Strange Free Dining ???

[DisnyMik]

Okay, here is the situation: Our son, in the Army, was told he would be taking his leave in Sept. (before deployment to Korea) so we planned a Disney trip. We were able to get the Free Dining (I was psyched!) We have never purchased it nor have we ever had free!
Now the Army has changed his deployment and therefore will probably change his leave. This is NOT definite yet, but looks like it will be. Here is the question:
We will be at our 45 days out 8-6-08 and we have already made full payment. After 45 days (44 or less) we will be charged $50 to cancel him. Not a huge deal. BUT, this is a BIG BUT, what happens if we do not cancel him can we use his free dining? (We have 2 other males in the family) I know, sounds weird! We only purchased 1 day tix w/our MYW package and we would still have that day (we were going to purchase other days at SoG w/him at a discount.) Could we use his ticket for the one day and purchase other days for the rest of us?
Actually writing it out and explaining it is so confusing even to me!

PLEASE DON'T FLAME ME! :confused3 IT'S JUST A QUESTION AND WE WILL HAVE ALREADY PAID HIS PART OF HOTEL (5 of us) AND TICKET. I love these boards, but sometimes Diser's can be just plain scary and intimidating!! :eek:

[TDC Nala]

At times in the past, the resorts during free dining have required that everyone be present at checkin to avoid booking of "phantom guests" that existed only to get extra dining credits for the price of an extra adult fee in the room and a one-day ticket.

According to reports, some guests were asked at check-in to produce everyone in their party, and some were not. I don't know what happens if they ask and you can't produce your son, so I don't know if they'd just remove him from the reservation and you don't get his credits and ticket, or they'd charge you to remove him.

[Dizneydaz]

When you check in they will ask to see all members of your party. Children too. This is too avoid guests registering a "phantom" guest to get the free dining by only purchasing a base tix.

Will most likely depend on the CM helping you.

[GraceLuvsWDW]

I think you could do this no problem. I've checked in with half of my party arriving on a later flight and had no problem.
It is not going to be the best use of his one day ticket to use it one day and then upgrade your other tickets. I would save his on day ticket for another trip and upgrade all of your other tickets appropriately. With him not being there, I guess you can't the SOG discount?
Perhaps during Free Dining they will alter their check-in policy but I don't see how they could require all members of the party to be present at check-in 100% of the time. I've never been asked to present all of my party at check-in-during Free Dining or any other time.

[DisnyMik]

OH! Well, that makes sense! Who would think to actually plan that all out? It never occured to me that people would actually do that on purpose! Okay, well, that answers that question!

Thanks!

[tmanaster]

I've always checked in by myself while my husband walks around the lobby with the rest of the family. I hope he gets to join you but if not, I think you will be able to do it.

Have a wonderful trip.

[DiszyDean]

I am not sure if I totally understand or not. Are you asking if it is ok to do or if you can get away with it?

You might be able to get away with it and I am not the moral police, but in my mind, it is not ok to do unless you would actually be paying for an extra room for him to stay with you that you would not be paying for otherwise and in that case, it would make zero financial sense to do it anyway. If you would not be paying for an extra room whether or not he was staying with you, then you are really not paying much more for him to stay with you or not, I think.

If you were paying for the DDP, that would be one thing, but the fact that you are getting it for free (minus the rack rate you would be paying for the room either way), I feel like it is pretty dishonest. In my opinion.

Part of the reason the DDP has been more and more restricted in recent years is because people chose to abuse the plan and find the loopholes to do such. This would be just another example of that, IMO.

The fact that you could remove him from your reservation today, with no penalty, and even if you had to wait until after your 45 days, it would only cost you $50 and you seem to have some inkling that doing this might not be the right thing to do (thus the disclaimer at the end of your original message) should point you in the right direction.

Of course, people will tell you, "Why not?", "Disney makes a ton of money off of us, so what if we get one over on them?"...Not getting caught does not make it right.

