Most die hard Disney Fans are creatures of habit. We like to visit our Happy Place at the same time of year, stay the same places, follow similar schedules, etc. I know for my family, we don’t stray too far off the beaten path when it comes to our vacations. However, for us, one thing that makes a huge difference when it comes to our routine is when Disney offers Free Dining.
Sure, we could pick any time of the year to plan a vacation. I mean, any time is a good time to go, right? True. It’s hard for me to plan to visit Disney at other times, because if history repeats itself, we can go and get Free Dining in the Fall. Since we got Free Dining in August/September a couple years ago, we can’t pass it up again. It makes the most sense for us as a family. Of course, you take the good with the bad. Yes, we get to eat a ton of food for free, that’s good. But, it’s so ridiculously hot the last week of August, that’s not good. The wait time for our favorite rides is less, because a lot of kids are back in school and the crowds are down, that’s a good thing. In my opinion, the good outweighs the bad.
If you are a DVC Member, I think you have more freedom to choose your time of year to visit Disney. Even better, you can visit more frequently. Some people prefer the Spring time to visit Disney because of the milder temperatures, and at times, the discounted room rates. It’s all a matter of what you personally prefer. Either you choose your vacation time, or Disney does with their special offers.
I wish we had the financial means to go to Disney whenever we wanted to. I wish it didn’t matter if they were offering discounts or Free Dining. But for us, it really does matter. So, for now, we will probably have late Summer or early Fall as our most likely travel time. What about your family? Are the discounts and special offers imperative as to when you will plan your vacation? I think it always will matter for us!
Michele also contributes theme park news for Fox 35 Orlando 11pm news and on the radio on WDBO.
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For us it is based on events. Such as the annual pin trading, flower and garden, star wars, food and wine, MVMCP, and MNSSHP. We don’t hit all in one year but 2 or 3 in a year. If they match up with discounts that is awesome but we save money in other little ways.
I wish we could get free dining but being DVC members don’t get it have to pay, I do feel it is unfair that we don’t get offered it any cheaper even, we have spent a lot of money to buy DVC and spend money every year on upkeep and then even more when we visit so why do we not get offered any discount even. Just seems a shame that they offer it only to people doing packages etc yet the people who put money in their tills they offer nothing to 🙁 oh well keep dreaming and hope one day they will give me discount
We have been “spoiled” with the free dining a couple times now and it was very hard to plan the next trip without free dining. The room specials help a lot. I try to plan our vacations during the “special” dates and have even kept the kids out of school to get the special rates.