2016 Free Dining Watch ~ Part 2

[Em's GiGi]

It's a great resort - tons of fun, great theme, etc. It's value, obviously, so I think people shy away from the suites because it's a value resort and they feel they're paying deluxe pricing. But it ends up being around the same amount as 2 rooms.

Downside - there's no slide but the pool is still a lot of fun. Make sure to go under water

It's only got QS restaurants and it's a little spread out, but I haven't heard people complaining much about the suites. Mostly that the mermaid rooms are far. You'll LOVE it. Especially with a Cars lover!

Thanks so much! Because of his age, we don't care about the slide at all and aren't even sure we'll use the pool in December - depends on the sunshine level, I guess. But because of MY age, the double bathroom thing is worth the extra money. Even in Mods, the only double bathroom suite is CS - and that is much more expensive for us and the theme is much less attractive for my grandson.

We stayed in the cars suite last trip and loved everything about it! It is super close to the main pool and the food court. The the information of the resort is truly magical! I would definitely stay here again!!

I greatly appreciate the information about the location - near the food court, HOORAY! I'm directionally challenged and word explanations of locations are way more understandable for me than maps.

 

[Canadisney Fly]

Right - Disney gurus with large families - I have invited a friend to join the frenzy, and she's on board!!! A WDW neophyte, no less. We planned a joint trip for Christmas 2013, but her husband ended up in the hospital three days prior to departure, and they lost $$$ on cancellation. But I digress - my question is:

If we link on Family and Friends, and I'm the brave soul who stays at the keyboard to modify our reservations (or book new ones, if need be), can I change HER reservation to include free dining or does she have to do it? I seem to be able to add her for ADRs, but we haven't tried to modify room privileges. We both currently have bookings at CBR for five days with tickets and PH.

 

[Kelly Anne]

yes unfortunately you will have to switch to the updated pricing if you apply the free dining promo.

When did the pricing go up?

 

[Jordyn1123]

Thanks so much! Because of his age, we don't care about the slide at all and aren't even sure we'll use the pool in December - depends on the sunshine level, I guess. But because of MY age, the double bathroom thing is worth the extra money. Even in Mods, the only double bathroom suite is CS - and that is much more expensive for us and the theme is much less attractive for my grandson.



I greatly appreciate the information about the location - near the food court, HOORAY! I'm directionally challenged and word explanations of locations are way more understandable for me than maps.

Stupid auto correct... Was supposed to say the theming of the resort

 

[bella2117]

yes unfortunately you will have to switch to the updated pricing if you apply the free dining promo.

yeah i thought so. Thanks!

 

[pigby]

So just to clarify - although this has probably been asked somewhere in these threads - what deposit do we expect to pay tomorrow? We are looking for 10 nights with 7 day hoppers - will it just be one nights stay or will we pay the full cost of the park hopper tickets?

Also what is the best number to call? - we are from the UK (planning on a long - and expensive phone call).

I am at work when the lines are due to open (we are 5 hours ahead) but DH isn't and I am relying on him to ring (don't know if that's the best idea in the world....) Do you think the Disney agent will allow him to use my credit card to pay the deposit? - if not, it isn't a big deal, he can use his own.

 

[natb]

My sons' girlfriends may come on the trip... Should I add them tomorrow or later if I decide to let them come? Do they let you add people at a later date?

 

[Lehuaann]

My sons' girlfriends may come on the trip... Should I add them tomorrow or later if I decide to let them come? Do they let you add people at a later date?

If the number of additional guests does not exceed room occupancy, they can be added now or later.

 

[CaraMiaBelle]

DD15 and I discussing snacks for tonight. We are thinking brownies as they go splendidly with coffee!
Anyone else have food planned?

Brownies sound lovely! GREAT with coffe! Think I will make some also. I DO also have a tone of pretzel bites leftover from my sons party that may call my name in the Middle of the night.
Will yourDd be staying up late as well?

 

[Huff]

Is there a time that Disney opens up booking for specials on 1st day of release? Midnight? 7am etc. and I assume east coast time? Is phone opened at the same time as the website? Just wondering what time I should be trying vs sleeping!

 

[revdisney33]

I used to mess around with the various "quarterly" 5% promotions on all of my various cards. In Oct/Nov of 2014 we got the Citi DoubleCash card and have not looked back! Love it! No jumping from one card to the other chasing the promos... Just straight 2% back on everything (if you pay it off each month, which we do)

I used to do Discover with points.....then started using AAA Visa
2% on gas and groceries
3% on travel
1% on everything else
Points turn into $. At 50,000 points it's either $500 cash or $700 in AAA money. Used 100,000 points 2 trips ago so booked through AAA and had $1400 toward trip. I'm almost there again. I often pay for friends travel if they are just going to pay cash anyway or don't have a rewards card. Use it like a debit and pay it each month. About 4 years ago, I paid for 3 families to go to Disney on the card...big points and then they paid me back.

 

[Valstew]

Phone opens at 7 am est online anytime between 12 am and 7 am. No one knows

 

[DisneyObsessed89]

We booked our package right before prices went up. Are they going to change our prices to reflect the new ones when we upgrade to free dining? I kinda know the answer the already but I'm hoping maybe I'm wrong lol

They should not raise your room price if you upgrade. We've done this for the last few years and they've always given us the free dining at the original room price that we booked ahead of time.

 

[revdisney33]

So just to clarify - although this has probably been asked somewhere in these threads - what deposit do we expect to pay tomorrow? We are looking for 10 nights with 7 day hoppers - will it just be one nights stay or will we pay the full cost of the park hopper tickets?

Also what is the best number to call? - we are from the UK (planning on a long - and expensive phone call).

