1st week of December 2013 Support Group

[momto2inKC]

I don't really understand why people are getting upset that FD won't be during their week when Disney has not released dates! Some guy on the board mentions dates and people are changing vacation plans???????

If you do some checking, you'll find other threads where these 2 guys (Black and Danny) have posted the info and they're always right. We don't know how they know, but they do

 

[jaybee1026]

This is supposed to be a place for people to commiserate, not an "I told you so!" thread, esp. if posters already have discounted vacations booked.

 

[stephm0188]

Steph-I've been researching all day. There isn't a moderate to a villa that isn't booked from Halloween through the New Year. When Disney decides to announce dates for the free dining, things will open up.

Honestly, at this point, I'll take rack rate over any free dining. It'll be a mad house during those dates.

I hope so! I'd be happy with a room discount to be honest. I've added up what we've spent in the past on meals and snacks, and the cost of the dining plan is always more. I'm okay with not having it. I'm just hoping some rooms open up.

 

[Don Disney]

This is supposed to be a place for people to commiserate, not an "I told you so!" thread, esp. if posters already have discounted vacations booked.

Who told whom?

 

[jaybee1026]

I told them that they could not be sure about the first week of Dec. Well, some people went ahead and booked the first week of December with hopes of getting free dining. Now they are really disappointed. The "guessers" were wrong. Disney decided not to release free dining for the first week of December. The rooms were booking up and Disney didn't need to offer free dining after all. This is why people should never make changes based on what some "guessers" says. And to be fair, people were advised not to make any changes until the official dates were released.

Does this mean that no one should post here unless they agree to wallow in December discount misery? No. Also, it does not specifically say "I told you so!" in as many words but I'd rather share similar disappointment here than the above, even if it's true.

Perhaps I'm sensitive but I'll get over it.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We had booked our February 2013 trip last July hoping that we would get free dining. After all, that period had free dining in 2011 and 2012. There had been a lot of history to back up the expected discounts. So when the actual discounts were either a room only discount or the stay, play and dine plan, we were disappointed. But we had also been aware that we might not get free dining. It didn't change our plans since we booked during the value season and got our rooms at the lowest rack rate of the year. And the discounts that were offered came within a few hundred dollars of what free dining would have been.

So I understand the disappointment and the chance you take when booking a reservation. But I also know that there are ways to make it all work out, too. And Disney updates their discounts all the time. Last year they added a few extra days to the Dec free dining discount. So it is really too early to throw in the towel.

 

[DebbieB]

I wonder if the fact that Thanksgiving is late this year had an affect. Less time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, more people booked the beginning of December, especially when the PIN codes came out.

 

[stephm0188]

I wonder if the fact that Thanksgiving is late this year had an affect. Less time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, more people booked the beginning of December, especially when the PIN codes came out.

I'd guess yes. There wasn't a free dining offer for the first week in Dec last year. Thanksgiving was earlier, and FD was offered the last week of Nov. That's not happening this year.

 

[MouseLover24]

So if a RO discount is offered for our week, is it the same as FD in that if you check in during the promo period, you get the discount for the whole stay, or would you only get it for the days in the promo period?

 

[jaybee1026]

It's not the same as FD. It's only valid for the length of the promo period and not length of stay.

 

[Waddler]

Add me to the pity party. We're booked for 12/4 through 12/8.

We had considered the following weekend, but room rates were already "holiday" season (which we found suspicious at the time). I wonder if that's one reason the first week booked fast... people were capitalizing on "fall" rates. Now they're providing deals for the over-priced dates.

That said, I did get a AAA rate. I'm hoping a room-only discount comes out.

 

[mommyof3princess27]

I'd guess yes. There wasn't a free dining offer for the first week in Dec last year. Thanksgiving was earlier, and FD was offered the last week of Nov. That's not happening this year.

Last year we had FDing for the week after Thanksgiving... this year its later then usual and Pop Warner is first week of December and Disney never has a discount that week so that almost excludes that week from the get go but if rooms are booking up then Disney doesnt have to release anything.... and we all have to remember that Disney doesnt ever HAVE to release anything. People will still go and people will still pay..... unfortunately, If everyone changes plans and books rooms based on FDing (like I do) and it doesnt come out, then people get sad (like I would). I wouldnt change anything til I ran the numbers and knew the dates exactly because changing dates could make your package price go up do the the dates

 

[kt_mom]

Thankfully we're not affected by the free dining dates because we booked a bounceback last year that covers enough of our week to make me happy. But I am beginning to worry about crowd levels for that week.

I called earlier this week to book the HDDR for our trip and was unable to get into the 6:15 show for any of the days of our trip that I tried. And no catagory 1 at any show. I've never had a problem booking exactly what I want for the HDDR and I usually book it around this time.

 

[Ana~n~Joseph]

Thankfully we're not affected by the free dining dates because we booked a bounceback last year that covers enough of our week to make me happy. But I am beginning to worry about crowd levels for that week.

I called earlier this week to book the HDDR for our trip and was unable to get into the 6:15 show for any of the days of our trip that I tried. And no catagory 1 at any show. I've never had a problem booking exactly what I want for the HDDR and I usually book it around this time.

