Yet another CM saying..

[Lisadaa2]

Disney is cutting back on free dining. I called to see if I had fd attached to my name and he said no. He said I do have a 30% off ( which I new) and I should book anyway because they were cutting back I will try again next month. 30% is great but not as great as fd!

 

[dhardawa]

They have been saying this for years though. I'll believe it when I actually see it.

 

[SLJ6974]

Sounds like the CM was trying to get you to book right away. Do they make any type of commission off of the rooms and such they book?

 

[DisGirl1971]

They have been saying this for years though. I'll believe it when I actually see it.

I agree. People have been reporting these CM "insights" on the Disboards and other Disney planning sites for years, but really they released more free dining dates last year than ever before. There are always going to be certain times of year that are slower crowdwise and they will need to fill resort rooms. Free Dining helps them fill those resort rooms and has made them a lot of money. I don't see free dining ending anytime soon.

 

[kadesha]

I'd love free dining! Or I'd love 30%! It's a lot better than the 15% I'm booked with.

 

[Missytara]

I can tell you not necessarily does it pay off.

I go the week after Thanksgiving.

Three years ago, they offered the 4/3 deal. I had never seen it so crowded.

The last two years, they offered free dining. Two years ago, never so crowded.

This year, back down to crowd levels like I experienced from 2000 on, when it was a slow week.

I think with their stocks up, parks attendance up, and the economy on a bit of an upswing, they will be cutting back on discounts.

I think you will see more pin codes. A lot of people have been reporting getting more pin codes recently.

 

[TJA]

And the percentage discounts for the deluxes used to be 40% off....now I'm more consistently seeing 30% and 35% off.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Sounds like the CM was trying to get you to book right away. Do they make any type of commission off of the rooms and such they book?

I have seen others mention on here that the Cast Members who work at the Disney Reservation Center need to make a quota of reservations each month to avoid being fired.

 

[mjp12831]

Everything you hear is speculation. People on these boards have ideas (I have some too), but nobody really knows if/when they will start cutting back on discounts.

The CM that takes your reservation isn't going to know Disney corporate strategy, so I'd take what you were told with a grain of salt.

They announced mid 2010 that they would start reducing discounts, then followed up a very short time later with announcing free dining for the summer of 2011 (about a year out) significantly earlier than they ever did before.

Other than for 2011, free dining offer for late August on has generally come out around February/March. By April we should have a better idea of the direction the company is going in regarding discounts, but until then it's just speculation.