2015 FREE DINING THREAD _ All Questions HERE!!

[Andie Savoie]

I have a question. Would people who already have reservations be considered a chosen demographic to fill unused rooms? In my experience with other companies they aren't worried about rooms they can already get full price for, only the empty ones that aren't generating any revenue. Is this different at Disney? Obviously it's the most magical place on earth so you want to believe that they want to make vacations with them as affordable as possible, but it all comes down to business and profits.

It still seems as reports are rolling in that there were and still are quite a few rooms and that doesn't even count people that aren't on this board. The site crashes and hold times and phone line issues were a nightmare, I agree. I also think it was great help to have implemented the online modification system, an improvement from years past.

well, what I mean is, even those people that didn't have reservations can't get a deal. Many people were depending on discounts to be able to afford to go.

 

[piglet1979]

I have a question. Would people who already have reservations be considered a chosen demographic to fill unused rooms? In my experience with other companies they aren't worried about rooms they can already get full price for, only the empty ones that aren't generating any revenue. Is this different at Disney? Obviously it's the most magical place on earth so you want to believe that they want to make vacations with them as affordable as possible, but it all comes down to business and profits.

It still seems as reports are rolling in that there were and still are quite a few rooms and that doesn't even count people that aren't on this board. The site crashes and hold times and phone line issues were a nightmare, I agree. I also think it was great help to have implemented the online modification system, an improvement from years past.

I think Disney might be different because they know that people book a head of time and will cancel if they don't get the deal. It makes it harder for them to really count how many rooms will be open for this time period. I think there will be more rooms open up as the days go on. 2 years ago we booked almost a month into FD. It was a last minute thing.

 

[5kidsmommy]

Does anyone know how the phones are today? Yesterday was a disaster with my original reservation. It is still there hanging and I want to cancel it but I can't cancel it online, ugh!! I really didn't want to tie up lines yesterday and if they are still a mess today I don't want to add to the tie ups.

 

[Aubrav]

well, what I mean is, even those people that didn't have reservations can't get a deal. Many people were depending on discounts to be able to afford to go.

But if they couldn't get a deal it was because of limited availability right? Which is caused by bookings already in place for those dates. In addition you have to consider how many of those reservations were effectively able to be modified (I know not all of them were) taking discount rooms from people who had not yet reserved.

From another perspective let's say that everyone who booked solely to have a reserved spot for free dining hadn't (this doesn't count people who booked for other reasons). How many unfilled rooms would that have shown Disney? How would that have affected the availability of the offer?

I'm just trying to look at this from all sides, it helps to understand for me.

 

[The Dirty Steve]

Does anyone know how the phones are today? Yesterday was a disaster with my original reservation. It is still there hanging and I want to cancel it but I can't cancel it online, ugh!! I really didn't want to tie up lines yesterday and if they are still a mess today I don't want to add to the tie ups.

90 Minute wait last time I tried. At least that's what the recording said!

 

[disneydoll87]

so at 11:30 last night I caved and ended up modifying my resort to an upgraded courtyard view room at WL with free dining. Only saved about $200, but at least I know for sure I will have an awesome view! I only had 5 nights and 5 day package with WP&M Option so I was happy to be eligible for it. Definitely not the hundreds of dollars in savings I was looking for, but this will be our first time in a deluxe resort so I was willing to spend a little more than usual. Can't wait!

 

[Aubrav]

I think Disney might be different because they know that people book a head of time and will cancel if they don't get the deal. It makes it harder for them to really count how many rooms will be open for this time period. I think there will be more rooms open up as the days go on. 2 years ago we booked almost a month into FD. It was a last minute thing.

That is absolutely true and that is the other point to the argument. If they have no idea what room availability will look like after the dust settles, then they can't very well offer rooms that don't exist when the offer comes out right? So they probably do a deep historical statistical analysis to estimate how many rooms they might need to fill before deciding what rooms and dates to put in the offer. it's impossible to have an exact science though and I can't imagine the uproar if they overbooked.

