keep coming without free food! It’s been a nightmare to book anyway the last couple of years, and it makes the parks too crowded. I for one, might not be so sad to see it go 🙂
I think you might be right *after* Star Wars Land opens, but that’s still a few years away. In the meantime, the parks are in an awkward construction phase and will likely need to do more to lure guests who otherwise might delay trips until that time.
In terms of attendance, fall is still one of the best times to go. Restaurants and World Showcase are more crowded because of Free Dining and Food & Wine, but as a whole, the parks are less busy. That’s good for guests, and also demonstrates that Disney needs a promotion during that stretch of year.
Perhaps it won’t be Free Dining this year, but if I were a betting man, I’d say it *will* be.
You were right, Tom. Free dining is back for Sept and a few other fall weeks 😀