Free Dining 2013

[Lazor460]

I'll add to the Disney support group. My father in law past away last April from cancer. we had already planned and paid for a trip in sept including them. We still went on the trip along with my mother in law. Well when we got to our room it was all decorated in Disney stuff everywhere from Disney florist. The card on the table said Love Grandpa. I'm still tearing up as I type.

omg!! im crying!! that gives me chills! that is so bittersweet! what a beautiful way to know he is with you!

 

[Blessedwithboys]

Oh Riverside is the best. I've stayed there five times and love the quiet in the woods. However the five person rooms may be limited too.

For a zero entry pool, CBR has that, but the beds are smaller. CBR also has a splash area too. So many trade offs.

I've also stayed at Pop five times as well because I love that one too. It can get a bit noisy though.

Thanks
I love the thought of CBR, pirate pool, splash area and Nemo feel to the rooms all make me happy!! But there are a lot of negative reviews....a lot Have you ever stayed there??

 

[black562]

At the rate we're going here, if it's ONLY 250 pages, we'll be full by Friday at the latest - and that's only if we're really slow typers! When I went to bed Sunday night, the last page was around 68 - 70. 48 hours later and we're around 115. This thread is growing so fast, I can be all caught up reading it when I go to post a reply, and when I get back, I'm behind a couple pages or more. Just goes to show what happens when you get a bunch of Disney addicts in a room together.

Ohhhh let's shut this bad boy down. We can start a part two, how cool will that be!!!

 

[black562]

Thanks
I love the thought of CBR, pirate pool, splash area and Nemo feel to the rooms all make me happy!! But there are a lot of negative reviews....a lot Have you ever stayed there??

Stayed there once but that was 18 years ago so I wouldn't want to rate it based on that. I may stay there next year though.

What were the negative reviews about?

 

[Sylkie31]

Thanks
I love the thought of CBR, pirate pool, splash area and Nemo feel to the rooms all make me happy!! But there are a lot of negative reviews....a lot Have you ever stayed there??

My daughter & son-in-law stayed there on their honeymoon & loved it. That was 10 years ago, though. CBR also has pirate rooms. POR has royal rooms, but the boys probably wouldn't be all that impressed staying in a princess room.

 

[Lazor460]

Ok, here's our story:
Our family's first WDW trip was Feb. '04.
We stayed at the FW cabins, it was awesome and we knew we'd be back someday.
That May, a live tree limb broke off of a big tree in our yard and hit my then 2.5 yo ds, causing a traumatic brain injury.
I lived with ds in the hospital for 9 weeks as he relearned how to move, talk, walk...everything...while dh and my parents cared for the other kids.
Besides our faith, the thing that got DH and I through is we'd look at each other and say "when this is over...we'll go back to WDW."
Over and over we'd promise each other that.
We tried to book a trip in Feb. '05 but dh's job was shaky and we couldn't.
Months roll by, and something comes out that will make it possible for us to go back...yep, the first time they offered free dining!
We went Aug. '05, and stayed at Pop Century, and when I walked into that lobby, I started crying, because it was SO DISNEY.
And I knew at that moment that everything would be ok, and we'd survived, and we were AT WDW!
DS still had issues, and still does to this day, but on that trip, a year after he was released from the hospital, a year after re-learning to walk, he RAN to hug Woody at a meet and greet.

WDW is our happy place, and I'm not ashamed to say it.
And now I'm crying again.

You are all good people...you know that?

Wow! That is truly amazing! God bless you and your family!

 

[Lazor460]

Oooo..old school!

This is starting to feel like a 12 step program. "Hi...I'm Joe...and I'm a disney addict. It's been 6 months since I've hoarded Disney soap."

lol!! yep i feel like we are in a therapy group!

 

[Lazor460]

I keep thinking about your dad's & your Disney story, Joe. Got me to thinking about how I told my kids before they even had children of their own that I didn't care who all else went, but I wanted to be there the 1st time their kids went to Disney World - and I have. I hope someday when I'm gone, my kids and grandkids will be able to share stories like yours about their memories of me with them at Disney World, that they'll be able to feel me there in spirit whenever they go back. I would like that.

I totally agree! my dh and i talk about bringing our grandkids to wdw someday too! our kids are only 7, 4, & 4 months lol! but that is my dream too!!

 

[TarrahA]

Ok you all left me with a permanent lump in my throat while I was at work today - so many amazing stories of triumph & love!!! It was hard to satisfy my DISboard addiction while not smearing my mascara for sure!

And then I saw an ad on my Facebook page that made me perk up & start asking questions to myself. Being the experts that so many of you are, I wanted to ask here as well - the sponsored page was from "VIP Disney" - a UK travel agency. They're advertising "2014 holiday trip with free dining & $200 gift card" and they claim they can get this deal for US residents also. Is this true or a scam?? I can't believe it'd be that easy to get international offers, but I can kinda see how they'd be able to possibly, being that they're the reservation holder, so the address they give to Disney would be in UK?? Im just wondering what the possible risks would be if it turns out to be a legit business.

 

[black562]

Ok you all left me with a permanent lump in my throat while I was at work today - so many amazing stories of triumph & love!!! It was hard to satisfy my DISboard addiction while not smearing my mascara for sure!

And then I saw an ad on my Facebook page that made me perk up & start asking questions to myself. Being the experts that so many of you are, I wanted to ask here as well - the sponsored page was from "VIP Disney" - a UK travel agency. They're advertising "2014 holiday trip with free dining & $200 gift card" and they claim they can get this deal for US residents also. Is this true or a scam?? I can't believe it'd be that easy to get international offers, but I can kinda see how they'd be able to possibly, being that they're the reservation holder, so the address they give to Disney would be in UK?? Im just wondering what the possible risks would be if it turns out to be a legit business.

