2018 Free Dining Watch Thread V3

[Bryan Isip]

Yes, you can remove or add.

 

[sandym718]

Hi, We are going from November 24 to December 2 but thank you.

We’re here the same time frame (well, til Dec 1) and also couldn’t get Ohana dinner. I was able to stage BOG lunch for Nov 30 but we were hoping for earlier in our trip. If I am able to get it earlier, I’ll let you know before I cancel. It’s for 7 people. Liberty Tree Tavern is the other one I haven’t been able to get. Trying for as late as possible (5:30-6) on a party night. Not really tied to that one though. ohana is a must! So I hope something opens up!

 

[Scoobie]

If you subscribe to Kenny the Pirate's Character Locator, he already has the calendar/schedule for December 2018 posted. I'm not sure how he gets access to it early, but I always find him to be very reliable.

Thanks for the info.! I got on there and the whole month of Dec. is up, so I was able to plan my whole itinerary. It's basically the same as last year, but having a heads up is sure a load off. Now I was able to get a good bead on where we'll be and which restaurants I'll be trying for. That was a huge help, you are awesome!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Thanks for the info.! I got on there and the whole month of Dec. is up, so I was able to plan my whole itinerary. It's basically the same as last year, but having a heads up is sure a load off. Now I was able to get a good bead on where we'll be and which restaurants I'll be trying for. That was a huge help, you are awesome!

Just a heads up that the hours are 'anticipated' as of Dec 9th onwards. Until Disney formally publishes the hours approx 190 days in advance, the hours published on other sites are what they anticipate, not what has been published by Disney.

Disney publishes their hours one day at a time. Today they published Saturday, December 8th. Anything beyond that is just a best guess.

 

[Kathy Muniz]

Just a heads up that the hours are 'anticipated' as of Dec 9th onwards. Until Disney formally publishes the hours approx 190 days in advance, the hours published on other sites are what they anticipate, not what has been published by Disney.

Disney publishes their hours one day at a time. Today they published Saturday, December 8th. Anything beyond that is just a best guess.

Where do you see the December hours? I just check my MDE app and it only lets me see through November for hours

 

[kpd6901]

Where do you see the December hours? I just check my MDE app and it only lets me see through November for hours

I think that's the point. The poster was looking for December hours and was recommended to Kenny the Pirate. Generally, apparently, he is correct more often than others, but still, his are just projections of what Disney would publish, when they actually do publish them, which has not occurred yet.

 

[Scoobie]

Just a heads up that the hours are 'anticipated' as of Dec 9th onwards. Until Disney formally publishes the hours approx 190 days in advance, the hours published on other sites are what they anticipate, not what has been published by Disney.

Disney publishes their hours one day at a time. Today they published Saturday, December 8th. Anything beyond that is just a best guess.

Where do you see hours up to Dec. 9th? The DW website I see only has up to Nov. 29th right now. Are you in Canada? Is the site different for you? Sorry for so many questions, and thanks for your help!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Where do you see hours up to Dec. 9th? The DW website I see only has up to Nov. 29th right now. Are you in Canada? Is the site different for you? Sorry for so many questions, and thanks for your help!

I have a subscription to Touring Plans and they are publishing new hours daily.

I checked the Disney website yesterday and you’re correct that they’re only up to late May at the point.

Not sure where TP gets their times but the ‘anticipated park hours’ qualifier has been removed from up to Dec 9th now so my thought is that they had been supplied to them but from where I don’t know. Until yesterday I thought it was the Disney website but then I saw what you did on the Disney site and don’t really know.

 

[sharonabe]

I'm wondering if they WERE up on Disney's site and they've removed them. Disney has been doing a rolling out calendar with adding a day each day, and what was up yesterday was short of the 180 day mark. Nov 29 is 180 days from today, but Disney only has hours up to Nov 25 today. They WERE keeping up to the 180 days.

 

[kpd6901]

Hey guys. Anyone have any insight on Thanksgiving Day Mickey's Backyard BBQ? We really want Category 1 for the late (5 pm) show. On our first 180 day, we got a category 2 for 2:30, and it kept saying no tables available for 5pm. We still keep checking obviously, and just a few minutes ago, my wife got one for 5 pm, still category 2, with no option for category 1. What I find weird is that whenever I check times/dates on the website, the default times simply say 12-2:30 - doesn't say 5 at all. It then DOES give me the option to search for 5, but if I don't search for it, it makes it out like 5 doesn't exist. Is this an indication that they simply haven't released 5pm yet( or at least till now)? That category 1 would require me to call in? That category 1 for Thanksgiving evening is simply being held back for now? Or that sure enough it is all booked up? Thoughts?

 

[Scoobie]

I'm wondering if they WERE up on Disney's site and they've removed them. Disney has been doing a rolling out calendar with adding a day each day, and what was up yesterday was short of the 180 day mark. Nov 29 is 180 days from today, but Disney only has hours up to Nov 25 today. They WERE keeping up to the 180 days.

I noticed that if you go to the last highlighted day on the calendar and click it, it will show 5 days beyond of schedule as well. So even though it said Nov. 25, when I clicked it and hit 5 day schedule, it showed me up to Nov. 29. If this keeps up, by June 12 the schedule will only show up to Dec. 10th - the first day of my vaca. Kinda hard to figure out where I'm going to be at 180 days out when the schedule isn't even out. Thankfully, I have a good idea thanks to the people on this board!

 

[Huff]

I noticed that if you go to the last highlighted day on the calendar and click it, it will show 5 days beyond of schedule as well. So even though it said Nov. 25, when I clicked it and hit 5 day schedule, it showed me up to Nov. 29. If this keeps up, by June 12 the schedule will only show up to Dec. 10th - the first day of my vaca. Kinda hard to figure out where I'm going to be at 180 days out when the schedule isn't even out. Thankfully, I have a good idea thanks to the people on this board!

