2018 Free Dining Watch Thread V3

[kpd6901]

Thank you everyone, for your help. I'm trying to book a new reservation with my daughter as 3 years old instead of 2, but it doesn't give me Sports as an option. But when I change her back to 2, Sports is back as an option...?!

How many people in your party total? If it bumps you from 4 to 5, there may not be rooms with adequate beds for that amount of people (room vs suite). Anyone confirm that? Our last trip was in 2015, and our 2 year old stayed in a pack and play. At 3, that might not be an option. He's gonna be 6 now, so definitely need a room capacity of 5 or more, which means a suite at the value level. I could be wrong, but I think they are only available at AoA and maybe ASMusic??

 

[ellypres]

How many people in your party total? If it bumps you from 4 to 5, there may not be rooms with adequate beds for that amount of people (room vs suite). Anyone confirm that? Our last trip was in 2015, and our 2 year old stayed in a pack and play. At 3, that might not be an option. He's gonna be 6 now, so definitely need a room capacity of 5 or more, which means a suite at the value level. I could be wrong, but I think they are only available at AoA and maybe ASMusic??

It's my husband & I, and our three kids. Oldest is 9. So, we are required to stay in a suite instead of a room? I don't think we'll be able to manage that and the possibly $3K in airfare.

 

[K8Melf]

It's my husband & I, and our three kids. Oldest is 9. So, we are required to stay in a suite instead of a room? I don't think we'll be able to manage that and the possibly $3K in airfare.

We feel your pain, we are a 3 kid family as well and WDW seems to heavily favor families of 4!!! Your other option is Caribbean beach or port Orleans Riverside (excluded from FD), both have some rooms with 2 queens and a pull down bed, so it’s tight, but it’s by far your cheapest option. Some deluxe resorts can accommodate 5 as well with a couch that converts to a twin, but those get pricey!!!
I pulled the all nighter Tuesday and was lucky to get free dining at Caribbean beach for us in late November. We’re aware of the construction but with our budget and given the lack of 5 person options, it’s either that or we skip it—I’m glad we can go now!
Good luck

 

[Jadeey]

Nope it was a mistake. Basically not free dining at all! Just changed to a new package with increased new year ticket prices & room increase plus added regular dining on. So we lost our old price and now do not have free dining. Really sad today!!

That’s awful, I’m so sorry! I know there is nothing your TA can do about the free dining, but she should at least be offering to pay the difference I’m whay you lost on your old price out of her commission. It was her mistake to not notice that the package price was so much more and question it before she modified your reservation!

 

[Jadeey]

Thanks!
I have settled for free dining at All Star Sports for a much better price. I am still sad because I love Pop! My agent is going to continue to try for it.
Yes, I should talk to a manager but at this point I am just defeated today.

I’m glad you at least get free dining still.

I also had to change from Pop to All Star Sports in order to get free dining. The price is great, but I’m sad we don’t get to stay at Pop - I love it there and was really looking forward to seeing the renovated rooms.

 

[Becky Mouse]

Thank you everyone, for your help. I'm trying to book a new reservation with my daughter as 3 years old instead of 2, but it doesn't give me Sports as an option. But when I change her back to 2, Sports is back as an option...?!

I would call. I think if it's a child young enough to sleep in the same bed as a parent, it doesn't count as a 5th person in the room. Can someone confirm that? I'm pretty sure 4 in a room means 4 adults, and there are some exceptions when there are parents with little kids involved. For example, a mom and a dad with kids who are 8, 6, and 5 wouldn't be forced to buy 2 rooms and split their family. However, if your kids were 18, 16, and 11, Disney would tell you you need either a suite, or two connecting rooms at a value resort. It will depend on the age of the children involved. Again, maybe someone else more knowledgeable can confirm what I'm saying, but I'm pretty sure that's the case.

If you're nervous about what they'll tell you, consider calling and acting like you're interested in a new reservation. Explain the situation in your family... for example, "I'm traveling with my husband and three young kids, and we want to stay at All-Star Sports. Do we have to book two rooms for our family? That would be a waste for us because we all stay in the room together."

 

[Disneylover99]

I would call. I think if it's a child young enough to sleep in the same bed as a parent, it doesn't count as a 5th person in the room. Can someone confirm that? I'm pretty sure 4 in a room means 4 adults, and there are some exceptions when there are parents with little kids involved. For example, a mom and a dad with kids who are 8, 6, and 5 wouldn't be forced to buy 2 rooms and split their family. However, if your kids were 18, 16, and 11, Disney would tell you you need either a suite, or two connecting rooms at a value resort. It will depend on the age of the children involved. Again, maybe someone else more knowledgeable can confirm what I'm saying, but I'm pretty sure that's the case.

If you're nervous about what they'll tell you, consider calling and acting like you're interested in a new reservation. Explain the situation in your family... for example, "I'm traveling with my husband and three young kids, and we want to stay at All-Star Sports. Do we have to book two rooms for our family? That would be a waste for us because we all stay in the room together."

