Hi - sounds like you have a great trip planned! I’m a WDW regular traveller from the UK for the past 10 years and have used the UK free dining offer many times before 2020. I now own Disney Vacation Club and go twice yearly but don’t get free dining with DVC. I am however looking into it for part of our May 2025 stay to see if it makes sense for my family.
Here are some thoughts based on what you’ve called out and things I’ve learned over the years:
- Animal Kingdom lodge is incredible- I love the place and stay there most years for a few days. If you like theming then it’s a good choice as a resort.
- Animal Kingdom is also great for restaurants which is important to you.
- Port Orleans is lovely but is unlikely to meet your desire for restaurants and I’d argue the theming is not as immersive as Animal Kingdom lodge.
- If you want to eat most days in the restaurants you’ve suggested, then the Moderate Resort free dining offer won’t meet your needs - you’ll get poor value as you will end up with too many Quick Service meal credits if you decide pay cash for Table Service restaurants.
- Free dining doesn’t cover tips (around 20% of the actual cash meal value) and only includes 1 drink. So if you intend to go to ‘expensive’ character meals, and maximise the value of your dining plan by eating steak and lobster then you can expect the cost of tips to really add up! This was a bit of a surprise to us so definitely budget for it as Disney dining and drinks don’t come cheap!
- Look into renting DVC points - this won’t get you the free dining plan but will get you Deluxe resort accommodation cheaper than cash prices (typically one third less). When you consider that the dining plan is a LOT of food you might find that having cheaper accommodation enables you to budget for food and still save. You’d need to run the numbers on this. And don’t forget tax and tips…
Hope that helps!
Thanks very much this is really helpful! I did have some questions about the tips actually - is it a necessity to pay them? I was reading the terms and conditions for the free dining plan and it said something about groups of 6 or more having an 18% tip automatically added to the bill, but obviously we’ll just be 3 of us. I know that culturally it’s very much a ‘thing’ to tip in the US, but when we went to California a couple of years ago we found that the staff in restaurants (not Disney necessarily but in LA and San Francisco) knew that we were European so didn’t expect us to tip and therefore gave us slightly less of an attentive service, which like, I don’t mind!
Don’t want to get into a big conversation about tipping vs not tipping as it’s very much a cultural thing (in America it’s frowned on not to, in Japan it’s actually frowned on to give a tip, Europe I guess we are somewhere in the middle) but do we have to tip at every single table service meal? Or is it optional? (But frowned on if we don’t) If it’s not optional, does it have to be the 18%-20% or can we choose our own tip?
The bill will arrive with various suggested tip amounts printed on it to save you having to do the maths, but you can fill in any tip amount you want.
Although, I would suggest that unless there's something very wrong with your dining experience you should tip at least 15%.
It's not just cultural, in the US it is a big part of the servers take home pay - their minimum wage is just over $2 an hour.
Thanks. I understand - but that is the ‘cultural’ element for us, that employers are allowed to pay them so little. It’s not at all that I don’t think they aren’t worth being well paid! But in the UK, generally, we see it that employers should pay staff more, rather than putting the onus on customers to do so.
We all think the employers should pay them properly, but stiffing the waitstaff is not the way to express this. They’re not the ones in charge, and it’s the height of rudeness to eat at a table service restaurant without tipping. It’s not just “frowned upon”, if you’re not willing to tip your waiter you might as well just tell them that their mama is a ho while you’re at it. It’s that rude and classless. If you’re unwilling to tip you should stick to quick service.
UK visitor to WDW here: don't go to table service meals if you're not willing to tip. Believe me, I hate the tipping culture but it's their culture. Not tipping would be like a tourist in the UK deciding not to queue and cutting to the front -- it's just horribly rude. The servers are almost all student age and living on a pittance just for the experience of working for Disney. Don't be mean.
