Free Dining 2013

[Meghoya]

Thank you!

 

[black562]

Hello, I am brand new at this Forum!!
I am looking forward to the forum and all the valuable info that I can see is already here.
I am traveling to DW on Sept 16- 22 and then departing for the DIsney Cruise!
So as of May 9, we are are 90% sure they will be offering the FD.
That will be a huge savings since we are doing DW and the cruise this time!

Thanks for your info on this!

More like 99.625%...LOL.

Do you have a Disney Visa?

 

[tnmomof4kiddos]

Thank you thank you! So much help already!
Yes, I have 4 kids, and one set of grandparents is for sure joining us. So, we will have 8 total in our party. We were thinking about doing 2 adjoining rooms and letting one set of kids stay with the grandparents to budget correctly. My teen eats a ton of food, and always wants to order expensively. My 5 year old is constantly hungry. I know we need some sort of food budget. I like the idea of paying ahead, so this would make me comfortable.

 

[plutospalforever]

Thank you thank you! So much help already!
Yes, I have 4 kids, and one set of grandparents is for sure joining us. So, we will have 8 total in our party. We were thinking about doing 2 adjoining rooms and letting one set of kids stay with the grandparents to budget correctly. My teen eats a ton of food, and always wants to order expensively. My 5 year old is constantly hungry. I know we need some sort of food budget. I like the idea of paying ahead, so this would make me comfortable.

Make sure you ask for connecting rooms if you want an interior door between the rooms. Adjoining is two separate rooms side by side. Disney can not always guarantee this, but going at less busy time of year is usually no problem.

 

[ean]

We got an offer here in South America from our local travel agent offering Free Dining plans for those traveling to Disney on September 2013... I will try to get more details about if it was for value hotels or moderates only. So maybe it's coming soon to you guys.

 

[monorailrabbit]

Oh Mylanta! Free Dining?! For REAL?! (I know, I know... 99.9999% for real, but still... ) Ok, so prob a silly question - I have never had an existing ressie and had to change over to free dining, so i just want to make sure of a few things: I know you don't have to rebook or anything, but I'm wondering if the price changes at all? For example, we booked waaaay back and now the price for the same room (Pop) for the same dates (Sept 8-14, woot!) is like $200 more today than when we booked it. (I hope that makes sense) We won't have to pay the difference in price since we are changing to FD will we? Since we have a bunch paid off, will we just get a credit taken off our remaining balance? Also, do I need to worry about Pop getting filled out pretty fast? Or is it more of a nail-bitter for the folks who want AOA? Thanks everyone!

 

[TheDisney411]

Thank you thank you! So much help already!
Yes, I have 4 kids, and one set of grandparents is for sure joining us. So, we will have 8 total in our party. We were thinking about doing 2 adjoining rooms and letting one set of kids stay with the grandparents to budget correctly. My teen eats a ton of food, and always wants to order expensively. My 5 year old is constantly hungry. I know we need some sort of food budget. I like the idea of paying ahead, so this would make me comfortable.

You will have to call and book over the phone, you can not book 2 connecting rooms on the WDW website. Also, you need to specifically ask for 2 connecting rooms. Connecting and adjoining rooms mean two totally different rooms in the Disney reservation a system - connecting means 2 rooms with a door in between and adjoining means next to or close to. We have a large family and we always get 2 connecting rooms at a value resort during free dining and always upgrade from the quick service plan to the regular plan. It's worth the minimal monetary upgrade per person to get $2000 worth of food and be able to eat at all of our favorite restaurants and character meals.

 

[TheDisney411]

Oh Mylanta! Free Dining?! For REAL?! (I know, I know... 99.9999% for real, but still... ) Ok, so prob a silly question - I have never had an existing ressie and had to change over to free dining, so i just want to make sure of a few things: I know you don't have to rebook or anything, but I'm wondering if the price changes at all? For example, we booked waaaay back and now the price for the same room (Pop) for the same dates (Sept 8-14, woot!) is like $200 more today than when we booked it. (I hope that makes sense) We won't have to pay the difference in price since we are changing to FD will we? Since we have a bunch paid off, will we just get a credit taken off our remaining balance? Also, do I need to worry about Pop getting filled out pretty fast? Or is it more of a nail-bitter for the folks who want AOA? Thanks everyone!

