~~~FREE DINING offer beginning Mar. 5th, travel dates Aug. 25-Sept. 29!

[Cinderella<3]

I recall and it happened for us. As long as you arrive on a free dining day it's the whole length.

 

[smitch425]

A quick question. Does anyone know if you check in on September 29th (possibly staying 9 days) would the free dining offer apply to the entire stay? Or does the end of your trip have to be before the 29th?

Thanks for your help.

If you check in on the 29th you can get FD for up to 14 nights.

 

[bwg1969]

I recall and it happened for us. As long as you arrive on a free dining day it's the whole length.

Thank you so much for your reply. I don't want to miss free dining.

 

[mmfan1310]

We booked 2 rooms with FD for August 21 to 29th back in December when it was offerred to Canadians. My DD and her BF would now like to join us. It looks like the new GP FD offer won't start until August 25th. Any suggestions?

 

[Andyjo0930]

How sure are we of the dates? It seems like it's starting a little late in August than it has in previous years. Two years ago, we were there for first day of free dining and and it was August 15th. And usually it starts on a Sunday... and the 25th is Saturday. Was hoping it was going to start the week before, as we are planning the 21st through 28th of August.

 

[DisDaze]

It is cancel and rebook but you do not need to do extra steps, just tell them what you want and they will take care of it. Technical side of it is not important. Just make sure to ask first if they have FD rooms available at the resort you want before they touch your reservation.


One more thing,
Do not know if you know but tips not included in FD, so just keep it in mind.

No, actually you do not cancel anything or rebook. They simply add the free diningcode to your existing reservation. Even if your current resort is "sold out" of free dining rooms and you have to change resorts, you still to not cancel or rebook. Everything stays the same and you keep your reservation number. The only way anyone would have to "rebook" would be if they were booked under a room only reservation - they would have to cancel that reservation and rebook under a package reservation.

 

[DisDaze]

What is the earliest time in the AM you can call to book a trip?

7 a.m. EST.

 

[Meetmeinmontauk]

Thanks!

 

[DisDaze]

Its me again sorry so if i call monday about switching my current reservation to free dining are they going to beable to do it or am i going to have to cancelle everthing and my dining and rebook ????

No, you do not have to cancel or rebook anything. You simply call and ask them to apply the free dining code to your existing reservation. You do want to have a back up resort in case your resort or your room category is sold out - that is rare on the first day that a general public discount is released, but it's possible. But, even if you had to change resorts or room category, you still would not have to cancel or rebook anything and your reservation number stays the same.

 

[Mickeylivesinseattle]

Do you think the price will drop still? Seems really high...even with the free dinning. I am going in May and the price is no less than what it is in May. I wanted to go one more time before school...so I booked it. But I might cancel. It just seems like they are charging more for the room to make up for the "free" dinning. Wondering if the price will drop as it gets closer?

WallaWallakids,
you hit it with your observation. Room prices are not discounted when you have the so-called "free dining". I have found room discounts to be a better deal than "free" dining. I admire the marketing genious of Disney because "free" dining always gets people into a frenzy for no real net savings. However it does allow people to try more Disney restaurants. If you want to try multiple Disney restaurants every day at WDW then go with the "free" dining. It is common knowledge that you can actually save $$$ if you go with a good room discount offer, and then simplify some of your meals. For me that means a box of cereal I bring for breakfast, and I buy milk locally and store it in the room frig. I tend to buy counter service lunch and split dinners between counter service and table service restaurants.

 

[DisDaze]

How sure are we of the dates? It seems like it's starting a little late in August than it has in previous years. Two years ago, we were there for first day of free dining and and it was August 15th. And usually it starts on a Sunday... and the 25th is Saturday. Was hoping it was going to start the week before, as we are planning the 21st through 28th of August.

These dates are pretty firm. There has never been a general public free dining offer that has followed a Disney Visa free dining offer where the dates changed or were different. And actually out of the 8 or 9 times they have offered the August/September free dining dates only 3 of those years has they offer started in mid-August, all the other years it has been for late August.

