Free Dining 2014 Discussion ~ Part 3

[dreamit]

I must say...props to those of you who waited on hold for hours yesterday. I am at around forty minutes and keep getting overtaken by feelings of violent rage. ANSWER IT! Do it!!!! Never have had much in the patience department.

 

[ChicagoMom]

I never wanted to make anyone at Disney angry. That's not my intent.

I search the net for this sort of information, but if this is angering the folks up top, perhaps I should stop doing so.

Last thing I want is for the mouse to be angry....

Do they want us to rely on TAs to find out about free dining? I guess I don't hang out in the right places but this is the only place I've seen anything about FD. When I began planning our trip to WDW a few months ago, I "liked" WDW on FB thinking that they would post FD offers there but there hasn't anything on my FB feed about it at all.

Do they expect us to stalk their website to see new offers?

I can understand why they wouldn't want hardcore Disney people who would go anyway to find out about the discount in advance. I'm sure their preference is new customers who wouldn't consider going to WDW without the discount. Those people might see something about it online in a few weeks and call to book and be told it's unavailable and then plan a vacation somewhere else.

 

[dreamit]

I don't think it was "me" personally. I've made it quite clear that I only gather the information. So lets round out the crazy places.

1. The "May 1" date came from a TA Facebook board that I can't even find, but it was relayed to me.

2. The date ranges came from a South American Facebook TA board that I also can't find, but was posted on another Facebook page for the world to see by an anonymous reader.

3. The excluded resorts came from...oh yeah, haha Chase Visa.

In the past, many things were leaked on foreign speaking forums and message boards. It's rather amusing how easy it is to find.

So if anyone thinks I'm some kind of inside track that has a buddy at Disney....sorry. I gather info, I post what I find. It could all be wrong, but ya know.....what happens happens.

Oh and by the way, we got thread of the month for April.

Well, props to your "gathering". You make it sound so easy, but I'm sure it was time-consuming and not all that easy.

 

[NokOnHarts]

Ok, I have a question. I booked CBR for November 15-23 and then my DH came home from work this morning and told me he was able to get a couple of more days off. So, now we can go the 13-23. I called Disney and the only rooms left are the pirate rooms. At the time, I was thinking I would have to switch my entire reservation for pirate rooms but I saw others posting about split stays so am I able to add two days for the pirate room and keep the standard room for the rest of my trip? I would call and asked but I ws on hold forever earlier and I figured someone on here would know! Thanks!

Yes, you would just do RO from the 13-15th. The thing to keep in mind is that if you are booking a pirate room for the first 2 days, you will have to switch rooms on the 15th and you would not have FD those first 2 days, it would start with your package on the 15th. It's a pretty simple way to add more days if you need to, just be aware you won't be using FD credits on those first 2 days. We are doing a split stay with FD for the first part and then RO at the end of the trip so we can stay at the resort we had been wanting (POR). We will do our TS with our FD package and then just QS OOP with our RO reservation.

 

[Aubrav]

I know I am jumping in late on this post, but I am new to the boards and Disney and have no idea what the free dining is about...Can anyone get it if they are staying on property? We just became DVC members as well as just annual passholders Is the FD available to us?

Thank you

Hey and welcome! I'm somewhat of a newbie too, only been following for a little over a week. The offer for DV holders came out on the 2nd and then the free dining offer for the general public came out on Wednesday. The resorts are selling out fast though so go through the direct disney website, click on "Places to Stay" at the top and then "Special Offers" and click on the Free Dining link. You can check your dates from there to see what is available. When are you looking at going?

 

[cassiejo2711]

I don't think it was "me" personally. I've made it quite clear that I only gather the information. So lets round out the crazy places. 1. The "May 1" date came from a TA Facebook board that I can't even find, but it was relayed to me. 2. The date ranges came from a South American Facebook TA board that I also can't find, but was posted on another Facebook page for the world to see by an anonymous reader. 3. The excluded resorts came from...oh yeah, haha Chase Visa. In the past, many things were leaked on foreign speaking forums and message boards. It's rather amusing how easy it is to find. So if anyone thinks I'm some kind of inside track that has a buddy at Disney....sorry. I gather info, I post what I find. It could all be wrong, but ya know.....what happens happens. Oh and by the way, we got thread of the month for April.