Occupancy rules are 4 to a room in values (not suites). They do allow 5 to a room as long as you have a child under 3. So for most families of 5 in a value room they will need 2 rooms. They don't make exceptions for this.

 

[Becky Mouse]

Occupancy rules are 4 to a room in values (not suites). They do allow 5 to a room as long as you have a child under 3. So for most families of 5 in a value room they will need 2 rooms. They don't make exceptions for this.

Are you sure? I'm asking because I thought they did have exceptions when there was a family of 5 with young children (under 10). It's often cheaper to buy 2 rooms at a value resort than a suite, but it would be ridiculous to tell parents to purchase two connecting rooms for three young children. That would be a liability issue for Disney if anything happened to the kids in the other room. Could you imagine? "Disney told me I needed a a second room, so my oldest kid who is 6 slept in there and was gone the next morning."

I thought I was told if all 3 kids are actually children (under the age of 10), they are allowed to sleep in a value room with parents if they call. Maybe I'm thinking of something else (maybe I'm thinking of the guaranteed connected rooms...?).

 

[Disneylover99]

Are you sure? I'm asking because I thought they did have exceptions when there was a family of 5 with young children (under 10). It's often cheaper to buy 2 rooms at a value resort than a suite, but it would be ridiculous to tell parents to purchase two connecting rooms for three young children. That would be a liability issue for Disney if anything happened to the kids in the other room. Could you imagine? "Disney told me I needed a a second room, so my oldest kid who is 6 slept in there and was gone the next morning."

I thought I was told if all 3 kids are actually children (under the age of 10), they are allowed to sleep in a value room with parents if they call. Maybe I'm thinking of something else (maybe I'm thinking of the guaranteed connected rooms...?).

Pretty sure. It has to do with fire code requirements. That's why they make suites or rooms to sleep 5 or 6 people.

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

Thank you everyone, for your help. I'm trying to book a new reservation with my daughter as 3 years old instead of 2, but it doesn't give me Sports as an option. But when I change her back to 2, Sports is back as an option...?!

It's my husband & I, and our three kids. Oldest is 9. So, we are required to stay in a suite instead of a room? I don't think we'll be able to manage that and the possibly $3K in airfare.

Just throwing this out there as a possible option:

If you do end up having to book two rooms, maybe crunch the numbers and consider booking one adult and one child under 10 in one of the rooms and getting Deluxe Dining package for that room only.

It would entitle you to 6 TS meals and 4 snacks per day. The credits could be shared among all 5 of you. While children on the Deluxe plan cost far less than adults, there is no distinction between adult credits and child credits when ordering in a TS restaurant. Children on the Deluxe plan can order from the adult menu. If some of your kids prefer to eat inexpensive childrens’ meals you could pay out-of-pocket for those and use the Deluxe credits for any members of your family that prefer to order from the adult menu.

 

[cab0ad]

Here is a piece of advice: check your bank statements for multuple charges!

When dining dropped we tried for 30 minutes to get a preffered pool room at POP but website was never able to get the cart to actually purchase. It kept telling us to call in and because it could not process it at the time. Server was overwhelmed. I was so upset. Of course everything sold out except standard while we tried to check out over and over. Well, 45 minutes into trying to get a room (now standard sadly because everything else sold out) we finally got it to go through and got confirmation page/email.

My husband noticed 2 $200 charges so we logged into our disney account and found that we had 2 packages purchased. One time the POP preferred pool actually processed even though we never got a confirmation number or email saying it did! We never would have known unless we had not noticed the double charge on the credit card!

Happy mistake for us. Now we get our preffered location.

 

[kpd6901]

It looks like we might have to drive 19 hours instead of flying as tickets for the 5 of us is $3,000+!

Does anyone know how much it costs to park your car at Sports?

Also was wondering, is the free dining based on how many nights you stay at the hotel, or based on how many days you buy for park tickets? I was thinking if we have to drive down, we can still stay at Sports but visit other attractions in the Orlando area, but come back to dine.

If you are looking at flights now, then you haven't checked Southwest. Where are you located? Maybe try relatively nearby airports with some low cost airlines. In 2015, we drove 4 hours from PA to fly Jet Blue out of White Plains, NY, while my parents who lived in the area parked our van for us. This time, we are driving 3 hours to Baltimore to fly Southwest and splitting our flight between payment and rewards points from the SW credit card. Family of 5. Southwest flight booking (and related rates) are not even released yet for November. Based on your stated drive time, I suppose you are further away than we are (about a 14 hour drive), but we are not using the 3 closest local airports, nor the closest major ones of Pittsburgh or Philly. My advice is look around and consider your options.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

I’m glad you at least get free dining still.

I also had to change from Pop to All Star Sports in order to get free dining. The price is great, but I’m sad we don’t get to stay at Pop - I love it there and was really looking forward to seeing the renovated rooms.

