DH says if FD not released for sept...

[ohanaMAMA]

We will have to cancel our Port Orleans reservation and stay OFFSITE. and cook several dinners in the room and cancel all of my perfect ADR's. boo.

Im thinking he is panicing WAY to early and that they will still offer the Dining deal. ugh. this is frustrating me.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

So sorry.... Some are speculating that it may be announced late next week and other say it may be longer do to the fact that so many have booked and already done their ADR's so it appears to be booking in the eyes of Disney. I would carefully look at the QSDP and offsite. Remember that you can get a room discount if FD is not offerered and that should be in your budgeting. Just because free-dining is not announced, it doesn't automatically make staying off-site more economical. Good Luck.

 

[mrsklamc]

My birthday is April 12 and I seem to remember it coming out right around then so I wouldn't panic yet.

 

[traviesojmt]

I remember several years ago when I booked free dining that it came out on April 1st. I thought it was an April Fool's Joke at first. LOL There is still plenty of time for them to announce it.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

My speculation is that you won't see another offer before Easter. They JUST announced a new offer yesterday. So my guess is that it will be announced at some point next week. But given that so many people have made their ADRs in anticipation of free dining...it might mean that WDW offers a different deal. They could offer a room only offer instead figuring that people already made their ADRs, got their hearts set on them, and may not want to give them up now. If the restaurants are already full...why give people free dining

 

[Halloweenqueen]

The new offer (if I remember correctly) has to be booked by April 1st.

I think it will happen either the end of this week (April 2nd) or after Easter. I can't imagine Disney not offering FD this year. The economy hasn't really turned around. It's the value season...school starting/hurricane season. They also have been giving QS FD during their busiest months. But the biggest reason I see is the competition from Harry Potter.

We did FD for the first time last year. My family loved it. It's the best deal for my big family (we usually take our nephew along). We have always gone around Halloween or Thanksgiving in the past. We will go in August this year IF free dining is offered. If not we are going in the more comfortable months of late October or November. We will probably stay off-site and do a day or two of Universal.

I need the offer to come out soon so we can make our airline arrangements. There are so pretty good deals for August, so the sooner we find out the better.

 

[sydneysmom]

Don't give up hope yet !! the "new" offers are only through August....maybe after Easter rush they'll announce the fall promo's. Also try going out to the Disney website. Log in before you do anything.... order the planning DVD's, price out vacations (after you price on or 2 out, save the offer then go back to the beginning page....a box will pop up asking you why you aren't booking). I don't know if it will work, but it may help you get a pin code sent to your email. It certainly couldn't hurt. The more you "play around" on Disney's website, I think the better it could help you get a code.

I wish you much pixie dust and don't give up hope yet !!!

 

[jeepgirl30]

Maybe show him the cost of the plan with FD and with the % off. I was for sure I had to have FD but when I saw the gc offer i realized I save more money that way. My TA priced out the trip with the GC and with the % off and steered me away from the FD.

I booked the GC offer and added the DP. I will use the gc to pay to upgrade to hoppers onsite and pay for any dining OOP and other items.

What you save with the % off may just exceed the value of the free dining.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Unless you stay in a value...the room codes are almost always a better deal than free dining. We haven't used free dining in years because we got better deals with the room codes.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

Unless you stay in a value...the room codes are almost always a better deal than free dining. We haven't used free dining in years because we got better deals with the room codes.

Well, I think that it also really depends on the # of people in your family, their ages, and the time of year you are going. The cost of the dining plan for a family of 4 with 2 teens is almost equal to an entire nights stay at a moderate in October!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Well, I think that it also really depends on the # of people in your family, their ages, and the time of year you are going. The cost of the dining plan for a family of 4 with 2 teens is almost equal to an entire nights stay at a moderate in October!

Yes that does depend on the ages of the kiddos. We only have 1 child and she's under 10 so the room codes saves hundreds over free dining.

 

[kydisneyfans]

I'm in the camp that believes that Disney may be getting a false read on occupancy for the fall as many booked assuming that free dining was the next promo. There are also signs that the economy is picking up. My area slowed but did not see the carnage that other areas experienced. Travel has picked up substantially in the past 5 weeks and hotel occupancy is very high right now. I had my best sales month in over 3 years this month.

Remember that Disney is on the record saying that promos would become fewer as the year progresses.

As for staying offsite if no free dining, add in the cost of fuel and parking also. It depends on how many people, and what resort you are looking at. You could take the 20-25% savings on the room cost and use that money for quick serve inside the parks. $50 really does get a decent amount of food, especially counter service, at Disney.