Irritated already!

[Anesthesia Fine]

With all of the mentions on the board about Frozen's rapidly decreasing popularity and it's being rammed down our throat I figured A+E didn't even have a wait time anymore . Come to think of it there are lot's of folks saying SDMT is an uncomfortable kiddy coaster that is too short so I figured that fp+ would be easy to get also .

A&E stand-by has dropped a lot (I'm not seeing six-hour waits any more) but with party dates FPs are more limited, I guess.

SDMT is still super-new. Uncomfortable and short it may be, but there are still tons and tons of people who haven't tried it yet and want to check for themselves. (My husband is a coaster chicken; SDMT is about his speed. So it's one of his must-dos.)

 

[emmabemmainc]

There are some people who can't wait to tell people that their free dining isn't really free. Who cares? It is a great deal for many people and to those people, it feels like it is free. I'm getting tired of seeing people just so excited to post about how stupid people are who think that.

To the OP: Your post is bordering on me wondering if it's real or not. It's odd.

 

[nkereina]

I am sure there are some people out there as you suggest who just book the free dining without doing the math. I think most people do the math. If you do not do the math then saving money is not that important to them. Those are the people who like a deal, would want a deal but it not all that necessary for them to get a deal...like the OP who decided to book the vacation he or she wanted and booked back in May I believe it was.


I understand what you are saying. I just see so many people always stating Free dining is not the best deal and it is so individual as to length of stay, where you are staying, etc. I believe most people on these boards crunch those numbers so I tend to find it condescending when people tell others here that free dining is not a good value....the opposite as well. I see your point. I went back and read all your posts on this thread and definitely see your point where you were originally coming from. I agree.

I wasn't trying to be condescending so I apologize if it came off that way. It seemed as if OP had his or her facts wrong, since they felt they were paying more by not getting free dining. I was just trying to point out that it may not actually be the case so they shouldn't be so quick to assume.

There are some people who can't wait to tell people that their free dining isn't really free. Who cares? It is a great deal for many people and to those people, it feels like it is free. I'm getting tired of seeing people just so excited to post about how stupid people are who think that.

To the OP: Your post is bordering on me wondering if it's real or not. It's odd.

Hope you're not referring to me. I 100% agree that free dining CAN be a great deal. We often take advantage of it when we stay value and moderate, and when it makes sense for us. I wasn't making the argument for no reason - as mentioned (now several times), I was simply reminding OP that they should not be entitled to anything more than a free dining guest should be, because a free dining guest may actually be paying more.

 

[minniemous]

I wasn't trying to be condescending so I apologize if it came off that way. It seemed as if OP had his or her facts wrong, since they felt they were paying more by not getting free dining. I was just trying to point out that it may not actually be the case so they shouldn't be so quick to assume.



Hope you're not referring to me. I 100% agree that free dining CAN be a great deal. We often take advantage of it when we stay value and moderate, and when it makes sense for us. I wasn't making the argument for no reason - as mentioned (now several times), I was simply reminding OP that they should not be entitled to anything more than a free dining guest should be, because a free dining guest may actually be paying more.

No, I totally get it! I do not think you were being condescending. Like I said I re-read your posts and see that I misinterpreted what your point was.

 

[nkereina]

No, I just see it differently. We'll have to agree to disagree on this.

Through the years, I just have never gotten the angst over one of the most popular discount programs ever offered by Disney.

I just don't think you were catching what I was throwing. If Mary is staying at the Poly and gets free dining, her stay might cost $5000. If she took the room discount and eliminated free dining, it might bring her total to $3800. That would give Mary $1200 to work with for food, which she may not spend all of. If John is staying at POR and takes free dining, his stay might be $3000. If he drops the dining and takes the room discount, he might be at $2500. In John's case, it makes more sense to take free dining because he will likely spend more than that $500 on food over the course of his stay. (totally made up numbers here)

My statements were only to show OP that the free diners aren't bottom of the barrel. They are paying, in some cases, just as much if not more than OP so they should be afforded the same opportunities as OP when booking.

