2011 Free Dining is Extended! New dates as of 8/3

[JoRee326]

Disney Reservations will open at 7 a.m. EST, that would be the earliest you can book.

 

[disbudd]

we are now booked for oct 21-nov 1....will we get free dining for the first two days or only from the 23 onward?

 

[smitch425]

we are now booked for oct 21-nov 1....will we get free dining for the first two days or only from the 23 onward?

You will need to book a room only reservation for the first two nights and then book a package with tickets to get the free dining from the 23-1. You can leave your park ticket selection the same and pick them up early at certain locations. Check out Cheshire Figment's ticket sticky for locations.

 

[Parla]

We picked this week as well and have everything booked and ready to go...so no looking back now...why do you think they chose to black out these dates? Looked like low numbers on touring plans...we had free dining for these dates two years ago...was hoping for the same!

The AAA TA thought there was some kind of conference going on. She was extremely shocked when we went to book our trip for October in early March and there were no regular Savannah rooms available. We had to pay extra for the Arusha Savannah if we wanted to have a Savannah view. I just checked last week and couldn't get a room to come up at all for AKL during our trip. Kind of worried about the crowd level at the resort.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

OK
We have never got free dining before.
So if we are set to check in Dec.15th and check out Dec.19th,Do we get free dining for the 18th?
If so can we add one more day to our trip and check out on the 20th and get it for that day also?

As long as you check-in by December 17 you can have the free dining discount applied to your reservation up to 14 nights.

 

[Disney Family Lee's]

As long as you check-in by December 17 you can have the free dining discount applied to your reservation up to 14 nights.

Thanks for your help.
Now I can sit back and wait til the 3rd.

 

[Shannon84]

The AAA TA thought there was some kind of conference going on. She was extremely shocked when we went to book our trip for October in early March and there were no regular Savannah rooms available. We had to pay extra for the Arusha Savannah if we wanted to have a Savannah view. I just checked last week and couldn't get a room to come up at all for AKL during our trip. Kind of worried about the crowd level at the resort.

I think I found the route of our problem There is a large conference from the 16th to the 20th being held I think over at the Swan and Dolphin...the listed hotels they recommend (on this companies website )includes AKL...so hopefully they will be busy off doing stuff and not bothering us

 

[tinkmom2]

Okay, The Dis just posted this rumor to their homepage and to their Facebook page, they must know something or have some reason for thinking these dates are real or they would NOT have posted this info . . . . .

Rumor - free Dining Plan to be released August 3rd
by Scott Smith
Jul 29, 2011

A rumor has begun circulating that Disney will offer a free Dining Plan for select dates. According to the rumor, bookings beginning August 3rd, 2011 will be eligible for the free Dining Plan for the following travel dates:



October 2, 2011 - October 8, 2011

We are going Oct 12th so that doesn't work for us I noticed too for the 13th the MNSSHP tickets are higher. I wonder why that is? I am still going to call every week to see if I have any pins available. I have until Aug 28th to pay off. I've got the airfare and cruise paid off. I am just watiting on Disney

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Okay, The Dis just posted this rumor to their homepage and to their Facebook page, they must know something or have some reason for thinking these dates are real or they would NOT have posted this info . . . . .

Rumor - free Dining Plan to be released August 3rd
by Scott Smith
Jul 29, 2011

A rumor has begun circulating that Disney will offer a free Dining Plan for select dates. According to the rumor, bookings beginning August 3rd, 2011 will be eligible for the free Dining Plan for the following travel dates:



October 2, 2011 - October 8, 2011

We are going Oct 12th so that doesn't work for us I noticed too for the 13th the MNSSHP tickets are higher. I wonder why that is? I am still going to call every week to see if I have any pins available. I have until Aug 28th to pay off. I've got the airfare and cruise paid off. I am just watiting on Disney

October 12 is the week of Columbus day and many, many schools, especially in the Southeast are off during that week for their fall break. This will be the 3rd year that Columbus Day/Week has been blacked out. The crowds are more moderate than low during that week and they probably just don't need to fill the resorts that week, as opposed to other slower weeks in the fall.

 

[Parla]

I think I found the route of our problem There is a large conference from the 16th to the 20th being held I think over at the Swan and Dolphin...the listed hotels they recommend (on this companies website )includes AKL...so hopefully they will be busy off doing stuff and not bothering us

I was kind of hoping the same thing. The families that may tag along with these conference visitors probably won't be gung ho rope drop attendees and may choose parks based on EMH (which we avoid). Crossing my fingers that it will be that way anyway.

 

[englishrose47]

We are going October 13th thru 18th , but seeing as I am an escort for Special Needs I am not paying, but I would still like to see the agency save money!!!

 

[Tommyboy2529]

I am going on Dec. 7th to the 14th, will I get the free dining for the full week.
Thanks for your help.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

I am going on Dec. 7th to the 14th, will I get the free dining for the full week.
Thanks for your help.