 

[eeyorepixie]

Why are you having to pay for dining anyway? Sorry, I don't understand. late dining dates?

Dan

my trip is Aug. 17-27 the FD promotion start way too late to be of any use to me. I would have to buy 2 day tix and 7 day tix the cose for a family of 5 is just too much food wise. We are not the family to split meals and we like sit down meals...

that is fine, I have calmed down Disney can offer the discounts they want and I can take my money elsewhere. My kids are not happy about it but, hey I only have the money I have. I can stay off site save money, so be it.

 

[Mickeylivesinseattle]

Ok so i have a question i have already booked with a 30% off code is that a better deal or is FD any feed back would be great never have booked striaght throw Disney always booked with AAA but this year they sent me the offer in the mail and it was a better deal then AAA ??? ant hope .....

lillylynnb,
Depends on your eating "style". You can actually save $$$ with your 30% room discount(compared to "free dining"). If you don't typically go to multiple table service restaurants every day of your stay, and mix in more counter service, and also mix in simple meals like bringing your own cereal for breakfast in your room(that's an example of what I do), then "free" dining is not worth it. If you want to go with the regular "free" dining plan, and eat at multiple table-service restaurants per day, then it will basically cost out about even.

 

[DisDaze]

WallaWallakids,
you hit it with your observation. Room prices are not discounted when you have the so-called "free dining". I have found room discounts to be a better deal than "free" dining. I admire the marketing genious of Disney because "free" dining always gets people into a frenzy for no real net savings. However it does allow people to try more Disney restaurants. If you want to try multiple Disney restaurants every day at WDW then go with the "free" dining. It is common knowledge that you can actually save $$$ if you go with a good room discount offer, and then simplify some of your meals. For me that means a box of cereal I bring for breakfast, and I buy milk locally and store it in the room frig. I tend to buy counter service lunch and split dinners between counter service and table service restaurants.

If you are going to share meals and eat in your room, then no the Dining Plan in general isn't going to be a good deal for you, but Free Dining is almost always going to be a much bigger discount than a room discount, especially if you are staying at a value or a moderate resort. The only time a room discount is going to save you more money than free dining discount is if you are staying at a deluxe resort and the room discount is over 35%. Also, the poster you quoted has a large family and that makes free dining an even bigger savings.

For us on our last trip a room discount would have saved us about $650.00 off full rack rate resort prices whereas a free dining discount saved us over $1,200.00.

 

[DisDaze]

lillylynnb,
Depends on your eating "style". You can actually save $$$ with your 30% room discount(compared to "free dining"). If you don't typically go to multiple table service restaurants every day of your stay, and mix in more counter service, and also mix in simple meals like bringing your own cereal for breakfast in your room(that's an example of what I do), then "free" dining is not worth it. If you want to go with the regular "free" dining plan, and eat at multiple table-service restaurants per day, then it will basically cost out about even.

Actually this is more of an analogy you would use if you are purchasing the Dining Plan, not when applying a free dining discount. The family is going to have to eat, and the meals can be free. A 30% off room discount at say POR for that family would save about them about $336.00 on a 7 night stay. A free dining discount would save their family about $1,176.00 off rack rates on a 7 night stay.

 

[Mickeylivesinseattle]

DisDaze,
I understand what you are saying. It really comes down to each family and their eating styles. I have never been able to price out a "free" dining as a significant (if any) savings compared to a good room discount, even at a value or mod. Also we spend more time in the parks, resort pools, etc vs. sitting down at two table service restaurants every single day of our trip. So my point is that if you can squeeze some savings with "free" dining then that means you value more time sitting in table service restaurants. Others will value more time doing other activities. For me when I tried "free" dining the first time I felt as though I had to eat more often and eat more food than I would normally eat. Your results may vary!

 

[Mickeylivesinseattle]

Actually this is more of an analogy you would use if you are purchasing the Dining Plan, not when applying a free dining discount. The family is going to have to eat, and the meals can be free. A 30% off room discount at say POR for that family would save about them about $336.00 on a 7 night stay. A free dining discount would save their family about $1,176.00 off rack rates on a 7 night stay.

