FD Dates 2011 announced and I'm excited!!

[n2mm]

I'm excited because right now it appears that there will be NO FD during my May 1-13 stay. Yea! I will have to deal with the FD crowd during my January trip, but at least I have all of my ADRs now, and didn't have any trouble getting them. Anyone going during the FD dates released today for 2011, might want to get your ADRs in order as the availability for some places may change now!

I was also excited to see that summer 2011 FD doesn't start until August 19th!! Yea, because we can book and make sure we're out of there before the crowds move in. Last year we were at the BCV which we had booked long before they announced the FD dates. The crowds swelled when the FD started and it was hot and crazy busy that first week of FD. I'm glad that many non-DVC members are happy about the release of the dates, but I too am happy so that I can plan AROUND the dates!!

 

[Sandisw]

I know. We are planning our August trip for next summer too and I wanted to be back before free dining.

Now, I have a few extra days to play with when picking my dates!!!

 

[Brian Noble]

Good for you. The *one* week between President's and Easter that happens to have "free" dining? My week.

 

[DebbieB]

You can't count on it 100%. With the free dining this fall, they announced additional dates later, I guess when they saw rooms were not filling up.

 

[DisneyWitch]

Sorry to sound like such a newbie (but I am...), but are you saying that NOT having free dining is a good thing? My trip is scheduled for May 16-25 next year and I am seriously bummed about not getting any discounts. In fact, I'm even reconsidering whether or not a trip to WDW was a good idea at all. I feel like the kid who waited up for Santa, only to find that all the other kids got gifts and I was forgotten.

Don't get me wrong, it's not as if we were counting on the discount, as we have been scrimping and saving for this trip for a while - but the FD discount would have made for a nice down payment on a future trip, or allowed us to pay for some in-park goodies we wouldn't have been able to fund otherwise. It seems that now, this will indeed be our "once in a lifetime" trip, and not a "one of many". Rather than enjoying ourselves, we're going to have to pinch more pennies than we would have liked to.

Please help me see the silver lining here.

 

[Sandisw]

Sorry to sound like such a newbie (but I am...), but are you saying that NOT having free dining is a good thing? My trip is scheduled for May 16-25 next year and I am seriously bummed about not getting any discounts. In fact, I'm even reconsidering whether or not this was a good idea at all. I feel like the kid who waited up for Santa, only to find that all the other kids got gifts and I was forgotten.

Don't get me wrong, it's not as if we were counting on the discount, as we have been scrimping and saving for this trip for a while - but the FD discount would have made for a nice down payment for a future trip. It seems that now, this will indeed be our "once in a lifetime" trip, and not a "one of many".

Please help me see the silver lining here.

As DVC members, we have our memberships to travel on and therefore, don't use the Disney discounts when we use our points to go to WDW.

For us, not having free dining going on during our trips hopefully means that the restaurants will be less busy and the crowds won't be as bad.

 

[n2mm]

You can't count on it 100%. With the free dining this fall, they announced additional dates later, I guess when they saw rooms were not filling up.

Yes I know it could change, but there's that glimmer of hope that it won't be offered while we're there! After experiencing it during the first week of FD last summer, I try to avoid it when I can (which is getting harder and harder each year).

 

[Sandisw]

You can't count on it 100%. With the free dining this fall, they announced additional dates later, I guess when they saw rooms were not filling up.

This is the first time ever that Disney has offered free dining for that time period this early as a general public offer.

In the past, it was offered only as a bounceback at this time of year. The general public offer was never given out until late March/early April.

However, typically, the dates given out during the bounceback were the same as the ones given out to the general public. Other than Disney sending out pin codes for the blacked out times (which they did this year as well), I would be very surprised if they alter the start date in August.

 

[n2mm]

Sorry to sound like such a newbie (but I am...), but are you saying that NOT having free dining is a good thing? My trip is scheduled for May 16-25 next year and I am seriously bummed about not getting any discounts. In fact, I'm even reconsidering whether or not a trip to WDW was a good idea at all. I feel like the kid who waited up for Santa, only to find that all the other kids got gifts and I was forgotten.

Don't get me wrong, it's not as if we were counting on the discount, as we have been scrimping and saving for this trip for a while - but the FD discount would have made for a nice down payment on a future trip, or allowed us to pay for some in-park goodies we wouldn't have been able to fund otherwise. It seems that now, this will indeed be our "once in a lifetime" trip, and not a "one of many". Rather than enjoying ourselves, we're going to have to pinch more pennies than we would have liked to.

Please help me see the silver lining here.

Yes, as Sandi mentioned, we can not get the FD if we are using our points, so if we go during the weeks while it's not offered, hopefully it will mean that we won't have to deal with the FD madness.

