What is everyones thoughts on a free dining for september 2013

[SFreelove]

Spring is creeping up! Which means a new promo will hopefully come out for those of us with reservations for the fall time! My family and I are going the last week of september into the first week of october. (9/26-10-6) To be exact. We've been waiting and waiting and waiting for spring time to creep up so we can find out if FD will be offered for our dates!

Anyone have thoughts on this? I asked this back a few months ago, everyone was kind of in the same boat, no hard facts or thoughts just good wishes.. wondering if anyone has some more solid information or thoughts now that were getting closer to when it may be announced..

Thanks everyone!!

 

[bennifer]

My mother called WDW to ask a question about her upcoming trip and asked the CM what teh chances are for FD in Sept, and he said he was 98% sure it was coming!

 

[Tropical Wilds]

Free dining has been severely curtailed for this year and next year, replaced by the "Stay, Play, Dine" deal. However, since FD started out as a promotion for September, ending before Food and Wine, I'd say the chances are good that, if it's offered, it'll be offered in Sept. Bounceback offers for that time frame have been confirmed as FD so there may be hope... Though generally bouncebacks are better then what you'd get as a regular booking, so it all remains to be seen. I'd say, though, your best chances for free dining is Sept.

That said, given the dates of the Food and Wine this year, I'm less confident that your dates will be free dining eligible. As long as the 26th is in the window of FD dates, you'll get it for the length of your trip, but when FD was offered only for Sept, it traditionally started the second-to-last or last week of August through the week to 5 days before the Food and Wine.

So all anybody can do is wait and see.

 

[GaBelle]

I keep seeing rumors on various sites that with the exception of boucebacks and PINs, that FD is on its way out.
That being said, I feel confident that there will be some type of discount offered.

 

[dadddio]

I am in the very early stages of planning a possible 9/23-10/2 trip and have my fingers crossed for free dining.

 

[SFreelove]

Thanks everyone! I'll be keeping my fingers crossed as well!

 

[Bearybear]

Even if they don't do FD, we got Stay/Play/Dine this time, and for the 3 of us, it only cost an additional $200 to add dining, so it was a significant discount.

 

[disgram]

IF FD is offered in Sept. when will we know for sure? We are going the 12th thru the 19th. It will help us out alot!!!

 

[AngiTN]

Free dining has been severely curtailed for this year and next year, replaced by the "Stay, Play, Dine" deal. However, since FD started out as a promotion for September, ending before Food and Wine, I'd say the chances are good that, if it's offered, it'll be offered in Sept. Bounceback offers for that time frame have been confirmed as FD so there may be hope... Though generally bouncebacks are better then what you'd get as a regular booking, so it all remains to be seen. I'd say, though, your best chances for free dining is Sept.

That said, given the dates of the Food and Wine this year, I'm less confident that your dates will be free dining eligible. As long as the 26th is in the window of FD dates, you'll get it for the length of your trip, but when FD was offered only for Sept, it traditionally started the second-to-last or last week of August through the week to 5 days before the Food and Wine.

So all anybody can do is wait and see.

They have? I thought the current BB offer is only a room discount. Did it change recently?

 

[TygerHawks]

I consider my trip to be FD as the room discount essentially paid for the plan

 

[DisneyFive]

Free dining has been severely curtailed for this year and next year, replaced by the "Stay, Play, Dine" deal. However, since FD started out as a promotion for September, ending before Food and Wine, I'd say the chances are good that, if it's offered, it'll be offered in Sept. Bounceback offers for that time frame have been confirmed as FD so there may be hope... Though generally bouncebacks are better then what you'd get as a regular booking, so it all remains to be seen. I'd say, though, your best chances for free dining is Sept.

That said, given the dates of the Food and Wine this year, I'm less confident that your dates will be free dining eligible. As long as the 26th is in the window of FD dates, you'll get it for the length of your trip, but when FD was offered only for Sept, it traditionally started the second-to-last or last week of August through the week to 5 days before the Food and Wine.

So all anybody can do is wait and see.

IF FD is offered in Sept. when will we know for sure? We are going the 12th thru the 19th. It will help us out alot!!!

They have? I thought the current BB offer is only a room discount. Did it change recently?

Yes, we have FD for late Sept 2013 with a bounceback that was offered while we were there late Sept 2012. We were staying at POR, and will again.