[DisnyMik]

OH! Well, that makes sense! Who would think to actually plan that all out? It never occured to me that people would actually do that on purpose! Okay, well, that answers that question!

Thanks!

Sorry my above statement was not clear enough! I did not realize that people actually sat around to try to think up ways to rip off Disney! That is not what I was doing. I also acknowledged at the end of my reply back, that my question was answered: another words, I would not do it!
The other thing is I cannot cancel right now in case he does actually get to go w/us! So, that is why I said the $50 cancel fee would not be a huge deal!

Thanks for the reply's! Now, off to more trip planning!:cool1:

[imthatgirl]

im not clear as to how this is ripping disney off? in order for him to get the free dining he had to buy the same day ticket as you did. whether hes there or not youve still spent the money.

we have never all had to be present at checkin even during free dining, we are a party of 8,there is no wat all 8 of us are hanging around the checkout area.

[jody618]

We have ALWAYS had to have everyone present to check in. We have been to the world the last three free dinings and they would not check us in until everyone presented ID.

[eeyoregon]

There were 7 of us last year for free dining and only 2 of us were present at check-in and no one said a word.

Perhaps it's because we had to stand in line for over 1 hour to check-in and they knew our kids had wondered off to explore the resort??

[Nancyg56]

We were there for free sining two years ago and I was able to check in without having all of my party with us. My niece was flying in later that our arrival. No issues.

[dogodisney]

DisnyMik, May God Bless you all so it works out that your son gets his leave and gets to go to Disney with you.

Please thank your son for his commitment and service to our country.

[Letsbgoofy]

Disnymik - If you take him off the reservation now, I don't think they will charge you later to add him in. It seems that whenever you spend more money, you don't get a change fee. I would call and ask - $50 saved is $50 more to spend afterall.

[Sandi]

It seems like they would waive the change fee in this particular circumstance. It's not like you'd be cancelling the trip and you have about the best reason anyone could possibly have for the change.

Hope you don't have to make the change and I hope you have a great time with your son. Thank him for his service. We appreciate him.

[DisnyMik]

Thanks to all of you that responded to my question! I'm so touched that I am sitting here typing through the tears streaming down my face. Thank you for the support for our son and his service! It really means a lot to us! We are praying that he can go with us since he really has looked forward to this trip!:angel:

[FOV]

Thanks to all of you that responded to my question! I'm so touched that I am sitting here typing through the tears streaming down my face. Thank you for the support for our son and his service! It really means a lot to us! We are praying that he can go with us since he really has looked forward to this trip!:angel:

I hope it works out for you and your son too! I know many people on this same type of roller coaster ride - trying to plan, then things get changed last minute.:grouphug:

FWIW - in 2006 we were on the free dining plan. At the last minute my dh had to go on a business trip so he wasn't able to join us until day #3 of our trip. Everything was already paid, tickets purchased etc... No one asked to see him at check-in. The kids and I used our ddp as scheduled. We were so happy when dh joined us later in the trip.:lovestruc

[JenLovesMickey]

My husband is in the Army and a couple times when we've had plans for something and then have had to cancel we've usually been able to do so without having to pay a fee. All they've asked is that my husband fax them a copy of his orders. If he does get to go with you and if you go to the MK stop by the town hall right away and see if he would be able to take part in the flag lowering ceremony at around 5pm. I was told the last time that veterans and active duty could do it, but only one person gets to do it.