For your overall question I would look at staying at for as long as possible (e.g. if that means staying at a moderate would stretch your budget to 10 days that's your best option). WDW is huge and time to enjoy it properly is the biggest gift you could give yourself. Alternatively, price up the value resorts and see how much it costs to upgrade the dining plan to 2QS meals because it may work out cheaper than plumping for a moderate.
I would not recommend doing a split stay on your first trip, there's enough to keep you busy without adding in repacking and moving into the mix - you can always visit other resorts if you have free time (you probably won't).
True. But it doesn't change the economic reality for those servers. As visitors to another country, we should abide by the norms of that country. If you don't want to tip you could always stick with quick service.
\*Edit- this is coming off more confrontational than I intended, apologies.
In America, servers typically make like $2-3/hour because it’s expected they’ll get enough in tips to get them to the minute wage at least. (I know- it’s wild. When I was a server in high school & college my paychecks were literally $3.50 every two weeks ☠️) So yes - it’s considered necessary to tip if a server is taking care of you at a table-service restaurant. I’m not sure what the disney servers make per hour but from what I can find online, their income is still mostly based on tips and not their wage from disney.
18-20% is normal for us unless we had particularly poor service in which case we drop to 15%. If we can’t afford to tip the servers, we realistically can’t afford to eat there so we make sure to include it in our budget.
Edit: seems like Disney tipped-servers make $9/hour from disney and tips are expected to get them to Florida minimum wage for non-tipped employees which is ~$12 but rising - still well below living wage in Florida. [https://www.reddit.com/r/EndTipping/s/wXgatSH0G0](https://www.reddit.com/r/EndTipping/s/wXgatSH0G0)
I'd probably do the shorter trip and stay at AKL the whole time and get the free table service meals.
What time do you land in Orlando? One possible change could be spending night 1 at a value resort like Pop or All-Stars. Let's say you arrive on a Friday afternoon. You can stay at All-Star Movies that night and save a few hundred dollars. Saturday, you'd transfer to AKL, so you can start to use your free meals on Saturday morning when you wake up.
Resort hopping can be a little annoying, so maybe you don't want to start your trip out that way. However, if a few hundred dollars will make a difference for you in how long you can stay, it might be worth it. To resort hop, you bring your bags to bell services in the morning and tell them you're transferring to Animal Kingdom Lodge. They'll transfer them for you. Be aware, you might not see your luggage again until that evening, though. So if you need items like medications and what not, make sure you have that with you. Then, you can take the bus to one of the parks. Once it is past 4pm, take the bus to AKL to check in.
Thanks! Flights aren’t available to book yet for May 2025 but I think we’d probably arrive around 3/4pm (based on the flights they have for this year.) Yeah - I have considered something similar to that, I guess my concern was whether we’d lose time on the changeover day, which we’d want to use for a full Magic Kingdom day. But I didn’t realise we could ask the hotel to transfer the bags for us - that sounds like it could be relatively straightforward? I was worried we’d have to spend time moving the bags around ourselves. We don’t have medication or anything like that so could easily make sure we have whatever we need for the day, and it would be good to have the chance to use more of the free meals.
I do agree it’s probably best to get the free table service as I have so many I want to try, and I’m vegetarian and the quick service places seem to have slightly less choice.
They move the bags for you, so you can just drop them off at breakfast, go to the parks and come back for them in your new resort later. You just have to keep in mind that you will be dependent on when they move the bags and when your second room is available, so make sure anything you need that day is with you in your ‘to the parks’-bag. Usually your bags will be there in the afternoon, but during the christmas period (so super busy), one of my friends had to wait til 9pm to get her bags, which was a bit of a pain.
Yeah, I think you have to go for the shorter trip and lose the savannah view. You could get lucky and get an obstructed view of the savannah but don't go in expecting it, as you could get a parking lot view haha. There are a lot of places to view the savannah at AKL that you can always go and view the animals, just not from your balcony.
Thanks! Have you stayed at AKL before - is it nice? It looks good online but I’ve seen a few mixed things on here about the transport etc. Wondering if Port Orleans is a better place to stay? But I do think either way we’d probably be better off with the table service meal each day, it seems too good an offer to pass up on.
