2016 Free Dining Watch

[xipotec]

So the consensus is next probable day 21st eh>? What days did the promo drop historically most> Thursday> Monday>? I forgot....

Just to keep it interesting....

May favorite double credit options. (in order)

1. Narcosseess
2. California Grill
3. Cindy's
4. The Brown Derby

 

[Funfire240]

For those asking about upgrades - the easiest way is to price out a vacation online. If going for value - price your vacation with no dining plan to see what it would be with the quick service plan. Then, price a vacation for the same dates and tickets but with adding the DDP. The difference is what it will cost you to upgrade the plan. The same goes for DXDP. Just price out your vacations and subtract the differences.
For moderate and deluxes, price out with no dining plan, then with the DXDP and the difference is what it will cost you to upgrade.

 

[wilkeliza]

The 2016 Dining Plan prices are here: http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-dining-plan.htm#prices2016
Adult DDP $63.70 - Adult QS $44.13 = $19.57 per adult per day to upgrade from QS to DDP
Child DDP $22.85 - Child QS $19.04 = $3.81 per child per day to upgrade

So, for my family with 3 adults and two paying kids , we would pay $66.33/day more to upgrade...which is awfully close to the difference in room rates between our family of 6 in Art of Animation (two bathrooms! intense theming! great pools!) and the Cabins at Ft. Wilderness (three real beds! full kitchen! patio with picnic table! ELP viewing from the dock!). In other words, comparing apples to apples has not helped me make a decision at all! Any thoughts (besides my temptation to do a split stay)?

With AoA are you saying your family would get 2 suits or just in a suite? Either way I feel like 3 adults and 3 kids at the cabins is tight. Heck 3 adults and 3 kids at AoA single suite may be tight as well so I'm not sure what I would suggest.

 

[disneymom0104]

The 2016 Dining Plan prices are here: http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-dining-plan.htm#prices2016
Adult DDP $63.70 - Adult QS $44.13 = $19.57 per adult per day to upgrade from QS to DDP
Child DDP $22.85 - Child QS $19.04 = $3.81 per child per day to upgrade

So, for my family with 3 adults and two paying kids , we would pay $66.33/day more to upgrade...which is awfully close to the difference in room rates between our family of 6 in Art of Animation (two bathrooms! intense theming! great pools!) and the Cabins at Ft. Wilderness (three real beds! full kitchen! patio with picnic table! ELP viewing from the dock!). In other words, comparing apples to apples has not helped me make a decision at all! Any thoughts (besides my temptation to do a split stay)?

Have the cabins or AoA ever been part of FD? It has been 6 years since we have been , but I thought I remember the cabins were excluded from the FD promotion.

For our family, 2 of my kids are considered adult, and one is still under 3. So, FD x4 adults and 1 child is definitely a better deal than a room discount, even factoring in gratuities and all the other extras, as we would have been paying those either way.

 

[SPOERLX3]

Just a reminder to some PPs...having a current reservation does not put you in any better position for the discount. In fact it actually hurts your chances at a discount since Disney views your room as sold.

I have heard of people booking every week in October! Madness that just causes less discount inventory.

Example...let's say there are 10 standard rooms at resort A. Seven rooms are booked before the discount. Disney sees three rooms that still need sold. They may discount two out of the three remaining rooms with the FD offer. FD comes out and the first two people get the discount. These people could either be booking new or modifying one of the seven sold rooms. New calls have the same chance as the seven modifiers.

(Not to beat a dead horse...lots of new posters and people confused about Disney's limited discount inventory)

I agree 100%! Only book IF you are going with or without FD!

 

[SunnieRN]

Honestly, we LOVE the QS sooo much (especially when we have some of our grandkids) and even though I am excited about the ressies we have this trip, the QS gave us sooo much more flexibility and we discovered some wonderful QS dining locations that I am going to miss this trip. We are doing the regular dining plan this time (staying at at mod for the 1st time ever! ) since we will all be adults and we are taking my 82 yr old mom (her first trip ever to Disney ), we will all need a break in the day and a sit down meal will be welcome.

About 6 years ago we booked a last minute trip (20 days out), over Easter, as my son in law was coming home from Iraq on leave. To make matters more fun it was over Easter/spring break. Needless to say we were not able to get any TS reservAtions, so we booked QS dining. For 12 days. I never ate a burger or chicken nuggets. I had some amazing meals at Tangieriene Cafe, Wolfgang Puck Express, Artist Palette and more. We did do a TS at Turf Club on Easter, as they had an opening and at Maya Grill. QS is doable and can be enjoyable.

 

[RedWolf95]

I've got Ohana dinner (must for us) even my 2 year old and 4 year old love it... especially when they can run around pushing coconuts with brooms... Garden Grill lunch, Chef Mickeys dinner, Crystal Palace dinner, Boma (never eaten here but DH is super excited) BOG lunch, and Hollywood and Vine Fantasmic package... I can't wait

Boma is great! we've gone there each time on our last 3 trips.

 

[vrajewski10513]

I can hardly keep up with this thread! I think I need to quit my 2nd job so I can keep up on the free dining frenzy!

 

[LinaNate]

Have the cabins or AoA ever been part of FD? It has been 6 years since we have been , but I thought I remember the cabins were excluded from the FD promotion.