[smidgy]

since (if I understand it) you already paid his one day ticket (the requirement for the free dining), you have a choice. repay that one day or keep his credits.
maybe I'm way off here. you'll never even be able to eat all that food anyway!!!:rotfl: . If he was there, he would eat it. how is Disney getting cheated if he ISN'T there? you will probably eat less than if he was. (does my logic make weird sense?) TONS of people, even those PAYING for the DDP, let credits go unused.
I wouldn't sweat it. like a previous poster said... at check in, I do it all.... hubby Nebo is wandering around , staring at the ceiling, just so he can yell at me later about what a bad job I did getting a good room location!!!:lmao: (honey? honey? you still love me, right?)
and God bless your son for taking time out of his life for protecting our freedoms!!!!:banana: :yay:

[smidgy]

[QUOTE=DisnyMik;26427188].) Could we use his ticket for the one day and purchase other days for the rest of us?
QUOTE]

hmm, now that I reread the post, i'm not sure. all you need is ONE day ticket. for the DDP. that's a stickey wicket. wait, all the dining credits go on the same card for the whole party, once you check in. It didn't matter if was my card or Nebo's. if it was deducted from his, it was deducted from mine. I guess it depends if they want to "SEE" everyone at check in.
guess I'm not sure anyone else know ? WITHOUT FLAMES?:wizard:

[calypso*a*go-go]

I would just keep your reservation "as is" and see what happens. If your son gets to go, no problem. If he finds out at the last minute that his leave was cancelled, the rest of the family can go as planned and if they ask to see everyone at check-in -- you can tell them at that time that he was unable to come due to his military obligation. At that point the ball would be in their court as to whether or not they would charge a fee to remove him from the reservation. I've got my fingers crossed that he'll be able to go! :goodvibes

[calypso*a*go-go]

Just wanted to add...you could use his one day ticket, but it will have a value of around $70 -- so you might be better off just holding onto it for a future trip as it won't expire as long as it hasn't been activated and it could be applied to the cost of a multi-day PH down the road.

[smidgy]

any updates? If you call and explain the situation, I would think (hope) that they would bend over backwards to accomodate someone willing to serve our country.: :cool1: for him!!!! best wishes and have fun!!

[Disney_Angel]

Thanks to all of you that responded to my question! I'm so touched that I am sitting here typing through the tears streaming down my face. Thank you for the support for our son and his service! It really means a lot to us! We are praying that he can go with us since he really has looked forward to this trip!:angel:

Everyone has already answered your questions....I just wanted to say THANK YOU to your son for serving his country so that my family can live FREE! :thumbsup2

I sure hope he gets to go to Disney!!! :goodvibes

[LisaInNc]

we had to change plans due to a Family Members cancelled leave and Disney was very helpful and waived the 50.00 fee.

[extremesoccermom]

The way I see it is that you fulfilled the requirements by buying the ticket.
I have been to WDW over 20 times and I have never had to have anyone but myself at the window when I check in. DH and the kids are usually out exploring the pool and gift shop while I wait in line.
It works the other way also DH, DD14 and I will be going next year. DD and I will be staying 2 weeks but DH will leave after one week according to the Disney Cast Member I have to buy the DDP for all 3 of us for 2 weeks. So after he leaves we will have a number of his credits to use up between the 2 of us. We are planning 3 TS meals that will require 2 TS credits to help use up the credits and these are meals we would NEVER dream of trying.

By the way God Bless your Son and Thank you. My nephew is in the Marines and has been in an undisclosed location since March. We pray for all of our troops everyday.

[ilovemickeymost]

Okay, here is the situation: Our son, in the Army, was told he would be taking his leave in Sept. (before deployment to Korea) so we planned a Disney trip. We were able to get the Free Dining (I was psyched!) We have never purchased it nor have we ever had free!
Now the Army has changed his deployment and therefore will probably change his leave. This is NOT definite yet, but looks like it will be. Here is the question:
We will be at our 45 days out 8-6-08 and we have already made full payment. After 45 days (44 or less) we will be charged $50 to cancel him. Not a huge deal. BUT, this is a BIG BUT, what happens if we do not cancel him can we use his free dining? (We have 2 other males in the family) I know, sounds weird! We only purchased 1 day tix w/our MYW package and we would still have that day (we were going to purchase other days at SoG w/him at a discount.) Could we use his ticket for the one day and purchase other days for the rest of us?
Actually writing it out and explaining it is so confusing even to me!

