For those who wanted Port Orleans resorts...

[Scrappygrrl]

We booked a few ADRs today - was shocked at how much is still available in early September. Also was surprised that some of the restaurants are not accept DDP during the free dining window - restaurants that accept DDP outside of that window. I would be upset if I paid for DDP out of pocket and couldn't use the credits at a favorite restaurant because of the promo.

Which restaurants?

I ended up at CBR - eh. We'll see. Wanted CSR but at least this is a new resort to us.

 

[TheWrightTrip]

Not exactly. You can book 180 days out and up to 10 following days on your reservation.

Yes. Thanks for clarifying. This is what I meant.

 

[greentea]

DH and I initially decided on POFQ with or without FD, but we did want the dining plan even if we had to pay for it since this will be our first trip and we want to explore a lot of the restaurants without trying to cheap out (which we would be much more likely to do... I know, mostly psychological, but I want us to relax and enjoy).

Since the French Quarter RO discount was only 20%, it was only a little more to upgrade to AKL standard room with FD, so we did that. Also works out because we are interested in trying Boma for both breakfast and dinner and also dinner at Sanaa on our rest day!

We booked a few ADRs today - was shocked at how much is still available in early September. Also was surprised that some of the restaurants are not accept DDP during the free dining window - restaurants that accept DDP outside of that window. I would be upset if I paid for DDP out of pocket and couldn't use the credits at a favorite restaurant because of the promo.

There have been problems with the website where a lot of character meals suddenly vanished from being listed under the dining plan, but it seems to be a glitch.

 

[alktdknckmom]

We are a family of 5, so we decided to go to AofA since POR isn't available. We are still able to stay the same amount of days, but we had to decrease a day of tix to reduce the cost. It still isn't as low as POR would have been, but oh well.

 

[ChicagoMom]

We really wanted POFQ but not enough to give up free dining so we booked at Pop with an upgrade to the DDP. I went back and forth about CSR and Pop and decided that CSR was too spread out and that it wasn't worth paying an extra few hundred dollars for CSR. I would have paid that few hundred dollars extra for POFQ though.

 

[Excited4More]

Which restaurants?

I ended up at CBR - eh. We'll see. Wanted CSR but at least this is a new resort to us.

Yes, which restaurants are excluding? If they are listed in the dining plan flyer as accepting, it shouldn't matter if it's free dining or not.

 

[GAJulie]

We are a family of 5, with girls age 11, 9, and 3. We were booked in POR, and looking forward to FD!!! As of today, we've switched over to a suite at AoA and upgraded to the regular dining. We are actually paying the same amount as we were at POR with paid dining, but getting much more space. We've never stayed at a Disney Resort before (usually stay at Marriotts). I think the POR would have been more my style, but I think my kids will love AoA. We couldn't get a Nemo suite...no availability with FD for our dates (Sept 14 -20), so we're in a Lion King. I'm really hoping a Nemo will open up. If it doesn't...not sure if I'm happy with our choice.

 

[soccer mom]

We gave up a RO 30% bounceback discount at POFQ that we booked in February for November when three of our adult children and their spouses decided to join us and couldn't get free dining at POFQ. We booked four rooms at AKL with free dining, but are hoping for a RO discount!

 

[MomTo3PrincessesInNJ]

We ended up at CSR - Business Class.

It ended up costing $286 more than POR w/FD would have been- and we lost the 3rd bed- but we're excited to try a new resort. This is the last time we can get everyone in 1 room at a mod (other than POR) and we're trying to make the best of it.

 

[disney*mom*82]

Our favorite resort is POR, not just because it makes sense cost wise for us (fam of 6, one under 3) but because it is a beautiful resort. My husband use to go there with his family as a kid and has always loved that he now takes his family there.

With that being said, I decided not to book a stay at WDW over Christmas break since POR is not included. We would spend much more to stay elsewhere with our family size and I just cant justify that. We hate the value resorts, we stayed there many years ago. And the cabins are more than double the price of POR per night. We have also stayed there and while I like it, Im not an outdoorsy person and I dont care for the theme, the buses, etc.

