Free Dining Plan

                                         

“Getting a free dining plan?  You can call to upgrade to the next level and will only pay the difference between the to.  Great savings!”

The first time I took Adam (my then boyfriend) to Disney World was in June and we were really very poor.  It took most of our savings to go to Disney in the first place and we were only there for a few days, but I thought it was important that we have a “first vacation” together and what with Disney being pretty all-inclusive what with hotel, transportation and entertainment right there, it was a no-brainer.  Since we didn’t have a lot of money, we pretty much ate only once a day and were constantly worried about our bank balance.  While it was still probably the best trip to Disney we ever had, it was pretty stressful.

Enter the Free Disney Dining plan!  The next time we went was in the fall and Disney was offering a free dining plan–something that was pretty unheard of at the time.  This was back in the day when a table service meal included an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert.  We loved it.  We ate so much, it was gross, but we walked into all the best restaurants (something you can’t do these days!).  And each year we’ve always made it a point to make sure we go when this deal is offered.  While the dining plan has gone through some changes (no more appetizer, entree, and dessert unless you’re on the deluxe plan) it is still most definitely worth it so that you don’t have to worry about food money.  And it’s free!  How can you beat that?

This last time that we went to Disney, Adam had expressed some interest in trying the Deluxe dining plan.  Since we were getting the regular one free, I had some hesitation there.  But he called up and asked if we could “upgrade” and how much would that be?  The woman on the line was amazingly helpful and said of course we could upgrade and since we were getting the regular dining plan free, it would only cost us the difference between the regular plan and the deluxe plan.  Score!  We went with it.

Now while that was a great savings let me just caution you that the Deluxe Dining Plan is a RIDICULOUS amount of food.  You get three table service meals a day with an appetizer, entree, and dessert for each person.  We thought this was great because it allowed us to try a lot of table service restaurants that we hadn’t gotten a chance to before–like Les Chefs de France (awful) and the Yachtsman Steakhouse (amazing!)–especially ones that cost 2 table service meals.   However, it was WAY TOO MUCH FOOD!  By the third day we were dreading when meal time came around.  We were constantly full but did not want to “waste” meals that we had paid for!  In the end we simply could not do it:  we would only eat breakfast and dinner, otherwise we walked around feeling sick and like we ought to be rolling!

Still, the free dining plan is TOTALLY WORTH IT, so make sure you check to see if they’re offering it–they usually do during certain times of the year.