PLEASE DON'T FLAME ME! :confused3 IT'S JUST A QUESTION AND WE WILL HAVE ALREADY PAID HIS PART OF HOTEL (5 of us) AND TICKET. I love these boards, but sometimes Diser's can be just plain scary and intimidating!! :eek:

Just got to love the military. I tell my husband all the time that if women ran it, they wouldn't have all the changing dates around stuff that they do. GRR My hubby just got back in April. Thank you for putting up w/ the military lifestyle (not that you have a choice). And please thank your son for serving. If you want to cancel him, I'd call ressies & ask for a manager & let them know what's going on. They might not worry about the 45 day thing if you have a copy of his orders or leave statement. If you don't mind eating the cost for the things he won't be using, you can always keep him on the ressie & use the DP for the other people in your party. As long as someone else will be keeping his room ressies on property. They don't keep track of who uses what meals. And the passes to get into the park can be used by anyone. I think the same person has to use the same card the whole time though. Once they've used up the purchased # of days, they could use a different card. Now I hope I'm not being confusing.

[ilovemickeymost]

I am not sure if I totally understand or not. Are you asking if it is ok to do or if you can get away with it?

You might be able to get away with it and I am not the moral police, but in my mind, it is not ok to do unless you would actually be paying for an extra room for him to stay with you that you would not be paying for otherwise and in that case, it would make zero financial sense to do it anyway. If you would not be paying for an extra room whether or not he was staying with you, then you are really not paying much more for him to stay with you or not, I think.

If you were paying for the DDP, that would be one thing, but the fact that you are getting it for free (minus the rack rate you would be paying for the room either way), I feel like it is pretty dishonest. In my opinion.

Part of the reason the DDP has been more and more restricted in recent years is because people chose to abuse the plan and find the loopholes to do such. This would be just another example of that, IMO.

The fact that you could remove him from your reservation today, with no penalty, and even if you had to wait until after your 45 days, it would only cost you $50 and you seem to have some inkling that doing this might not be the right thing to do (thus the disclaimer at the end of your original message) should point you in the right direction.

Of course, people will tell you, "Why not?", "Disney makes a ton of money off of us, so what if we get one over on them?"...Not getting caught does not make it right.

B/C if she cancels him from the ressie & then his leave stays the same, she can't add him back & get free dining. In the military you literially don't know until the day it happens. It can always change. I say keep it the same & if he's not there when you check in, you can cancel then. By the way, for NOT being the military police, morality was all over what you posted. JMHO

[ilovemickeymost]

It seems like they would waive the change fee in this particular circumstance. It's not like you'd be cancelling the trip and you have about the best reason anyone could possibly have for the change.

Hope you don't have to make the change and I hope you have a great time with your son. Thank him for his service. We appreciate him.

You'ld think. Disney is not the most military friendly place I've found. No discounts EVER!!!!

[mamaloya]

You'ld think. Disney is not the most military friendly place I've found. No discounts EVER!!!!

Actually, in the past, disney has offered military discounts. I don't know why, with the state of affairs today, they are not doing any currently. They do have the military hotel there. You also get a slight discount on tickets through the military. There is also a deal that is being offered for those soldiers home for R&R or just returning from deployment. The disocunts are there, just not advertised and not significant. In the past there have been free 1 day passes offered to active duty. Now, it would not be worth it to us because we stay for a couple weeks when we go and an extra day on the new tix is only a couple of bucks. It would be nice if they gave a 10-20% room discount. The current discount on tix is about 10%. I would like a bigger discount than that, but will take what I can get. Some ripley's places offer a 75% discount, but that is rare.

To the OP, I totally understand the leave thing. We are going when my dh gets back and I have had to book the entire month that I "think" he will be getting his leave so that we "should" be covered. I can't book a package yet though because you can only book a max of 14 days on a package and I need to cover 1 week on each side of the expected dates so that I know they won't book up and leave us w/o a ressie. That is the way the army is. I don't know of a single set of orders that he has gotten that the date did not change except his very first ones to come in.

