Anyone ever do this or is it a hairbrained scheme I am thinking about?

[WALTSAGOD]

Can't we all just get along?

Maybe I've heard that somewhere before.

 

[Goofy2937]

I'm new at this what are the free dining packages?

We are booked in a AKV SV Studio in late August. With the supposed impending announcement of the Free Dining packages, I was wondering why couldn't you keep your DVC accomodations, but also book a Value Resort MYW Package w/free dining?

You wouldn't actually occupy the Value room, but for a family of four it would still be cheaper ($82/nt + 13%tax) than adding DDP onto your DVC ressie.

We need to buy park tickets anyway, so that part of the Free Dining requirement is not a negative.

Thoughts?

 

[Dean]

I think your missing the point of the perks they are adding to the value resorts, Disney is luring mostly first time visitors to WDW with free dining, etc knowing they will visit the parks and drop a ton of money on those trinkets.

Actually Disney is mostly targeting repeat customers with the free dining, esp those that are savvy with the system. At times, it's only been available to bounce backs. IMO, it's irrellevant whether it's better or worse for Disney. Some things are better, less maid service potentially, less traffic, etc; some are worse with less people to spend money. The bottom line is Disney sets the rules and I don't ever recall hearing of a timeshare or hotel that required people to stay in the room. I doubt there's any way Disney could police it and I can bet they discussed and acknowledged this likelihood up front and decided to proceed anyway knowing it would happen. I alluded to it earlier but everyone that thinks it's wrong would also have to think getting a day room on Paradise Island to get access to the resort was wrong also (no it's not different), or paying for an extra night and leaving at 11 PM or arriving a 1 AM. The only thing Disney could do would be to prevent one person from being registered in two rooms. It certainly WOULD be wrong to lie about the people in involved such as having fictitious children. Another example would be paying for DVC using the Disney credit card to get the points, an effort for a relative small benefit but certainly not wrong if allowed.

 

[Inkmahm]

...The only thing Disney could do would be to prevent one person from being registered in two rooms. It certainly WOULD be wrong to lie about the people in involved such as having fictitious children.

Completely agree.

 

[Island Mouse]

During the "low periods" disney does not have full capacity at their resorts. But during "free dining periods" disney value resorts hit capacity. This thread has veered off a little bit, but he main point of most people that are against this idea is because families that could only afford value accomodations with free dining could be left out of the promotion due to limit availability at the value resorts.

Disney does not allocate 100% of the value rooms for the free dining promotion. So if people double book rooms when they aren't using them, its a waste to the people that can't book the value accomodation and get free dining.

I don't think its worth the trouble for the amount saved, but I don't see anything wrong with people doing this if they wanted to put in all the effort. If the accomodations are available with free dining for me to reserve (whether or not I booked a dvc reservation at the same time), then why should I feel guilty about using the promotion? If the room is available for me to book, then it was available for anyone to book. I can't help it if I got it first because I booked sooner. I certainly wouldn't feel like I took something away from someone else, since that someone else could have made their reservation before me and gotten it too. And if I wanted to book two rooms and only use one of them, I don't see anything wrong with that as long as I was paying for both. After all, if the two rooms were available for me to book, they were available to everyone. I never feel guilty for planning ahead.

 

[PBB]

This kind of reminds me of something that radio talk show host Neal Boortz did in Washington DC a few months back. All the hotels in Washington had a minimum reservation of 3 days when congress was in session. Neal was on his book tour and needed a hotel for only one night. The hotel made him keep the room for 3 days. So Neal stayed one night and gave the room key to a homeless person for the other 2 nights. Of course, Neal was smart and took his charge card off the room for the rest of the trip.

So.....you can check into both places keep your free meals and give the room to a homeless person to live in duration of your reservation. It's a win-win for everyone!

It is amazing how Neal Boortz has all the answers to everything.

 

[WALTSAGOD]

kill me now.

 

[JsMom2]

To the OP: If booking the room at a value will save you money, and you don't mind spending the time to check-in/check-out then do it! There is nothing unethical about it.

I was a CM for Disney, and trust me they are all about the $$. This is NOT a bad thing, just the truth. The simple fact is that the only reason they have so many rooms on property is to support the guests whovisit in the busy times. During the off-season they need to fill the rooms, or they are losing money. So they offer the free dining in hopes that they can get some folks to stay there. They don't do it because they are concerned about the folks who can't afford Disney at peak season! They don't need the extra folks to come in and spend money in the parks, because they cut back to much lower staffing levels during the off-season. The college kids have gone back to school, and they are down to permanent employees, and this is when they do the re-habs etc.

The reason there is no discounted dining to DVC members is that we have already paid for our points up front. If we don't use them, and the rooms go empty, DVC hasn't lost any money.

Again, I think that there is nothing wrong with the fact that Disney knows how to make money. This is a good thing, as it means they will be around for a long, long time! But they are all about the bottom line. You might be surprised at how much they are able to get for free just by trading their name. When you see a Ketchup packet that says "the official ketchup of Walt Disney World" on it, do you REALLY think that Disney had to pay for that ketchup?