 

[DebbieB]

Sorry to sound like such a newbie (but I am...), but are you saying that NOT having free dining is a good thing? My trip is scheduled for May 16-25 next year and I am seriously bummed about not getting any discounts. In fact, I'm even reconsidering whether or not a trip to WDW was a good idea at all. I feel like the kid who waited up for Santa, only to find that all the other kids got gifts and I was forgotten.

Don't get me wrong, it's not as if we were counting on the discount, as we have been scrimping and saving for this trip for a while - but the FD discount would have made for a nice down payment on a future trip, or allowed us to pay for some in-park goodies we wouldn't have been able to fund otherwise. It seems that now, this will indeed be our "once in a lifetime" trip, and not a "one of many". Rather than enjoying ourselves, we're going to have to pinch more pennies than we would have liked to.

Please help me see the silver lining here.

This post is on the DVC Planning board, which means it is from a DVC member's point of view. As the others have said, DVC members cannot get free dining for points reservations.

 

[mybabesuz]

No Free Dining from Jun 2nd-Aug 19th...
Hopefully they won't add it...

I truly feel that Free Dining has already ruined Dining in Disney.

 

[cseca]

Gah!
I'm already sweating our next trip which is during FD... ugh...

We might just start to venture out into food deliveries this time around. I don't think I want to deal with FD crowd.

 

[arthur06]

I am going in December and will get an AP when we go then. If I booked a free dining next fall, could I save the 5 day ticket and use it to upgrade to AP's the following December?

 

[DebbieB]

I am going in December and will get an AP when we go then. If I booked a free dining next fall, could I save the 5 day ticket and use it to upgrade to AP's the following December?

I think the 5 day ticket was a misunderstanding. The minimum for free dining is a 2 day ticket. Yes, you could buy the ticket and save it for your next AP.

 

[dizzneebabe]

No Free Dining from Jun 2nd-Aug 19th...

I truly feel that Free Dining has already ruined Dining in Disney.

I couldn't agree more! Sorry, I know some people have come to rely on FD to make their trip(s) possible, but, the dining experience has changed dramatically since 1) they implemented the DDP and 2) offered FD.

I couldn't believe it when I saw it being offered for our upcoming trip, through Dec. 21st!!! We opted NOT to do the DDP this time--don't want to be locked into a 3 hour dinner!!! It was absolutely nuts last Dec (6-13th) at the restaurants.

 

[CocosMeme]

I HATE FD!! The restaurants are super crowded, people are rude and it is so hard to get an ADR unless you are on the phone at exactly the crack of dawn 180 days out. We went on a last minute trip ( planned 2 weeks out) last Feb. during FD and had to eat fast food almost every meal because we could not get a reservation anywhere (even for lunch). We did manage to eat at Rainforest Cafe one night. When we went last Dec. during FD we had our ADR's and almost every waiter seemed relieved when we said we were no on the DP and were paying OOP. We noticed we got a lot of attention and excellent service at most places. I hope I do not sound like a snob by posting this. Sorry if anyone is offended.

 

[mybabesuz]

I HATE FD!! The restaurants are super crowded, people are rude and it is so hard to get an ADR unless you are on the phone at exactly the crack of dawn 180 days out. We went on a last minute trip ( planned 2 weeks out) last Feb. during FD and had to eat fast food almost every meal because we could not get a reservation anywhere (even for lunch). We did manage to eat at Rainforest Cafe one night. When we went last Dec. during FD we had our ADR's and almost every waiter seemed relieved when we said we were no on the DP and were paying OOP. We noticed we got a lot of attention and excellent service at most places. I hope I do not sound like a snob by posting this. Sorry if anyone is offended.

I felt like we were treated like second class citizens last December!
We chose to purchase the DP because we have small children
and still do all the Character Meals so it is still a good deal for us.
We got sooo tired of being told not to forget that the tip is not included with the Dining Plan.
The Restaurants were very noisy and crowded.

 

[CocosMeme]

I felt like we were treated like second class citizens last December!
We chose to purchase the DP because we have small children
and still do all the Character Meals so it is still a good deal for us.
We got sooo tired of being told not to forget that the tip is not included with the Dining Plan.
The Restaurants were very noisy and crowded.

I do apologize if I sounded rude about the DP. I know it can be a great deal for families. We choose not to do it mainly because we eat breakfast in the condo and sometimes a nice late lunch and a snack for dinner (or a light lunch and nice sit down dinner). My DH is also pre-diabetic and can't eat dessert. We are salad/entree people. It just is not cost effective for us.We had more than 1 waiter tell us that many of the DP people do not tip or leave a very small tip (5-10%). They said this mostly happens during free dining periods. I felt sorry for them because they work very hard and tips are a big part of their income.