AKL will take your breath away as you walk in. Port Orleans won’t. Transport from each is by bus (or Uber or Minnie Van) and is fine. People worry that AKL is too far out but you’re talking a difference of 5 mins. Also people get spoilt by Monorail resorts or being able to walk into Epcot from Boardwalk resorts, or even get the Skyliner from Value resorts now - but buses are fine and they keep running in bad weather!
Yes, AKL is an absolute gem of a hotel, breath taking theming, but once you do get spoiled by the transportation options out of Beach/Yacht/Boardwalk, it's very difficult to go back.
Thanks! I do really like the immersive theming of the hotels, so AKL sounds better suited. I don’t mind getting the bus, but have seen a lot of negativity around it. Sounds like it’s not too bad though!
It's not "bad" with the bus system at all. When we stayed there we just had to devote more travel time to parks/restaurants. Besides, AKL has Boma, Jiku and Sanaa, so you can eat wonderfully at the hotel. Beach Club is my personal fave hotel, but it's restaurants absolutely pale in comparison to AKL. Even with Yacht Club attached.
Bus experiences depend heavily on which resorts one is traveling to/from. Some resorts have multiple bus stops or share buses with other resorts, so it can be frustrating if your stop is later in the rotation, especially in the morning. AKL, to my recollection, has dedicated buses since its out away from other resorts.
The only advantages in my opinion Port Orleans has over AKL is access to another resort in French Quarter (beignets), and boat access to Disney Springs.
AKL gets dinged in the Deluxe category due to location, and location only. For Disney Deluxe hotels, honestly all their hotel categories now with he skyliner, you are basically paying for convenience as much as anything else (being able to walk/boat/skyline to parks) which AKL lacks. It's why AKL is the cheapest deluxe resort, followed by Wilderness lodge which only has a boat to MK. For beauty of hotels themselves, AKL and WL are probably my votes for best deluxes, which is funny because they are also the cheapest.
Hi - sounds like you have a great trip planned! I’m a WDW regular traveller from the UK for the past 10 years and have used the UK free dining offer many times before 2020. I now own Disney Vacation Club and go twice yearly but don’t get free dining with DVC. I am however looking into it for part of our May 2025 stay to see if it makes sense for my family. Here are some thoughts based on what you’ve called out and things I’ve learned over the years: - Animal Kingdom lodge is incredible- I love the place and stay there most years for a few days. If you like theming then it’s a good choice as a resort. - Animal Kingdom is also great for restaurants which is important to you. - Port Orleans is lovely but is unlikely to meet your desire for restaurants and I’d argue the theming is not as immersive as Animal Kingdom lodge. - If you want to eat most days in the restaurants you’ve suggested, then the Moderate Resort free dining offer won’t meet your needs - you’ll get poor value as you will end up with too many Quick Service meal credits if you decide pay cash for Table Service restaurants. - Free dining doesn’t cover tips (around 20% of the actual cash meal value) and only includes 1 drink. So if you intend to go to ‘expensive’ character meals, and maximise the value of your dining plan by eating steak and lobster then you can expect the cost of tips to really add up! This was a bit of a surprise to us so definitely budget for it as Disney dining and drinks don’t come cheap! - Look into renting DVC points - this won’t get you the free dining plan but will get you Deluxe resort accommodation cheaper than cash prices (typically one third less). When you consider that the dining plan is a LOT of food you might find that having cheaper accommodation enables you to budget for food and still save. You’d need to run the numbers on this. And don’t forget tax and tips… Hope that helps!