No, you won't receive a free dining discount at all. You would need to check-in by December 11 to receieve the discount for your trip.

On another note, if you check in on the last day of a free dining promo, you can have the discount applied for your entire stay up to 14 nights. But if you do not check in during the dates you can not apply it at all and won't receive the discount.

 

[Tommyboy2529]

Well, I can not change my dates, since we have the air fare booked already, the price was to good to pass up, and I am limited to when I can take off at work. Will arrive on the 7th of December and leave on the 14th, so I guess we will be paying for our meals. Thanks for letting me know.:

 

[goNsoon2WDW]

Does anyone have any thoughts to as if this would be an extension of the offer that is currently out through September that includes the Memory Book purchase to get free dining?

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Does anyone have any thoughts to as if this would be an extension of the offer that is currently out through September that includes the Memory Book purchase to get free dining?

This is supposed to be a totally separate offer and is not supposed to include the Memory Photo Book.

 

[goNsoon2WDW]

This is supposed to be a totally separate offer and is not supposed to include the Memory Photo Book.

Cool! Princess Tiffany - you are the best! I can't believe how many of my personal questions you have answered. Thank you so much!

 

[goNsoon2WDW]

I have been thinking and trying to see how this could work for us. I am throwing around different scenarios hoping to find one that will work since all of our dates would not be included in the rumored free dining days. We are scheduled to go October 20th-30th at Coronado Springs with 10-day park tickets. We check in late on the 20th and will pretty much go straight to the room to get ready for starting our next day.

Let's say we decide to do this scenario ...

• Purchase the Quick Service Dining Plan to go with our first 3 days for the October 20th-23rd part of our trip.
• Then do the check-in/check-out dance on the 23rd to get 7 days of the Free Dining offering which would be the regular dining plan for the 23rd-30th part of our trip.

Here are my questions:

1. Is this ok to do?
2. Do we have to buy two separate sets of park tickets or just one 10-day park ticket?
3. What are our dining options on the 23rd?
4. Can we still use a QS meal from the QSD plan on the 23rd?
5. Can we use a TS meal from the DDP on the 23rd?
6. Can we use the QSP and the DDP on the same day (Oct 23rd)?
7. Do they reissue the Key to the World tickets with our park admission and dining on them when we check out and then immediately check in on the 23rd so we would lose anything remaining on the QSP that hasn't been used?
8. How would this work?

Sorry for the splattering of questions. I truly appreciate your help.
TIA

 

[nebo]

This is supposed to be a totally separate offer and is not supposed to include the Memory Photo Book.

if this is true, it's probably becasue they discovered the "memory package" didn't work so well. shortly after that, they came out with a room only discount. I think not enough people wanted to purchase a photopass book they didn't want in the first place..

 

[PrincessTiffany]

I have been thinking and trying to see how this could work for us. I am throwing around different scenarios hoping to find one that will work since all of our dates would not be included in the rumored free dining days. We are scheduled to go October 20th-30th at Coronado Springs with 10-day park tickets. We check in late on the 20th and will pretty much go straight to the room to get ready for starting our next day.

Let's say we decide to do this scenario ...

• Purchase the Quick Service Dining Plan to go with our first 3 days for the October 20th-23rd part of our trip.
• Then do the check-in/check-out dance on the 23rd to get 7 days of the Free Dining offering which would be the regular dining plan for the 23rd-30th part of our trip.

Here are my questions:

1. Is this ok to do?
2. Do we have to buy two separate sets of park tickets or just one 10-day park ticket?
3. What are our dining options on the 23rd?
4. Can we still use a QS meal from the QSD plan on the 23rd?
5. Can we use a TS meal from the DDP on the 23rd?
6. Can we use the QSP and the DDP on the same day (Oct 23rd)?
7. Do they reissue the Key to the World tickets with our park admission and dining on them when we check out and then immediately check in on the 23rd so we would lose anything remaining on the QSP that hasn't been used?
8. How would this work?

Sorry for the splattering of questions. I truly appreciate your help.
TIA

If you wanted to get the quick service plan for the first three night stay you would have to purchase a package that included room, tickets and dining - 2 day base ticket minimum. Your dining credits are good until midnight on the day of check out.

You really have 2 options here: One, procede with your first scenario and do 2 separte packages and eat the cost on the 2 day base tickets or as a second option you just do room only reservations for the first three days and pay out-of-pocket for your food the first three days. It has been reported here on the Dis that you can pick up your package tickets 3 days in advance, so you would not have to purchase another set of tickets for this option. You will have to run the numbers and see which option is best. Simplisticaly, without looking into the numbers with too much detail, it would be the cost of 2 day base tickets for your entire party vs. the cost of three days worth of out-of-pocket food.