[tina_la]

It just can't be said enough, Thank God for your son and what he does everyday to keep my family safe.

That being said I hope he is able to go and like another poster said you prob won't know until the last second anyway so I would keep him on. Like another poster said if he can go you can't add him back on and have FD again for him. I hope he gets a much deserved (and needed) vacation. :hug:

[beth445]

It just can't be said enough, Thank God for your son and what he does everyday to keep my family safe.

That being said I hope he is able to go and like another poster said you prob won't know until the last second anyway so I would keep him on. Like another poster said if he can go you can't add him back on and have FD again for him. I hope he gets a much deserved (and needed) vacation. :hug:

if h is taken off now & readded they will not give him the free dining bc the promotion has ended.

[tina_la]

if h is taken off now & readded they will not give him the free dining bc the promotion has ended.

That's what I said :confused3 . He can't be added back with FD :)

[lisadr]

Okay, here is the situation: Our son, in the Army, was told he would be taking his leave in Sept. (before deployment to Korea) so we planned a Disney trip. We were able to get the Free Dining (I was psyched!) We have never purchased it nor have we ever had free!
Now the Army has changed his deployment and therefore will probably change his leave. This is NOT definite yet, but looks like it will be. Here is the question:
We will be at our 45 days out 8-6-08 and we have already made full payment. After 45 days (44 or less) we will be charged $50 to cancel him. Not a huge deal. BUT, this is a BIG BUT, what happens if we do not cancel him can we use his free dining? (We have 2 other males in the family) I know, sounds weird! We only purchased 1 day tix w/our MYW package and we would still have that day (we were going to purchase other days at SoG w/him at a discount.) Could we use his ticket for the one day and purchase other days for the rest of us?
Actually writing it out and explaining it is so confusing even to me!

PLEASE DON'T FLAME ME! :confused3 IT'S JUST A QUESTION AND WE WILL HAVE ALREADY PAID HIS PART OF HOTEL (5 of us) AND TICKET. I love these boards, but sometimes Diser's can be just plain scary and intimidating!! :eek:

Last year when I booked the Free Dining It was up in the air if my husband could make it, so I asked the CM if he was unable to could my mom fill his spot and they told me no problem-I don't know if it still holds true. You should just call and check-using the words "IF" and "Hypothetically":rolleyes: and see what they say.

P.S. I agree with the sometimes "scary" Disers:::scared:

Good Luck
Lisa

[LittleMermaidsMom]

Actually, you can add a person to the free dining even after the promotion has ended. You just can't book a new reservation, but adding a person to an existing reservation is allowed.

We just added my aunt last week to our reservation. She just had to purchase the 1-day base ticket and she's able to get the free dining also.

[kath1210]

Actually, you can add a person to the free dining even after the promotion has ended. You just can't book a new reservation, but adding a person to an existing reservation is allowed.

We just added my aunt last week to our reservation. She just had to purchase the 1-day base ticket and she's able to get the free dining also.

Yup! We just did the same for my DH last week. No problem!:thumbsup2

God bless your son for his sacrifice. I pray that he will be able to go on this trip!:goodvibes

[drlee]

We have been a Navy family for 22 years and we have a saying around our house, "If you make plans don't say them out loud because the NAVY will hear you". Happens more than I care to think about. We have a four day Disney stay followed by a Disney Cruise. We were told that he could cancel without penalty if he could prove a military obligation.

God Bless your Son and your family. You all will be in my prayers. Please thank him for his service.

[tina_la]

Actually, you can add a person to the free dining even after the promotion has ended. You just can't book a new reservation, but adding a person to an existing reservation is allowed.

We just added my aunt last week to our reservation. She just had to purchase the 1-day base ticket and she's able to get the free dining also.

That's some useful information. :wizard: Might prove useful for us next year if I book again and my Mom goes. Thanks

[Belle1962]

With his TO (travel orders) the $50 fee will more than likely be waived by Disney. They deal with last minute military changes frequently.