wow, that would be an incredible savings, if possible. However my experience has never found that much savings with "free" dining. But again it comes down to how much one family eats and what they eat vs. another family. Every family has to make that determination before deciding if there really is any savings or not. For me there is no big savings to announce on this board.

I am certain that the economics of "free" dining for Disney relies on some families purchasing it and not getting the same value out of it as other families might get.

 

[DisDaze]

DisDaze,
I understand what you are saying. It really comes down to each family and their eating styles. I have never been able to price out a "free" dining as a significant (if any) savings compared to a good room discount, even at a value or mod. Also we spend more time in the parks, resort pools, etc vs. sitting down at two table service restaurants every single day of our trip. So my point is that if you can squeeze some savings with "free" dining then that means you value more time sitting in table service restaurants. Others will value more time doing other activities. For me when I tried "free" dining the first time I felt as though I had to eat more often and eat more food than I would normally eat. Your results may vary!

Actually the Basic Dining Plan only has ONE table service meal. The Quick Service Plan, which comes with the value resort for a free dining plan, doesn't have table service meals and the Deluxe plan which has 3 table service plan has never been offered with a free dining discount. We mostly spend all of our times in the parks also, so the DDP is an even bigger money saver, because we are not eating in our room. We are eating at least 1 counter service and 1 table service meal per day in the parks. As I said in the previous post, going by rack rates, a 30% off room discount would have saved us about $650.00, whereas a free dining discount saved us about $1,200.00 off rack rates. If you are going to eat in your room and split your meals, which most people are not going to do because the dining experience and character meals are marketed as part of the whole Disney magical experience, then you may save some money, but for most people, especially staying at a value or moderate resort, they are going to save hundreds, maybe even a thousand dollars more than a room discount.

 

[DisDaze]

wow, that would be an incredible savings, if possible. However my experience has never found that much savings with "free" dining. But again it comes down to how much one family eats and what they eat vs. another family. Every family has to make that determination before deciding if there really is any savings or not. For me there is no big savings to announce on this board.

I am certain that the economics of "free" dining for Disney relies on some families purchasing it and not getting the same value out of it as other families might get.

Those would be the exact numbers for the family you quoted, 2 adults, 1 Disney adult and 1 child for a 7 night stay at POR. A standard room at POR is about $160.00 per night, so 30% off would save you about $48.00 per night, $336.00 for the week. The Dining Plan is $51.52 per night for the 3 adults and $15.03 for the child, so $168.00 per night, $1,176.00 for the week. So they would be saving $840.00 more with a free dining discount. I guess I just don't get the argument that Free Dining isn't a good discount. As I see it, even if you are eating breakfast in your room, eating one counter service in the parks and splitting some meals at table service each day, that family is still going to spend well over $336.00 for their food during 7 days in Walt Disney World. The only way that the room discount would be better is if they could feed their family of 4 for less than $336.00 during those 7 days - and unless you are eating all of your meals in your room the entire 7 days, I don't think that's possible. Just one character meal for that family could come to over $100.00.

 

[KellyNY]

Actually the Basic Dining Plan only has ONE table service meal. The Quick Service Plan, which comes with the value resort for a free dining plan, doesn't have table service meals and the Deluxe plan which has 3 table service plan has never been offered with a free dining discount. We mostly spend all of our times in the parks also, so the DDP is an even bigger money saver, because we are not eating in our room. We are eating at least 1 counter service and 1 table service meal per day in the parks. As I said in the previous post, going by rack rates, a 30% off room discount would have saved us about $650.00, whereas a free dining discount saved us about $1,200.00 off rack rates. If you are going to eat in your room and split your meals, which most people are not going to do because the dining experience and character meals are marketed as part of the whole Disney magical experience, then you may save some money, but for most people, especially staying at a value or moderate resort, they are going to save hundreds, maybe even a thousand dollars more than a room discount.

Really depends on your family. You only really save more if you going to eat the way DP intended without DP. Then if yo have enough people in your party and stay at value or moderate you will save but not that much over room only %30.