Be Warned! Disney has pulled the Free Dining Special for guests whose trips were messed up due to Covid-19

[flea1267]

I called yesterday to book Labor Day weekend and was told that I couldn't get the Free Dining! Was told Disney pulled that special on Friday May 8th! I talked to Duncan in Guest Services to no avail..he said they absolutely could do nothing to help! I'm mad as all get out! The offer was supposed to go until May 31st! Yes I know the fine print that "notice subject to change with no notice" but it's still bad PR on Disney's part and to tie the hands of the Guest Services is even worse! So tempted to pull our vacation for next year but Iger and Chapeck wouldn't care, so why make my family suffer. Still mad as all get out about it!

Also wanted to warn anyone else thinking of booking, to be aware!

 

[Sandiz08]

Someone else was posting about not being able to get this offer moved over to dates that were in the original offer.

 

[flea1267]

Someone else was posting about not being able to get this offer moved over to dates that were in the original offer.

it's terrible!!! it's not right! I love Disney but I am so so mad!!! It's awful PR!

 

[Sandiz08]

it's terrible!!! it's not right! I love Disney but I am so so mad!!! It's awful PR!

Same here, I hope our July trip happens because I'm afraid they wouldn't want to move my bounce back with the way things are going.

 

[Fitzwoman27]

I think with the free Dining plan , that tDisney was trying to be nice to customers for their inconvenience. But unfortunately with dining restrictions from state 25% or 50% and distancing, that they are starting to worry about providing it to customers. Better to get you upset off property than not giving you meals on property.

 

[flea1267]

Then they should offer some explanation rather than just pulling it and coming

I think with the free Dining plan , that tDisney was trying to be nice to customers for their inconvenience. But unfortunately with dining restrictions from state 25% or 50% and distancing, that they are starting to worry about providing it to customers. Better to get you upset off property than not giving you meals on property.

Then they should offer some explanation rather than just pulling it and coming off like jerks!

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Yah, restaurant aren't going to be allowed full occupancy...Disney is probably just now trying to figure out how to cancel half of the adrs out there. Just my 2p.

 

[MomOTwins]

I think they are doing the only reasonable thing they can do under the changed circumstances. When they offered this promotion, they expected a June 1 "back to normal" and it just isn't possible now, which has a major impact on the availability of this promotion. Think about it: the promotion was offered for people whose March-May vacations were cancelled, and was for any dates June 1-Sept. 30. Now that June is cancelled, if they allowed this promotion to continue to be booked/modified, everyone who rebooked to June would move to July-Sept. And what if July is cancelled to? August-Sept would end up massively overbooked with free dining participants, on top of people who had already planned vacations in August-September and already made dining reservations 180 days before their trips. Not only is that a catastrophe for restaurant availability; it could also present a real problem for park capacity limits (which will almost certainly be restricted for some time, like in Shanghai).

This offer has been on the table for over a month now, and they are letting people who booked it keep it--that's first come first serve, and under the circumstances, really the only fair thing they can do. They are going to be hard pressed to guarantee park and restaurant access for everyone who currently has a resort booking in those months as is--is it really any surprise they don't want more people booking with a heavy discount right now?

As for "providing an explanation" would that really make a difference? We all know what the explanation is; just like when they announce a ticket price increase, they don't have to explain why--it's supply and demand, just like this decision.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

The are doing the best they can in these uncertain times. Things change daily and nobody know what tomorrow will be- let alone 2/3 months.

 

[val1234]

I think they are doing the only reasonable thing they can do under the changed circumstances. When they offered this promotion, they expected a June 1 "back to normal" and it just isn't possible now, which has a major impact on the availability of this promotion. Think about it: the promotion was offered for people whose March-May vacations were cancelled, and was for any dates June 1-Sept. 30. Now that June is cancelled, if they allowed this promotion to continue to be booked/modified, everyone who rebooked to June would move to July-Sept. And what if July is cancelled to? August-Sept would end up massively overbooked with free dining participants, on top of people who had already planned vacations in August-September and already made dining reservations 180 days before their trips. Not only is that a catastrophe for restaurant availability; it could also present a real problem for park capacity limits (which will almost certainly be restricted for some time, like in Shanghai).

This offer has been on the table for over a month now, and they are letting people who booked it keep it--that's first come first serve, and under the circumstances, really the only fair thing they can do. They are going to be hard pressed to guarantee park and restaurant access for everyone who currently has a resort booking in those months as is--is it really any surprise they don't want more people booking with a heavy discount right now?

As for "providing an explanation" would that really make a difference? We all know what the explanation is; just like when they announce a ticket price increase, they don't have to explain why--it's supply and demand, just like this decision.

 

[val1234]

Very well said!

 

[Elle23]

I honestly wish they had just suspended reservations indefinitely instead of offering the free dining promotion. It would have saved me money on flights and the disappointment and headache of having my 3rd reservation in 3 months canceled.

 

[crayon3448]

I wonder if Disney will shift from 180 day dining reservations? Even if the switched to 90 day reservations it would give them such better control over how many they released (50% capacity, 75% etc).

I tried to add extra days to our free dining trip for August and even though the website shows rooms as them being available at the resort they said they couldn't add days to my stay.

 

[flea1267]

To me, it's on Disney to explain and yes it would have made a difference to me. I'm a reasonable person and I would have understood. With no explanation, they came off as jerks and greedy. And believe me, we're huge Disney fans in our family, our daughter did the College Program and Disney is the only place we vacation. In the last 15 years we've been to Disney 27 times, so to me it's horrible PR to offer no explanation.

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

I assume that free dining was pulled given the new capacity limits on dining. Disney hasn't really made any formal announcements about US park operations yet though, so I can see why you weren't offered an explanation. I think this was a case of bad timing, unfortunately. There may be an explanation publicly available in a few weeks (or sooner - if we are lucky!).

 

[FreeTime]

As you said, the fine print said subject to change. Why should you publicly blame a CM by name for him following the rules of the offer and his job? Are you more entitled than someone else because you have been 27 times?

 

[DisneyWishes14]

To me, it's on Disney to explain and yes it would have made a difference to me. I'm a reasonable person and I would have understood. With no explanation, they came off as jerks and greedy. And believe me, we're huge Disney fans in our family, our daughter did the College Program and Disney is the only place we vacation. In the last 15 years we've been to Disney 27 times, so to me it's horrible PR to offer no explanation.

I understand your disappointment and frustration. These are unprecedented times and pulling an offer early is also unprecedented. I don't think they had a choice. If they have to restrict dining capacity, they will be hard pressed just to accommodate everyone who booked free dining plus those that outright purchased a dining plan. Other than telling you they discontinued the offer on Friday, I would not expect any type of explanation from Disney. They gave everyone a heads-up that it could be discontinued at any time and that's what they did.

 

[Dina]

To me, it's on Disney to explain and yes it would have made a difference to me. I'm a reasonable person and I would have understood. With no explanation, they came off as jerks and greedy. And believe me, we're huge Disney fans in our family, our daughter did the College Program and Disney is the only place we vacation. In the last 15 years we've been to Disney 27 times, so to me it's horrible PR to offer no explanation.

Its a pandemic.....were in unprecedented times . Im sure they're doing the best they can

 

[rwdavis2]

If one is that upset then stop spending money there. I think the speculation that with reduced capacity they just can't handle all the diners. I'm hoping they stop free dining altogether.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

If one is that upset then stop spending money there. I think the speculation that with reduced capacity they just can't handle all the diners. I'm hoping they stop free dining altogether.

Room discounts are better for us anyway but that offer is pretty sweet to a fimly of four staying at the all stars.