 

[mom2rtk]

I just don't think you were catching what I was throwing. If Mary is staying at the Poly and gets free dining, her stay might cost $5000. If she took the room discount and eliminated free dining, it might bring her total to $3800. That would give Mary $1200 to work with for food, which she may not spend all of. If John is staying at POR and takes free dining, his stay might be $3000. If he drops the dining and takes the room discount, he might be at $2500. In John's case, it makes more sense to take free dining because he will likely spend more than that $500 on food over the course of his stay. (totally made up numbers here)

My statements were only to show OP that the free diners aren't bottom of the barrel. They are paying, in some cases, just as much if not more than OP so they should be afforded the same opportunities as OP when booking.

Yes, I got it. Completely. I just don't agree with your characterization that because someone passes on a room only discount that means it's no longer "free".

 

[alopez926]

I am arriving on the 11th as well and picked my Fastpass+ selections right at midnight. Mine Train and Anna & Elsa were not available then either, so OP didn't miss out on anything by not staying up late.....

I second that. I had the same experience. Frustrating.

 

[clutter]

I just tried booking a room for Nov 11-14 for a conference. The only rooms available on-site or at Swan/Dolphin are a campsite, a couple at the $500/night range, and a couple at the $1,200/ night range! Crowds could be part of the problem.

 

[bbjunkie]

I booked back in February. We are there November 10-19. When free dining was released, I put a deposit down on a room with free dining and cancelled my first reservation a few days later when the hype died down. When my refund was processed, I then put that money on the new reservation. Booking early and now having to pay for your food has nothing to do with fastpasses, entitlement, or any of the sort. By your own words "I will pay for my food and don't get what I want and those who don't pay for their food get what they want". In order to get free dining, I had to switch resorts (still apprehensive about that, but we will make it work and heck, we are in Disney!). I had to compromise what our family was dreaming about.

I'm Canadian...my $4000USD moderate trip with our dollar that dropped is actually closer to $6000CDN, $6000CDN was almost what we used to pay to stay at Beach Club. You don't see me flinging around acting like my "good money" owes me MORE perks because in fact MY vacation costs ME more. Talk about disappointing. When we booked the trip, the dollar was only 10% more(same as the last three trips), we are now paying more than 30% more for the vacation. That's 20% more than budgeted, we had a less exciting summer to make it happen.

Also, to quote you, "Not everyone has money to drop like that every year". But judging by your signature, you've been almost every year. I'm unsure why you would bring that up. When you are there, there are many that are there for the first and last time, the second time, the first of many, the 30th time, and everything in between. Whether you can go once, or a 50 times, doesn't really negate FP+ regulations or distribution.

I booked the tickets at midnight. I took 10 minutes to look at DIBB first, I knew what dates would have A&E and 7DMT. I worked around that and had no issues getting A&E and 3 mine train. It's it inconvenient? Yeah, a little bit. But so is joining the Taylor Swift fan club to get the presale code and then waiting for the exact minute concert tickets are released just so I can get 3 for my daughters. So is having to be online at 7:30am for our city run programs (swimming, skating, summer camp etc) because they fill up in seconds. So is being online at 9am exactly to register my daughter for girl guides (I forgot and guess what, she didn't get in). I had to be PRESENT at the local gymnastics club at 6am to register my youngest for gymnastics. It's really no different than many in demand activities now a days. At least FP+ is free!

Exactly this!!

 

[alopez926]

[

I logged on at midnight (11 our time) last night & got 7DMT twice during our 11/13-11/19 stay (11/17 & 11/19 if I remember). I got every fast pass we wanted. We do not have free dining & did not book any ADRs.

You nailed it. You need to 1) have a reasonably long trip (at least 6 days; 8 or 9 if you want A&E); 2) be maximally flexible in when you can go to MK and don't let any pesky ADRs get in the way of your making your FP+ selections. 3) If you have a short trip, wait to go to MK until the end of your trip.

