2015 FREE DINING THREAD _ All Questions HERE!!

[samsteele]

DH sounds like he wants to keep it though to make sure we're close to classic hall, transportation etc.

Pros and cons to a preferred room at POP. Yes, you may be a 3 min or so closer walk to the caf and buses. But because your room (may) be on the main pathways, and/or closer to the main hippy-dippy pool, it can be very noisy & loud because of food traffic and kids swimming in the pool into the evening. Not all preferred rooms are loud (eg some of those in the 50s section) but it wouldn't be my first choice. I book a standard less $$ room & ask for lake view, top floor 50s or 60s bldg. Usually quiet & sometimes I can see fireworks from my window. But my standard room adds an extra 5 mins or so to my walk in the morning & after I get off the bus at night. It comes down to your preferences and what works for you. I wouldn't pay for the preferred room at POP unless I or a guest had a mobility issue and had to be closer.

 

[samsteele]

Do you think an email to guest relations would funnel to him eventually if I referenced my reservation number??

Yes. Try your very best once the traffic has cooled down on disney sites. My guess is your feedback will help him. Kudos for his help!!

 

[Taran430]

I have a bit of a condurum in all the FD craziness I panicked at not having a modify button and booked a whole new reservation at a different resort. My initial reservations had to be made early or so I was told as we are traveling with 3 children and 2 adults so in our value resort we need the door to an adjoining room. That said because we had two room we could not just modify. I panicked and booked a new trip at AOA in what was left even though it cost more and wasn't our ideal room, but FD is FD. So to my question now that I have both reservations after cLling in and making a small room category change I'm torn as to which to keep. The cm told me the adjoining rooms with doors are limited and not guaranteed. I have to have a room with direct access I don't really see another option. So my ADR's open tonight or tomorrow what do I do? Can I make one set and change them to the room I keep or do I try to make two sets which I hate to do because others struggle for one. I'd really have no clue what to do about the rooms and I've been told by several people the adjoining rooms are not guaranteed. Whichever I cancel I plan to come to the boards and let people know before hand so maybe someone else can snag it from the forum. I feel terrible seeing people not get FD when I have two, but I'm not as Disney Resort savvy as I'd like to be and am so confused as to what to do it's making my head hurt. Please help

 

[agriffith]

I'm not sure who posted or when it was posted earlier, but does anyone have the information for the new dining option available to annual pass holders that includes (I believe) a discount on the room? TIA for any information you can share!

 

[LouFapp]

I want to put my conspiracy theorist tin hat on for a minute.

Last year, Disney delayed their own planned release just to trip up Black's predictions. Yes, it caused tons of grief and probably was the catalyst for all the emotions that made him decide not to champion FD here again this year. (You were missed, Black and thanks for chiming in last night).

But. That move caught Disney's business partner, DV Chase, by surprise and led to a total disaster last year where DV had outdated release info.

My guess is that has a lot to do with why DV didn't have an early release this year and it went straight to GP.

Fast forward to this year. Disney waited to release FD until 4:15am Eastern, 15 minutes after Disboards goes into its nightly 90 minute maintenance cycle. I really do think this was a purposeful snub at this board and this thread for arming so many people with the information to act in their best interests.

But. By releasing it in the dark of night, most people found out at 7-8 am, and that led to a huge crash of the system this morning.

IF Disney has released at midnight, there would have been hundreds (instead of dozens) to take advantage overnight and that would have let the steam off the pressure cooker for today,

In both cases, I believe Disney has acted with some measure of spite, towards social media in general, and Disboards and Black in particular. In both cases, the result was to hurt Disney more.

Whomever is making decisions about FD at the corporate level is purposefully working against social media, and the result is that they are also working against Disney.

Disney: It's time to treat social media as a potential ally instead of a threat. We have every reason to be excellent allies. You should rethink this strategy and/or the person in charge of it.

I think this makes a lot of sense. It explains why I was unable to book online even though I started at 4:30. It's because I started the post! Now i truly feel Blacks pain. LOL.

