Free Dining Fall 2015? (and a whole lot more)

[Aubrav]

Ugh. Adding PH to our tickets is almost $350 for something I have no use for. I was really hoping that was off base, but now it is looking more likely. I'm also surprised and disappointed that a 6 night stay is going to be required. My mom was going to come with us (separate room and reservation) for part of the trip, but not for 6 days I am definitely doing some number crunching tonight!

I don't think there is a 6 night minimum. I thought I read they just advertise it that way to encourage ideal bookings.

 

[5kidsmommy]

Ugh!! Went to price an extra night out. Of course standard room is no longer available. I am just glad for what we have.

 

[lauracitawita]

So, does it look like people staying at moderates will have to get a preferred room in order to qualify for free dining? I'm trying to keep up with all the info!!! Fortunately for us we were already planning on ph's. if the rumor is true I feel badly for all of you that don't want It.

 

[Meldev]

Correct me if I'm wrong, and I know that everyone's situation is different, but if you are looking at only the difference in cost between Park Hopper and no Park Hopper, you're talking $68 per person for ticket packages of 2 days or more, right? So that would be a cost of $68 for food for your entire stay vs. paying out of pocket. Obviously you would have to compare that to other discounts especially if you are staying in a more expensive resort but a flat rate of $68 per person seems like a decent deal with significant savings.

I mean, that's going to add $273 to our package that we weren't planning on spending, but we couldn't eat out of pocket for $273 for 10 days at Disney for 4 people. Instead of looking at it as a Park Hopper upgrade, I look at it as a dining plan discount with free park hopper (yes, I've been thinking a lot about this new rumor). I think our dining plan would cost $1200 so that's almost an 80% discount. Even without the dining plan at all $273 is much less than we would spend out of pocket.

Yes math still makes sense - it initially its hard to swallow being that we'll very Likely not use hoppers and we're a party of six.

 

[G719]

I am wondering too if they will skip the early booking for card members. So let's say the offer is live Monday for all to book online. When would that be available? Midnight? 6 am? 7am? And if it's available to book online, you should be able to modify your own reservation and choose the special offer if it is available for your current set up. Hmmm.

 

[unwritten01]

Yes math still makes sense - it initially its hard to swallow being that we'll very Likely not use hoppers and we're a party of six.

I like your positive attitude, Meldev!

 

[Aubrav]

Yes math still makes sense - it initially its hard to swallow being that we'll very Likely not use hoppers and we're a party of six.

I liked it better when the rumor included the water parks and more option instead.

 

[Dislover1991]

Correct me if I'm wrong, and I know that everyone's situation is different, but if you are looking at only the difference in cost between Park Hopper and no Park Hopper, you're talking $68 per person for ticket packages of 2 days or more, right? So that would be a cost of $68 for food for your entire stay vs. paying out of pocket. Obviously you would have to compare that to other discounts especially if you are staying in a more expensive resort but a flat rate of $68 per person seems like a decent deal with significant savings.

I mean, that's going to add $273 to our package that we weren't planning on spending, but we couldn't eat out of pocket for $273 for 10 days at Disney for 4 people. Instead of looking at it as a Park Hopper upgrade, I look at it as a dining plan discount with free park hopper (yes, I've been thinking a lot about this new rumor). I think our dining plan would cost $1200 so that's almost an 80% discount. Even without the dining plan at all $273 is much less than we would spend out of pocket.

That's exactly how we look at it. While we prefer to do one park per day, $68 for each of us is worth it for free dining. The dining is an extra $1530 for us whereas the park hoppers add $195

 

[hmvp]

Hi. What time might it go live? This mon us the first mon i have to work. Ugh.think there is any truth to being able to change reservation online? Id hate to have to wait till 7 am and b on hold.....

 

[sarahplus4disneymom]

Hi... I was gone for a couple of hours and it exploded...
Can some kind person recap really quickly for me???
Also,
Did anyone notice on the Disney website there are now special offers for fall online for military.??? I don't remember those before, do you?

 

[Aubrav]

Recap: a free dining offer showed up in a banner ad for someone showing free dining with park hopper tickets. The link just went to the Disney booking page but it might be an early sign for the offer.

 

[scard192]

Hi. What time might it go live? This mon us the first mon i have to work. Ugh.think there is any truth to being able to change reservation online? Id hate to have to wait till 7 am and b on hold.....

You have to call to book the Disney Visa offer, can't do it on line.

 

[sarahplus4disneymom]

Recap: a free dining offer showed up in a banner ad for someone showing free dining with park hopper tickets. The link just went to the Disney booking page but it might be an early sign for the offer.

Thanks!!!
I'm so bummed that this ph thing looks to be true
If I have to spend the money I hope we can do the water park passes instead. Do you think they would interchange this???

 

[minerva78]

Still hoping the park hopper requirement is not true It's really of no use to us and really doesn't become much a value then.

I get it, extra money for them without any added cost. A way to keep free dining available? I would have much rather seen a requirement for like photopass. Something we would use.

With the parties at MK and earlier park closing hours at the other parks that time of the year I can't understand the use of them for our family.

But that's the thing, if they make paying for photopass a requirement, then they run the risk of people actually using it to its fullest, which wouldn't be economical for them. However PH costs them absolutely nothing if people use it to its fullest. If I step back and look at all of this objectively, it's absolutely genius for Disney. Someone in marketing got a nice raise for coming up with this idea, lol.

