Any news on free dining going into October 2013?

[smitch425]

Thanks for all the good info here people.
Our vacation is from October 17th-24th and I have not recieved a pin for the free dining plan. My mother-in-law, who is going with us from the 17th-19th did recieve one, but Disney would not let her pay for us and get the free plan, so we have to wait till it goes to the general public. Even still, if it goes public I will have to split the vacation into 2 so that the "second" vacation starts on the 18th. Still worth it though for my wife, myself, and 5 girls!
Let's cross our fingers that it will be anounced in the next couple weeks, perhaps July 1st.

I would push the issue. I had a co-worker and my sister each get one and when I tried to redeem it for our trip they said they had to be travelling with us. So I would call and try to redeem it for yourself and then when they ask you if they will be travelling with you say yes.

to both of you!

The reason they will not let you use her PIN on your room is because she is not staying the minimum number of nights to use the PIN herself. The PIN requires a minimum 3 night stay. If she could extend her stay by two nights, you should be able to get it for both rooms.

 

[shopperaddictgirl]

My TA told me yesterday October 3-17 have been blackened out for free dining as of now. UNLESS a new promotion comes out. We are planning the Disney portion of our trip October 13-18.

 

[KathieSmallwood]

My TA told me yesterday October 3-17 have been blackened out for free dining as of now. UNLESS a new promotion comes out. We are planning the Disney portion of our trip October 13-18.

By blackened out do you mean there will be no free dining? Maybe because Columbus day is a busy time there?

 

[smitch425]

By blackened out do you mean there will be no free dining? Maybe because Columbus day is a busy time there?

Columbus Day is part of the reason, but the biggest reason is that those two weeks are school Fall Breaks in many districts across the country, and Disney doesn't need to offer deals during that time. Oct has had 2 weeks blocked out of FD for years.

 

[KathieSmallwood]

Columbus Day is part of the reason, but the biggest reason is that those two weeks are school Fall Breaks in many districts across the country, and Disney doesn't need to offer deals during that time. Oct has had 2 weeks blocked out of FD for years.

Oh okay, thank you. I'm still hoping for free dining for October 27th-Nov 3rd. Tried everything to get a pin code. Still hopeful

 

[smitch425]

Oh okay, thank you. I'm still hoping for free dining for October 27th-Nov 3rd. Tried everything to get a pin code. Still hopeful

We went that week last year and had public free dining. Fingers crossed for you! Be sure to pack some clothes for cool weather. Be prepared for all kinds of temps.

 

[KathieSmallwood]

We went that week last year and had public free dining. Fingers crossed for you! Be sure to pack some clothes for cool weather. Be prepared for all kinds of temps.

Thanks for the tip. Was wondering what kind of clothes to pack.

 

[RedStars]

Oh okay, thank you. I'm still hoping for free dining for October 27th-Nov 3rd. Tried everything to get a pin code. Still hopeful

We're going the same week. We went last year at the same time and had our choice between FD or room discount.

 

[KathieSmallwood]

We're going the same week. We went last year at the same time and had our choice between FD or room discount.

Even more hopeful now. I bet you had a great time

 

[akmebe]

We are still hoping here they offer free dining Oct 5-12 if not we will be rescheduling our trip to spring 2014 which will mean more research for me on spring Disney dates!

 

[hatch184]

We are still hoping here they offer free dining Oct 5-12 if not we will be rescheduling our trip to spring 2014 which will mean more research for me on spring Disney dates!

I am going sept 29-oct 7. I called Disney to ask about the free dining because they had it for the period right before I was going. I told them I really wanted to stay with them but that if I didn't get the free dining I wasn't going to be able to. They gave it to me without any problem. Call see what they say can't hurt.

 

[DisFan2]

Columbus Day is part of the reason, but the biggest reason is that those two weeks are school Fall Breaks in many districts across the country, and Disney doesn't need to offer deals during that time. Oct has had 2 weeks blocked out of FD for years.

Disappointing - although I've been pricing it out and presuming we get a room discount, the loss of "free" dining won't be as significant an impact on the wallet as I had first thought. In 2011 we went from October 3 - 15 and fell within the
free dining window. Was hoping our trip this year (October 5 - 15) would have worked out with the FD promotion too.

I am going sept 29-oct 7. I called Disney to ask about the free dining because they had it for the period right before I was going. I told them I really wanted to stay with them but that if I didn't get the free dining I wasn't going to be able to. They gave it to me without any problem. Call see what they say can't hurt.

This seems.... unlikely.

 

[smitch425]

I am going sept 29-oct 7. I called Disney to ask about the free dining because they had it for the period right before I was going. I told them I really wanted to stay with them but that if I didn't get the free dining I wasn't going to be able to. They gave it to me without any problem. Call see what they say can't hurt.

Awesome! There have been a lot of people posting similar stories lately.

 

[TwistGrl101]

Very interesting...I was speaking to a mother on the playground who told me she is going on free dining last week of Aug, and I told her there is no free dining that week. She told me she called and said there has been free dining the last week of August the last couple times she has gone, and she can't go without it....they offered her the free dining for that week.
She told me to call and say the same thing, but I just yessed her to death because I didn't believe her. But now others are posting similar stories...hmm...

 

[artesian]

Curious then has there been any free dining into the first dining into the first two weeks of Nov?

 

[pigletto]

Very interesting...I was speaking to a mother on the playground who told me she is going on free dining last week of Aug, and I told her there is no free dining that week. She told me she called and said there has been free dining the last week of August the last couple times she has gone, and she can't go without it....they offered her the free dining for that week.
She told me to call and say the same thing, but I just yessed her to death because I didn't believe her. But now others are posting similar stories...hmm...

It's very likely she had a pincode attached to her name when she called. It's also likely that castmembers are using codes they aren't supposed to be using to get the booking.

 

[Overexcited]

I am going sept 29-oct 7. I called Disney to ask about the free dining because they had it for the period right before I was going. I told them I really wanted to stay with them but that if I didn't get the free dining I wasn't going to be able to. They gave it to me without any problem. Call see what they say can't hurt.

My parents went a few years ago planning ahead for free dinning. They announced all sorts of dates but theirs. I called and they have them a discount, did not equal free dinning but it took a good chunk off the dinning costs.

 

[Disneylifeforme]

I had someone tell me today they got an email saying that lots of weeks of free dinning where gonna be available from September through December

 

[DisneyLover0610]

Because you can book the September offer through 7/31, does that mean they won't announce any potential special offer until August for fall travel? We are booked for 10/18-10/25 and I'd love for free dining or a room only discount!
Thanks!

 

[skier_pete]

It's very likely she had a pincode attached to her name when she called.

It's also likely that castmembers are using codes they aren't supposed to be using to get the booking.

While the first is a possibility, the second is NOT likely at all. They are NOT allowed to offer discounts just to get people to book. If this is happening and people are being allowed to book outside the free dining window, it is being done with 100 % consent from Disney.

While this "invisible" discount is rare - it is not unheard of in the history of the walt disney company. It could well be that Disney has decided to allow CM the flexibility of offering FD outside the window to get people to book.