Booo.. Free dining during our stay.. Tell me how awful it will be.

[MeridaMerida]

I just saw they announced they are offering free dining during our stay, which is 3 nights Dec 6-9, 2 of us in a room. I was really looking forward to a chill, low crowd visit with my friend! Now I feel like crowds will be insane. Any advice? Should we try to switch weeks and does anyone have another time they would recommend?

We booked through an agent and I'm not sure what the rules are but we weren't planning to stay longer than 3 nights. (I have little ones at home and this is a girls trip so I don't want to be away from them for longer than this.)

 

[mom2rtk]

It's not unusual for free dining to be offered in early December. Remember that it's offered because Disney is expecting crowds to be low. Crowds at restaurants and resorts might be up because of it, but the parks shouldn't be too affected. Just keep in mind no time of year feels low crowd any more. Even if crowds are low, Disney has been choosing to staff down and run things at lower capacity and save money.

 

[Nancyg56]

I am not sure what to say. FD is a promotion that helps to fill resort rooms, and IMO is not directly related to park attendance. With that said, as was pointed out above, there really is no "slow" season in WDW any longer, just times when it is less crowded than others. Early December is not as "crowded" as October, however you still need to navigate the crowds in the MK< which really can fluctuate due to the parties. Any Saturday will be a 10, or at least feel that way in the MK becuase those who avoid the park on a party day will flock in on the three days there is not one scheduled.

I have no idea how the Studios will be. Toy Story Land will be open, so folks who avoided DHS in the past might be there this year, so think about that and plan well so you are not blindsided.

Book ADR's well in advance if there are specific restaurnats you really want. This is one area that is impacted by FD becuase if people are using teh DDP they want to be sure the credits are well spent. They will book meals early.
If this is not a concern, then FD will probably not be a blip on your radar.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Restaurant capacity is pretty stable regardless of "crowd." Park crowd is more dependent on off site visitors. The resorts always run at high utilization. Free Dining simply shifts some people's dates or resort choice.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We stayed at POR during a free dining period in June of 2016 and the resort seemed busier than it did when we were there last October, when there wasn't free dining. Although our June trip was during a time when lots of kids were out of school and most schools were in session during our October trip.

But I don't think free dining affects the crowds.

 

[Kimberle]

I don't think it will affect your stay. WDW is always busy. The restaurants will fill up more quickly, though. So be sure to make your ADR's in advance.

 

[Huff]

Free dining increases crowds at restaurants and makes ADR's more difficult to obtain. It doesn't seem to increase park crowds appreciably.

 

[DisBuckMan]

I have a different OPINION of how FD affects crowds in the parks and other areas...and I'm not just talking about increase in crowds either, although we certainly notice the crowd difference. Our family will not visit WDW during a FD period ever again.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I just saw they announced they are offering free dining during our stay, which is 3 nights Dec 6-9, 2 of us in a room. I was really looking forward to a chill, low crowd visit with my friend! Now I feel like crowds will be insane. Any advice? Should we try to switch weeks and does anyone have another time they would recommend?

We booked through an agent and I'm not sure what the rules are but we weren't planning to stay longer than 3 nights. (I have little ones at home and this is a girls trip so I don't want to be away from them for longer than this.)

Crowds are still low in early december. Free dining makes ADRS more difficult to get than they otherwise would be. But they're still not going to be nearly as hard to get as they would the week after Christmas.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

FD has been offered around that time for years....
BTW it doesn't start until the 7th for December dates.
In recent years "low crowd" times have basically become non existent and in some cases what you'd consider a traditionally crowded time such as the middle of summer has become slightly less so.
I'll be there with FD December 7-11 and I don't expect it to be insane. I've gone with FD in August, September, and December 8 soon to be 9 times and other than having a slightly more challenging time getting ADR's I have not found it to be any different than going at non FD times.

 

[Shanti]

I have a different OPINION of how FD affects crowds in the parks and other areas...and I'm not just talking about increase in crowds either, although we certainly notice the crowd difference. Our family will not visit WDW during a FD period ever again.

What has your experience been? I'd like to hear about it. We recently arranged a 3-day weekend trip for late August, then learned that it will fall during FD. We won't be using FD, and will only be there to attend MNSSHP, the waterparks & chill at the resort. In your opinion, will there be problems?

 

[maxiesmom]

I've never noticed a difference in the parks based on free dining.

 

[Disneylover99]

I've never noticed a difference in the parks based on free dining.

Same with us.

We've been going during FD times and non free dining times. We haven't noticed any difference in crowds at parks or at restaurants. Popular ADR's start to go fast at 180 days out all the time, no matter what time of year it is.

 

[Allison]

There is 0 reason to change your stay. If you change to a time that doesn't have the offer, it means it is busy enough that Disney doesn't need to offer it.

 

[JerseyJanice]

ITA agree with PP who said get your ADRs as soon as you can. A lot more people than usual will be eating at TS. If you want something popular like Ohana or Be Our Guest, book ADRs as soon as you can. (180 days I think—my past few trips were booked past that point.)

Beyond ADRs, I think Free Dining will have very little effect on your trip.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

Because we are DVC we cannot do free dining. We also choose not to do the dining plan so we don’t really pay attention to any details related to that.

Once we went during free dining we didn’t even know it was going on Seemed about the same crowds as it normally would. Because we don’t pay attention to dining offers, we have been to WDW when it’s going on and when it’s not.

We have never noticed a difference between normal dining and free dining times. We only book a few ADRs per trip though (maybe that makes a difference) and haven’t had trouble getting what we wanted for a party of 8-12 (typically.)

 

[Nancyg56]

I do think that the Parties will have more impact on your stay than FD. Parties are going on in the MK for 4 of the 7 days of the week, so Saturday, Monday (I think) and Wednesday will be very crowded, with Saturday being the worst, IMO. I don't mind the crowds if I want to see the fireworks, but planning and setting an expectation is important, IMO. I think that this event is way more important to address than the FD promo.

 

[bluejasmine]

We have done FD many times and while the restaurants are busy the parks aren't bad... I always wondered where everyone was lol

 

[missbrooke06]

We were there during the post Thanksgiving free dining last year and it was the best crowds I've come across since 2005. Until the Pop Warner crowd showed up as we were on our way out. I'd be more worried about that.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We've gone during FD many times (we don't book it ourselves) and have never felt it negatively impacted our stays in any way.