As far as this still being a deal, because adding PH still costs less than dining in most scenarios, that definitely is true. But for some of us, a main reason we are even able to consider an onsite trip is because the FD promotion had the potential to being just as economical as staying offsite. We also may have a certain budget we are trying not to exceed. That's the camp I'm in. While I would LOVE to stay onsite, I know I would be just as happy to stay offsite in 2 BR timeshare resort for the space, the cost, and because I wouldn't feel like I'd need to be in the parks every second. I'm trying to stay within a certain budget, and FD, if it occurred with similar dates and stipulations as last year, could have potentially fit in with my budget. But when they start decreasing December dates, possibly cutting off FD after certain dates, and add PH as a requirement, suddenly this starts getting out of my budget! Which is annoying. It's definitely still a better deal than paying full price for dining, but since I had no intention on doing that anyhow, it isn't as much of a deal for me - that's just me. But for someone who was going to Disney during certain dates and stay onsite regardless of the promotion, it is still a good deal! For some of the rest of us, we just have a lot more to figure out. A lot of it is deciding if I'd rather have a short trip onsite or a longer trip (which I prefer) offsite. I'd still like to stay onsite, but I want to stay within my budget, so I'm trying to figure out if there is a way for that to happen without too short of a trip. I still plan to have a magical time regardless.

 

[wdw4rfam]

Correct me if I'm wrong, and I know that everyone's situation is different, but if you are looking at only the difference in cost between Park Hopper and no Park Hopper, you're talking $68 per person for ticket packages of 2 days or more, right? So that would be a cost of $68 for food for your entire stay vs. paying out of pocket. Obviously you would have to compare that to other discounts especially if you are staying in a more expensive resort but a flat rate of $68 per person seems like a decent deal with significant savings.

I mean, that's going to add $273 to our package that we weren't planning on spending, but we couldn't eat out of pocket for $273 for 10 days at Disney for 4 people. Instead of looking at it as a Park Hopper upgrade, I look at it as a dining plan discount with free park hopper (yes, I've been thinking a lot about this new rumor). I think our dining plan would cost $1200 so that's almost an 80% discount. Even without the dining plan at all $273 is much less than we would spend out of pocket.

I will give you my situation to show how it is more for us. We have 6 booked at ASMO with a military discount through SOG for 20%. We have 2 rooms. We would have to go up to a moderate or pay $100 per night to upgrade the dining from QS to regular dining plus lose the $600 discount we have now. That's already $1600. Now add $64 x6 and we are now paying $2000 extra for FREE dining. We would also have to switch to a resort that we didn't really want to stay at or pay even more to upgrade to CBR because there is no standard rooms left. For $2000 we would rather stay at our preferred resort and pay OOP for food. We don't eat dessert with lunch anyways and do a lot of breakfasts, so we figured we would spend less than $2000 anyways. But for $1600 is was tempting because it would have saved a little, but for us that $400 puts us at our original price at the resort we wanted.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey]

Well, my family was going to do December, however, if these rumors turn out to be true, we will be pushing our trip up to November. At least with the new dates, we would still see some Christmas decorations and we would hit the last week of food and wine.

Oh and Happy Birthday Smitch!

 

[aaarcher86]

Never knew 2 water park visits were included! This is our first year not getting the water park and more option, so good to know

Edit to add: I'm not seeing the water park admissions on the Magic Your Way page listing.

You're right. Looks like the rest is valid.

I wonder if I made it up in my head or if it used to be included? Lol

 

[Aubrav]

But that's the thing, if they make paying for photopass a requirement, then they run the risk of people actually using it to its fullest, which wouldn't be economical for them. However PH costs them absolutely nothing if people use it to its fullest. If I step back and look at all of this objectively, it's absolutely genius for Disney. Someone in marketing got a nice raise for coming up with this idea, lol.

Exactly

 

[Aubrav]

I will give you my situation to show how it is more for us. We have 6 booked at ASMO with a military discount through SOG for 20%. We have 2 rooms. We would have to go up to a moderate or pay $100 per night to upgrade the dining from QS to regular dining plus lose the $600 discount we have now. That's already $1600. Now add $64 x6 and we are now paying $2000 extra for FREE dining. We would also have to switch to a resort that we didn't really want to stay at or pay even more to upgrade to CBR because there is no standard rooms left. For $2000 we would rather stay at our preferred resort and pay OOP for food. We don't eat dessert with lunch anyways and do a lot of breakfasts, so we figured we would spend less than $2000 anyways. But for $1600 is was tempting because it would have saved a little, but for us that $400 puts us at our original price at the resort we wanted.

What would the price difference be if you stuck with a value resort package and just did quick service?

 

[Just Love Disney]

I am 17 pages behind so I hope someone can help me out.

From glancing quickly at the thread, it appears that PH is going to be required for FD. We always buy the PH so not a big deal there. Is it a 6 night minimum requirement? And what are the latest rumored dates that this will go live? Also, any new rumors about when/if DV will book before GP or is it now speculated that it will happen on the same day? Can everything be booked/modified online instead of calling in? If DV is booking first, is it still via telephone (as opposed to online)? And last, if planning on staying at CBR, is there a required room level that has to be booked (ie, standard, , garden, preferred, etc.)?

TIA for your help