 

[NoodlesMom]

I'm so frustrated. Am I the only person left that still can't seem to book a reservation today? I can get all the way to the payment screen but anytime I apply my payment, it tells me that an error has occurred.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey]

Even if you canceled your resort altogether your ADRs would be intact.

This is very true. I had to cancel our trip last year and all of the ADRs were still there after I cancelled.

 

[Just Love Disney]

Does anyone know when we can expect to see a confirmation email/receipt of what was booked this morning at 3:00 a.m. MDT? I know the system is probably still running very slow but I typically see one within a few hours of making my reservation. Thanks!

And good luck to all of you that are still trying to get something booked. If it's any consolation, I was online shortly after they announced FD and STILL didn't get my first choice. Had to change resorts but I'm thankful that we are able to go at all. Oh, and getting all the ADRs we wanted took some of the sting off from not getting our resort

 

[Taran430]

Now I'm reading it's attached to your name not reservation. Both reservations are the exact same names...was that not a good idea or how is it even possible to do? Oh my.

 

[donp]

So, I am trying to figure what we learned today.
1). Traditional dogma was to not book early because you are depleting possible rooms in FD, shutting down resorts from being included, etc. Did that pan out to be true?
2). If one had booked early on, was it easier to add FD onto their promo? Or did it seem to be easier to be starting afresh with new booking?
3). Were you able to both start afresh AND/OR modify an existing ressie at 4:15 this AM, or was it just a modification with the online option?
4). Did booking with a TA end up helping most or hurting most for getting FD?

I know that some of this is still yet to be seen, but figure that we have a general gist by now.

 

[Grumpyhaus]

I'm not sure who posted or when it was posted earlier, but does anyone have the information for the new dining option available to annual pass holders that includes (I believe) a discount on the room? TIA for any information you can share!

I think you're referring to this from my response to linz earlier

I actually found out about it from the CM when I was on the phone. I always thought you needed to purchase a MYW with tickets to get any type of dining package. She informed me that AP and DVC now have a separate dining option when you book a RO called Passholder dining. It essentially turns your RO into a MYW RO + Passholder Dining. The CM ended up applying the late summer discount that was released today and added at the end of the call to keep an eye out for Passholder rates as Sept gets closer because they may be better than the 20% I got today with the late summer.

Edit: I just found this on another board.. a response someone got when asking about passholder dining from Disney... The MYW benefits are pretty great as well.

Thank you for contacting the Walt Disney World Resort.

New! Passholders can now book Room Only Plus Dining Offers! These exclusive offers allow Annual Passholders to book rooms with the addition of the Disney Dining Plan, Disney Deluxe Dining Plan and Wine add-on. These packages also include Magic Your Way Package benefits!

For more information and to book your package, contact the Walt Disney Travel Company directly at 407-828-8101 to book your reservations.
Regular operating hours are from 7am to 10pm EST daily.

A valid adult Annual Pass is required at check-in. Additional per-adult charges apply if more than two adults (18 or older) per room. No group rates or other programs apply. Advance reservations required. All prices and terms of this offer are subject to change without notice.

If you have questions or need further assistance, feel free to contact us.

Please include your full name, E-Mail address, and reservation number if applicable on all correspondence.

Thank you!

 

[Just Love Disney]

Now I'm reading it's attached to your name not reservation. Both reservations are the exact same names...was that not a good idea or how is it even possible to do? Oh my.

If you are referring to ADRs, you don't have to have a resort ressie at all in order to dine on Disney property.

 

[vicarrieous]

So, I am trying to figure what we learned today.
1). Traditional dogma was to not book early because you are depleting possible rooms in FD, shutting down resorts from being included, etc. Did that pan out to be true?
2). If one had booked early on, was it easier to add FD onto their promo? Or did it seem to be easier to be starting afresh with new booking?
3). Were you able to both start afresh AND/OR modify an existing ressie at 4:15 this AM, or was it just a modification with the online option?
4). Did booking with a TA end up helping most or hurting most for getting FD?