I don't think the offer extended past the 22nd of Sept or so (not sure exactly), so that might give an indication of when it will be offered if a general public FD offer happens.

As a reminder, the beginning day of your stay needs to fall within the offer window for you to get the offer. For example, if the FD offer ends on Sept 22nd, your stay would need to start on the 22nd at the latest in order to get the deal.

Dan

 

[AngiTN]

Yes, we have FD for late Sept 2013 with a bounceback that was offered while we were there late Sept 2012. We were staying at POR, and will again.

I don't think the offer extended past the 22nd of Sept or so (not sure exactly), so that might give an indication of when it will be offered if a general public FD offer happens.

As a reminder, the beginning day of your stay needs to fall within the offer window for you to get the offer. For example, if the FD offer ends on Sept 22nd, your stay would need to start on the 22nd at the latest in order to get the deal.

Dan

Oh, yes, the BB last year was free dining. I was thinking about the BB offer that is out for this year. The one out now, with BB dates for fall, is not free dining.

That, along with the other changes we've seen, make me think we won't see a free dining offer, other than an individual PIN code.

 

[DisneyFive]

Oh, yes, the BB last year was free dining. I was thinking about the BB offer that is out for this year. The one out now, with BB dates for fall, is not free dining.

That, along with the other changes we've seen, make me think we won't see a free dining offer, other than an individual PIN code.

Yeah, my BB offer was back late last year.

I'll personally be a little surprised if they don't offer FD for the Sept timeframe, since it is historically such a slow month and it's been offered during Sept the last 5 years at least. When offered to the general public, the offer has typically come out in the March to June timeframe (with some exceptions), so I guess we'll have to see.

I doubt the economy has rebounded enough to completely get rid of FD, but I could certainly be wrong.

Dan

 

[Tbiafore]

I can only assume that DVC members dont get to take advantage of the free dinning if they do offer it, is that correct?

 

[dlove28]

I can only assume that DVC members dont get to take advantage of the free dinning if they do offer it, is that correct?

Correct, FD is only eligible for guest who book 'regular' reservations through Disney. DVC members, their guests or those who rent their points are not eligible for FD.

 

[becky_AK]

We are also going September 25-October 6. I'm hoping for a discount or fd. We shall see...

 

[TDC Nala]

Correct, FD is only eligible for guest who book 'regular' reservations through Disney. DVC members, their guests or those who rent their points are not eligible for FD.

Not only that, but guests must book a specific type of reservation - a room/tickets package for at least 3 nights with at least 2 day park tickets. Free dining isn't available on a room-only reservation.

The only way to know for sure when there will be free dining is when Disney announces it.

 

[Overexcited]

We booked for September 17-24th, and really hoping for free dining. We upgraded from POP to CBR. If it is free dining as it has been offered the past few years it made sense to be at a moderate. It costs us only pennies more that the value upgraded from CS.
I hate not knowing, I plan out as many of you do for my meals. If they don't include my dates it will be a pain to change it!
We have all fingers and toes crossed here for Free Dining in September!!

 

[Tropical Wilds]

http://**************.net/2012/09/02/bounce-back-offer-hints-2013-free-dining-dates/

http://**************.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/2013-Free-Dining-Bounce-Back-Offer-MD.jpg

This was pulled from ASMu.

And it looks like FD is over for the end of the month, meaning there's no possible way those doing a BB for the marathon or for F&W's opening will be able to get FD. It doesn't surprise me as it's the end of August, middle of Sept that's slow. Because of the marathon and the start of F&W and the holiday weekend, the last week of Sept/first week of Oct is much busier. They don't need the FD to pull folks in. And historically speaking, FD was over by the time the end of Sept rolled around. Since F&W is early this year, all the dates on this make perfect sense.

THAT SAID, there was a FD bounceback for January-March last fall, but the promotion released to the general public for that time period were room discounts and Stay, Play, Dine. It's entirely possible that this is just a BB offer. It's in everybody's favor that Sept was the original free dining month, before it was widely expanded, but considering FD is going to be severely limited, if not eliminated, for at least the next few years... It's by no means a promise. If it were going to happen, I'd say the dates above would be a good barometer.

 

[Overexcited]

I saw that bounce back offer as well. Does anyone know how close the bounce back offers have historically been to the free dining offers announced throughout the year?