Free Dining 2013

[TheDisney411]

While I agree with you completely too bad everyone else does not feel that way. If the current demand continues they'd have no reason not to increase them even more.

Well, I guess if we were taking a once in a lifetime trip to WDW, maybe I would pay the premium price for those super cute suites, but we go at least once per year and I need to conserve our vacation dollars for the other trips we want to take - while still fitting in my annual or biannual WDW fix ;-)

 

[disfamily3]

ARGH!!! I guess I will be up early with the rest of you all!!!

 

[TheDisney411]

I have a couple of questions:

1)I have in the past had a Disney Visa. If I apply for one tomorrow and it is approved (was instantly last time) can I get the early booking for FD?

2)My in laws are traveling with us and right now we have 2 connecting rooms at Pop. From what I can tell we may be better off in a cabin at Ft Wilderness to not have to pay the upgrade? Is this correct or am I missing something? We have 4 adults, dd7 and ds5.

Thanks!

They usually release rooms for the DV FD promo and for the GP DV promo. You will have to have the DV card number to pay the minimum $200 deposit/payment.

Even with having to pay the dining plan upgrade cost with the rooms at Pop, it would still cost you roughly $30 more per night to stay at the Ft. Wilderness cabins. And if you stay at the cabins you will only have 1 bathroom and that would be the deal breaker for me, plus it would cost you more. Personally, I much prefer Pop over the cabins anyway - the cabins are in desperate need of some updating.

 

[TheDisney411]

Here is my dilemma....We are currently booked Sept. 1-6 at POR....will I have to call Monday morning and book one night for the 1st and then 2-6 to get the free dining? Just pay one nights room....and then book the package (tickets & room+ free dining hopefully) for the rest of the stay?

That's correct, you will need to do a room only reservation on September 1 and start your package reservation on September 2. Make sure they link the reservations in the system, so hopefully you can simply go down to the front desk and check in for the package reservation and not have to move/change rooms.

 

[Joanna & Hunters Mom]

They usually release rooms for the DV FD promo and for the GP DV promo. You will have to have the DV card number to pay the minimum $200 deposit/payment.

Even with having to pay the dining plan upgrade cost with the rooms at Pop, it would still cost you roughly $30 more per night to stay at the Ft. Wilderness cabins. And if you stay at the cabins you will only have 1 bathroom and that would be the deal breaker for me, plus it would cost you more. Personally, I much prefer Pop over the cabins anyway - the cabins are in desperate need of some updating.

Thanks for your advice. Do you know what the cost is per adult and per child to upgrade this year? We upgraded last year because we stayed at pop and I can't remember the cost.

 

[TheDisney411]

Thanks for your advice. Do you know what the cost is per adult and per child to upgrade this year? We upgraded last year because we stayed at pop and I can't remember the cost.

About $18 per adult and about $3 per child, so about $78 per day for your group. 2 rooms at Pop is about $200 per night and 1 cabin is about $315 per night.

 

[Mrs Grumpy]

That's correct, you will need to do a room only reservation on September 1 and start your package reservation on September 2. Make sure they link the reservations in the system, so hopefully you can simply go down to the front desk and check in for the package reservation and not have to move/change rooms.

We will have to do the exact same thing also staying at POR. Our trip is 9/1-9/11

 

[DanenRox]

OK guilty. Haven't read the previous 48 pages worth of posts. I DO know that those in the know know that Free dining will be offered for September 2013 dates as of tomorrow. Is it a general public discount that "they" anticipate will be offered? Or will we have to wait out the Florida Resident discounts, the Visa card discounts, the Your Mother's Name is Irene discounts before it goes public?

 

[DisneyMom5]

Here is my dilemma....We are currently booked Sept. 1-6 at POR....will I have to call Monday morning and book one night for the 1st and then 2-6 to get the free dining? Just pay one nights room....and then book the package (tickets & room+ free dining hopefully) for the rest of the stay?

That's what we're doing. And hoping for a room-only discount for the first night!

