Free Dining 2013

[ohiomommyof3]

Black, thanks for your posts...very helpful for this first timer! I am wondering what a better option for us would be, to try for the room discount or to try for the free dining. We are booked at the Contemporary in the cheapest room possible with the deluxe dining from September 25-29. I'm having trouble figuring out which would be the better deal? Any help would be very much appreciated!

 

[black562]

Black, thanks for your posts...very helpful for this first timer! I am wondering what a better option for us would be, to try for the room discount or to try for the free dining. We are booked at the Contemporary in the cheapest room possible with the deluxe dining from September 25-29. I'm having trouble figuring out which would be the better deal? Any help would be very much appreciated!

Honestly it's hard to say. You'll have to run the math. You could get 30% off the room or pay for the room and ticket package and get free dining and upgrade that to deluxe. Price it out and run some numbers and see what you can figure. The free dining is easy. Just do a room and ticket package with no dining and that would be the price for regular dining on the free dining plan. The upgrade price for deluxe is $44 per person per day.

 

[nikkyluvsmickey]

After the public offer drops, it usually shows up online in a few hours after the phones open. For the visa offer though, it's by phone only.

If i book my package today with my visa debit and call on the 6th to add the ree dining are they going o expect more money on the card or is the first deposit i made on the card today good enough?

 

[black562]

If i book my package today with my visa debit and call on the 6th to add the ree dining are they going o expect more money on the card or is the first deposit i made on the card today good enough?

You would have to put a minimum of $200 on the card.

 

[black562]

Hi! I am sooooo super excited! We have been waiting for this! We are going from Sept 10-18 and have ressies for the CR in a standard gardenwing room. (We have tix and dining plan aded to ressie now.) This is our first time staying on property and eligible for free dining. I want to make sure the cr is included in fd, I thought I read on other thread that it was but I want to be sure. We really want to stay there because we are traveling with 3 young children and our youngest DD will only be 8 months, so we thought staying somewhere connected to the monorail would be our best bet. However, I was wondering if anyone knew if the cr had many rooms available for fd? I would love to stay at the poly but honestly we our already at our max staying at the cr. The rates a night are so expensive! We would rather stay a few more days in cr then lose a night or two and stay at poly. BTW we are Disney Visa cardholders. Since I have never done this I want to make sure I fully understand before May 6 so I'm not confused or surprised by anything!


Thanks everyone for all of your help and info!

It is included but as we've said, there are only so many rooms. I'm not saying its a small number of rooms by any means. Remember that folks last year were still able to book moderate resorts in July, after free dining was released on March 1.

 

[Lazor460]

sry I was wondering how much it is per day to upgrade from basic dp to deluxe dp? and if anyone has done it do you think its worth it? thanks

 

[Lazor460]

It is included but as we've said, there are only so many rooms. I'm not saying its a small number of rooms by any means. Remember that folks last year were still able to book moderate resorts in July, after free dining was released on March 1.

ok thanks for the info!!

 

[black562]

sry I was wondering how much it is per day to upgrade from basic dp to deluxe dp? and if anyone has done it do you think its worth it? thanks

$44 and some change per person per day.

 

[babydoll65]

There probably offering free dining on labor day because most people will be using that day to fly back home for kids that start school the next day. The parks will be crowded with alot of locals but the hotels will be emptying out.

 

[plutospalforever]

OK, I believe they are working on/upgrading the WDW website as we speak. Now the last time this happened (I was trying to book ADR's and had to wait!) it was because they were inputting the new promo release discounts. What's your take people?

 

[mom18]

Ok I have a question. Our TA booked our reservations. Can I call (or go online) on the ninth and add the FD or does the TA have to do it? We are going to switch resorts if we can't add FD to our LM room. Would that it be a problem for me to do if I can even add the FD myself?
Also, if it doesn't matter who does it, any ideas on who would have better luck? My kids have their hearts set on LM..

 

[nikkyluvsmickey]

OK, I believe they are working on/upgrading the WDW website as we speak. Now the last time this happened (I was trying to book ADR's and had to wait!) it was because they were inputting the new promo release discounts. What's your take people?