 

[SarahJC]

We only use her because she's a good friend of ours and her prices are lower. But maybe next time we won't use her. I think I'd be better off on my own planning and being in control. I wonder if I call they'll let me book them FD without my travel agent..hmm

 

[disneydoll87]

90 Minute wait last time I tried. At least that's what the recording said!

The disney website is definitely much better today too. You might want to try online while you wait

 

[DJBounce]

I just want to thank you for posting this. I did it and I was able to right through. Thank you!

I was able to get right through, too! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

 

[ehoops120912]

That's such a great idea. I wish I did that because the modification request I made wasn't held and after speaking with the CM the room was already taken. But I thank you and will definitely switch to Chrome since Explorer is not helping me today and try that out. Thanks again.

I was up at 5:30 yesterday and I had the same message yesterday "cant take payment" or whatever, and I spent a half hour on Chrome trying everything to make it work, to see if it was a Disney fault or mine. So I hopped on Firefox and first try I got FD

If you try different browsers atleast you know its not on your side and call disney, that way you dont waste your time.

Glad I could help!

I hope everyone gets what they are wanting today! Happy wishes to all!

 

[5kidsmommy]

90 Minute wait last time I tried. At least that's what the recording said!

The disney website is definitely much better today too. You might want to try online while you wait

Thanks DirtySteve and thanks disneyfoll87, unfortunately I have to call, the problem can't be rectified online, trust me I have tried at least a dozen times. I guess I will try later in the week.

 

[disneydoll87]

Thanks DirtySteve and thanks disneyfoll87, unfortunately I have to call, the problem can't be rectified online, trust me I have tried at least a dozen times. I guess I will try later in the week.

best of luck to you!!

 

[Aubrav]

Ooh I was looking on the website again and if I move my dates up by just one day I could get all star music and knock off that extra day. That would put us coming home on Friday before the Columbus day weekend but the kids would miss an extra day of school.

Thoughts on music vs sports?

 

[ELSA711]

But if they couldn't get a deal it was because of limited availability right? Which is caused by bookings already in place for those dates. In addition you have to consider how many of those reservations were effectively able to be modified (I know not all of them were) taking discount rooms from people who had not yet reserved.

From another perspective let's say that everyone who booked solely to have a reserved spot for free dining hadn't (this doesn't count people who booked for other reasons). How many unfilled rooms would that have shown Disney? How would that have affected the availability of the offer?

I'm just trying to look at this from all sides, it helps to understand for me.

Some of us book though to have the room the week we want to go regardless of FD, but sometimes these deal entice us to change our plans.
I saved almost 2K by making my change for FD, I ended up not getting my resort but for 2K I can suck it up.

 

[1girln3boys]

I am a travel agent and all our emails we got said 6 nights. But my group all communicated together and found where it says 3 nights. It's not on anything sent to us but is online. Really sneaky of Disney to do that.

 

[Aubrav]

Some of us book though to have the room the week we want to go regardless of FD, but sometimes these deal entice us to change our plans.
I saved almost 2K by making my change for FD, I ended up not getting my resort but for 2K I can suck it up.

Right, that's why I excluded people who booked for other reasons. Some booked with full intention to pay full price and some booked to get ADR's which is important. And I'm not trying to fault anyone at all, just trying to pinpoint how the system works from their eyes, not ours. Maybe we can learn something for next time

Congrats on saving that!

 

[kidsfirsttrip]

Question : now with the new modification and cancel button are people who are releasing reservations seeing them being released back into inventory or are they floating in the disney system somewhere? Also can anyone confirm that the modification button to shorten your reservation by a day or two makes you switch to a new reservation if available instead of just dropping those days?

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

Ooh I was looking on the website again and if I move my dates up by just one day I could get all star music and knock off that extra day. That would put us coming home on Friday before the Columbus day weekend but the kids would miss an extra day of school.

Thoughts on music vs sports?

We stayed at Music last year. Although we've stayed there previously, last year was very off for us. Our bed was something awful. It was so thin, squeaky, and we could feel every coil. We have no idea what the deal was, but we will be staying at Sports this year!

 

[zlah31]

Maybe not completely FD related but I booked a free dining room yesterday with 5 day park hopper tickets. In MDE they are all listed and under them says 8 days admission remaining. Is that normal? We are staying 7 nights 8 days.
Also since my package is already in MDE do I need to do anything more to link tickets for fast pass?