UK offers are for UK residents. If a TA is trying to game the system, I'm not sure it would be a good thing if Disney figured it out.

 

[skmastaz]

Less than 24 hours!! I'm getting nervous and excited! Hope everyone gets what they are after!

 

[Emme]

What a great thread!!! I literally got tears in my eyes over and over!!

OK now that we have either gotten our FD or are waiting until tomorrow to call...we have some time to spare.

Sooooo, with that, what is the one Table Service you are hoping to score. I so wanted "Be Our Guest" but can not get it for the first week of Sept. no matter how many times a day I look.

What is your one "must do" TS for your free dining pleasure??

Thanks again Black...you done a good thing here

 

[fstone]

We just made our reservations for WDW Sept 18 - 24. Southwest had very cheap fares on tues and wed so that's why we are leaving midweek. 4 nights at Pop with the free dining and then 2 nights at the Poly TPV with the room only discount. My DH really wanted to stay at one of the monorail resorts, so we are going to splurge a bit this time. For us its a splurge anyway!

Thanks to everyone here for all of the good information that helped us make a decision. Now I hope to see some other Dis members when we are there

 

[pxedst21]

Thanks
I love the thought of CBR, pirate pool, splash area and Nemo feel to the rooms all make me happy!! But there are a lot of negative reviews....a lot Have you ever stayed there??

My in-laws stayed there on our family trip Feb 2012 and loved it. They got the pirate themed room for my nephew. We went to visit there one night and the room was really nice, my boys loved the pirate beds. We ate in the food court for dinner and it was delicious. We did get lost trying to find the food court-parked at one building and turned out to be the lobby

 

[disneymama444]

Omg. So excited about fd for gp called this a.m. It's not until tomorrow. Cm giggled said call back tomorrow It's gp on the 9 th Ughhhhh!

 

[TheDisney411]

Looking for advice! Now that free dining is a definite does anyone see any reason why I shouldn't book the flights? We are arriving 9/25 and the flights are low right now and I'm afraid it will go up. I plan to call at 7am on Thursday morning to add it to my reservation. I'm hoping everything works out. I wish it were Thursday already!

No, I would say you are safe now, GP FD offer will be the same as the DV FD offer . Only exception would be if you have no flexibility or would cancel if you could not get a certain room type or resort.

 

[plutospalforever]

What a great thread!!! I literally got tears in my eyes over and over!!

OK now that we have either gotten our FD or are waiting until tomorrow to call...we have some time to spare.

Sooooo, with that, what is the one Table Service you are hoping to score. I so wanted "Be Our Guest" but can not get it for the first week of Sept. no matter how many times a day I look.

What is your one "must do" TS for your free dining pleasure??

Thanks again Black...you done a good thing here

Keep trying for BOG, you might just win the Disney jackpot. Fortunately we did score BOG for last week of Sept. and 4 yr. old DD and I are SUPER excited! Where did you book instead of BOG?

Must do character meal! We have CRT (girls ONLY!) to celebrate DD turning 5. Tusker House to celebrate DS turning 2 and Chef Mickey for good-bye breakfast.

 

[TheDisney411]

I'm sorry if this has already been answered a bunch of times before. I was wondering when the Fall-Winter FD promotions (looking at mid-Nov) are typically listed by Disney? I want to say it is mid-July, but I feel like I saw somewhere it could be into August as well. Does anyone know specific dates when they've been listed in the past?
Thanks!

The October - December FD dates are not released annually until July, sometimes August.

 

[pxedst21]

As we sit here waiting to see what Thursday will bring anyone want to humor me by helping me sort out my never ending indecisiveness over resorts

We are currently booked at AOA LM. We originally wanted to book an AOA suite like last year but it was way out of budget. We really, really love AOA. The zero entry pool and splash pad being the number one seller for us as both my kids are not fond of being held in the water they like some freedom. Since AOA LM is a no go for the discount I am stuck.
Pop seems super fun for my kids but I am just not fond of the theme or look.. I have two pretty light sleepers so I worry about noise level and I am bummed that there is no zero entry pool. I love the one bus stop!
I am also considering POR because of the AB rooms. We would book preferred to be guaranteed AB. I love the bigger beds, trundle (my 2 year old could use that rather than a pack n play) and the two sinks. My oldest son liked the theme of the AB rooms but he resort as a whole, though very very nice and lush just does not feel fun!

What would you do?
Say the heck with it and keep LM AOA paying for the dining plan(we are fine with the price point but are more comfortable with a lower price)
Move to Pop with FD upgrade
Move to POR preferred with FD

Thanks all!!

We love POR-stayed there several times and will be there this coming trip too If I'm not mistaken, I thought they did away with the trundle beds and redid the rooms with murphy beds instead----maybe someone else who knows for sure could confirm? The pictures show it as a bench under the tv, then it folds down for the bed. Not sure I'd put a 2 yr old on it from the pictures, just my opinion. One thing we have done many times though, when you are checking in ask them for a toddler bed guard. It just slides under the mattress and makes a side rail on the bed. We'd put that on the side by our youngest and have one of the older ones sleeping on the other side to help block them in.

As for POP, we stayed there Feb 2012, and while it was noisy by the pool,lobby areas; where our room was it was actually very quiet and peaceful. We were at the end of one of the wings and it overlooked a big grassy area with trees and then another wing of one of the other buildings. We were also right across from where they were in the process of building AOA which was neat to watch. But as far as night time, it wasn't very noisy at all. I've also heard the buses for the All Stars have gotten a lot better, many were saying they had their own bus lines for their stays.

 

[TheDisney411]

Booked! September 22-28 at ASMo . So I just call back 7am tomorrow and tell them I want FD added right?

Yes