2018 Free Dining Watch Thread V3

[ScubaCat]

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

This is the reason. Not liability of wandering kids. (That's why we have extras right? Ha!)

 

[scrappinginontario]

Please come back and let us know if there is a FD BB!

I will for sure!!

I got my FD yesterday morning without any real issues other than the site lagging, BUT I do have a FD-related inquiry that I was hoping you guys could possibly help me out on. Luckily, we only needed the minimum four park tickets offered with the package; however, we were wanting to upgrade our park tickets to APs once we arrived. Would that even be allowed (upgrading tickets) since our package is a part of the FD offer?

I hope this makes sense and that I'm posting per rules (I think this might be my first time posting here). I wasn't sure if it would be fine to ask here since it related to free dining or if I needed to move it elsewhere.

I am planning on upgrading our tickets to APs also. I have done this in the past with zero problems.

Not necessary. What if they keep FD for only BB offers????

They could only offer FD as a BB offer if they wish but what I'm saying is that for the past number of years Disney has offered a FD BB for guests at their resorts mid-Aug through September for the following year. IF they offer a FD BB this year, it bodes much better for them also offering a General Public FD offer next spring. I'm not saying it will happen, I'm saying it MAY happen.

In turn, if the new BB that comes out in August is something other than FD then personally I wouldn't hold out much hope for a FD offer next year.

Again, just anticipating what might happen, not what will happen.

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...?).

You're not quite understanding how booking 2 rooms works. When you book 2 rooms you must book 1 adult in each room and the children are booked in the rooms with them. Each room must be booked with an adult in it.

If you choose for both adults to sleep in 1 room and only minor children in the other, that is the parent's choice as you are not sleeping in the room you booked to sleep in therefore it's your choice not something Disney forced you to do.

 

[MAF]

So I was able to score AS Sports for my dates with FD today! I went ahead and cancelled my Pop Century reservation. Oh well, we don't spend any time in the hotel room anyhow so not too disappointed to switch hotels. Also my husband actually agreed that we could try to make it work so no more secret trip. lol

 

[abwdreaming]

keep us updated! no one has gotten anything for BC so far in this thread.

good luck!!!

 

[abwdreaming]

I am still on hold, going on 40min. No music just soft static. Hoping to add FD to my BC reservation in Dec. Hope this works because I'm tired of waiting.

I got the FD after waiting on for for 1 hour!!! My reservation email shows FD for all 4 of us Dec 15. However it does not show dates for the rest of our stay. Not sure if that's a problem. Think I'll call back and ask. Ugh, not looking forward to another 1 hour wait on hold.

 

[abwdreaming]

keep us updated! no one has gotten anything for BC so far in this thread.

good luck!!!

I got the FD for BC!!! Email reservation confirmation shows FD for all 4 of us and our arrival date Dec 15. But it doesn't state "for entire stay" or show dates for our full stay. Hope this is not a problem, I'm thinking of calling back to confirm FD is for our full stay.

 

[Sparty1833]

I got the FD!!! Email reservation confirmation shows FD for all 4 of us and our arrival date Dec 15. But it doesn't state "for entire stay" or show dates for our full stay. Hope this is not a problem, I'm thinking of calling back to confirm FD is for our full stay.

Pretty sure that FD is always for length of stay

 

[Vols1977]

Seems like there is still a ton of availability for my dates (in December) for Coronado Springs, while other resorts are slim pickings. Does anyone know why Coronado would have more availability than other resorts? Is it because the resort is so large or are people avoiding it due to the construction? I'm wondering because we actually wanted to stay there for our upcoming trip based on the glowing review the Dis gave them in their 7 Resorts in 7 Days videos. The fact that there is still plenty of Free Dining rooms available there makes me step back and wonder if we chose a good resort?

Does anyone have any theories on this?

