2018 Free Dining Watch Thread V3

[Disneylover99]

agreed. and maybe only FD in August (too hot!) and September (prime hurricane season). All of October and all except a few days at the end of November are now excluded.

as another person posted, the BB that comes out towards the end of August could give a big clue as to what direction Disney is going.

If the new bb is free dining, I'm definitely booking it!

 

[areno79]

For those who didn't get what they wanted, keep checking! My TA had apparently booked a FD reservation for me and said he had a 3 day hold on it until I decided. I told him I had booked on my own and was all set, but I'd imagine as those bookings release from holding they'd become available.

 

[scard192]

What is this email? Does everyone that booked get one?

UOC e-mails came out later in the day yesterday with " you can save up to 30% on rooms at select Disney Resort hotels for stays most nights from June 11 through August 30, 2018 when you book through August 1, 2018". I am guessing that is what the poster referred to.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I agree with those who say not to give up. I was up bright and early booking and modifying reservations for others. Wellllll before the site went all wonky and then pretty much crashed. When it eventually came back up, I was able to keep refreshing and checking and checking and booked a free dining package at one of the values. And not just once but twice. So don't give up hope that you won't get what you are looking for.

 

[SPOERLX3]

I'm so paranoid because it seemed so easy for me to get free dining, that I keep checking my reservation over and over just to make sure it's still there! I got the confirmation email so I don't know why I'm freaking out

I had a thought, and I don't know if this is accurate at all, but when I originally booked my package, I booked it BEFORE the ticket price increase in February. So maybe that is the reason for the $60 increase in my package price? I saw a couple other people say their packages increased by a similar amount. Again, that could be totally wrong, just an uneducated guess

I also wanted to add that I did NOT have the dining plan on my package before I got the FD offer added to my reservation. So who knows what caused the price increase lol. I'm just glad to be going to Disney with FD again!!

I think you are right. Ours went up by $32 per person. And I figured it was do to the rate increase. Anytime you make any changes to an existing reservation, if there had been a rate increase, you have to pay it

 

[ScubaCat]

agreed. and maybe only FD in August (too hot!) and September (prime hurricane season). All of October and all except a few days at the end of November are now excluded.

as another person posted, the BB that comes out towards the end of August could give a big clue as to what direction Disney is going.

It depends on when occupancy is historically lowest. FD, like all hotel promotions, is just there to fill rooms.

 

[ScubaCat]

We felt the same way. Kept checking to make sure FD was still on there.
We did have Dining in our original package. After the FD offer added, I noticed an increase of $70.

I think you are right. Ours went up by $32 per person. And I figured it was do to the rate increase. Anytime you make any changes to an existing reservation, if there had been a rate increase, you have to pay it

Welcome to Mickey's Not-So-Free Dining Party, only $32-$70 per person!

 

[ScubaCat]

I think you might be right. I can see values going down to the meal deal, where everyone gets one quick service meal/snack per day, in order to draw more people back to the moderates. And I can see increasing ticket/resort day requirements.

Yet another thing that's rarely factored into anyone's calculation is the savings you could get buying your tickets from undercovertourist.com. I bought 5-day PH tickets from there in February when the price went up (while they still had the old pricing) and saved $58 per person vs. the current pricing direct from Disney. Take that plus a room discount, and it just gets harder and harder to see how FD could be the best deal. Maybe for long trips you'll come out slightly ahead, but you still give up flexibility for a very slight difference having to do the package thing.

EDIT: I'm a little off topic here so I'll move this to a more appropriate thread going forward. I wouldn't want to violate the guidelines! (Oh, so many guidelines... so little time.. )

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Yeah I am trying to solve this same problem. Went up $1400 from our old pkg price but I have no control as my agent scored free dining for us at my asking!!
My package is showing up as $1000 more than the exact same package priced at a comparable resort at it's level. I called Disney and of course they can not go into the resort ressie since it is through the agent but the cast member said that has to be wrong! She could see a couple of hundred difference but not over $1000. So email is into our agent. Who by the way I have used forever and love!
I am so frustrated right now. We did upgrade to regular dining & I know that ticket prices increased so both have that in the price. However the side by side costs of the two pkgs does not make sense.
So basically free dining cost me $1400 today!!!

I have heard many reports of this happening yesterday. There were many glitches in the system early in the day and, in some cases, it seems the system was quoting full price for the package and not subtracting out the dining costs. I hope your TA is able to work it out!

