August 2009 code watch

[Manda]

I don't think it's worth it for us. I'm still holding out for something better, but since we already have the AAA discount... it would cost me an extra $500 to get "free" dining.

 

[KikiFan]

Well I'm afraid I'm out of the running for an August trip! Actually it's working out for the best! I've decided to use the 40% pin code for a CHristmas trip. We've never been in Dec and have always wanted to spend Christmas at the world. The dates for FD just didn't help us enough to make an Aug trip worthwhile.

Hope all of you have a great rate and a great time!

 

[MelanieC]

We have the military discount and doing the FD wouldn't save us anything either. The nights we are there the hotel is only $49 per night. Plus it doesn't work for how we like to eat anyway. Most days we do two sit downs and hardly any fast foods.

 

[DizzDoll]

What sucks for us is that the free dining promo starts on the 16th of August, and we're going down on the 14th. I looked into changing our dates but it would have been a strategic nightmare, and with the added costs for changing my flights (to the tune of over $400) there would have been a savings of PERHAPS $125. Not worth it, so we're keeping our original dates. But it turns out that if my daughter makes the equestrian team at her college, she'll have to get to school a few days earlier than normal, so it probably works out for the best in our situtation. Sucks about missing the free dining, though!!

 

[a1tinkfans]

What sucks for us is that the free dining promo starts on the 16th of August, and we're going down on the 14th. I looked into changing our dates but it would have been a strategic nightmare, and with the added costs for changing my flights (to the tune of over $400) there would have been a savings of PERHAPS $125. Not worth it, so we're keeping our original dates. But it turns out that if my daughter makes the equestrian team at her college, she'll have to get to school a few days earlier than normal, so it probably works out for the best in our situation. Sucks about missing the free dining, though!!

Did you consider doing 2 separate reservations? Not sure how long you are staying, but if you're doing a MYW pkg anyway, why not consider that so you'll get free dine for last days?
You can do room only (aaa? ) discount first 2 nights then FREE dine??? Just a thought.
We did something like that last year to get in on free dine TWICE! One was a bounceback and then public code released, we did a check out and then a check in and it was pretty much easy breezy.
This year we got in on bounceback so we booked for Free dine with that, then I got a PIN for free dine (first EVER!) so I was able to give it to my extended family for additional rooms (allowed to book up to 3 rooms, I re-booked under that code) WOW, they are thrilled, now it is public free dine during SAME period and some other family members have also jumped in.....I am PSYCHED, we're doing 11 days 10 nights and I can NOT wait....

 

[DizzDoll]

Did you consider doing 2 separate reservations? Not sure how long you are staying, but if you're doing a MYW pkg anyway, why not consider that so you'll get free dine for last days?
You can do room only (aaa? ) discount first 2 nights then FREE dine??? Just a thought.
We did something like that last year to get in on free dine TWICE! One was a bounceback and then public code released, we did a check out and then a check in and it was pretty much easy breezy.
This year we got in on bounceback so we booked for Free dine with that, then I got a PIN for free dine (first EVER!) so I was able to give it to my extended family for additional rooms (allowed to book up to 3 rooms, I re-booked under that code) WOW, they are thrilled, now it is public free dine during SAME period and some other family members have also jumped in.....I am PSYCHED, we're doing 11 days 10 nights and I can NOT wait....

We looked into that. The BIG negative to it was the fact that I'd have to shell out over $400 more because of the surcharge on the airfare (Continental has a 24-hour time delay where you can change your reservations - my tickets were purchased on March 19 ) so that's what made it not worth it. We could have juggled the rooms and the park tickets, but the airfare made it a thumbs down. We'll only be there for 5 nights and 6 days anyway, but if it were longer maybe things would have been different. I'm just happy we're going.

 

[skatermom]

keep the same exact dates but split the reservation by reserving the first two nights(when there no free dining) then reserving the next 3 nights with free dining.

 

[my3cinderellas]

I did that 2 yrs ago, ended up splitting the reservation.

do Aug 14-16 and then do aug 16 til the end with free dining.. you can split up a reservation you wouldnt have to change your plane tickets at all.

 

[n2mm]

I did that 2 yrs ago, ended up splitting the reservation.

do Aug 14-16 and then do aug 16 til the end with free dining.. you can split up a reservation you wouldnt have to change your plane tickets at all.

That's what we're doing.

 

[muppetmom]

It is very easy to split a reservation. We are planning to be at WDW from Aug 15 to the 23rd. When the free dining came out I just called. They volunteered to split the stay into two. Now we have 1 night (the 15th) room only and then 7 nights with free dining. The reservations are linked so that we may not have to move after that first night.
Do whatever works best for you!

 

[Mermaid2sea]

I did that 2 yrs ago, ended up splitting the reservation.

do Aug 14-16 and then do aug 16 til the end with free dining.. you can split up a reservation you wouldnt have to change your plane tickets at all.

That's what we're doing too....

 

[Mermaid2sea]

We have the military discount and doing the FD wouldn't save us anything either. The nights we are there the hotel is only $49 per night. Plus it doesn't work for how we like to eat anyway. Most days we do two sit downs and hardly any fast foods.

That's the discount we had....but as there are 4 of us it's better for us to have the FD...

 

[LisaNJ25]

It is very easy to split a reservation. We are planning to be at WDW from Aug 15 to the 23rd. When the free dining came out I just called. They volunteered to split the stay into two. Now we have 1 night (the 15th) room only and then 7 nights with free dining. The reservations are linked so that we may not have to move after that first night.
Do whatever works best for you!

We did the same thing in 2007. As you probably already know... You have to recheck in the next morning.. get there EARLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A few of us on here were in the August 26, 2007 line at POR that went all the way out the hallway and into the food court. I got there I want to say 7:30 and still waited over an hour to check in.

 

[PPFDDisneyLover]

Hey Folks!

Short of going through all these pages, can anyone tell me if the codes have been released for the end of August yet? I am thinking of a quick trip as a surprise to my wife, but need all the savings I can get on this one! Thanks....

 

[tripplanner2]

Hey Folks!

Short of going through all these pages, can anyone tell me if the codes have been released for the end of August yet? I am thinking of a quick trip as a surprise to my wife, but need all the savings I can get on this one! Thanks....

Free dining has been released to the general public from August 16 - October 1, I believe. I know it starts on August 16, just not sure of the end date. If you go to the Disney site it has a link for the free dining.