2016 Free Dining Watch ~ Part 2

[Meeko5]

I have 2 boys. Just took the 3 year old to see Frozen on Ice Friday night. Love that he is little and not too cool for Princesses yet.

My 2 year old songs Let It Go allllll the time. It's adorable! If I can snag a FP for the frozen ride I will for him...I guess...but not if its Tier 1

 

[atisikitabasket]

POR vs CBR family of 5 my 2 cents. I have seen many asking what everyone thought so decided to give my families opinion. We are 3adults 1 teen 1C and 1 infant so really there was 6 people. Here is our thoughts.

POR love the pretty resort and ability to take the boat to downtown (did I say how pretty?). but wish the mansion had room for family of 5 don't care for the alligator bayou rooms. CBR room worked better for us with the door instead of curtain to the bathroom and we just seemed to have more room (remember we had a portable crib too) also for little kids hands down CBR pool. With all that said if we didn't need a room for 5 I would pick POR mansion section over CBR but between POR alligator bayou vs CBR I would pick CBR.

Food wise we only ever got drinks at resort and we had our own vehicle Good luck to everyone I hope we all get what we are hoping for!!!!

We have stayed Royal Room, standard mansion and standard alligator at POR and standard CBR.

Hope this helps but honestly whichever you choose you will love it!

 

[5ofus]

I have 2 boys. Just took the 3 year old to see Frozen on Ice Friday night. Love that he is little and not too cool for Princesses yet.

My 5yo is very young and small for his age so I can still get away with it with him. The other two though... They are far too logical and reasonable to believe in the magic too, but they still get into it. Except for the princesses.

 

[coley444]

So, been watching this thread for some time but haven't posted yet. Still trying to decide if I want to go yet and time is running out! Here is my dilemma.

I am currently booked for 11 nights at Cabana Bay (Sept 22-Oct 3) so I can go to two full weekends of Halloween Horror Nights. If I decide to do Disney, I would go before checking into Cabana Bay. Since I am staying so long at Cabana, I was going to book transportation that included a free 30 minute grocery store stop from the Airport to the hotel to pick up some items to save money. The thing is, they only offer that perk for round trips from and back to the airport. If I did Disney, I would have to figure out something to get me to and from the grocery store on the 22nd but all I can think of is a taxi and that can get expensive.

My other issue is price. If I am figuring it out right, AS Sports would be $927.25 for 4 nights/4 day PH, $1079.96 for 5 nights/ 5 day PH or $1232.66 for 6 nights/ 6 day PH (traveling solo). I have a DVC so I get the 6-month no interest which helps. However, I am planning on doing a LONG Disney trip next Sept. when Avatar opens and I was just at Disney last Sept. For all expenses (including $35 for food per day while NOT at Disney and Bush Garden/Sea World combo tickets to take the free shuttles from Universal), my 11 nights at Cabana Bay is going to be around $2485. Adding four nights at Disney brings it to $3430. However, I could go to Cabana Bay for 17 nights for $3410 giving me another weekend of Horror Nights.

I really want to check out the new Star Wars Fireworks, Rivers of Light, Frozen and Soarin but I would hope they are all still around next Sept. Been debating what to do all week and I just can't decide and time is running out! I only set aside $2500 for travel this year but work has been giving me extra hours and my budget can go up. Plus getting 6 months to pay both the deposit and then the final payment off really helps. What would you guys do? Skip Disney, add Disney or extend Cabana Bay? Whenever I do Disney, I always go for 8-10 nights and even that doesn't seem like enough. Would four nights not even be worth it?

If you've never used Uber before I recommend it for getting to and from far places for free. Here's how...

Download the app and sign up a week or two ahead of your trip. I did this ahead of an Orlando trip in Jan 2015. After a week went by I got an email offering a free ride since I hadn't tried using uber yet. I then used that code to go from the Dolphin to Universal.

Since your solo you could potentially make multiple accounts tied to different cards to get more free rides. I think your first use is always free even without the aforementioned email code.

For others in a case where there is another adult in your party you can send them an invite code with a free ride when they download uber as a new user. So I invited my sister who used her free ride to get us back to the Dolphin.

To top it off when my sister redeemed my referral code I got another free ride as a reward. We used that a couple days later to head over to MCO from the Dolphin! So I paid nothing for round trip to universal and only $5 to MCO! The free rides max out at $20 or $30 - enough to get from WDW to Universal or another location. For MCO I had a $5 balance or so to cover which was negligible. This may not be guaranteed / still available but is worth a try!

 

[Attracted to Beasts]

I have 2 boys. Just took the 3 year old to see Frozen on Ice Friday night. Love that he is little and not too cool for Princesses yet.