For our family, 2 of my kids are considered adult, and one is still under 3. So, FD x4 adults and 1 child is definitely a better deal than a room discount, even factoring in gratuities and all the other extras, as we would have been paying those either way.

Last year, the week before thanksgiving we got free dining in the cabins. Last year I read it's the campsites that are excluded... of course it could all change from year to year so who knows what 2016 will hold.

 

[Amanda S.]

We bought airfare, so we are set on the week we have to go. (sept 24-oct1). Either we get free dining or we will take the room discount and I'll cancel some of my ADRs. Even with free dining, I will be canceling some of my ADRs, I just haven't decided which yet. Right now I have:
Cinderellas royal table dinner
Sci Fi theater Lunch
Yak and Yeti Lunch
Tusker house lunch
Garden Grill dinner
Liberty tree Lunch
Be Our Guest Dinner
Akershus Royal Banquet breakfast and Dinner
Minnie's dinner at Hollywood and Vine
The Plaza lunch

 

[madlove4disney]

I can hardly keep up with this thread! I think I need to quit my 2nd job so I can keep up on the free dining frenzy!

If only we could get paid to watch the boards!!!

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

With AoA are you saying your family would get 2 suits or just in a suite? Either way I feel like 3 adults and 3 kids at the cabins is tight. Heck 3 adults and 3 kids at AoA single suite may be tight as well so I'm not sure what I would suggest.

One AoA suite, 565 square feet. (Cabins are 504sqft.) We're two Real World adults and 4 kids, ages 2-11. My DH and DD would be with me in the bedroom and one real bed, the three boys would be on the sofa and murphy bed in the living room. I was disappointed to see it gets just a dinky mini-fridge, as we like to keep milk, carrots, milk, apples, milk, and water bottles. ;-)
At the Cabins, DH and I might end up in the living room on the murphy bed so we can put the boys to bed early in the bedroom.

Have the cabins or AoA ever been part of FD? It has been 6 years since we have been , but I thought I remember the cabins were excluded from the FD promotion.

For our family, 2 of my kids are considered adult, and one is still under 3. So, FD x4 adults and 1 child is definitely a better deal than a room discount, even factoring in gratuities and all the other extras, as we would have been paying those either way.

My understanding is that it's the (under $100) *campsites* for tents, campers, and RVs that are excluded, not the ($300+) cabins.
Yes, FD, which would cost $236/day, is definitely much better than a room discount for us--even at most Deluxe rooms! But, we are not wedded to staying solely in Disney properties. We could easily find a non-Disney place priced SO incredibly less for 1000+sqft that we'd get more space AND be able to eat like kings OOP, not having to worry about using and maximizing credits.

 

[flav]

I would love to book Sanaa. Anyone have experience on ease of getting window seats? My DD 11 loves giraffes and think she would love that!

We ate dinner twice at Sanaa. Both time we had a window.

First, make sure that you book lunch or book dinner way before it becomes dark outside... If you want to see the animals. Then, if you make reservation by phone, have the CM write a note regarding window view. Then, show up early and be ready to wait until a window table frees up. If all fails, you can go outside to see the savanah.

 

[Amanda S.]

My husband just sent a text to my phone saying "I saw your post on the forum..." So he is free dining stalking too...

 

[scard192]

Honestly, we LOVE the QS sooo much (especially when we have some of our grandkids) and even though I am excited about the ressies we have this trip, the QS gave us sooo much more flexibility and we discovered some wonderful QS dining locations that I am going to miss this trip.

would you mind sharing? this will be our first trip with QS so we will be using it twice as much as when we had the regular DDP TIA

 

[ehoops120912]

I have been stalking these boards for days, and haven't said much. We are hoping for free dinning for Sept 13-21 at CSR. It is going to be a Best Friends Trip with 4 adults (Me and my best friends, and my husband and his best friend). Nether of our (grown) friends have been to Disney World once in their life, so we thought to invite them this year and make the best possible experience for them. If we get free dinning I plan on going with the follow ADR's (which i already have reserved):
BOG-Lunch
Kona's- Dinner
Tutto Italia Restorante (Husbands BFF wants Italian)
Boma's
Maya's Grill
Raglan Road
BOG-Breakfast
Ohana's
Chef Mickey

I hope the restaurants that I have chosen give a variety of different food and branch out from our normal eating habits.

 

[vrajewski10513]

My husband just sent a text to my phone saying "I saw your post on the forum..." So he is free dining stalking too...

Mine is too! Hi Honey!!

 

[donp]

I am alone in my obsession. My wife is like, "What, we are going to Disney?"

 

[Me Thats who]

We're going for 10 days from Nov 8-18th. After a longgggggg process we decided on these spots. It'll be my boys 1st trip(35 months)
Crystal Palace(Dinner)-Coral Reef(Dinner)-T-Rex(Dinner)-Whispering Canyon(Dinner)Kona Cafe(Dinner)-Sci Fi(Dinner)-Garden Grill(BK)-Chef Mickey's(BK)-1900 Park Fare(BK)-Hollywood@Vine(BK)

 

[kellyjeanie]

I am alone in my obsession. My wife is like, "What, we are going to Disney?"

Haha, my husband too. "Just tell me where to go when we get there!"