Hoping but not counting on them adding POR to the list.

 

[charsky01]

The word from people currently at CBR is that they are preparing to start the room refurb which includes queen beds.

We are staying at CBR in October do you know any more details about the refurb? Any chance that some of it will be done by then?

Thanks,

 

[TandLMommy28]

My friend was doing two rooms at POR (her parents were staying next door) and they ended up doing one room at AoA for all six of them instead. It's cheaper than two rooms at POR and the money saved went towards upgrading back to regular dining plan.

 

[mymommom]

We are a family of 13 and LOVE POFQ. We had reservations for 4 rooms 11/15-11/23 but decided it was too expensive without FD. We switched to 3 FW Cabins. Sad that we couldn't do the vacation the way we preferred, but very thankful and we're going to have a blast

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

Reading all the replies made me doubly happy we booked a bounce back last year! With oldest DS starting high school, we knew we had to go a little earlier in August than usual (sports and orientation start before school does!). When we saw the FD bounce back started as early as 8/20, we went ahead and put the $200 down. We weren't even sure we'd definitely be able to come back, but wanted to hold a "spot" just in case! Well, now we are definitely going from 8/20-8/26 with FD at POFQ! I would really, really suggest this to everyone who thinks they might even possibly go back next year. You just put the $200 down and it's totally refundable up to 45 days before the date. And you can change dates, even change resorts--as long as it all falls within the original offer.

I feel bad for everyone who's had to switch up their plans and hope it turns out well for everyone. Maybe you'll all fall in love with a new resort! It really does hurt for those families of 5 though!

 

[greentea]

Reading all the replies made me doubly happy we booked a bounce back last year! With oldest DS starting high school, we knew we had to go a little earlier in August than usual (sports and orientation start before school does!). When we saw the FD bounce back started as early as 8/20, we went ahead and put the $200 down. We weren't even sure we'd definitely be able to come back, but wanted to hold a "spot" just in case! Well, now we are definitely going from 8/20-8/26 with FD at POFQ! I would really, really suggest this to everyone who thinks they might even possibly go back next year. You just put the $200 down and it's totally refundable up to 45 days before the date. And you can change dates, even change resorts--as long as it all falls within the original offer.

Thanks, that's really good to know! I didn't know you could switch it around like that, too, which makes it seem really flexible. Can you change the number of people as well?

 

[NikitaZee]

We're really fortunate - when FD dining came out this morning without POR I decided to call anyway, just to see if we had a free dining PIN attached to our name. We did! So now booked POR 11/1-11/7, family of 5, can't wait! Already having a bit of trouble finding dining reservations to some of our favorites, but so happy to have POR - we probably wouldn't have been able to take this trip without that lucky PIN .

 

[Melany502]

We're really fortunate - when FD dining came out this morning without POR I decided to call anyway, just to see if we had a free dining PIN attached to our name. We did! So now booked POR 11/1-11/7, family of 5, can't wait! Already having a bit of trouble finding dining reservations to some of our favorites, but so happy to have POR - we probably wouldn't have been able to take this trip without that lucky PIN .

wow that is awesome!

 

[Melany502]

We're really fortunate - when FD dining came out this morning without POR I decided to call anyway, just to see if we had a free dining PIN attached to our name. We did! So now booked POR 11/1-11/7, family of 5, can't wait! Already having a bit of trouble finding dining reservations to some of our favorites, but so happy to have POR - we probably wouldn't have been able to take this trip without that lucky PIN .

Did you get an email too?

 

[NikitaZee]

Did you get an email too?

Nope, no email - just a PIN that was attached to our name. It was Free Dining for POR and POFQ, with the same sets of dates as the general public offer.

 

[alktdknckmom]

I already posted earlier. Don't know why I forgot that. lol