 

[Inkmahm]

To the OP: If booking the room at a value will save you money, and you don't mind spending the time to check-in/check-out then do it! There is nothing unethical about it.

I was a CM for Disney, and trust me they are all about the $$. This is NOT a bad thing, just the truth. The simple fact is that the only reason they have so many rooms on property is to support the guests whovisit in the busy times. During the off-season they need to fill the rooms, or they are losing money. So they offer the free dining in hopes that they can get some folks to stay there. They don't do it because they are concerned about the folks who can't afford Disney at peak season! They don't need the extra folks to come in and spend money in the parks, because they cut back to much lower staffing levels during the off-season. The college kids have gone back to school, and they are down to permanent employees, and this is when they do the re-habs etc.

The reason there is no discounted dining to DVC members is that we have already paid for our points up front. If we don't use them, and the rooms go empty, DVC hasn't lost any money.

Again, I think that there is nothing wrong with the fact that Disney knows how to make money. This is a good thing, as it means they will be around for a long, long time! But they are all about the bottom line. You might be surprised at how much they are able to get for free just by trading their name. When you see a Ketchup packet that says "the official ketchup of Walt Disney World" on it, do you REALLY think that Disney had to pay for that ketchup?

Thank you!

 

[global_mom]

kill me now.

 

[florep1]

The original question reminded me of a post I read about a year or so ago. Back then, the question was, was it okay to do the free dining while using FW campgrounds (read: cheaper), then staying offsite at a bigger villa. The consensus of the group was no, that was not okay, and I tended to agree with the majority. Fast forward this question, I don't see that much difference, and yet,. I don't see a problem with this at all. Like a lot of people have said, you're paying for a service, whether you use it or not, that's your prerogative. Disney makes money regardless.

 

[Inkmahm]

Hmmmm. I've got a 2BR booked for our family of 4 this December. I guess this is unethical as I'm needlessly taking a 2BR away from some other family of 6 that needs it more than me...

Disney should come inspect the room and really make sure I am using all the beds... After all, a 2 BR sleeps 8, therefore I'm depriving the company of 4 paying guests...

This is nuts, really. I'm getting back to work (well, just going to read other threads actually )

You and all of these people aren't being good Disney citizens http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1770333.

 

[CarolMN]

The original question reminded me of a post I read about a year or so ago. Back then, the question was, was it okay to do the free dining while using FW campgrounds (read: cheaper), then staying offsite at a bigger villa. The consensus of the group was no, that was not okay, and I tended to agree with the majority. Fast forward this question, I don't see that much difference, and yet,. I don't see a problem with this at all. Like a lot of people have said, you're paying for a service, whether you use it or not, that's your prerogative. Disney makes money regardless.

Was free dining ever available for the campsites? If so, I can't believe Disney didn't figure that people would do that - book a campsite (for practically nothing) to get the free dining. If it was ever true, I bet Disney closed that "loophole" a long time ago!

I see nothing unethical about booking a value resort and not staying there.

 

[florep1]

I could be wrong(won't be the first time), or maybe the question was, Is it okay to book a campsite to use for park benefits (EMH, DME and such), then stay offsite? Maybe the dining plan wasn't free, just the option to buy it. Regardless, this was a FW thread, so obviously, the answer was no since they would be taking up another spot for the campers.

 

[lmhall2000]

I think it would be GREAT if you could find a family who could actually stay in the room..give them free lodging for the trip! Y'all sign in and let another family have a free room..sounds like a great way to spread the Disney magic! Any family members or even college students...they're always needing a break!

Tara

 

[florep1]

I think it would be GREAT if you could find a family who could actually stay in the room..give them free lodging for the trip! Y'all sign in and let another family have a free room..sounds like a great way to spread the Disney magic! Any family members or even college students...they're always needing a break!

Tara

No good deed goes unpunished. Impersonating a WDW guest

 

[CarolAnnC]

I think it would be GREAT if you could find a family who could actually stay in the room..give them free lodging for the trip! Y'all sign in and let another family have a free room..sounds like a great way to spread the Disney magic! Any family members or even college students...they're always needing a break!

Tara

The problem here is like those DVC members who rent out reservations - the person making the reservation is the one responsible for damages etc in the room. I would not recommend taking on this responsibility lightly.

 

[LakeAriel]

I think it would be GREAT if you could find a family who could actually stay in the room..give them free lodging for the trip! Y'all sign in and let another family have a free room..sounds like a great way to spread the Disney magic! Any family members or even college students...they're always needing a break!

Tara

The problem is they would have your food credits on their keys...

If you personally know someone you trust, who could use the room yes it is ideal!

 

[CarolAnnC]

The problem is they would have your food credits on their keys...

If you personally know someone you trust, who could use the room yes it is ideal!

Well, if you already have 4 guests in the room (which you technically do whether or not they are sleeping there, they are registered), I don't believe you can have additional people free of charge. In fact, I don't believe you could exceed the room occupancy at all. Now if you are talking about additional people, well that really is another whole can of worms that we won't go into further.

I have no problem with anyone booking a room and not using it, but I do see a problem with handing that room over to someone else while registered to your own family. I don't think Disney would allow it either.

 

[DisFlan]

kill me now.