Bounceback offer seems restrictive and expensive

[smartmommy4]

Later edit: The information I posted here is not accurate. I claim that Disney charged me $3928 this year and $4563 next year. That is true but I forgot one important detail: my toddler is turning 3 next year, so he will be needing his own ticket, which costs $559. So if you take that out, the increase is only from $3928 to $4004, about 2%, which isn't unreasonable. But the restrictiveness is still true.

Original Post:

I want to report the bounceback free dining booking I made for 9/2019. This is the first time I try to do a bounceback, so I'm a newbie and maybe what I'm saying is old news. But I'm surprised by it, so I want to share the information.

I booked a 14 night stay with free dining at the Pop Century Resort for 9/1-9/15/2019. Here are the surprises:

1. I am only allowed to get a Standard pool view, not a standard room. I've always gotten free dining standard rooms in the past.
2. The price increase is 16%. Even if you adjust the difference of standard and standard pool view, it's a 14% increase. So I paid $3928 this year and will be paying $4563 next year.
3. I'm only allowed to stay at 50s, 80s, or 90s. I've always requested and received rooms at the 60s in the past for my free dining package. I requested the 50s and was told it was not guaranteed.

Free dining seems to be getting more restrictive all the time.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

This is actually pretty typical of most FD offers at this point. They rarely apply to the cheapest units at a resort, dates are going to be tight.

 

[Disneylover99]

I want to report the bounceback free dining booking I made for 9/2019. This is the first time I try to do a bounceback, so I'm a newbie and maybe what I'm saying is old news. But I'm surprised by it, so I want to share the information.

I booked a 14 night stay with free dining at the Pop Century Resort for 9/1-9/15/2019. Here are the surprises:

1. I am only allowed to get a Standard pool view, not a standard room. I've always gotten free dining standard rooms in the past.
2. The price increase is 16%. Even if you adjust the difference of standard and standard pool view, it's a 14% increase. So I paid $3928 this year and will be paying $4563 next year.
3. I'm only allowed to stay at 50s, 80s, or 90s. I've always requested and received rooms at the 60s in the past for my free dining package. I requested the 50s and was told it was not guaranteed.

Free dining seems to be getting more restrictive all the time.

There is probably only standard pool view available under that promotion for your dates which automatically puts you in the 50’s, 80’s or 90’s. Requests are just requests and there are never any guarantees.

You might consider asking if there is preferred pool rooms available. They will cost a little more, but they will guarantee the 60’s.

 

[rwdavis2]

Yes it is getting more restrictive as demand increases they need it less. I'm hoping it goes away altogether so the restaurants don't have to be managed to handle free dining.

 

[Lynne M]

Moving this to the Discount Codes & Rates board.

 

[Disney Ron]

We are saving $3000 next year for our Free Dining stay at BWI. We'll happily take that.

 

[Jaimetropmickey]

We were able to book two weeks in Aug. 2019 with a standard room at Pop (not pool view). We did have to play around with dates to do so. As others have mentionned, it all depends on available rooms for specific dates. They seem to set aside a small amount of rooms per category for the promotions...

 

[Shanti]

I want to report the bounceback free dining booking I made for 9/2019. This is the first time I try to do a bounceback, so I'm a newbie and maybe what I'm saying is old news. But I'm surprised by it, so I want to share the information.

I booked a 14 night stay with free dining at the Pop Century Resort for 9/1-9/15/2019. Here are the surprises:

1. I am only allowed to get a Standard pool view, not a standard room. I've always gotten free dining standard rooms in the past.
2. The price increase is 16%. Even if you adjust the difference of standard and standard pool view, it's a 14% increase. So I paid $3928 this year and will be paying $4563 next year.
3. I'm only allowed to stay at 50s, 80s, or 90s. I've always requested and received rooms at the 60s in the past for my free dining package. I requested the 50s and was told it was not guaranteed.

Free dining seems to be getting more restrictive all the time.