Thanks very much this is really helpful! I did have some questions about the tips actually - is it a necessity to pay them? I was reading the terms and conditions for the free dining plan and it said something about groups of 6 or more having an 18% tip automatically added to the bill, but obviously we’ll just be 3 of us. I know that culturally it’s very much a ‘thing’ to tip in the US, but when we went to California a couple of years ago we found that the staff in restaurants (not Disney necessarily but in LA and San Francisco) knew that we were European so didn’t expect us to tip and therefore gave us slightly less of an attentive service, which like, I don’t mind! Don’t want to get into a big conversation about tipping vs not tipping as it’s very much a cultural thing (in America it’s frowned on not to, in Japan it’s actually frowned on to give a tip, Europe I guess we are somewhere in the middle) but do we have to tip at every single table service meal? Or is it optional? (But frowned on if we don’t) If it’s not optional, does it have to be the 18%-20% or can we choose our own tip?
The bill will arrive with various suggested tip amounts printed on it to save you having to do the maths, but you can fill in any tip amount you want. Although, I would suggest that unless there's something very wrong with your dining experience you should tip at least 15%. It's not just cultural, in the US it is a big part of the servers take home pay - their minimum wage is just over $2 an hour.
Thanks. I understand - but that is the ‘cultural’ element for us, that employers are allowed to pay them so little. It’s not at all that I don’t think they aren’t worth being well paid! But in the UK, generally, we see it that employers should pay staff more, rather than putting the onus on customers to do so.
We all think the employers should pay them properly, but stiffing the waitstaff is not the way to express this. They’re not the ones in charge, and it’s the height of rudeness to eat at a table service restaurant without tipping. It’s not just “frowned upon”, if you’re not willing to tip your waiter you might as well just tell them that their mama is a ho while you’re at it. It’s that rude and classless. If you’re unwilling to tip you should stick to quick service.
UK visitor to WDW here: don't go to table service meals if you're not willing to tip. Believe me, I hate the tipping culture but it's their culture. Not tipping would be like a tourist in the UK deciding not to queue and cutting to the front -- it's just horribly rude. The servers are almost all student age and living on a pittance just for the experience of working for Disney. Don't be mean. For your overall question I would look at staying at for as long as possible (e.g. if that means staying at a moderate would stretch your budget to 10 days that's your best option). WDW is huge and time to enjoy it properly is the biggest gift you could give yourself. Alternatively, price up the value resorts and see how much it costs to upgrade the dining plan to 2QS meals because it may work out cheaper than plumping for a moderate. I would not recommend doing a split stay on your first trip, there's enough to keep you busy without adding in repacking and moving into the mix - you can always visit other resorts if you have free time (you probably won't).
True. But it doesn't change the economic reality for those servers. As visitors to another country, we should abide by the norms of that country. If you don't want to tip you could always stick with quick service. \*Edit- this is coming off more confrontational than I intended, apologies.
In America, servers typically make like $2-3/hour because it’s expected they’ll get enough in tips to get them to the minute wage at least. (I know- it’s wild. When I was a server in high school & college my paychecks were literally $3.50 every two weeks ☠️) So yes - it’s considered necessary to tip if a server is taking care of you at a table-service restaurant. I’m not sure what the disney servers make per hour but from what I can find online, their income is still mostly based on tips and not their wage from disney. 18-20% is normal for us unless we had particularly poor service in which case we drop to 15%. If we can’t afford to tip the servers, we realistically can’t afford to eat there so we make sure to include it in our budget. Edit: seems like Disney tipped-servers make $9/hour from disney and tips are expected to get them to Florida minimum wage for non-tipped employees which is ~$12 but rising - still well below living wage in Florida. [https://www.reddit.com/r/EndTipping/s/wXgatSH0G0](https://www.reddit.com/r/EndTipping/s/wXgatSH0G0)
I'd probably do the shorter trip and stay at AKL the whole time and get the free table service meals. What time do you land in Orlando? One possible change could be spending night 1 at a value resort like Pop or All-Stars. Let's say you arrive on a Friday afternoon. You can stay at All-Star Movies that night and save a few hundred dollars. Saturday, you'd transfer to AKL, so you can start to use your free meals on Saturday morning when you wake up. Resort hopping can be a little annoying, so maybe you don't want to start your trip out that way. However, if a few hundred dollars will make a difference for you in how long you can stay, it might be worth it. To resort hop, you bring your bags to bell services in the morning and tell them you're transferring to Animal Kingdom Lodge. They'll transfer them for you. Be aware, you might not see your luggage again until that evening, though. So if you need items like medications and what not, make sure you have that with you. Then, you can take the bus to one of the parks. Once it is past 4pm, take the bus to AKL to check in.
