2016 Free Dining Watch

[Iowamomof4]

Most of October was blacked out last year as well. People knew that going into 2016 and so, have generally planned accordingly. The only difference with what we're seeing of these rumored dates, is that there may not be any FD dates at the end of Oct-beginning of Nov. There's about a week there where free dining was offered last year but might not be offered this year. I can't think that will impact a ton of people and cause a significant increase in September's numbers.

 

[keys2kingdom]

Sorry, I should have been clearer. I think we would have seen it changed for the FD bounceback offered in 2015 for US 2016 dates if they were going to change this. But yes, I'd also like to know about the 2014 UK deals. But if we talk about the future, as in 2017 US, I could see disney pulling this. We had that weird one meal FD offer for the summer. Hopefully not foreshadowing. I don't know anything, but I would not think they would make this big a change to the US free dining offered to the public and have had a different offer for the bouncebacks.

I forgot about the bounceback people and I couldn't remember if there was an earlier offer (I must have been thinking of that weird one). I agree they probably wouldn't do it now having given the bounceback people one deal and FD another would look sleazy.

 

[Confederate Scott]

Hi.. Do you have to cancel your reservation and make new one to add the free dining promo? Can you just apply it to your exsisting reservation?

You should be able to modify your existing reservation IF the start date of it falls within the eligible dates of any offer AND the resort is eligible AND there is availability.

 

[mmafan]

and lets not forget FREE DINNING DEPENDS ON YOUR CHECK-IN DATE....

 

[Yzerbear19]

View attachment 162047

Interesting at all but the first day of October is excluded. We are looking at going in October and planning to stay off site unless there was a good deal offered. So it looks like we will probably be staying off site.

 

[vrajewski10513]

Funny....seems like all the bloggers are feeling safe in talking about this rumor now.

Now Kenny The Pirate is talking...maybe there is safety in numbers!!!

I'm excited, I definitely respect the opinions and knowledge of the few bloggers who have posted so it makes me feel a little better about these dates. Alas, nothing is official until I hear it from Disney directly!

 

[aloha517]

no...you just call and add it on......

Your kidding me Does that mean I get to keep my standard room and old ticket & dining prices ? I would be shocked if that were the case .. It was such a nightmare when I was trying to apply the Awaken the summer discount .. I wound up owing them money when all was said and done bc of the upgraded room and new ticket and dining prices.

 

[kdisser]

Man I am upset with my phone I did not receive any emails last night about the boards having buzz and even when I thought that was odd I pulled up the site on my phone and kept hitting refresh but it did not show me anything. It stayed on page 58.... I was up at 3am(Central) using my phone... Now I know I can not rely on my phone, well at least I found out last night!!

 

[mmafan]

Your kidding me Does that mean I get to keep my standard room and old ticket & dining prices ? I would be shocked if that were the case .. It was such a nightmare when I was trying to apply the Awaken the summer discount .. I wound up owing them money when all was said and done bc of the upgraded room and new ticket and dining prices.

yup..unless your room or hotel is not included in the promo

 

[lancgirl]

Please forgive me if this has been asked and answered already...

We already have our reservations booked. For FD do I need to call release day to have it applied or can I wait for the calls to settle down from people who are booking trips bc of FD and have it applied a few days later? I guess what I'm asking is, does FD have a limitation on the number of rooms per resort that can have FD? Hope this question makes sense... TIA!

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Your kidding me Does that mean I get to keep my standard room and old ticket & dining prices ? I would be shocked if that were the case .. It was such a nightmare when I was trying to apply the Awaken the summer discount .. I wound up owing them money when all was said and done bc of the upgraded room and new ticket and dining prices.

No you won't keep the old prices. Adding the promotion will update everything to the current prices.

 

[aloha517]

My dates are 8/24-8/31 Staying at Yacht club .. 6 day ph and regular dining plan

 

[KT0191]

Your kidding me Does that mean I get to keep my standard room and old ticket & dining prices ? I would be shocked if that were the case .. It was such a nightmare when I was trying to apply the Awaken the summer discount .. I wound up owing them money when all was said and done bc of the upgraded room and new ticket and dining prices.

It all depends on availability at the resort. You have to look at other options just in case your room/resort you want is not available. Just because you have a standing reservation right now doesn't mean much of anything.
ETA: you will have to pay the upped prices on tickets and dining..even if you booked before that went into effect.

 

[aloha517]

That's what I figured ... Thank you .. Good luck everyone !!

 

[vbell91]

This is really interesting information, thanks for posting those links. If you read the terms of those offers the free dining offer was tiered by resort. Values got free breakfast, Moderates got free Quick Service and Deluxe got Regular Basic DDP. I wonder how long their offers have been tiered like that? Foreshadowing??

Im from the UK and from we started using the Free Dining offer back in 2010, they've always been tiered this way. The free Breakfast for Value Resorts is a new addition over the couple of years however. It is also better value than they let on too, as it is actually one QS credit that can be used at any stage, not just for breakfast! I assume they're more generous to the UK market as they know we stay for longer (2 weeks is pretty normal and many people even do 3 weeks!) and presumably therefore spend more when we're there!

 

[mmafan]

 

[The Dirty Steve]

And from the folks who spilled the beans last year...

http://blog.viajeromagico.com/2016/...-para-septiembreoctubrenoviembre-y-diciembre/

 

[tnmom25]

Question for AP holders. How do you handle the ticket required for the promotion? My AP expires on 10/1 and we're planning to check out on that day. I didn't plan to renew right away, so the extra cost for me to have the extra ticket almost outweighs the free dining. I'd love to hear others thoughts on this.

 

[Elliemay2]

I really hope the Dec dates are correct. They seem to be closer to 2014 than last year:

History: 2014, Dec 12-23 (12 Days) (Sat-Wed)
History: 2015, Dec 15-21 (7 Days) (Mon-Sun)
Rumor: 2016, Dec 10-21 (12 Days) (Sat-Wed)

 

[vbell91]

Have we seen any 2016 FD dates yet, I can't remember if there was anything else earlier this year. I wonder if the UK 2014 for bookings in 2015 deal was the same. VBell91 do you happen to know?

FD for 16 was offered April-Nov of 2015 (we're actually just back from our FD package booked last April for Feb 16!) From 2010, the FD for the UK has remained pretty much the same (bar the addition of the Free Breakfast for the Value Resorts I mentioned above) It's always released around April and runs to July, usually with a ticket offer and gift card. From July-November, Free Dining is still on offer, but the scale back the 'extras' you get (the gift card is removed or reduced in value).

With regards to black-out dates, we usually get the pick of the entire year, bar a few weeks around easter and December. As you can imagine, its a BIG deal to the UK market and I know plenty of people simply waiting until April 21 when its released to book next years trip (Im one of them!)