Fall 2016 planning (continuation of 2016 Free Dining Watch)

[Just1Princess]

OMG!!!!! I GOT FREE DINING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really don't think there are enough exclamation points in the world to express how freaking excited I am. I am shaking. We're going to Disney World!!!! And eating all the things!!!! It took a while to go through all the steps and I was SO worried it would disappear before I could get it reserved. But I got through to the confirmation page and now I can breathe again!

For those who are going the first week of October... KEEP LOOKING!!!! I was casually looking, like I've been doing all week, just on my phone while I was straightening my hair, and now I very well be late for work/dropping my girls off for school cause I'm on here instead of getting the rest of my clothes on (I'm not naked or afraid, don't worry) and fixing my coffee.

I reserved CBR for Oct. 1-Oct. 9, so the first night we will need a hotel, but we might actually not even stay in Orlando, bc we are leaving after I get off work and would be getting in LATE on the 30th, so that was the best possible way to shorten our trip.

I. AM. SO. EXCITED.

I bet it feels like a dream! So happy for you!

 

[Kellbee]

I am booked at cbr in a preferred with fd. I couldn't get anything for fd until I signed up for the visa through the Disney website. It let me book automatically and they had different rooms offered than what was being shown.

 

[Kellbee]

I also got the email with a special code. I thought those codes were urban legends until the other day

 

[Meeko5]

I also got the email with a special code. I thought those codes were urban legends until the other day

Disney's like hey we made everyone mad about limited FD availability, so lets send them all UOC's to ease the pain

 

[ml sumner]

Ended up with FD at ASMu but wanted POP.....will keep my eyes open. We like Music,but love POP.

We got Music too, but would love Pop. Will keep looking!

 

[deana222]

Hi! I'm looking for opinions for my fall trip. I've been following these threads silently, and you've all seemed so helpful, so I thought I'd ask your two cents I'm originally booked 9/29-10/4 at POFQ, no dining plan or park hoppers. My kids are 5 and 2, so we were aiming for ease of getting around both the resort and using the buses, hence the POFQ choice. We weren't really planning on park hopping, and do already have our ADRs set based on the parks I had planned visiting. This morning when I saw CBR standard rooms were open for FD, I jumped on that and booked it. It'll cost us about $200 more, basically the price of adding the PH, but gives us the FD (which would otherwise be $750 for us). So, my question is, do you think it's worth it to move to CBR? Or will I regret not having the smaller resort with the kids, especially my 2 year old?

 

[Kellbee]

I have adrs booked for:
Whispering canyon- my kids love it!
Ohana dinner
Akershus ppo breakfast
Tusker house- which I may switch depending on rol
Crystal palace ppo
Teppan edo dinner

 

[Kellbee]

Hi! I'm looking for opinions for my fall trip. I've been following these threads silently, and you've all seemed so helpful, so I thought I'd ask your two cents I'm originally booked 9/29-10/4 at POFQ, no dining plan or park hoppers. My kids are 5 and 2, so we were aiming for ease of getting around both the resort and using the buses, hence the POFQ choice. We weren't really planning on park hopping, and do already have our ADRs set based on the parks I had planned visiting. This morning when I saw CBR standard rooms were open for FD, I jumped on that and booked it. It'll cost us about $200 more, basically the price of adding the PH, but gives us the FD (which would otherwise be $750 for us). So, my question is, do you think it's worth it to move to CBR? Or will I regret not having the smaller resort with the kids, especially my 2 year old?[/QUOTE

Are you eating out a lot? Or doing character dining? It may be worth it if you are. Call to see if they can apply a room discount to your package. You may be able to save 20-25%

 

[Just1Princess]

Hi! I'm looking for opinions for my fall trip. I've been following these threads silently, and you've all seemed so helpful, so I thought I'd ask your two cents I'm originally booked 9/29-10/4 at POFQ, no dining plan or park hoppers. My kids are 5 and 2, so we were aiming for ease of getting around both the resort and using the buses, hence the POFQ choice. We weren't really planning on park hopping, and do already have our ADRs set based on the parks I had planned visiting. This morning when I saw CBR standard rooms were open for FD, I jumped on that and booked it. It'll cost us about $200 more, basically the price of adding the PH, but gives us the FD (which would otherwise be $750 for us). So, my question is, do you think it's worth it to move to CBR? Or will I regret not having the smaller resort with the kids, especially my 2 year old?

I've used the calculator at http://www.distripplanner.com to figure out if the dining plan will work for my family. You can plug in your reservations and see the costs vs paying out if pocket. You just might see a savings with free dining.

 

[Kellbee]

Are you doing a few character meals? It may be worth it depending on how often you plan to eat out. Otherwise check to see if a room discount can be applied to your package.

 

[sahm2two]

Hi! I'm looking for opinions for my fall trip. I've been following these threads silently, and you've all seemed so helpful, so I thought I'd ask your two cents I'm originally booked 9/29-10/4 at POFQ, no dining plan or park hoppers. My kids are 5 and 2, so we were aiming for ease of getting around both the resort and using the buses, hence the POFQ choice. We weren't really planning on park hopping, and do already have our ADRs set based on the parks I had planned visiting. This morning when I saw CBR standard rooms were open for FD, I jumped on that and booked it. It'll cost us about $200 more, basically the price of adding the PH, but gives us the FD (which would otherwise be $750 for us). So, my question is, do you think it's worth it to move to CBR? Or will I regret not having the smaller resort with the kids, especially my 2 year old?