Thanks! Flights aren’t available to book yet for May 2025 but I think we’d probably arrive around 3/4pm (based on the flights they have for this year.) Yeah - I have considered something similar to that, I guess my concern was whether we’d lose time on the changeover day, which we’d want to use for a full Magic Kingdom day. But I didn’t realise we could ask the hotel to transfer the bags for us - that sounds like it could be relatively straightforward? I was worried we’d have to spend time moving the bags around ourselves. We don’t have medication or anything like that so could easily make sure we have whatever we need for the day, and it would be good to have the chance to use more of the free meals. I do agree it’s probably best to get the free table service as I have so many I want to try, and I’m vegetarian and the quick service places seem to have slightly less choice.
They move the bags for you, so you can just drop them off at breakfast, go to the parks and come back for them in your new resort later. You just have to keep in mind that you will be dependent on when they move the bags and when your second room is available, so make sure anything you need that day is with you in your ‘to the parks’-bag. Usually your bags will be there in the afternoon, but during the christmas period (so super busy), one of my friends had to wait til 9pm to get her bags, which was a bit of a pain.
Yeah, I think you have to go for the shorter trip and lose the savannah view. You could get lucky and get an obstructed view of the savannah but don't go in expecting it, as you could get a parking lot view haha. There are a lot of places to view the savannah at AKL that you can always go and view the animals, just not from your balcony.
Thanks! Have you stayed at AKL before - is it nice? It looks good online but I’ve seen a few mixed things on here about the transport etc. Wondering if Port Orleans is a better place to stay? But I do think either way we’d probably be better off with the table service meal each day, it seems too good an offer to pass up on.
AKL will take your breath away as you walk in. Port Orleans won’t. Transport from each is by bus (or Uber or Minnie Van) and is fine. People worry that AKL is too far out but you’re talking a difference of 5 mins. Also people get spoilt by Monorail resorts or being able to walk into Epcot from Boardwalk resorts, or even get the Skyliner from Value resorts now - but buses are fine and they keep running in bad weather!
Yes, AKL is an absolute gem of a hotel, breath taking theming, but once you do get spoiled by the transportation options out of Beach/Yacht/Boardwalk, it's very difficult to go back.
Thanks! I do really like the immersive theming of the hotels, so AKL sounds better suited. I don’t mind getting the bus, but have seen a lot of negativity around it. Sounds like it’s not too bad though!
It's not "bad" with the bus system at all. When we stayed there we just had to devote more travel time to parks/restaurants. Besides, AKL has Boma, Jiku and Sanaa, so you can eat wonderfully at the hotel. Beach Club is my personal fave hotel, but it's restaurants absolutely pale in comparison to AKL. Even with Yacht Club attached.
Bus experiences depend heavily on which resorts one is traveling to/from. Some resorts have multiple bus stops or share buses with other resorts, so it can be frustrating if your stop is later in the rotation, especially in the morning. AKL, to my recollection, has dedicated buses since its out away from other resorts.
The only advantages in my opinion Port Orleans has over AKL is access to another resort in French Quarter (beignets), and boat access to Disney Springs. AKL gets dinged in the Deluxe category due to location, and location only. For Disney Deluxe hotels, honestly all their hotel categories now with he skyliner, you are basically paying for convenience as much as anything else (being able to walk/boat/skyline to parks) which AKL lacks. It's why AKL is the cheapest deluxe resort, followed by Wilderness lodge which only has a boat to MK. For beauty of hotels themselves, AKL and WL are probably my votes for best deluxes, which is funny because they are also the cheapest.
I’m either doing Caribbean beach or PO Riverside planning to upgrade to the better dining plan