Thread of the month for April!?! You should win a major award... Like a leg lamp! (A Christmas Story anyone?)

Disney should be thrilled that you are getting info out to more people. Ultimately I am staying longer and spending more as a result of knowing more from reading things you have collected. You should get kickbacks, not criticism I'm sorry to hear that some can't fathom that you might just be a person who wants to help others and not a mole or a spy. Thanks to you for everything!

 

[Aubrav]

I've said it before and I'll say it again because I think the appreciation is warranted. This is my first time ever looking to book on Disney property and I have only been looking at doing it for a couple of weeks. Because of the research I did do, I was expecting to wait until August to look for the free dining offer to come out. I had pretty much given up on any more research for the time being. If it hadn't been for some random internet search where I found the original Free Dining 2014 thread here on the Dis boards, I never would have been prepared for Wednesday morning, wouldn't have even known to be prepared, and definitely wouldn't have scored the free dining deal at my 1st choice property (which was decided because of the thread and the information in it).

So Joe, THANK YOU, absolutely and with the utmost sincerity, for providing the information that I couldn't find anywhere else so that my family can have a magical vacation.

 

[black562]

Do they want us to rely on TAs to find out about free dining? I guess I don't hang out in the right places but this is the only place I've seen anything about FD. When I began planning our trip to WDW a few months ago, I "liked" WDW on FB thinking that they would post FD offers there but there hasn't anything on my FB feed about it at all.

Do they expect us to stalk their website to see new offers?

I can understand why they wouldn't want hardcore Disney people who would go anyway to find out about the discount in advance. I'm sure their preference is new customers who wouldn't consider going to WDW without the discount. Those people might see something about it online in a few weeks and call to book and be told it's unavailable and then plan a vacation somewhere else.

It's not like I am pulling this information out of a magic hat, or hacking into some mainframe somewhere.

The date ranges that came out were posted on a PUBLIC Facebook page and are still there to this day. You can actually see me reply to it asking for a source, which he gives....but I couldn't find anything on that link. Yet the dates he posted made perfect sense and were a bit too detailed for him to pull it out of his magic hat.

Funny thing is, Disney themselves actually PINed some pages to their Pinterest account that had rumored information in it. So they were actually giving an audience to some of the very numbers they wanted to hide.

If I hadn't collected it, someone else would've came by and posted eventually. I guess they want to control the web, is that even possible?

 

[graysmommy]

I'm always around somewhere...lol

Creepy... Yet comforting! Glad to see you again

 

[CalSea12]

At the end of the day, I am not sure why this would even hurt disney at all??! I suspect all the speculation and excitement is only GOOD for their business! So, Joe, they should be thanking you!

This is exactly what I was just thinking! I would think this would drive Disney's business up! We were all so excited, and were all ready to book.

Honestly without FD, I def would not be spending as much as I am. I already had plans to cut my vacation basically in half. So Black thank you, and Disney should be thanking you, everyone should!

Your amazing And I for one hope you dont disappear from us!

 

[61292cna]

Our package booked for the end of July was:

Standard at POP for 3 adults, 1 child, & 1 infant
7 day tickets with park hoppers
Regular dining plan
No memory maker
Final cost: $3592

Thanks to Joes information gathering, for 11/09/14 to 11/15/14 we now have:

Standard at ASMU for 3adults, 1 child, & 1infant
7 day tickets with park hoppers
Upgraded to deluxe dining
Added memory maker
Final cost: $3823

dance3:

 

[Lauradon7]

Maybe a silly question. Do pin codes only come under adult names or could a child's name be attached to a pin code?

 

[cassiejo2711]

Maybe a silly question. Do pin codes only come under adult names or could a child's name be attached to a pin code?