I know that some of this is still yet to be seen, but figure that we have a general gist by now.

I can only answer one of those based on my opinions:

4. I booked with a TA and was able to get exactly what I wanted. She was able to modify on her end before the computers went down. I am sure this is not the typical response, but I am thankful for a REALLY good TA, and she is my friend lol.

 

[smitch425]

Anyone can book a ticketless paid dining package. They can only do it by phone.

 

[agriffith]

Thank you so much! This is exactly what I was looking for!

 

[DisneyNannie]

FINALLY!!!! after waiting all day on my TA she finally got threw and even though we had to move from POP Nov1-7 to All Star Sports Oct 31 -6..we got free dining and will save a few dollars. HOwever when I went to MDE I noticed only one room reservation showed up and not 3. Now she has to call back and find out what is up. Any thoughts?

Same thing happened to me. I had 3 reservations only 2 showed free dining and the third was the old reservation. It ended up that it was a problem with MDE not the reservation. I had to talk to I T to get it corrected.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey]

I have a bit of a condurum in all the FD craziness I panicked at not having a modify button and booked a whole new reservation at a different resort. My initial reservations had to be made early or so I was told as we are traveling with 3 children and 2 adults so in our value resort we need the door to an adjoining room. That said because we had two room we could not just modify. I panicked and booked a new trip at AOA in what was left even though it cost more and wasn't our ideal room, but FD is FD. So to my question now that I have both reservations after cLling in and making a small room category change I'm torn as to which to keep. The cm told me the adjoining rooms with doors are limited and not guaranteed. I have to have a room with direct access I don't really see another option. So my ADR's open tonight or tomorrow what do I do? Can I make one set and change them to the room I keep or do I try to make two sets which I hate to do because others struggle for one. I'd really have no clue what to do about the rooms and I've been told by several people the adjoining rooms are not guaranteed. Whichever I cancel I plan to come to the boards and let people know before hand so maybe someone else can snag it from the forum. I feel terrible seeing people not get FD when I have two, but I'm not as Disney Resort savvy as I'd like to be and am so confused as to what to do it's making my head hurt. Please help

The only reason you would need to have your reservation information for your adrs is so you can do the 180+10 or if your have an adr that requires prepayment. Other than that, your adrs have nothing to do with your resort reservation. Go ahead and book the adrs you want for the # of guests you need. No need to book multiple adrs. When you cancel the resort reservation that you don't want, the adrs will still be intact.

 

[cath1979]

Does anyone know when we can expect to see a confirmation email/receipt of what was booked this morning at 3:00 a.m. MDT? I know the system is probably still running very slow but I typically see one within a few hours of making my reservation. Thanks!

And good luck to all of you that are still trying to get something booked. If it's any consolation, I was online shortly after they announced FD and STILL didn't get my first choice. Had to change resorts but I'm thankful that we are able to go at all. Oh, and getting all the ADRs we wanted took some of the sting off from not getting our resort

i receive my confirmation by email juste 2 min after making the purchase

 

[DEJ07]

Thanks for telling us, I did not know this. This may change our minds of choosing water parks and more option. Forgive me if this has already been asked, but I assume you can call ( obviously not today) and switch to park hopper instead. Is it as easy as I am thinking it will be? TIA

I just checked and the option to switch back and forth from water parks to park hopper is available when clicking the "modify" button under your reservation. I didn't go through with it, but it is pretty easy to do.

 

[ziravan]

Now I'm reading it's attached to your name not reservation. Both reservations are the exact same names...was that not a good idea or how is it even possible to do? Oh my.

You can have a dozen resort reservations or none. ADRs aren't associated with your resort. The only connection to resorts is the 180+10 window and that's one and done. The ADR booking window uses your resort to determine eligibility for 180+10 and that's it. The ADRs are still booked independent of the resort.

There are several threads here about booking throwaway resort reservations to get the 180+10 advantage and the canceling the resort. People do it.