Fingers Crossed for Canadian Free Dining...

[Duckiedee]

I noticed on Mousesavers.com that at the end of April last year, Disney offered Free Dining to Canadians from August to December.... hoping to score on that this year.

Not expecting it... but how nice would that be???

 

[Disneylover99]

Yep. I have free dining booked from a bb beginning Aug. 26, which is great, but I'm hoping there is a Canadian offer that begins a week earlier than the 26th. That would be awesome!

 

[Duckiedee]

Awesome... we are getting there on Aug 22.

 

[Duckiedee]

Yep. I have free dining booked from a bb beginning Aug. 26, which is great, but I'm hoping there is a Canadian offer that begins a week earlier than the 26th. That would be awesome!

Have you been in August before?? This Canuk is a little nervous about the Tstorms and the heat!

 

[O-so-good Disney Mama]

We have been twice in early September. It's hot and it rains everyday but bring ponchos and never leave a stroller without a cover on it. You are Canadian - you should be used to crazy weather . In all seriousness, it was better than when we went in November me it was too cold to swim, we spent half the trip in coats and had to buy a blanket to watch the fireworks!

 

[Duckiedee]

We have been twice in early September. It's hot and it rains everyday but bring ponchos and never leave a stroller without a cover on it. You are Canadian - you should be used to crazy weather . In all seriousness, it was better than when we went in November me it was too cold to swim, we spent half the trip in coats and had to buy a blanket to watch the fireworks!

True that... in NS we always say if you don't like the weather - wait five minutes!

Did you find the cheap 'emergency ponchos' from Canadian Tire enough? Or is it a good idea to get something a little more substantial? How long do you find the showers to last and how long do the ride seats stay wet?

 

[Disneylover99]

Have you been in August before?? This Canuk is a little nervous about the Tstorms and the heat!

We are going for our seventh August in a row. It's definitely hot, and I hate the heat, but somehow we love it!

 

[Disneylover99]

True that... in NS we always say if you don't like the weather - wait five minutes!

Did you find the cheap 'emergency ponchos' from Canadian Tire enough? Or is it a good idea to get something a little more substantial? How long do you find the showers to last and how long do the ride seats stay wet?

We bring cheap dollar store ponchos. They're great in a pinch, but we do bring back our WDW ponchos that we bought during our first year. The great thing is that Disney will replace these for free, if they are ripped or torn. We just bring our ripped ones to any stores that sell the ponchos and they replace them. No receipt necessary.

Sometimes showers are quick and sometimes you do have days where it rains all day. We don't mind because the rain means lots of clouds cause it's still so hot.

 

[O-so-good Disney Mama]

True that... in NS we always say if you don't like the weather - wait five minutes!

Did you find the cheap 'emergency ponchos' from Canadian Tire enough? Or is it a good idea to get something a little more substantial? How long do you find the showers to last and how long do the ride seats stay wet?

We just used the dollar store ponchos and brought enough to to have 2 per person so that we had one with us while the last days one was drying in the hotel room. It never rained long when we were there and for reason I never remember the seats being wet on the rides!

 

[allybabba98]

We have been three times in early September and it was hot but it rained pretty much at some point everyday. I had dollar store ponchos too but there was one day we were caught in Animal Kingdom at the end of the day...the rain was the heaviest I have witnessed while there. I decided to bite the bullet and buy a Disney poncho and it was pretty awesome.
I hope free dining is offered, we don't have plans on heading to Disney this year but I wish you well on your trip.

 

[Frank4202]

I highly doubt there will a free dining offer this year. Hotels and parks are too packed to give a special offer like this. If anything, they'll raise the price and people will still go.

However, in the case that a free dining offer is released, I challenge you to price it out now and compare the differences. I'd be surprised if the dining offer saves you money. I bet it's more expensive if anything.

 

[Disneylover99]

However, in the case that a free dining offer is released, I challenge you to price it out now and compare the differences. I'd be surprised if the dining offer saves you money. I bet it's more expensive if anything.

If you're a family of four, booking a standard room at a value or moderate, free dining is going to save you money, if you compare it to a room discount. I don't think you can dispute that.

 

[Skjhjb]

True that... in NS we always say if you don't like the weather - wait five minutes!

Did you find the cheap 'emergency ponchos' from Canadian Tire enough? Or is it a good idea to get something a little more substantial? How long do you find the showers to last and how long do the ride seats stay wet?

We did the dollar store ones, and then after two days of them, we bought the Disney park ones for $8 or $9 each - they are still in great shape 4 years later! We got them in 2012, and then in 2014 we used them for that trip. One of them had ripped, and they exchanged it for us that trip. And my oldest DD went on a trip in the fall 2015, and she took them for her and her friends to use.

We did say we would never go in August again after going in 2012 - there was more than one rain per day, and it was just SO hot and humid. But you can't say until you try it for yourself!

 

[Skjhjb]

If you're a family of four, booking a standard room at a value or moderate, free dining is going to save you money, if you compare it to a room discount. I don't think you can dispute that.

We never found the free dining to be a bad value. It works for our family. In fact, on our 2014 trip, we paid out of pocket for the dining plan. Why? Because while everybody said "just set aside that money and pay out of pocket" I knew we wouldn't. And we didn't want to limit 3 teenagers on their menu selections. Granted, we did do a lot of the buffet style (Cape May, Boma, 1900 PF, Trails End) - but it was more for peace of mind. Food was all paid for ahead of time, we weren't saying "now kids, only $5 each for lunch today because that's all we have left" by day 4!

 

[MegaSilver]

If you're a family of four, booking a standard room at a value or moderate, free dining is going to save you money, if you compare it to a room discount. I don't think you can dispute that.

We are going at the end of September, discount or no-discount. But I'm running numbers to see what it most beneficial to our trip.

First, when I look to see if the Dining Plan is worth it for us, because we are doing a number of character meals, the Regular DP saves us ~$200.

Second, we are getting Park Hopper no matter what. We have a couple of MNSSHP dates that we won't do, so the plan is to do MK in AM, EP in PM.

When I look up the Room rate, the standard room at CBR is ~$200 a night. Our room rate is about the same as what we are paying for the dining plan, so unless it's a 100% room discount, FD is our best offer.

 

[PensFan]

Yep .. im hoping to see free dining released again!

Last year it was released on April 26th or 27th! ... been watching like a Hawk as that will play a roll in some of our vacation!

 

[Blackadder337]

We're going in October. It looks like traditionally there's not much of any deals going on at that time But I'll keep my fingers crossed!

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

most of my restaurant ADR's are already booked for Sept 18-27...hoping for FD as well.....lots of rumors floating around that it may be offered...fingers crossed.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Just saw what I would say is my first 'reliable' rumour today that FD could be coming our April 25th. Rumoured start date is Aug 23rd.

 

[mort1331]

Just saw what I would say is my first 'reliable' rumour today that FD could be coming our April 25th. Rumoured start date is Aug 23rd.

On the daily fix yesterday there was mention of this but it was not a confirmed rumour.