 

[MAF]

Seems like there is still a ton of availability for my dates (in December) for Coronado Springs, while other resorts are slim pickings. Does anyone know why Coronado would have more availability than other resorts? Is it because the resort is so large or are people avoiding it due to the construction? I'm wondering because we actually wanted to stay there for our upcoming trip based on the glowing review the Dis gave them in their 7 Resorts in 7 Days videos. The fact that there is still plenty of Free Dining rooms available there makes me step back and wonder if we chose a good resort?

Does anyone have any theories on this?

I bet it's because the resort is so huge so they have a ton of rooms to fill.

 

[starrysilver]

Hey guys, so I need opinions. 3 adults, staying at Yacht Club in Sept for 3 nights. We had everything booked, flights included so were hoping for a RO discount. That is not showing up available for our stay so we were trying to just wait it out and hope something opens.

However, after crunching some numbers we looked into staying another night for Free Dining. It is available for us on our dates. The price compared to what we are paying now is great. The problem is we have to pay fees to change our flight home but let me know what you guys think about this-

The difference ends up being about $300 more per person for another night and Free Dining (including our flights and changes.) We are going to use snack credits at F&W which is great. My concern is that I am a vegetarian and my sister is not the most adventurous eater so I know our food cost is generally not that high. I do like the inclusion of alcohol though, plus our other traveler probably will pick higher priced items if she can. Considering we will probably end up paying OOP for small breakfast items at some point as well as drinks to walk around with in Epcot, is this worth it? The convenience is very tempting, plus we really wouldn't add another night without this perk.

I feel like it could be worth it, but I honestly don't know anymore. All these numbers I've been looking at are making me crazy!

 

[Moliphino]

Seems like there is still a ton of availability for my dates (in December) for Coronado Springs, while other resorts are slim pickings. Does anyone know why Coronado would have more availability than other resorts? Is it because the resort is so large or are people avoiding it due to the construction? I'm wondering because we actually wanted to stay there for our upcoming trip based on the glowing review the Dis gave them in their 7 Resorts in 7 Days videos. The fact that there is still plenty of Free Dining rooms available there makes me step back and wonder if we chose a good resort?

Does anyone have any theories on this?

If it had free DDP we would've stayed there, but as both mods and values only get free QSDP now we went for Pop instead. CSR is one of my favorite resorts.

 

[ScubaCat]

I bet it's because the resort is so huge so they have a ton of rooms to fill.

It's not any bigger than the others; almost exactly the same as one of the all stars, in fact. It's just a little more convention-geared, and that turns some people off. It's very nice, though. I'd stay there with a good deal any day!

 

[ScubaCat]

Hey guys, so I need opinions. 3 adults, staying at Yacht Club in Sept for 3 nights. We had everything booked, flights included so were hoping for a RO discount. That is not showing up available for our stay so we were trying to just wait it out and hope something opens.

However, after crunching some numbers we looked into staying another night for Free Dining. It is available for us on our dates. The price compared to what we are paying now is great. The problem is we have to pay fees to change our flight home but let me know what you guys think about this-

The difference ends up being about $300 more per person for another night and Free Dining (including our flights and changes.) We are going to use snack credits at F&W which is great. My concern is that I am a vegetarian and my sister is not the most adventurous eater so I know our food cost is generally not that high. I do like the inclusion of alcohol though, plus our other traveler probably will pick higher priced items if she can. Considering we will probably end up paying OOP for small breakfast items at some point as well as drinks to walk around with in Epcot, is this worth it? The convenience is very tempting, plus we really wouldn't add another night without this perk.

I feel like it could be worth it, but I honestly don't know anymore. All these numbers I've been looking at are making me crazy!

I'd hold out for a room discount, for sure. It doesn't sound like you'll save anywhere near what it seems with the dining plan (which isn't free for you anyway -- it's $300 per person effectively).

 

[starrysilver]

I'd hold out for a room discount, for sure. It doesn't sound like you'll save anywhere near what it seems with the dining plan (which isn't free for you anyway -- it's $300 per person effectively).

Thanks! This is what I was thinking.

Though now my sister is pointing out that when you figure in the cost of that 4th night added to our trip, the dining plan comes out to about $140 per person.