As of today, you can see park hours thru December 10th. Go to MDE, Click on My Itinerary. Then click Add Plans and select Add Parks and Places. Click on the calendar and you should be able to see hours further out than normal. This works as long as you have your trip linked to MDE.

 

[kpd6901]

Hi all. We have an 8 am BOG breakfast for Nov. 29. According to published hours, MK opens at 9am that day, from everything that I can see. Our plan that day is to do most of Fantasyland and to do Tomorrowland, before hopping to HS around midday. Logistics question regarding the ADR. If these hours are legit, do we just show up and say that we have the ADR for early entrance? If we finish our 8am meal prior to park opening at 9, would we be able to ride things in Fantasyland before the actual RD time of 9? Obviously, this would also impact our FP selections and strategy. We had been hoping to push our ADR back to a later breakfast or a lunch. If we do that, then I assume that we then lose that extra park time. Thoughts? (For reference, we are doing Frontierland and Adventure Land on Nov. 23 and expecting little FP availability due to having to activate our FD-related PH tickets early...so, we will have longer lines that day, but hope to do some of the less popular Fantasyland rides in the evening prior to our CRT dinner). Thanks!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Hi all. We have an 8 am BOG breakfast for Nov. 29. According to published hours, MK opens at 9am that day, from everything that I can see. Our plan that day is to do most of Fantasyland and to do Tomorrowland, before hopping to HS around midday. Logistics question regarding the ADR. If these hours are legit, do we just show up and say that we have the ADR for early entrance? If we finish our 8am meal prior to park opening at 9, would we be able to ride things in Fantasyland before the actual RD time of 9? Obviously, this would also impact our FP selections and strategy. We had been hoping to push our ADR back to a later breakfast or a lunch. If we do that, then I assume that we then lose that extra park time. Thoughts? (For reference, we are doing Frontierland and Adventure Land on Nov. 23 and expecting little FP availability due to having to activate our FD-related PH tickets early...so, we will have longer lines that day, but hope to do some of the less popular Fantasyland rides in the evening prior to our CRT dinner). Thanks!

I’d keep the 8:00 if you can, especially if you want to ride SDMT. We had an 8:00 in Jan, lined up beside the fence (beside SDMT) around 8:40. At 8:55 they walked us to the ride ( it was an Early Magic Morning) and walked us through the standby queue. we were on the ride just as the opening fireworks went off. We were able to ride SDMT, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Ariel + one more all before 10:00 and without using a FP!

 

[kpd6901]

I’d keep the 8:00 if you can, especially if you want to ride SDMT. We had an 8:00 in Jan, lined up beside the fence (beside SDMT) around 8:40. At 8:55 they walked us to the ride ( it was an Early Magic Morning) and walked us through the standby queue. we were on the ride just as the opening fireworks went off. We were able to ride SDMT, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Ariel + one more all before 10:00 and without using a FP!

Thank you so much. I know the follow-up question is off topic for this thread, but we were looking at doing Tomorrowland, too, then hopping to HS for Toy Story Land in the afternoon, using a FP for Slinky Dog Dash. If I understand correctly, when you hop, is it true that you cannot reserve FP for 2 parks on the same day? If so, we would be weighing a FP for Space Mountain vs SDD (we would already have done a full HS day already, with this half day being dedicated to TSL prior to any evening shows/dessert party we watch that night.

 

[Kathy Muniz]

As of today, you can see park hours thru December 10th. Go to MDE, Click on My Itinerary. Then click Add Plans and select Add Parks and Places. Click on the calendar and you should be able to see hours further out than normal. This works as long as you have your trip linked to MDE.

Thanks!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Thank you so much. I know the follow-up question is off topic for this thread, but we were looking at doing Tomorrowland, too, then hopping to HS for Toy Story Land in the afternoon, using a FP for Slinky Dog Dash. If I understand correctly, when you hop, is it true that you cannot reserve FP for 2 parks on the same day? If so, we would be weighing a FP for Space Mountain vs SDD (we would already have done a full HS day already, with this half day being dedicated to TSL prior to any evening shows/dessert party we watch that night.

Correct. If booking at your 60 day mark, all FPs must be for the same park. You cannot book one in the MK and the others at DHS. You need to choose only 1 park to books FPs in.

 

[Scoobie]

As of today, you can see park hours thru December 10th. Go to MDE, Click on My Itinerary. Then click Add Plans and select Add Parks and Places. Click on the calendar and you should be able to see hours further out than normal. This works as long as you have your trip linked to MDE.

How did you know this?! Are you an internet wizard? I just did it and it's showing through Dec. 11 - Thank you soooo much!

 

[moodyeeyore]

I know that Touring Plans and other places have projected times they use to make their crowd calendars, but Kenny the Pirate waits until he has confirmed times to make his calendar. So, for example, December 2018 didn't come out until mid-May 2018. Of course you'll want to doublecheck when Disney officially releases the dates, but I've always found Kenny to be accurate and he says that he doesn't create the calendar until he has received the info.

KtP has other info that isn't on Disney's official website, too, like certain character meets and times. As I said before, not sure who his source is, but I trust him over TP and others.

 

[Scoobie]

Thanks to all of you, I have my itinerary done and all the adr's I want ready to go for June 12th. Hopefully nothing changes, but I'll just check back often and rearrange if I have to. We decided to add AKL to our dining so we can explore again and see the xmas decorations, since I added a day to the front of my free dining res. (one night only). Need a casual day between Uni and DW. Btw, the DW site is showing me up to Dec. 14th now (Special thanks to Huff!) and they have all been correct (match Kenny the Pirate). SO excited!