2016 Free Dining Watch

[ELSA711]

If you hit modify, and then decide you don't really want to modify based on what you see, can you just stop without changing anything in your reservation?

I just logged in to see what it says. It now says 'change reservation' instead of modify. Each section is separate still with 'special offers' , etc. Mine is update to 'call' on a few things like travel party size and dates, maybe because I'm to close to checking in.
The dates last year were not 'call' only as I am seeing now. But again I may be to close to check in. Maybe someone who is further away could test it to see if the travel dates have the change button next to them

 

[ELSA711]

Here's a question I've not found an answer to yet. (If I missed it in the thread I'll apologize here)

But we already have a trip booked for September along with the deluxe dining plan. It's not paid off yet. If free dining is announced during our dates would we be able to call and have our booking changed to the free option versus still paying for it?

You'd think I'd know this answer but it eludes me.

Deluxe isn't offered only Reg Dining if I remember correctly, but yes you can have it added and then if you still want deluxe, you can pay the up charge.
Granted everything else falls into place, resort, room category and dates.

(edited to say, at least you could last year - who knows in 2016 what WDW rules will be)

 

[Disneylover99]

I just logged in to see what it says. It now says 'change reservation' instead of modify. Each section is separate still with 'special offers' , etc. Mine is update to 'call' on a few things like travel party size and dates, maybe because I'm to close to checking in.
The dates last year were not 'call' only as I am seeing now. But again I may be to close to check in. Maybe someone who is further away could test it to see if the travel dates have the change button next to them

Thanks for the info. I might give it a try.

 

[PK Disney Dork]

Deluxe isn't offered only Reg Dining if I remember correctly, but yes you can have it added and then if you still want deluxe, you can pay the up charge.
Granted everything else falls into place, resort, room category and dates.

(edited to say, at least you could last year - who knows in 2016 what WDW rules will be)

Thank you.

I figured if it was offered we'd have to pay the difference. Still would be a lot cheaper!

 

[piglet1979]

Thank you.

I figured if it was offered we'd have to pay the difference. Still would be a lot cheaper!

If I remember correctly since you will be changing your reservation you will also have to pay new rate on tickets if you made the reservation before the price changed. The difference you will pay between the DDP and the Deluxe Dining Plan will be with the new prices as well.

 

[PK Disney Dork]

If I remember correctly since you will be changing your reservation you will also have to pay new rate on tickets if you made the reservation before the price changed. The difference you will pay between the DDP and the Deluxe Dining Plan will be with the new prices as well.

We made the reservation just after the price change so that wouldn't effect us.

 

[mandis77]

Just an FYI to anyone who is interested. I'm chatting with a CM online right and she's telling me I can book all three rooms online (3 separate transactions), and manage them all from my MDE account. So, if this is true. I could book all three rooms today - then whenever FD plan comes out I can "modify" all three reservations and add FD plan?

This is all very nerve wracking. I have been trying to hold out and wait until FD was announced but with juggling multiple rooms and my 180 day window looming next week it's getting harder and harder to be patient.

 

[Funfire240]

We made the reservation just after the price change so that wouldn't effect us.

some prices went up last night in case you didn't know

 

[monkeymom1210]

Yes last year, we were hearing rumors of the day it was going to be. So when it came time, that rumored day I got up and logged on first thing around 5am and it was up. I booked online no problems and I'm glad I did as availability was horrible by the time people were calling when the phones opened. I have a BounceBack this year with FD, so I'm not in the craziness this year. This is the first time I'm not had to worry and fight to get it. We do not normally do back to back years, so I had never been able to use the BounceBack. But I'm still watching how it all goes down this year and at least giving moral support to you all!

If I have a reservation with a deposit and I get up at 5 am do I book a new res. With free dining the. Call and cancel my old one

 

[gemini2727]

Just an FYI to anyone who is interested. I'm chatting with a CM online right and she's telling me I can book all three rooms online (3 separate transactions), and manage them all from my MDE account. So, if this is true. I could book all three rooms today - then whenever FD plan comes out I can "modify" all three reservations and add FD plan?

This is all very nerve wracking. I have been trying to hold out and wait until FD was announced but with juggling multiple rooms and my 180 day window looming next week it's getting harder and harder to be patient.

If your able to do this, I def would. I've always understood that any discount or special offer could be applied to an existing reservation.

 

[RigatoniFeline]

I am really hoping for FD for our 8/25 - 8/31 trip. I have some questions:

How does it work for Disney Visa people? Do they send you an email or something?
I already have my ADR's. If I have to cancel my package reservation to get FD, I don't lose these, right?
We are staying at POP. There is no way a room discount would be better than FD for a value right? There are 9 of us in three rooms.

Thanks!

 

[KT0191]

I am really hoping for FD for our 8/25 - 8/31 trip. I have some questions:

How does it work for Disney Visa people? Do they send you an email or something?
I already have my ADR's. If I have to cancel my package reservation to get FD, I don't lose these, right?
We are staying at POP. There is no way a room discount would be better than FD for a value right? There are 9 of us in three rooms.