 

[smitch425]

OK guilty. Haven't read the previous 48 pages worth of posts. I DO know that those in the know know that Free dining will be offered for September 2013 dates as of tomorrow. Is it a general public discount that "they" anticipate will be offered? Or will we have to wait out the Florida Resident discounts, the Visa card discounts, the Your Mother's Name is Irene discounts before it goes public?

It goes public on Thursday, May 9. If the Visa holders get it tomorrow, the Visa release will list the date that it goes to the public. You will be able to see the deal at this site if it is released tomorrow, but it might not show up online until late morning or early afternoon...

www.disneyrewards.com/offers

 

[black562]

It goes public on Thursday, May 9. If the Visa holders get it tomorrow, the Visa release will list the date that it goes to the public. You will be able to see the deal at this site if it is released tomorrow, but it might not show up online until late morning or early afternoon...

www.disneyrewards.com/offers

Keep in mind that the visa dates are never really leaked. All we know in the leaks is the public offer. We do know that visa generally gets three or more days advance on bookings, hence tomorrows date. The summer offer got five days in fact. Could they throw us a curve and not do it til Tuesday, sure. It's not likely bit tomorrow isn't 100% like Thursday. But if you're the first to call in and they know nothing, make sure you have them check because many times its in a memo and they just haven't had time to read it yet.

 

[plutospalforever]

Well, I guess if we were taking a once in a lifetime trip to WDW, maybe I would pay the premium price for those super cute suites, but we go at least once per year and I need to conserve our vacation dollars for the other trips we want to take - while still fitting in my annual or biannual WDW fix ;-)

While I agree with you completely too bad everyone else does not feel that way. If the current demand continues they'd have no reason not to increase them even more.

Totally agree with you both, but I must admit I fell for the cuteness; but only this once! I debated back and forth for weeks between two connecting rooms at Pop or AoA suites. I am a coupon cutting-budget planning mom and I really struggled with paying all that extra for the cute factor. In the end I went with my heart ONLY because we had extra funds in the Disney budget...have not been in 2 years! (I know it is killing me!). But I am thinking that once the newness of AoA wears off, it won't be as popular. I know the next time we go, we will be getting to connecting rooms at a Value! Really, my kids don't care where we stay as long as we are seeing the Mouse; I guess it was more mom.

 

[black562]

Guys. I thought I'd do my due diligence and pass this along. As 411 has mentioned before, they haven't done this in the past and I've not know them to do this lately either. But I thought I'd share a quote from one source that was sent to me privately. Take it for what it's worth and a grain of salt as always.

I hope we don't have to wait a few more days....it's just killing everyone.

"Joe, I've been told that lately deals have opened outside the US first, then to Disney Visa, and then to the US general public. So if it works this way, and May 9 is indeed the "rest of world" date, then the visa deal may be at the end of next week, and the general public deal May 13 or so."


Oh and Disney411, your message box is full.

 

[lucynme]

Ok, here's one for ya...I am booked at POFQ (rack rates) for Sept27-Oct6. Deposit was NOT made with my DV, but have one). I am thinking about extending my stay by 2 days so I can take advantage of FD, checking in on Set25. If I call tomorrow, and use my DV to book early, will I lose my $200 deposit, or will I be able to just add that non-disney payment to my package?

 

[smitch425]

Ok, here's one for ya...I am booked at POFQ (rack rates) for Sept27-Oct6. Deposit was NOT made with my DV, but have one). I am thinking about extending my stay by 2 days so I can take advantage of FD, checking in on Set25. If I call tomorrow, and use my DV to book early, will I lose my $200 deposit, or will I be able to just add that non-disney payment to my package?

You will not lose anything. You will just have to make a $200 payment toward your existing package (which they will modify to checking in the 25th) with your DV.

However, read the post above yours for info regarding the deal.