I didn't have that flexibility in my schedule (I struggled so hard to get some of my ADRs nd I didn't want to give them up) so I couldn't get 7DMT. A&E, Wishes, and MSEP were all gone for my entire trip before my 60 day window even opened. We'll live but it's disappointing.

 

[alopez926]

I'm not assuming about her diligence either. She waited until 7:30 instead of midnight.

Didn't really matter. They were already gone at midnight. I booked mine the same night.

 

[mla2177]

But, but, but I'm ENTITLED. My $4,000 is better than your $4,000!

Ha ha ha! I am the farthest thing from "entitled" then you can imagine!

 

[Figmentmommy]

Free dining= crowded parks= no Fast passes!

Sorry to say but the morning after FP+ opens up is often too late. Free dining is not the be all and end all of every Disney woe.

 

[DizBelle]

Didn't really matter. They were already gone at midnight. I booked mine the same night.

They were gone in the 2-3 days before the 60 day window opened. They were taken by the people arriving the several days before she is.

 

[Baklava]

I have a trip planned for Nov 11th-Nov17th. I DID NOT get free dining because I booked it back in May. Anyway, fast passes opened up Sat morning. I got online to pick then at 7:30am and 7DM was already gone and so were Anna and Elsa Meet and Greet. I'm angry! I am paying for my food and can't get what I want, but the people not paying get want they want! Seems like a flawed system to me! Do you think calling Disney will help, or is it a waste of time????

The best way to answer this question is to ask yourself what you would expect the call to accomplish.

-Will it get you the FP+ you want?
-Will it get you the Free Dining you did not book?


What are you hoping to accomplish? That gives you the answer.

 

[maxiesmom]

Didn't really matter. They were already gone at midnight. I booked mine the same night.

It does matter. Unless you tried 1 person, then 2, then 3, and so on you have no way of knowing if there were a few FPs for the taking or not. Plus, as I have experienced, a previously unavailable FP can become available. The passes were gone for the party size you needed at Midnight. And were gone when the OP tried to book. That is all we know for sure.

 

[Figmentmommy]

No. The PP erroneously said that it was false that free dining isn't really free. All I did was point out that yes the food is free, but the room is at rack rate. In PP's case, it was a good deal in value season at All Star Sports. But that's not the case for everyone and some people are blinded by the ruse of free dining and may ultimately pay more because they don't know any better. I wasn't saying PP didn't get a good deal. Just correcting a false blanket statement.

It's a bit much to say that those taking a free dining offer are somehow hoodwinked. We do free dining most trips and our discount is far greater than any room discount. Most often it is only a $250 difference and I certainly could not - and would not want to - feed my family of 4 for a week at Disney for $250. We eat the way we eat regardless of the dining promotion. For us free dining is just that - free.

 

[4EverFigment]

I'm not going to read 11 pages. Has anyone suggested ADR at Be Our Guest breakfast yet? That is my strategy for 7D. I'll beat the rope drop and minimize my wait by making that the first ride priority.

I personally am not interested in Elsa & Anna. But the same strategy would work as they're close to the same area.

 

[GaryDis]

Has anyone suggested ADR at Be Our Guest breakfast yet?

If the FP+ wasn't available 7 and a half hours after they could first be booked, the odds of a BOG ADR being available 120 days after they could first be booked are close to zero - with the exception of late cancellations, which could apply to either.

 

[alopez926]

It does matter. Unless you tried 1 person, then 2, then 3, and so on you have no way of knowing if there were a few FPs for the taking or not. Plus, as I have experienced, a previously unavailable FP can become available. The passes were gone for the party size you needed at Midnight. And were gone when the OP tried to book. That is all we know for sure.

Well, as it turns out, I WAS trying several different combos on MDE from midnight until 2AM (mostly just trying for 1 FP) and nothing came up during those two hours. The next morning I was able to get 2 singles, one in the morning and one in the evening on Nov 11. Not all that helpful for my party of 8 but I will keep working at it. I saw a few floating around yesterday, but not one time has opened up today. For now, they seem to be gone. I sure do hope that changes as the time gets closer.