Thanks!

Usually, Disney Visa holders will get an email notifying that they have access to free dining before the public. But I've read a lot of people saying they never received an email and only learned about it from Disboards, Facebook, etc. So I wouldn't rely on that.
Your dining reservations will not be affected in any way if you cancel your existing reservation. And I can't see a room discount being a better deal than free dining at a value for 9 people!

 

[prettypatchesmsu]

If I have a reservation with a deposit and I get up at 5 am do I book a new res. With free dining the. Call and cancel my old one

I'm not the best to answer this, so hopefully someone who has done it will chime in. I've always not booked until FD was announced. But last year some were able to modify their already booked reservation to add the FD promotion easily online. Others just booked new online and cancelled the other, and others called in and had Disney take care of it totally. I do remember some had two overlapping reservations and Disney was canceling them not long after. So I would not keep duplicates long. Others who know more about that might be able to tell more about that problem if you are interested. Hope that helps you.

 

[SunnieRN]

We have never gotten free dining, due to timesharing. This year we are interested in going on a late September or early October trip and Free Dining would seal the deal. I have a question though. My grandmunchkins want to participate in YES, so we would buy our tickets through the program. Would we still be Free Dining eligible? I guess I need to call again, lol.

 

[brockash]

Just an FYI to anyone who is interested. I'm chatting with a CM online right and she's telling me I can book all three rooms online (3 separate transactions), and manage them all from my MDE account. So, if this is true. I could book all three rooms today - then whenever FD plan comes out I can "modify" all three reservations and add FD plan?

This is all very nerve wracking. I have been trying to hold out and wait until FD was announced but with juggling multiple rooms and my 180 day window looming next week it's getting harder and harder to be patient.

Yes, you can do this. We do this every year. I think it's much easier to manage them all from 1 MDE account. - When you go to modify you'll still have to modify each one individually, but they'll all be there. The only downside to this is possibly for ADR's. If your group is splitting up for ADR's, the system will not allow you to book multiple ADR's for the same time period under the same MDE account. There are ways to get around this - you can call in your reservation and the CM can make multiple ADR's for the same time-frame or if you have more than 1 MDE account, you can use your other MDE account (or your families whoever as long as a different email address) to make any "overlapping" ADR's you'll need - you won't be able to get the 180 + 10 days on these ones though, since there's no package associated with it, but if it's an issue and you guys are splitting up for some meals but want 2 different ADR's for the same meal, this is what works best for us. The system does not recognize how many ppl. are included in the package compared to how many ppl. the dining reservations are for which is why I'm told the system won't allow more than 1 ADR at a time.

 

[sharonabe]

We have never gotten free dining, due to timesharing. This year we are interested in going on a late September or early October trip and Free Dining would seal the deal. I have a question though. My grandmunchkins want to participate in YES, so we would buy our tickets through the program. Would we still be Free Dining eligible? I guess I need to call again, lol.

Tickets must be purchased with the package for FREE dining. You don't have to use the tickets; you can save them to use for a future trip, but you can't get free dining without them. I think it is a 2-day ticket with either park hopping or water parks that was required last year.

 

[brockash]

We have never gotten free dining, due to timesharing. This year we are interested in going on a late September or early October trip and Free Dining would seal the deal. I have a question though. My grandmunchkins want to participate in YES, so we would buy our tickets through the program. Would we still be Free Dining eligible? I guess I need to call again, lol.

Most likely no (really I'm 100% sure, but Disney hasn't released it yet). In order to be eligible for Free Dining, you're required to book a package that includes the hotel and at least a certain number of park tix (it used to be a min. of 2 day tix), last year they started also requiring that the tix either have park hoppers or water parks and fun option added to them as it costs more.

 

[sahm2two]

I'm using a TA and here's my plan.... she's gonna wake up at the crack of dawn to get on the phone to modify our reservation. I'm ALSO going to get up at the crack of dawn to try to book a new reservation online. If we both end up successful, I'll cancel my booking. I figure the more hats we have in the ring, the greater chance at success!

 

[mandis77]

Yes, you can do this. We do this every year. I think it's much easier to manage them all from 1 MDE account. - When you go to modify you'll still have to modify each one individually, but they'll all be there. The only downside to this is possibly for ADR's. If your group is splitting up for ADR's, the system will not allow you to book multiple ADR's for the same time period under the same MDE account. There are ways to get around this - you can call in your reservation and the CM can make multiple ADR's for the same time-frame or if you have more than 1 MDE account, you can use your other MDE account (or your families whoever as long as a different email address) to make any "overlapping" ADR's you'll need - you won't be able to get the 180 + 10 days on these ones though, since there's no package associated with it, but if it's an issue and you guys are splitting up for some meals but want 2 different ADR's for the same meal, this is what works best for us. The system does not recognize how many ppl. are included in the package compared to how many ppl. the dining reservations are for which is why I'm told the system won't allow more than 1 ADR at a time.

Thank you - that was very helpful!

 

[The Dirty Steve]

Cough, cough....

Mic check, mic check, is this thing on?