I think you are right because i was just on the phone with a cm who had to keep asking me for my info again and again because she was getting magical enhancements..lol. I asked her to extend my 7 day courtesy hold for a couple of more days and she did but only until the 5th..lol.

 

[DebbiePMN]

sry I was wondering how much it is per day to upgrade from basic dp to deluxe dp? and if anyone has done it do you think its worth it? thanks

Personally... I think unless you are a real foodie... I think it's too much food to go with deluxe dp and too much time taken away from the parks each day sitting in a restaurant... that's just my thoughts.....

 

[plutospalforever]

Ok I have a question. Our TA booked our reservations. Can I call (or go online) on the ninth and add the FD or does the TA have to do it? We are going to switch resorts if we can't add FD to our LM room. Would that it be a problem for me to do if I can even add the FD myself?
Also, if it doesn't matter who does it, any ideas on who would have better luck? My kids have their hearts set on LM..

I guess it depends on how confident you are of your TA. I am in same situation for AoA suite and have elected to have my TA work her magic. I know she is faster than me and more versed in CM speak to get the job done. She has also told me she has 3 phone lines ready to go. She has never let me down before and is always quick to respond and gives me real time updates when she is on hold.

 

[mom18]

I guess it depends on how confident you are of your TA. I am in same situation for AoA suite and have elected to have my TA work her magic. I know she is faster than me and more versed in CM speak to get the job done. She has also told me she has 3 phone lines ready to go. She has never let me down before and is always quick to respond and gives me real time updates when she is on hold.

So there is no issue if I try to do it myself after she booked everything else? She said she didn't think I could do it, she thought she had to do it.
Is there am issue with both of us trying, or would that be too confusing?(if it doesn't matter who adds it)

 

[plutospalforever]

Personally... I think unless you are a real foodie... I think it's too much food to go with deluxe dp and too much time taken away from the parks each day sitting in a restaurant... that's just my thoughts.....

I agree. To me it is only worth it if you do 3 table service meals a day and sitting down that many times is a real hassle, especially with kids. The regular dining plan offers more than enough food and I can't imagine eating that much a day. Just a thought.

 

[BattyKoda]

sry I was wondering how much it is per day to upgrade from basic dp to deluxe dp? and if anyone has done it do you think its worth it? thanks

We did this back in 2011... we felt it was worth it. But your definition of worth it might be different than mine.

We just used it as a way of pre-paying for everything (putting the money on a gift card would pretty much do the same thing). We also hit a lot of places we had been wanting to try (Yatchman's, Hoop Dee Doo, Royal Table, basically places that I wouldn't have been happy with dropping the actual cash amount, lol. We did a lot of meals/events that were two credit options. We didn't do three TS meals on any one day.

If it were in my budget this time, I would do so again.

If it's a numbers game in relation to worth and you are wondering if you are going to come out ahead, it will depend on the size (and ages) of your party and how you plan on using the credits.

Sorry I couldn't give you a straight yes or no.

 

[Shaden]

NOT a card holder, but on the 9th I plan to be on the phone and the computer at the same time, to see which one I can get thru first. Recently became a DTA, and our vacation is the first Ive booked. Im not even sure I can add free dinning on my own. Not sure if I should call the regular reservation line, or the other number that they give us for booking for clients. Im in a LM room, so Im hoping that there will still be some discounts left after the Visa cardholders....

Be advised, the promotion might not be available on the computer right away. The spring room only promo didn't lauch online for quite a while after it was available over the phone.

 

[plutospalforever]

So there is no issue if I try to do it myself after she booked everything else? She said she didn't think I could do it, she thought she had to do it.
Is there am issue with both of us trying, or would that be too confusing?(if it doesn't matter who adds it)

For concrete answer, Black or 411 will know.

 

[jenseib]

Ok I have a question. Our TA booked our reservations. Can I call (or go online) on the ninth and add the FD or does the TA have to do it? We are going to switch resorts if we can't add FD to our LM room. Would that it be a problem for me to do if I can even add the FD myself?
Also, if it doesn't matter who does it, any ideas on who would have better luck? My kids have their hearts set on LM..

Your TA has to do it. Disney won't let you do anything to our reservation. If you have a good one, she will be on the phone at 7 AM and possibly waiting 2-4 hours to get through.