I am at work when the lines are due to open (we are 5 hours ahead) but DH isn't and I am relying on him to ring (don't know if that's the best idea in the world....) Do you think the Disney agent will allow him to use my credit card to pay the deposit? - if not, it isn't a big deal, he can use his own.

Not sure of the number, but to book the package has always been $200 per room reserved, with full payment due 45 days before you arrive.

 

[Disneylover99]

Opinions please - it would be about $370 more to stay at CBR for our dates vs staying at All Stars and upgrading the FD to the regular plan (which is what we did last year)

We've only gone once before - last October and stayed value (pop) and it was fine. Good bus service, used the pool only 1x. DH Thinks the increased cost is worth it to have a bigger room and better pools for a second trip. I'm just seeing $$ add up and want to keep costs low

Anyone want to chime in and sway me one way or the other?

Right now I say, go for the mod! But if I answered you an hour from now, I might say stick with the value.
As you can tell I'm struggling with the same dilemma.

 

[DisneyArie]

Can someone please help me? I'm going out of my mind trying to decide between free dining or a room only discount and my numbers could be way off

My current package (Standard room at POR & 5 day base tickets for )
$2026.32 (w/ 20% off using discounted gift cards)

w/ FREE DINING
$2266.58 (add park hopper option; w/ 20% off using discounted gift cards)

so this would be like paying $240.26 for dining plan, right?

w/ ROOM ONLY DISCOUNT

Room Price $1543.51
(minus 25% off) - $1157.63
room $1157.63 + $985.14 tickets (CM confirmed I would not have to pay the increase) = $2410.62 (inclu 12.5% tax)
$1928.50 (w/ 20% off using discounted gift cards)

Budget $600 for food, which would be $480 (w/ 20% off using discounted gift cards)

$1928.50 + 480 = $2408.50 total price

Is this right, guys? I'm very confused and have been crunching numbers since early morning. It's a little difficult because the prices have changed, and I don't remember the breakdown. I was able to modify my reservation to see the price with park hopper, but I can't do that with the room only discount. I was able to look up previous ticket prices, and that's how I got the $985 amount. The price of the room reflects the current room price. I think that it the price I would have to pay. The CM only said my ticket prices would remain the same.

Will someone confirm? Based on this, it looks like I should pull an all-nighter to get the free dining? Sorry if I sound like a complete idiot. This is our first Disney trip, and I want to get the best deal for my family.

 

[bksomody]

Ok, so I just realized I have a question. We are going 9/29-10/8, to POR, so we should be eligible for FD, all is well there. However, we have booked our room starting 9/27 because one super cheap flight leaves our home airport to Orlando on Tuesdays only and if we got that flight, it would save us enough to add those additional 2 days. However, the schedules for those flights aren't out yet, as the airline is just starting this promo and it hasn't actually begun so they aren't scheduling yet. Sooo, we booked additional days that we might not use. Now, tomorrow, if we get FD and all is well, then later the airline doesn't run the special and we want to cancel the first 2 nights, does that make us lose our FD? If we book one of the available FD rooms, even if we change our days, doesn't that release a FD room into the system and then we just pick it back up again? Or am I confused? FD is definitely worth not losing, so if we have to firm up our dates we will do that, but I want to do it before tomorrow's craziness! What do you guys think??

This spring I booked a room with the spring discount and had to drop one day. There were no more rooms available using that discount for my resort so they had to send my request to tech support, it took a day and 2 phone calls but they were able to drop one day and keep the discount.

 

[gabieb]

They should not raise your room price if you upgrade. We've done this for the last few years and they've always given us the free dining at the original room price that we booked ahead of time.

Did you call and they applied FD for you while keeping room price or did you "change" through MDE? I was assuming that if I did the "change" option to select FD that it would be like making a new reservation and thus new room prices. But if I waited till 7 to call that maybe I could keep room price if CM just applied FD if available.

 

[Kelly Anne]

Can someone help? We have 4 rooms booked at POR but each under separate people as its my niece and nephews and their other half coming with us. But I am planing everything and I want to put them all on my mde since none of them have it so I can plan the fast passes and so on. Does Disney allow 4 seperate reservations on the same dates on the app???

 

[battynanny]

Can someone please help me? I'm going out of my mind trying to decide between free dining or a room only discount and my numbers could be way off

My current package (Standard room at POR & 5 day base tickets)
$2026.32 (w/ 20% off using discounted gift cards)

w/ FREE DINING
$2266.58 (add park hopper option; w/ 20% off using discounted gift cards)

so this would be like paying $240.26 for dining plan, right?

w/ ROOM ONLY DISCOUNT

Room Price $1543.51
(minus 25% off) - $1157.63
room $1157.63 + $985.14 tickets (CM confirmed I would not have to pay the increase) = $2410.62 (inclu 12.5% tax)
$1928.50 (w/ 20% off using discounted gift cards)

Budget $600 for food, which would be $480 (w/ 20% off using discounted gift cards)

$1928.50 + 480 = $2408.50 total price

Is this right, guys? I'm very confusing and have been crunching numbers since early morning. It's a little difficult because the prices have changed, and I don't remember the breakdown. I was able to modify my reservation to see the price with park hopper, but I can't do that with the room only discount. I was able to look up previous ticket prices, and that's how I got the $985 amount. The price of the room reflects the current room price. I think that it the price I would have to pay. The CM only said my ticket prices would remain the same.

Will someone confirm? Based on this, it looks like I should pull an all-nighter to get the free dining? Sorry if I sound like a complete idiot. This is our first Disney trip, and I want to get the best deal for my family.

How do you get 20% off discounted cards? I know about targets 5% and raise but that's only like 10% tops. Would love to save even more lol