Free Dining '10 Update: Disney Visa FD Released (See pages 1 & 57+ for details)

[WDWKOOK]

One solution - if the resources are that stretched at a non-peak travel time with the resorts nearly empty ...

Then don't offer free dining. That's my point in a nutshell. They're basically selling something they can't deliver on because SOMEONE is going to get disappointed..

The person who didn't research the crap ... out of their VACATION.

That's not fair in my book .. especially given the way they market the product.

Figure out another way to offer a discount that gets people in the rooms but doesn't force EVERYONE in those rooms to eat a T/S meal every day or feel they're not getting their moneys worth if they don't.

Again - I blame Disney here.

Doesn't WDW make more money if they offer goods or services (dining) for which not all participating guests use to its fullest advantage?

 

[CanadianGuy]

Sure.. as long as those guest who don't use it to the full advantage don't walk away going ..

"That was a load of crap.. free dining! ha! I couldn't get into the restaurants to eat.. the only thing about it that was free.. was that it was "food free"

Anyway you wanna slice it.. the system as currently setup was never intended to support the volume of 'free diners' on the DDP and at the rate Disney books the packages.. a LOT of people get locked out of the T/S restaurants and I can't imagine ANY of them are happy about it.

Huffs comments above fully support what I'm saying. If he had troubles at a low travel period with nearly empty resorts.. something is wrong. Either the restaurants weren't operating at full capacity in which case the comparison isn't valid.. (my first vote) ...

OR..

Disney shouldn't be offering the volume of free dining reservations that they do.. because the restaurants and reservations systems can't support it.... Because they were never designed to.

 

[BabyRN]

What I find annoying is all the people who pre-book their meals just to turn around and cancel it is really only affectingthe people who are going regardless, and could have had the dinner time they originally wanted but may have been bumped out by someone who cancelled. I've never heard of 180+10...what is that?

 

[DaisyD23]

What I find annoying is all the people who pre-book their meals just to turn around and cancel it is really only affectingthe people who are going regardless, and could have had the dinner time they originally wanted but may have been bumped out by someone who cancelled. I've never heard of 180+10...what is that?

say you are going to the World for 7 days, 180+10 is where you can book your ADRs 180 days out for the entire 7 days at one time if you have a package booked, instead of having to call back each day for a week, you get up to 10 days. if your vacation is longer than that, you would have to call again after the 11th day's 180 day mark.

 

[ShhhQ]

what about the ones that book 2 restaurants just so they can have a choice of where they want to eat... just keep one and not show up to the other. They make it harder on others

 

[mickey2000]

what about the ones that book 2 restaurants just so they can have a choice of where they want to eat... just keep one and not show up to the other. They make it harder on others

True, however they should then take walk ups! Here is a picture from last year , first week of October 4th , free dining at 6:00 PM during the FWF Epcot
It stayed like this with empty tables for the 1:20 we were there ???
Poor planning ??? Over booked? Somethings wrong ! People were turned away during this time.

 

[Huff]

One solution - if the resources are that stretched at a non-peak travel time with the resorts nearly empty ... (and if they are - I say WOW)

Then don't offer free dining.

Have you gone in the fall before free dining? If you could afford the high room rates and food prices it was great. The parks were empty and no ADR's were needed. For most though these were months people stayed away. Horrible heat, humidity, hurricane season, kids in school etc. and lack of a great promotion kept people away in droves.

Free dining saves our family $1176 for a 7 night trip. If there were a room only or room/ticket package that saved us the same amount we'd book and probably buy the DP or pay OOP for food with the savings. Its not the free dining that makes me book, its the $1176 saved on the total trip cost. I don't care how that savings is made but for me to go in fall will take a comparable amount. Otherwise I will go at a better time of year. Our budget can only handle value resorts so room only discounts such as the 20% off values pin I have won't cut the cost nearly enough.

 

[mking624]

What I find annoying is all the people who pre-book their meals just to turn around and cancel it is really only affectingthe people who are going regardless, and could have had the dinner time they originally wanted but may have been bumped out by someone who cancelled. I've never heard of 180+10...what is that?

If you are staying onsite, you qualify for 180+10. It allows you to book your ADRs 180 days in advance and going through up to 10 days of your trip instead of calling every day on the 180 day mark for each day of your trip. This ONLY applies to resort guests...those staying offsite are not eligible for the +10.

As far as booking ADRs and later canceling them, I'm not seeing the issue. They realize they can't make the ADR so they cancel them. Someone else will inevitably snatch up the ADR. What's bad is booking the ADR and never bothering to cancel at all if you don't plan on showing up (double bookers come to mind). THAT hurts an ability for someone else to be able to get it.

 

[WDWKOOK]

True, however they should then take walk ups! Here is a picture from last year , first week of October 4th , free dining at 6:00 PM during the FWF Epcot
It stayed like this with empty tables for the 1:20 we were there ???
Poor planning ??? Over booked? Somethings wrong ! People were turned away during this time.

I'd guess they didn't have enough servers. I've experienced this phenomenon before and have asked why we had to wait for a table when there were many available. We were told that those "sections" were short-staffed. The summer is peak attendance time for WDW and I'm guessing they also have a larger number of college program-type interns who work only in the summer and then head back to Canada, in the case of Le Cellier. By October they must have fewer college program interns

 

[ToddlerTN]

Sure.. as long as those guest who don't use it to the full advantage don't walk away going ..

"That was a load of crap.. free dining! ha! I couldn't get into the restaurants to eat.. the only thing about it that was free.. was that it was "food free"

Anyway you wanna slice it.. the system as currently setup was never intended to support the volume of 'free diners' on the DDP and at the rate Disney books the packages.. a LOT of people get locked out of the T/S restaurants and I can't imagine ANY of them are happy about it.