When I called to ask about a pin they said any family members who live at same address would show up under my name because the PIN is tied to an address. I have no clue if this is accurate, but that's what this CM said.

 

[GigiDisneyfreak]

I know I am jumping in late on this post, but I am new to the boards and Disney and have no idea what the free dining is about...Can anyone get it if they are staying on property? We just became DVC members as well as just annual passholders Is the FD available to us?

Thank you

To get the free dining you must book a package with a hotel room at full rack rate for at least 3 nights and no more than 14 and buy at least a 2 day ticket. If you are a annual pass holder you can save that 2 day ticket for in the future. If by DVC you mean a vacation club member you can not use your points to qualify. If you meant Disney visa card it doesn't matter now because it is open to everyone.

 

[LittleDisneyLovers]

I don't think it was "me" personally. I've made it quite clear that I only gather the information. So lets round out the crazy places. 1. The "May 1" date came from a TA Facebook board that I can't even find, but it was relayed to me. 2. The date ranges came from a South American Facebook TA board that I also can't find, but was posted on another Facebook page for the world to see by an anonymous reader. 3. The excluded resorts came from...oh yeah, haha Chase Visa. In the past, many things were leaked on foreign speaking forums and message boards. It's rather amusing how easy it is to find. So if anyone thinks I'm some kind of inside track that has a buddy at Disney....sorry. I gather info, I post what I find. It could all be wrong, but ya know.....what happens happens. Oh and by the way, we got thread of the month for April.

Well I think your pretty damn cluey! I am new to this thread, only found it when we decided to do WDW after our Cruise in September. I would have booked at full price, and never given it another thought. You have saved my family nearly $2500. I am so grateful for people like you here on Disboards, it is your knowledge that makes our vacations just a little bit extra special!

 

[LittleDisneyLovers]

Side note : I got through on the phone lines in about 5 mins, wondered if it was because I said I am 'international' instead of a US resident?

 

[SWofDisorder]

Side note : I got through on the phone lines in about 5 mins, wondered if it was because I said I am 'international' instead of a US resident?

I wonder that also? I use skype and dial up the regular USA # via skype. I wonder if I used the France to WDW number if we would have had to wait the 2 hours?

 

[SWofDisorder]

I don't think it was "me" personally. I've made it quite clear that I only gather the information. So lets round out the crazy places.

1. The "May 1" date came from a TA Facebook board that I can't even find, but it was relayed to me.

2. The date ranges came from a South American Facebook TA board that I also can't find, but was posted on another Facebook page for the world to see by an anonymous reader.

3. The excluded resorts came from...oh yeah, haha Chase Visa.

In the past, many things were leaked on foreign speaking forums and message boards. It's rather amusing how easy it is to find.

So if anyone thinks I'm some kind of inside track that has a buddy at Disney....sorry. I gather info, I post what I find. It could all be wrong, but ya know.....what happens happens.

Oh and by the way, we got thread of the month for April.

Thank you for doing the work to help all of us get information so we can save on holiday. It is hard enough to bring a family to WDW and it costs. You have done the leg work for us so we don't have to spend the time researching.

I saved a little and that means a lot.

 

[newbies04901]

Thread of the month for April!?! You should win a major award... Like a leg lamp! (A Christmas Story anyone?)

 

[black562]

Thank you for doing the work to help all of us get information so we can save on holiday. It is hard enough to bring a family to WDW and it costs. You have done the leg work for us so we don't have to spend the time researching. I saved a little and that means a lot.

Oh I almost forgot one. This one raised my eyebrow.

In a thread over on Micechat, someone made a short post about free dining and listed the excluded resorts. The odd part was that he said he saw a memo that was circulating. So it made me wonder who he worked for.

I would link it but we aren't supposed to do that. But if you google "Micechat free dining 2014", it's the first result that shows up. His third post mentions the exclusions.

These things are everywhere....and the funny part is, even though this is the biggest forum, none of the leaks are coming from here. Oddly enough, they come from the little forums and Facebook groups and fan pages. All we've been doing here is reporting them all. I wonder why that's the case?