Disney Room Discount vs Free Dining

by Todd
(Brownsburg, Indiana)

Hello Carl,

I continue to enjoy checking your site out and love getting the email alerts when someone posts a new question. I always like starting off my question(s) with a huge thank you for your past assistance! our trips have been better due to your assistance, THANK YOU!!!!

We recently received a pin code for 35% off moderates and 40% off deluxe resorts. We picked dates which will allow us to use the discount; mid November from Sunday to Saturday the pin code only allowed 7 days.

Questions:

We want to go for 9 days so we will add on 2 days at the front end of our trip since our man-child is not in school that Friday. I assume that the Fri & Sat will not be eligible for the 35% discount (we booked Port Orleans French Quarter) and the discount would begin on Sunday. Will we have to book a separate reservation for the 2 days prior to the discount dates?

Next, unless I did my math wrong or entered some info wrong in the WDW site there is roughly a $1,000.00 difference from moderate to deluxe??? We love the moderates but would like to see what a deluxe resort would be like but $1,000.00 more would be really hard to justify, especially since we love the parks and are there way more than we're at the resort.

Last, if the Free Dining is offered, I assume it is a better way to go than the 35% off the room??? I calculated roughly a $400.00 saving from the normal rate posted but dining would be a much higher savings. Basically, if the free dining would be offered we would lose the $400.00 room discount but gain a $700.00 in a free dining deal. Seems like an easy choice to me, take the free grub - Correct???

As always, Thank You!!!

PS - will there be plenty of Christmas decorations up by Nov 11th?

Dad's one at a time Answer

Hi again, Todd,

Thank you for the question and for reading my site.

Whew, let's start at the beginning ... Will we have to book separate reservations for the 2 days prior to the discount days? Easy. Yes, you will. It will be a lot easier if you do. If you use a travel agent (like Dad) they can tie the 2 reservations together. If you actually call Disney (yes, on the phone) they might do it in one reservation, but I don't think they will.

I think there's a question about whether a deluxe is worth $1,000.00 more than a moderate. Nope. It's not. But, if Dad had the money, would he splurge and stay at the Polynesian Resort again? You better believe it.

Basically, if the free dining would be offered we would lose the $400.00 room discount but gain a $700.00 in a free dining deal. Seems like an easy choice to me, take the free grub - Correct??? Correct.

Will there be plenty of Christmas decorations up by Nov 11th? Yep. They'll all be up. The only thing you'll miss is The Candlelight Processional and the Tree in the Magic Kingdom.

Dad's Christmas at Disney World page

Thanks again Todd.