My boys are 3 (tomorrow! Hope his birthday brings us FD luck!) and 4.5.....since I don't have a princess I told DH I will be taking them to the bibidi bobidi boutique for the knight package!!! Hahahaha I might as well do it while they're still too little to fight me back on it!

 

[DennisandAngel]

getting the FP+ for the new Frozen ride is my biggest concern, 3 of the kids in our family are obsessed with Frozen; I have to make it happen.

Yes, the though of that stresses me right out!

 

[DisBuckMan]

My 2 year old songs Let It Go allllll the time. It's adorable! If I can snag a FP for the frozen ride I will for him...I guess...but not if its Tier 1

Bet it is....Maelstrom was, believe it or not.

Never understood that one.

Of course, I've never understood the decision to replace Maelstrom to begin with. My family loved that ride.

 

[kellyjeanie]

We're tossing around DH taking our oldest to UA for a day while I take the youngest 2 into the parks - I might try to do the Frozen stuff that day, since my youngest son likes Frozen. He'll enjoy it. He wouldn't miss it if we didn't but if it's just DD, DS2, and I we'll have fun.

 

[black562]

Shhhhh!

I know....so much incorrect information over there that's claimed to be 100% confirmed. I feel bad for those who trust some of it that doesn't come to pass.

 

[Meeko5]

Bet it is....Maelstrom was, believe it or not.

Never understood that one.

Of course, I've never understood the decision to replace Maelstrom to begin with. My family loved that ride.

I have such fond memories of Maelstrom as a kid. But it, an any reincarnations, are so not a tier 1 attraction!

 

[xipotec]

I have to admit...I became a traitor this year.....

Took 2 of my WDW days and converted them to US.....I feel so dirty.

 

[DennisandAngel]

If you've never used Uber before I recommend it for getting to and from far places for free. Here's how...

Download the app and sign up a week or two ahead of your trip. I did this ahead of an Orlando trip in Jan 2015. After a week went by I got an email offering a free ride since I hadn't tried using uber yet. I then used that code to go from the Dolphin to Universal.

Since your solo you could potentially make multiple accounts tied to different cards to get more free rides. I think your first use is always free even without the aforementioned email code.

For others in a case where there is another adult in your party you can send them an invite code with a free ride when they download uber as a new user. So I invited my sister who used her free ride to get us back to the Dolphin.

To top it off when my sister redeemed my referral code I got another free ride as a reward. We used that a couple days later to head over to MCO from the Dolphin! So I paid nothing for round trip to universal and only $5 to MCO! The free rides max out at $20 or $30 - enough to get from WDW to Universal or another location. For MCO I had a $5 balance or so to cover which was negligible. This may not be guaranteed / still available but is worth a try!

Great info! Thanks!

 

[DennisandAngel]

I have to admit...I became a traitor this year.....

Took 2 of my WDW days and converted them to US.....I feel so dirty.

[/QUOTE

 

[mzpoirot]

Joining in! Our last trip to WDW was in Oct 2014 and we stayed @ CSR. This time we are going Nov 12-18th and plan to stay at CBR (originally planned for POR but then changed with the hopes of free dining...). We are planning on doing a split stay if the dates don't include the 12th!

 

[Amanda S.]

I have to admit...I became a traitor this year.....

Took 2 of my WDW days and converted them to US.....I feel so dirty.

Edit to better Gif:

 

[DisBuckMan]

I have to admit...I became a traitor this year.....

Took 2 of my WDW days and converted them to US.....I feel so dirty.

We're going to US/IOA for two days on our upcoming trip next month. I haven't been in many years...before there was an IOA and wife is the same. Will be our 10 y/o son's first trip to US/IOA....after having been to Disney many, many times.

 

[Meeko5]

I have to admit...I became a traitor this year.....

Took 2 of my WDW days and converted them to US.....I feel so dirty.

Most appropriate gif ever.

I'm DYING to do universal. But not with kids who won't properly appreciate the HP stuff. I've got a few years...or a friend's trip sans kids!

 

[1437disney]

We will be there then too!!!

Us too! I think having free dining might bump up crowd levels

 

[lancgirl]

I'm getting super excited! I have really enjoyed reading all your comments and questions over the past few days. I am finally caught up and ready for the night ahead! Let's hope many are reading the other thread that's suggesting calls open at 6AM PST!

 

[aaarcher86]

Most appropriate gif ever.

I'm DYING to do universal. But not with kids who won't properly appreciate the HP stuff. I've got a few years...or a friend's trip sans kids!

We are going on a few says this trip. They probably won't appreciate it entirely, but I'm DYING to get the baby on the Dr. Seuss carousel!

Gonna ride me a Sneetch!