Yes, definitely. When I called during our recent stay & was told the only bounceback offer was a free dining package, I declined. We stay deluxe and there are only 2 of us, so we save much more via resort discounts than we ever could from free dining.

The rep I talked to was a bit snarky & said, "You're the first person I've spoken to to say they don't want free dining." I just ended the call, but could have described to her that I know how to really save money at WDW, and for us it isn't through these very restrictive free dining packages.

 

[Deb & Bill]

The purpose of free dining is to fill rooms that they are having a difficult time filling.

 

[Nancyg56]

The discounts are never for guests to save moeny, They are offered as incentives to either book early or to book, period. We always book a BB, which has been a FD offer. I generally need two rooms so I also wait for a RO to be offered and then work with both offers. I suggest that people look at these offers as "sale" prices and then decide if the "sale" is worth it to them for that particular trip. You need to consider your family dynamic in order to determine what offer if any, works for you.

 

[Shanti]

The discounts are never for guests to save moeny, They are offered as incentives to either book early or to book, period.

I think the point of this thread is not Disney's motivation (methinks they're always out to make money- call me crazy), but that this discount offer isn't very useful to many customers. I certainly found past bounceback offers we've received to be more useful, although that might be due to the time of year that we usually travel. Typically during the times of year we travel, a resort discount is offered, and those really could save us money.

 

[Nancyg56]

I think the point of this thread is not Disney's motivation (um, methinks they're always out to make money- call me crazy) is that this discount offer isn't very useful to many customers. I certainly found past bounceback offers we've received to be more useful, although that might be due to the time of year that we usually travel. Typically during the times of year we travel, a resort discount is offered, and those really could save us money.

I understand. The BB is useful under specific circumstances, but the resort discounts have become restrictive as well, IMO. I have been pricing various discounts offered for my time frame, and none of them are wonderful.
The lowest priced rooms are not in play lately, and FD is only a discount if your family size works in the instance.

We use the BB as a place holder and if something better comes up we drop the BB like a rock. Personally, I start with a budget and if the cost of any "discount" exceeds my budget I skip it, cancel my booking and go elsewhere. WE are considering another Aruba trip next Summer. The cost for the resort I have booked with an early booking discount is on par with a Disney trip, however the space for the two bedroom suite which is larger than my entire house, along with concierge service throughout the entire trip, and all inclusive food and beverages is a much better value.

There was a time when a Disney discounted trip was less money than many other destinations I could choose, but the discounts are no longer enough to make that so.

 

[mco65]

14 days at WDW... so jealous.

WOW on the price increase.. argh.

Haven't stayed at the POP in a long time but i do remember that if you didn't get a room close the Main Pool, you could have a heck of a trek in the morning for coffee/breakfast. Still, your at WDW for 14 days!

edited to add: actually we stayed at POP a few years ago (almost forgot because it was a split stay ~2 nights) and we so close to the main pool/area it was awesome!

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

We have only gotten the dining plan once before, and it was a free dining promotion. We usually book room only and buy tickets through UCT. This time, we have a group of 6 Disney adults staying in a 2 BR villa. We always get hoppers, so that requirement doesn't add cost for us, and we had planned to buy more than 4 day tickets. I know we can eat for less than the DDP costs (if I am paying for it), and I know I can get tickets from UCT and get Disney gift cards from Target at 5% off. If Disney offers a 30 or 35% discount on villas next summer (which I'm not counting on), I'll certainly revisit our package. But for now, the free dining BB seems to be the best deal for us and I'm happy to be within our budget for the trip.

 

[wdw4rfam]

I haven’t booked FD in years because we stay deluxe with our DVCpoints. But jumped on late in the game this year because we ran out of points and my sister and nieces are heading down with FD at ASMU. I booked weeks after it was announced and could have booked standard at pop or ASMU. We chose ASMU to be with them. But was shocked at the standard rooms available.