 

[jmg5342]

I agree with those who say not to give up. I was up bright and early booking and modifying reservations for others. Wellllll before the site went all wonky and then pretty much crashed. When it eventually came back up, I was able to keep refreshing and checking and checking and booked a free dining package at one of the values. And not just once but twice. So don't give up hope that you won't get what you are looking for.

What are you refreshing exactly? Like the page that says "this resort is not available..." or do you just keep starting over?

 

[mickeystoontown]

What are you refreshing exactly? Like the page that says "this resort is not available..." or do you just keep starting over?

While searching the "all hotels" page, I would refresh to see if new resorts were added since I last looked.

 

[jods]

YES, I got the Unique Offer Code in today's (Wednesday's) email. However, when I click through to see if it's a good deal, it auto-fills the offer code then asks for my last name and zip code. Doesn't matter whether I use my last name or DH's (shared email); it just tells me that the information doesn't match and they won't show me the offer. All that money Disney spent on IT and it STILL stinks!!



You could just try to make a payment with a different card and see what happens. My guess is that they needed you to make the reservation/deposit with the Disney VISA so they know you qualify for the promo dates. If you are worried about losing the reservation, maybe wait until next week (when the FD hoopla dies down) and call Disney to ask about using a different card.

I had that too but they had dh's first name as the last. I received one a few months ago and it was my 13yo's first name. Very weird.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I had that too but they had dh's first name as the last. I received one a few months ago and it was my 13yo's first name. Very weird.

I have had something similar happen to me before. They sent the pin code to my email under my mother's name who had traveled with us before. They let me use the code. Granted I talked to a very sweet and helpful CM. Others may not have been so kind when asked.

 

[SPOERLX3]

We have stayed at Pop many times and never been bothered by the smoke. Yes there are times when we walk by a smoking section that we can smell it for a few seconds but really it isn't a problem

The only time we ever had trouble with smoke at POP is when the smoking section was right up by the back door as you left the main building to get to the rooms. Whoever thought that was a good location was absolutely crazy. Thank goodness they moved it!

 

[SPOERLX3]

I really don't know if it will be the end of FD or not but believe it could be. I also believe the BB that drops in August will tell us a lot about what we could hope for this time next year!

I can even see them only offering FD as a BB and take it away as a promo offer. I sure hope not. It really is anyone’s guess!

 

[SPOERLX3]

Given the popularity of free dining, I actually don't see it going away. Rather, it'll just continue to be devalued. First it was QS for values, then had to buy a 2 day ticket, then 2 day with park hopper, then QS for moderates, and now a 4 day park hopper minimum. Compared to a room only discount stacked with an orbitz coupon, for example, it's often not even the best deal and it guarantees them a captive customer and a package with a more strict cancelation policy. So, to me, it seems like a huge win/win for them. Give people "perceived value" which makes them happy and guarantees WDW a package booking.

I remember The first few years that we went with free dining even the values got the dining plan and each meal included an appetizer, drink, meal and a dessert and all your tips were covered as well. Those were the days my friend!!!

 

[madmeg]

UOC e-mails came out later in the day yesterday with " you can save up to 30% on rooms at select Disney Resort hotels for stays most nights from June 11 through August 30, 2018 when you book through August 1, 2018". I am guessing that is what the poster referred to.

I guess it's either FD or the 30% to choose from? Can't have 2 promos.

 

[DrFacilier]

Either the deposit or if their is an existing reservation and the deposit was not paid with DV but booked with the DV promo, a $200 payment must be paid with the DV. After that you can pay with any payment method that you want.
I normally pay with my DV to get my points and have the 0% interest for 6 mo (then pay it off before we start the trip) but I have had some gift cards and used them and I have made payment with my debit card. Sooo as long as a $200 payment has been made with you DV you are good!

Sounds reasonable. The CM told me I would have to pay my remaining balance (over$1000) with the DV which seemed like overkill. I don’t really want to. I was just wondering if they actually keep track after the deposit has been made. I have no problem using the DV if I absolutely have to but I get better rewards on other cards.

 

[DrFacilier]

Admittedly I haven’t kept up with this thread in the last 24 hours. Anyone think FD will exist next year or will it be a thing of the past?

 

[Disney Ron]

Yes sir!
2 rooms @ POP + 7 Disney adults for 5 nights with FD = total savings of $1838 WIN!!! Memories of my moms 85th birthday and celebration my granddaughters graduation! PRICELESS! Thank you @Disney Ron sharing all your expertise!
This is my mom at her very first to Disney at 82!! Can’t wait to take her back!

Happy you had success and your mom does not look her age and looks like she's a lot of fun.