The value resorts get the quick service dining, so if you want the regular dining plan, you will have to pay the difference to upgrade. Other than that you should not be charged anything more and they will simply credit you the difference to your total.

Not that it will happen the first day, but in the past, the Port Orleans 5 person rooms usually sell out first, followed by preferred rooms at Pop, then preferred rooms at All-Star Movies, then standard rooms at Pop and standard rooms at Movies. But it can vary some from year to year, some resorts will have availability the entire time the offer is open for booking.

 

[mom18]

So when's everyone planning to go? I'm planning on September 6-14 and my dining reservations have already been made.

We are going Sept 25-Oct 6, already booked LM room..just waiting on dining and will possibly switch to pop or movies. Dining reservations are made as well, about a month ago..
It can't come soon enough!!

 

[monorailrabbit]

The value resorts get the quick service dining, so if you want the regular dining plan, you will have to pay the difference to upgrade. Other than that you should not be charged anything more and they will simply credit you the difference to your total.

Oh yes, I knew that part, we just paid the difference to get the Dining plan (with TS) last year I just wanted to make sure they weren't going to look at it and go dang, you got a sweet price when you booked, but since prices have increased and you are making a change, you need to pay the current rate for your package before we can add FD...

 

[LOVEMY3KIDDOS]

I was just trying to pass the time and then made a joke when someone had an issue and everything exploded. But I don't think that was what started it, I think it was brewing all along because others were getting some attention...if you know what I mean.

Well....not necessary...I don't feel like you or anyone else did anything other than try to help people hence the reason I'm here now...ahhhhh....the peace and quiet!!

 

[black562]

So let me sum up a few thoughts in one place just to cover bases.

First, as I've always said, nothing is 100%...no matter who says it is. In prior leaks there have been mistakes with date ranges and a host of other things. This is precisely why I don't and will never tell anyone to make any kind of non-refundable changes before the official announcement. There have been others who tell folks to make flight changes and that's just dangerous.

While the mistakes in date ranges of the past went by mostly unnoticed because of everyone's excitement on the day of booking, this time would certainly be different. If these dates moved even by a day, there are a few people that may be angry that they spent money unnecessarily. So again, nothing 100%, if May 6 comes and nothing happens...don't panic. If May 9 comes and nothing happens, don't panic just yet. If that were to happen, quite a few of us would be all over it....then we could all panic if need be.

To bring you up to speed, the original leak came based on an offer for South America and Europe, which included the Sept. 2-25 dates to begin booking on May 9, with QS for Values and DDP for Mod/Deluxe. I suggested that the US offer would either mirror this or drop one week later on the 16th(which was one of the two original predicted dates that were floating around if you remember).

This quickly made the jump to being offered on the 9th for the US as well, based on several things....one of which is the historical trend that Disney411 and I posted concerning Disney not doing offers only for these groups. While they have and continue to do special offers for the UK, and sometimes Canada, South America doesn't get the same treatment (for many reasons). Hence the quick turnaround from a possible free dining situation, to a 99% firm US offer alongside the South American/European.

If this sounds crazy and confusing, then welcome to our world...and while it's fun to keep tabs on this sort of thing and ease people's minds, I would never ever advocate anyone spending a dime that wasn't refundable until the official announcement by Disney.

So there it is in a nutshell, and I hope I typed that good enough for everyone to understand. I'm not out to hide things or string things along...I'd rather just put it out there and let folks see it for what it is.

So...now I say...Don't Panic

 

[Malibustyle23]

The value resorts get the quick service dining, so if you want the regular dining plan, you will have to pay the difference to upgrade. Other than that you should not be charged anything more and they will simply credit you the difference to your total.

Not that it will happen the first day, but in the past, the Port Orleans 5 person rooms usually sell out first, followed by preferred rooms at Pop, then preferred rooms at All-Star Movies, then standard rooms at Pop and standard rooms at Movies. But it can vary some from year to year, some resorts will have availability the entire time the offer is open for booking.

Are you sure? And you may be absolutely correct, I don't know but I thought if you were adding any discounts, fd, etc to a package then you'd have to pay any increases in room rates, ticket fees, etc. While they'd have to pay the $xxx difference between the original booking to the updated current one the FD discount would definitely give a larger discount worth taking.