I think it'd be worth it! But I don't know anything about CBR vs pofq... Never stayed at either. But dining for $200 can't be beat. And you can do all sorts of character meals which I think would make any extra walking worth it. You'll have a stroller, right??

 

[ml sumner]

OMG!!!!! I GOT FREE DINING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really don't think there are enough exclamation points in the world to express how freaking excited I am. I am shaking. We're going to Disney World!!!! And eating all the things!!!! It took a while to go through all the steps and I was SO worried it would disappear before I could get it reserved. But I got through to the confirmation page and now I can breathe again!

For those who are going the first week of October... KEEP LOOKING!!!! I was casually looking, like I've been doing all week, just on my phone while I was straightening my hair, and now I very well be late for work/dropping my girls off for school cause I'm on here instead of getting the rest of my clothes on (I'm not naked or afraid, don't worry) and fixing my coffee.

I reserved CBR for Oct. 1-Oct. 9, so the first night we will need a hotel, but we might actually not even stay in Orlando, bc we are leaving after I get off work and would be getting in LATE on the 30th, so that was the best possible way to shorten our trip.

I. AM. SO. EXCITED.

I'm so happy for your family!!

 

[damskipi13]

They're releasing their inventory over a period of time instead of all at once. This lets them watch things more closely and make adjustments as needed. Also, many people just give up the first day and book something without ever checking again=more money for Disney.

Exactly. People don't like it but the irrational human brain is easily manipulated by a smart business, and Disney is most definitely a SMART BUSINESS. I have a friend who would much rather pay an extra $1000 than have to book a trip twice.

Disney's like hey we made everyone mad about limited FD availability, so lets send them all UOC's to ease the pain

I don't think people are like "oh it's easing my pain" I bet they are like "DISNEY DOES LOVE ME! See?? I knew it!! I LOVE DISNEY TOO!!"

As I said on Part 2 (or 3?)...we are all suckers for a good marketing campaign

We got Music too, but would love Pop. Will keep looking!

I saw Pop open on a bunch of dates when I did some random checks this morning. I bet you both find what you want!

 

[DisneyDreamers3]

Hi everyone! I hope I can join the party too! I'm glad to see that the party was moved since Part 3 was shut down so quickly. Congrats to everyone who was able to get FD and good luck to everyone else in still getting FD!

We are booked for FD at ASMu 09/08-09/16! This will be our first time staying at ASMu; we've only stayed at Pop 2 times before. But, are very excited to be trying out a new resort!

I have a question about park tickets. I believe I read in either FD Watch Part 1 or Part 2 that Magic Your Way tickets w/ PH and/or WPM (needed to get FD) can be converted into an AP and FD would still be attached to the package. Is this correct? We purchased 2 day tickets w/ PH and it would be great if we could convert them into an AP.

My reply got buried on page 4 Thanks for the help!

 

[DisneyDreamers3]

I'm so happy for your family!!

How exciting!!! Congratulations on getting exactly what you wanted!!!!

 

[damskipi13]

Hi! I'm looking for opinions for my fall trip. I've been following these threads silently, and you've all seemed so helpful, so I thought I'd ask your two cents I'm originally booked 9/29-10/4 at POFQ, no dining plan or park hoppers. My kids are 5 and 2, so we were aiming for ease of getting around both the resort and using the buses, hence the POFQ choice. We weren't really planning on park hopping, and do already have our ADRs set based on the parks I had planned visiting. This morning when I saw CBR standard rooms were open for FD, I jumped on that and booked it. It'll cost us about $200 more, basically the price of adding the PH, but gives us the FD (which would otherwise be $750 for us). So, my question is, do you think it's worth it to move to CBR? Or will I regret not having the smaller resort with the kids, especially my 2 year old?

Something to consider...worst case scenario, if you end up REALLY hating the walking you can use the money you saved to call a taxi or Uber to pick you up and drop you off close to your room You'd still end up way ahead at the end of your trip and you might end up not even needing it. You don't know until check-in exactly where you will be.

 

[deana222]

Are you doing a few character meals? It may be worth it depending on how often you plan to eat out. Otherwise check to see if a room discount can be applied to your package.

I have a dinner a Chef Mickey's and breakfast at Akershus, as well as a lunch and a dinner at BOG. RO discount was my first choice, as I'm pretty sure we'd break about even with the dining plan, but none seem to be available yet.

I think it'd be worth it! But I don't know anything about CBR vs pofq... Never stayed at either. But dining for $200 can't be beat. And you can do all sorts of character meals which I think would make any extra walking worth it. You'll have a stroller, right??

Yep, we'll have a stroller. I've been crunching a lot of numbers, my head is spinning! $200 for food seems like a great deal, I really just don't want to be spending so much resort time walking/waiting for buses/making multiple bus stops since our trip is really only 4 days, and the kids are little and will probably get tired/cranky easily. Argh, decisions! Thanks for your input, I'm so happy that you've got the FD you've been waiting for!!

 

[Meeko5]

This thread is missing some fun gifs, so let's fix that

 

[damskipi13]

This thread is missing some fun gifs, so let's fix that

How do you add gifs, anyway?

Off to work! Everybody have a magical day!

 

[DennisandAngel]

I'm so glad things are working out for everyone!!!! GROUP HUG