I'll respectfully disagree, based on personal experience, as well as the fact that so many people who've gotten free dining on a previous trip are begging for the chance to do it again.

With or without free dining, you've got to plan ahead. Even the most rudimentary guide book will tell you that.

People wouldn't be praying for free dining if they'd hated the experience the first time around.

 

[ToddlerTN]

Free dining saves our family $1176 for a 7 night trip. If there were a room only or room/ticket package that saved us the same amount we'd book and probably buy the DP or pay OOP for food with the savings. Its not the free dining that makes me book, its the $1176 saved on the total trip cost. I don't care how that savings is made but for me to go in fall will take a comparable amount. Otherwise I will go at a better time of year. Our budget can only handle value resorts so room only discounts such as the 20% off values pin I have won't cut the cost nearly enough.

I couldn't agree more. We love Disney, but we aren't Disney addicts. WDW may be our first choice, but it's not our only vacation option, and the decision really comes down to value. If WDW is a better value this year than our other options, we'll go. Otherwise, there are better deals on other destinations.

If free dining is offered, we will go this year. If not, we won't. Not a big deal either way. There are many other vacations I'd like to take before my kids are grown, so we'll happily do one of those.

 

[GraceLuvsWDW]

Free dining saves our family $1176 for a 7 night trip. If there were a room only or room/ticket package that saved us the same amount we'd book and probably buy the DP or pay OOP for food with the savings. Its not the free dining that makes me book, its the $1176 saved on the total trip cost. I don't care how that savings is made but for me to go in fall will take a comparable amount. Otherwise I will go at a better time of year. Our budget can only handle value resorts so room only discounts such as the 20% off values pin I have won't cut the cost nearly enough.

How big is your family???? How many rooms do you have to book to save $1176 for a seven night trip? Even with the regular dining plan at $41.99/$11.99 you could only save $107.96 per night in a value resort and that's for the regular dp, which wasn't offered at value resorts last year?
The QSDP, which is what was given at the values, has a maximum "Free" value of $83.96 per room per night. That's only $587.72 for 7 nights. Are you adding up all the receipts from what you ate last year?

Have you looked into the Kids stay play and dine free? Sounds like this would be a better discount for your family.

 

[pigletto]

How big is your family???? How many rooms do you have to book to save $1176 for a seven night trip? Even with the regular dining plan at $41.99/$11.99 you could only save $107.96 per night in a value resort and that's for the regular dp, which wasn't offered at value resorts last year?
The QSDP, which is what was given at the values, has a maximum "Free" value of $83.96 per room per night. That's only $587.72 for 7 nights. Are you adding up all the receipts from what you ate last year?

Have you looked into the Kids stay play and dine free? Sounds like this would be a better discount for your family.

Ir doesn't matter where she stays.. $1176 is exactly what it would cost for four Disney adults on the dining plan (which could easily be 2 adults and 2 kids over 10) for 7 nights. Where are you getting your "maximum" savings from?

 

[GraceLuvsWDW]

Ir doesn't matter where she stays.. $1176 is exactly what it would cost for four Disney adults on the dining plan (which could easily be 2 adults and 2 kids over 10) for 7 nights. Where are you getting your "maximum" savings from?

Oh, I see. I don't know why I thought there were restrictions on the # of "adults" per room on the "free dining". So with Free Dining, you can have 4 Disney Adults all get free dining in one value room?

 

[GraceLuvsWDW]

So if the kids are "Disney" adults then the kids stay and play and dine free is no good.

I see your point. Free Dining would be the best deal for 4 adults staying in a value resort.

 

[pigletto]

Yes, no restrictions in the past. Perhaps if they offer it this year it will be free QS for values which would be a change. But who knows what they are doing at this point.

 

[Sandisw]

Oh, I see. I don't know why I thought there were restrictions on the # of "adults" per room on the "free dining". So with Free Dining, you can have 4 Disney Adults all get free dining in one value room?

Yes, that is how it has been. That is why it is such a popular promotion for those that stay at the values and have children between 10 - 17. It is a great savings to get FD for 4 people, all paying adult prices.

 

[metsno1]

Oh, I see. I don't know why I thought there were restrictions on the # of "adults" per room on the "free dining". So with Free Dining, you can have 4 Disney Adults all get free dining in one value room?

Yup, and that'd be a $2300 savings for us with our two DD's, 12 and 10!!

So it's worth the wait, and the risk of higher airfare....

 

[PrincessTiffany]

So if the kids are "Disney" adults then the kids stay and play and dine free is no good.

I see your point. Free Dining would be the best deal for 4 adults staying in a value resort.

We are a family of 6 and we always get two connecting rooms at a value resort. We usually stay for 8 nights and our past three trips we have been lucky enough to get the free dining discount - it saves us about $1,200.00. There is no better discount for out family than free dining.

 

[doccoc2002]

I'll respectfully disagree, based on personal experience, as well as the fact that so many people who've gotten free dining on a previous trip are begging for the chance to do it again.

With or without free dining, you've got to plan ahead. Even the most rudimentary guide book will tell you that.

People wouldn't be praying for free dining if they'd hated the experience the first time around.

I agree! Tourbooks always telling you to make ressies after you decide when
you are going.

say you are going to the World for 7 days, 180+10 is where you can book your ADRs 180 days out for the entire 7 days at one time if you have a package booked, instead of having to call back each day for a week, you get up to 10 days. if your vacation is longer than that, you would have to call again after the 11th day's 180 day mark.

Actually, you can call the next morning to make ressies for the 11thday...you don't have to wait for the 11thday to be 180days. then the next morning for the 12th day and so on...