Keep checking it! Last night, some rooms at Pop opened up for me that I couldn't find before and thought it would never be available. There are always people cancelling and rooms going back to the inventory. I would be upset to be stuck in All Stars, but I would take it rather than nothing.

 

[Liv4Dis]

Well, we made it through the first 24+ hours of the Annual FD Drop. While it wasn't without it's system crashes and phone line crashes, it does appear it was a little better than other years. I didn't hear of any crazy 4-5 hour waits on hold and far less 'dropped my call' reports.

While the system is not perfect, it also works most days and it appears some improvements may have been made.

While I didn't get our Plan A, our Plan B is exciting and we're looking forward to our Christmas FD trip!

While I am sorry that you didn't get your Plan A, I am glad that you got your Plan B. We were able to book Pop and are very excited. It has been about 10 years since we have stayed there, as our home resort has been Port Orleans. I will be jumping over to the Pop Century thread to soak up all the knowledge.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

Are you sure? I'm asking because I thought they did have exceptions when there was a family of 5 with young children (under 10). It's often cheaper to buy 2 rooms at a value resort than a suite, but it would be ridiculous to tell parents to purchase two connecting rooms for three young children. That would be a liability issue for Disney if anything happened to the kids in the other room. Could you imagine? "Disney told me I needed a a second room, so my oldest kid who is 6 slept in there and was gone the next morning."

I thought I was told if all 3 kids are actually children (under the age of 10), they are allowed to sleep in a value room with parents if they call. Maybe I'm thinking of something else (maybe I'm thinking of the guaranteed connected rooms...?).

The wording of the rooms says 4 adults plus a baby in a crib. I've done that myself without a problem. But once the baby isn't in the crib, they can't let you in there anymore. And yes, Disney does force large families to get two rooms. When my friend and her four adopted kids (all age 6) went to Disney, they booked 2 rooms at the Polynesian. (That was before AofA got built.) There was just no way around it. 5 is the cutting off point for a room with 4 occupancy.

However, you don't have to stay in a suite. Some of the rooms have 5 occupancies. For example, Caribbean beach has
"2 Queen Beds or 2 Queen Beds and 1 Child-Size Pull-Down bed Sleeps up to 5 Adults"

that's not near as expensive as the cheapest suites, and free dining is still available because the hotel is under remodeling right now.

 

[Liv4Dis]

Yes. We're headed down for a quick trip starting Aug 27th so I'll see what I can get.

I will be watching for your post in late August so we can have a heads up on any bounceback information before our trip in September.

 

[kdisser]

It looks like we might have to drive 19 hours instead of flying as tickets for the 5 of us is $3,000+!

Does anyone know how much it costs to park your car at Sports?

Also was wondering, is the free dining based on how many nights you stay at the hotel, or based on how many days you buy for park tickets? I was thinking if we have to drive down, we can still stay at Sports but visit other attractions in the Orlando area, but come back to dine.

We are driving this year as well from the midwest (19 hour drive). It has always been a bucket list item and especially since airlines want to charge extra just to pick your seat this year (need seats together because of having a 3 year old in our group). The cheapest we found will still put us at $1700+ once factoring in parking and baggage fees for 4 people. We don't have the option to allow someone else to park our car if we drove to a different airport. So we are cutting our cost to less than half by driving and crossing off a bucket list item! I know many are fans of Southwest but their cheapest of of our closest is still $350 a person.

 

[BabybetterDisney]

Thank you everyone, for your help. I'm trying to book a new reservation with my daughter as 3 years old instead of 2, but it doesn't give me Sports as an option. But when I change her back to 2, Sports is back as an option...?!

You don't have to stay in a suite because you have 5. Some of the rooms have 5 occupancies. For example, Caribbean beach has
"2 Queen Beds or 2 Queen Beds and 1 Child-Size Pull-Down bed Sleeps up to 5 Adults"

that's not near as expensive as the cheapest suites, and free dining is still available right now because the hotel is under remodeling.

 

[kpd6901]

We are driving this year as well from the midwest (19 hour drive). It has always been a bucket list item and especially since airlines want to charge extra just to pick your seat this year (need seats together because of having a 3 year old in our group). The cheapest we found will still put us at $1700+ once factoring in parking and baggage fees for 4 people. We don't have the option to allow someone else to park our car if we drove to a different airport. So we are cutting our cost to less than half by driving and crossing off a bucket list item! I know many are fans of Southwest but their cheapest of of our closest is still $350 a person.

Our particular kids....in a car that long....we'd be tempted to change our reservation to a deluxe and drop them off somewhere along the highway!

 

[kdisser]

Our particular kids....in a car that long....we'd be tempted to change our reservation to a deluxe and drop them off somewhere along the highway!

well if it comes down to it we might!! But overall he loves plane rides and car trips. We do road trips to Texas so whats 14 more hours .......its 14 more hours!! Oh well gonna do it once to see how well it goes we will either make a great decision or come back one less person LOL!!