I think I need to break out the calculator again for this! haha

 

[ScubaCat]

Thanks! This is what I was thinking.

Though now my sister is pointing out that when you figure in the cost of that 4th night added to our trip, the dining plan comes out to about $140 per person.

I think I need to break out the calculator again for this! haha

Then you'll still have spend your trip calculating dining credits and stuff. And you'll have to buy the full package with tickets. If you get the RO discount, you can buy discounted tickets from undercovertourist.com and will have a much more flexible booking arrangement. (5 day cancellation, just one night's deposit, etc.) You can also stack orbitz/travelocity coupons on top of the RO discount if you can catch one.

 

[kdisser]

Seems like there is still a ton of availability for my dates (in December) for Coronado Springs, while other resorts are slim pickings. Does anyone know why Coronado would have more availability than other resorts? Is it because the resort is so large or are people avoiding it due to the construction? I'm wondering because we actually wanted to stay there for our upcoming trip based on the glowing review the Dis gave them in their 7 Resorts in 7 Days videos. The fact that there is still plenty of Free Dining rooms available there makes me step back and wonder if we chose a good resort?

Does anyone have any theories on this?

I love CSR but with wanting to go in September I have value pricing saved up. It may be convention geared but it feels less crowded during September and December when we have stayed there. They are also under refurb as well.

 

[kdisser]

But that refurb did not affect our trip at all!! Still a wonderful and I think underrated resort. Plus when we stayed in December we got an "under construction" pin set from the resort for free!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Thanks! This is what I was thinking.

Though now my sister is pointing out that when you figure in the cost of that 4th night added to our trip, the dining plan comes out to about $140 per person.

I think I need to break out the calculator again for this! haha

$140 sounds like a steal for eating for 4 or even 3 days! If you're there for 4 days and only eat 2 meals a day that's just $17.50/meal. Considering with the QSDP you get 2 QS meals a day, 2 snacks (great for Epcot F&W), alcohol as you mentioned you liked this, plus a refillable mug, for me it would be an easy decision to go with the FD.

 

[Disneylover99]

Seems like there is still a ton of availability for my dates (in December) for Coronado Springs, while other resorts are slim pickings. Does anyone know why Coronado would have more availability than other resorts? Is it because the resort is so large or are people avoiding it due to the construction? I'm wondering because we actually wanted to stay there for our upcoming trip based on the glowing review the Dis gave them in their 7 Resorts in 7 Days videos. The fact that there is still plenty of Free Dining rooms available there makes me step back and wonder if we chose a good resort?

Does anyone have any theories on this?

I've seen lots of availability at both CSR and CBR. The luster is off the moderates. It's just not a good value for a family of four Disney adults to pay rack rate at these resorts and then pay an additional $100 per day to upgrade to TS when you can stay at a value for more than $100 cheaper. Plus the construction doesn't help.

 

[Nikciburd]

I've seen lots of availability at both CSR and CBR. The luster is off the moderates. It's just not a good value for a family of four Disney adults to pay rack rate at these resorts and then pay an additional $100 per day to upgrade to TS when you can stay at a value for more than $100 cheaper. Plus the construction doesn't help.

No, it’s not a good value. However, even having to book TWO hotel rooms for our family, I still upgraded to CSR. My 10 year old loves water parks but the rest of the family doesn’t. we will definitely spend sometime at the water park but not entire days. We also are going in late august so we will be spending the hours of 2-5ish at the resort every day in order to rest. THe inlaws will probably nap in the room and the kids can splash in the pool. My older son can use the amazing pool slide at the resort. I was a little unsure which way we were going to go but I figured what the heck. We won’t be back for another 5 years and then we are staying off-site (sister in law wants to bring her kids but they can’t afford it so we will probably rent a large house together to help them out). So this is going to be our big Disney bash. I almost upgraded to deluxe for that reason but the extra 2-3k probably would have made my husband lose his marbles. 10k is a lot to spend for a vacation.