Again not trying to offend or upset I just thought that I had read that somewhere and wanted to be sure.

 

[black562]

Are you sure? And you may be absolutely correct, I don't know but I thought if you were adding any discounts, fd, etc to a package then you'd have to pay any increases in room rates, ticket fees, etc. While they'd have to pay the $xxx difference between the original booking to the updated current one the FD discount would definitely give a larger discount worth taking.

Again not trying to offend or upset I just thought that I had read that somewhere and wanted to be sure.

Not sure what you're asking exactly, but basically you're paying rack rate for room and buying your tickets to get the free dining. That's the trade off for free dining, no room discount. But for many, the free dining saves far more...it's one of those things where you just have to do the math.

 

[Malibustyle23]

Not sure what you're asking exactly, but basically you're paying rack rate for room and buying your tickets to get the free dining. That's the trade off for free dining, no room discount. But for many, the free dining saves far more...it's one of those things where you just have to do the math.

Can you check out Monorailrabbit's question up higher. If they already booked a packaged a long time ago before ticket increases, etc and now add fd do they have to pay the current increased rate difference for their package.

I thought they would 411 thought they wouldn't. Your thoughts?

 

[black562]

Can you check out Monorailrabbit's question up higher. If they already booked a packaged a long time ago before ticket increases, etc and now add fd do they have to pay the current increased rate difference for their package.

I thought they would 411 thought they wouldn't. Your thoughts?

I could be wrong, but I'm fairly sure I've heard folks say that the ticket increases were charged. This however could have been people that had room-only reservations and were converting to a package, so I'm not certain. Either way, I don't think it would be a significant difference in the grand scheme of things.

Edit: I see the poster is talking about more than tickets. That sounds tricky and a bit more complicated. That one may come down to how cool and good the CM is who's doing the booking.

 

[monorailrabbit]

I could be wrong, but I'm fairly sure I've heard folks say that the ticket increases were charged. This however could have been people that had room-only reservations and were converting to a package, so I'm not certain. Either way, I don't think it would be a significant difference in the grand scheme of things.

Edit: I see the poster is talking about more than tickets. That sounds tricky and a bit more complicated. That one may come down to how cool and good the CM is who's doing the booking.

Well poo, now I am totally confused... Ok, to clarify... (maybe this will clear things up for a bunch of us) In December, I booked a Magic Your Way (including Dining) for $1600 (pulling numbers out the air, btw) now, if I book the same package (add dining and all that like before) it will cost me $1900. So... will they just say, well since your dining before added $400 to your MYW package you get that back as credit? OR will they say well, since the prices have increased since you last booked, I can add the Free Dining but, you need to pay the difference in package prices first? I hope that makes a little more sense?

 

[Lehuaann]

Can you check out Monorailrabbit's question up higher. If they already booked a packaged a long time ago before ticket increases, etc and now add fd do they have to pay the current increased rate difference for their package.

I thought they would 411 thought they wouldn't. Your thoughts?

In my experience the answer is - no, you do not.

I was able to add the FD code to a pre-existing package reservation last year and did not have to pay any room/ticket rate increases.

 

[nat1234]

I'm booked to go Sept 22-Sept 30th, staying at POR with dining. All our ADR's are made. We're going whether there's free dining or not but FD would make it just that bit sweeter. Come on May 9th. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[black562]

Well poo, now I am totally confused... Ok, to clarify... (maybe this will clear things up for a bunch of us) In December, I booked a Magic Your Way (including Dining) for $1600 (pulling numbers out the air, btw) now, if I book the same package (add dining and all that like before) it will cost me $1900. So... will they just say, well since your dining before added $400 to your MYW package you get that back as credit? OR will they say well, since the prices have increased since you last booked, I can add the Free Dining but, you need to pay the difference in package prices first? I hope that makes a little more sense?

Ok I gotcha now. You should be fine but under no circumstances do you let a CM cancel that resie. If they don't understand what you're doing then ask for someone else. I'd say as long as you hang on to what you have, they should just drop the charge for dining right off.

Now please be sure and report back to let us know how it all went.