 

[DebbiePMN]

Guys. I thought I'd do my due diligence and pass this along. As 411 has mentioned before, they haven't done this in the past and I've not know them to do this lately either. But I thought I'd share a quote from one source that was sent to me privately. Take it for what it's worth and a grain of salt as always.

I hope we don't have to wait a few more days....it's just killing everyone.

"Joe, I've been told that lately deals have opened outside the US first, then to Disney Visa, and then to the US general public. So if it works this way, and May 9 is indeed the "rest of world" date, then the visa deal may be at the end of next week, and the general public deal May 13 or so."


Oh and Disney411, your message box is full.

sooooooo...... with this information, what are people going to do now??? still call at 7 a.m. - 6 a.m. my time?

and, I'm still going back and forth between staying at the All Star Sports which I already have had booked since January and just try to add the free dining, or try to switch to the Little Mermaid at the AOA, if that is offered. We have two rooms, not connecting rooms. But the walk from the room at the sports to the food area, and the walk from the LM rooms to the food area is much longer.... and after walking at the theme parks all day... it looks like a much longer walk. Oh the decisions......

By the way, I'm loving having this site/thread to share thoughts and get ideas from with other Disney loving people.

 

[black562]

sooooooo...... with this information, what are people going to do now??? still call at 7 a.m. - 6 a.m. my time?

and, I'm still going back and forth between staying at the All Star Sports which I already have had booked since January and just try to add the free dining, or try to switch to the Little Mermaid at the AOA, if that is offered. We have two rooms, not connecting rooms. But the walk from the room at the sports to the food area, and the walk from the LM rooms to the food area is much longer.... and after walking at the theme parks all day... it looks like a much longer walk. Oh the decisions......

By the way, I'm loving having this site/thread to share thoughts and get ideas from with other Disney loving people.

Well if you remember back when I first posted the dates in the other thread, I mentioned South America and at least left open the possibility of the dates being either the same or off by a week. If however the public date would be the 13th then that would make the visa date the 9th. Stranger things have happened and again as a few of us posted from the beginning, if this took place it would be the first time they've ever done an offer to to South America that didn't include the US on the same dates.

 

[plutospalforever]

sooooooo...... with this information, what are people going to do now??? still call at 7 a.m. - 6 a.m. my time?

and, I'm still going back and forth between staying at the All Star Sports which I already have had booked since January and just try to add the free dining, or try to switch to the Little Mermaid at the AOA, if that is offered. We have two rooms, not connecting rooms. But the walk from the room at the sports to the food area, and the walk from the LM rooms to the food area is much longer.... and after walking at the theme parks all day... it looks like a much longer walk. Oh the decisions......

By the way, I'm loving having this site/thread to share thoughts and get ideas from with other Disney loving people.

Hi! We have stayed at All-Star Sports several times and it is my favorite of the AS's. If this is important to you, it always seems less crowded there and the seating area at the food court is much larger and more comfortable-more booth seating. Good luck! I know the agony of those decisions.

 

[DebbiePMN]

Hi! We have stayed at All-Star Sports several times and it is my favorite of the AS's. If this is important to you, it always seems less crowded there and the seating area at the food court is much larger and more comfortable-more booth seating. Good luck! I know the agony of those decisions.

Thanks. We've stayed at all three All-Star hotels. And yes, we really like them too. But the new AOA and the themes look soooo fun! Thanks for your support!!

 

[Meghoya]

Well if you remember back when I first posted the dates in the other thread, I mentioned South America and at least left open the possibility of the dates being either the same or off by a week. If however the public date would be the 13th then that would make the visa date the 9th. Stranger things have happened and again as a few of us posted from the beginning, if this took place it would be the first time they've ever done an offer to to South America that didn't include the US on the same dates.

Thanks for keeping us informed. At least I won't panic if I call tomorrow and they say no, but I'm really not looking forward to a week of stress and being on hold hoping it's the right day to call. I really hope 411 was right and the DV dates get leaked the night before, so tonight!

Everyone please keep us posted here if you call in the morning! I plan to try (unless more info comes out saying not to bother).