I'm really worried about crowd levels now. I checked resorts today and most have good availability for my dates (Nov 30-Dec 7) but dining reservations are hard to come by. Hopefully it will be a none issue once we get there.

 

[nervous1sttimer]

If you do some checking, you'll find other threads where these 2 guys (Black and Danny) have posted the info and they're always right. We don't know how they know, but they do

You're half right. Danny was never wrong. Black has made all sorts of predictions on discounts and 2014 release dates that never came true. He always goes back and re-edits the post so it's hard to tell what he said and when. This is his first "guaranteed to come true" prediction sans-Danny information, so it will be interesting to see how accurate he is (even then, he admits the info is coming from a 3rd party). I hope for the sake of the family who changed their flights and rebooked all their ADRs that he is right!!

 

[bas71873]

Last year we had FDing for the week after Thanksgiving... this year its later then usual and Pop Warner is first week of December and Disney never has a discount that week so that almost excludes that week from the get go but if rooms are booking up then Disney doesnt have to release anything.... and we all have to remember that Disney doesnt ever HAVE to release anything. People will still go and people will still pay..... unfortunately, If everyone changes plans and books rooms based on FDing (like I do) and it doesnt come out, then people get sad (like I would). I wouldnt change anything til I ran the numbers and knew the dates exactly because changing dates could make your package price go up do the the dates

My understanding is that Pop Warner is not the first week if December this year, but starts around the 7th and goes into the 2nd week.

 

[jessicamouse]

You're half right. Danny was never wrong. Black has made all sorts of predictions on discounts and 2014 release dates that never came true. He always goes back and re-edits the post so it's hard to tell what he said and when. This is his first "guaranteed to come true" prediction sans-Danny information, so it will be interesting to see how accurate he is (even then, he admits the info is coming from a 3rd party). I hope for the sake of the family who changed their flights and rebooked all their ADRs that he is right!!

We are the family that switched. However, we still have all our original ADR's, and switching the flights didn't cost us anything (actually it saved us $70). With southwest we can always switch back to the original dates if the rumors are untrue, so nothing lost. Just seems to make sense to act on what seems to be a better possibility at this point. If December dates are added in after all, we will be thrilled. If not, we are happy with Plan B.

Personally, I have more faith in this particular rumor, as it is coming from multiple places and is only two weeks from the supposed release date. I will be happy when the speculation is finally over and we can just look forward to the trip rather than continue to plan!!

 

[smitch425]

You're half right. Danny was never wrong. Black has made all sorts of predictions on discounts and 2014 release dates that never came true. He always goes back and re-edits the post so it's hard to tell what he said and when. This is his first "guaranteed to come true" prediction sans-Danny information, so it will be interesting to see how accurate he is (even then, he admits the info is coming from a 3rd party). I hope for the sake of the family who changed their flights and rebooked all their ADRs that he is right!!

I haven't seen Black post any release dates for 2014, so I have no idea what that is supposed to mean. As for people changing their dates based on the rumor, Black has said multiple times that nothing should be changed or counted as fact until the official release. He is just here to help people. He posted the last deal's details before Danny did (which is likely the reason Danny left us), so this is not his first prediction without Danny's help. If Danny chose to leave this site forever, it is by his own choice. Black has very nicely offered any information he can find, and I, and a lot of other people, are grateful that he has done so. BTW, Danny has gotten things wrong. He said the LM rooms would be included in the current FD offer, but they weren't. I wish Danny would come back because he seemed like a good guy until he went off on people for stealing his thunder.

To get back to the thread topic, I sincerely hope that everyone in this thread can get some type of discount on their trip. I know how much some of you were hoping for FD. Good luck!

ETA: 2014 rate release dates were being falsely indicated by several planning websites. To my knowledge, he never said it was confirmed. Lots of sites had that rumor in print, so not sure you can fault him for that.

 

[momto2inKC]

You're half right. Danny was never wrong. Black has made all sorts of predictions on discounts and 2014 release dates that never came true. He always goes back and re-edits the post so it's hard to tell what he said and when. This is his first "guaranteed to come true" prediction sans-Danny information, so it will be interesting to see how accurate he is (even then, he admits the info is coming from a 3rd party). I hope for the sake of the family who changed their flights and rebooked all their ADRs that he is right!!

I've not seen him post predictions for 2014. We changed our ADR's but not our package. I'll do that when/if it goes live. With all the people going the first week of Dec, we're switching to Nov regardless. I have a feeling it's going to be busier than websites are predicting.

 

[mkymouse40]

We were booked for Dec 2 - 11 at the POFQ and counting on the FD like everyone else.

Now, we will have to cancel the POFQ room, book a room only at All Stars and eat cheaply at other places. We'll select a few of our favorite restaurants and pay the inflated prices, but we certainly won't be indulging like on the FD. No drinks, no desserts, no snacks every day, and probably no Disney Refillable Mug.

We will have to take a "Budget" trip instead of really enjoying ourselves. Oh well, it is still a trip to Disney with the wonderful holidays activities and decorations.

On a positive note, maybe I can actually lose a few pounds on the trip from not over eating!