Free Dining 2008 Watch

[eam]

I called on Thursday and asked if I made a reservation now and Free Dining comes out if I can modify and they said yes, just call and give us the code and they will apply it to my existing reservation.

When your reservations are modified, will you receive a new confirmation number?

 

[aimeeg]

I booked our trip for Sept 11th. I was told when/if free dining came out all I had to do was call back with the code and my ressie could be modified.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Also, I find the proposed dates odd, considering that they only offered the date range of 8/30-9/27 for 2008 free DDP for those of us bouncing back with free dining.

In addition to that oddity, and the poster on page two who's skeptical because Disney promotions generally start on a Sunday, not a Saturday... there's the additional issue of those same Disney promotions generally ending on a Saturday - not the middle of the week, as 9/30 is...

 

[disney-inspired]

I'm so jealous of you all going during free dining, and just going in general

as you can see I have to wait a LONG time until my next trip to WDW

 

[1gr8mouse]

Has anyone heard a Disney Visa card holders announcement date?? DW and I would like to do a 4 day trip with free dining......One problem.....we will be on a Carnival cruise the week of April 6-13 (darn the luck!!).
I would like to try and book free dining before the cruise....

 

[MIC-KEY]

Has anyone heard what the predicted dates for free dining are going to be this year? We are hoping to travel the last week in September, 22-27? If we book during the start of free dining and end after the promo, does anyone know if they extend the free dining beyond the end date of the promo, and cover our whole vacation? I have read online that some have had this happen? Any info would be helpful.

 

[ShellyLynn3630]

Has anyone heard a Disney Visa card holders announcement date?? DW and I would like to do a 4 day trip with free dining......One problem.....we will be on a Carnival cruise the week of April 6-13 (darn the luck!!).
I would like to try and book free dining before the cruise....

Try going ahead and booking with a TA. Let them do the work while your on the cruise.

 

[The Brain]

just joined the group---question-

if i already booked a trip, can i still get the free dining i wonder?

also, with relation to the "codes" attached with your name for staying in the past...how exactly does that work?

thanks all!

From what I was told, no. You'll have to rebook. Some people have debated that, but I was told by a cast member that a certain number of rooms will be set aside for free dining. Once those rooms are filled no dice. No its possible you could get rebooked to one of those, but there's no guarantee it'll be available it the resort of your choosing.

 

[The Brain]

Has anyone heard what the predicted dates for free dining are going to be this year? We are hoping to travel the last week in September, 22-27? If we book during the start of free dining and end after the promo, does anyone know if they extend the free dining beyond the end date of the promo, and cover our whole vacation? I have read online that some have had this happen? Any info would be helpful.

couple rumors.

One is August 23 - Sept. 30 (to me that doesn't seem right but its possible. More likely its August 31-Sept. 27, or something similar to that.

 

[bdiddy]

Is it possible to get shut out of the free dining? Is it the kind of thing I need to be ready and call first thing that morning? How early can you call - 7am?How do you know it is being offered for sure that day? Is it on the Disney website when you go to check the prices?

 

[kaytieeldr]

Great suggestion! I would recommend a Disney Specialist like Dreams Unlimited (disboards sponsor) or Small World Travel - since (a) they specialize in Disney vacations and (b) likely have more flexible hours than your local bricks & mortar Agency.

If the reservation lines open at 7 AM (which they do) and your local Travel Agency opens at 10 AM (likely), you're missing out on three hours of availability - and that's if you're on the East Coast.

Your DU or SWT Agent will likely be on the phone AT or by 7 AM, booking your (and, okay, other clients' ) trips - increasing the likelihood of you getting what you want.

 

[krisgil88]

Our family will be in WDW Aug. 17-23. This will be the first trip for out 2 DS. DH and I haven't been in 10 years so we are not up to date on most things, including free dining. I'm hoping that the dates may be one week earlier in August this year.

From what I've gathered on these boards, free dining is limited to a certain number of rooms at each resort right? Are you guaranteed free dining if you already have an existing ressie?

In the event, they open up the dates to a week earlier in Aug. where do I obtain the code? We currently have ressies at Pop and booked that room using a pin for 40% off. Would I be able to combine my 40%with the free dining offer or is it one or the other?

If I only had to choose one discount, which would be the better of the two. We are paying for dining for 2 adults and 2 children.

Just one more question, when (thinking positive!) free dining opens, is it almost impossible to get through to the WDW travel co? Should I get up at the crack of dawn to try to modify my ressie? What would be my chances of actually getting the free dining?

Thanks for answering my questions!

Kris (41) DH (38) DS (9) DS (6)

 

[kaytieeldr]

No, you are absolutely NOT guaranteed free dining if you have an existing reservation!!!!!

Should a free dining promotion be made available to the generaly public, you can get the information (and that's what you need - the availability, not necessarily a code) at disneyworld.com, at MouseSavers, right here on the DIS...

 

[aubriee]

Our family will be in WDW Aug. 17-23. This will be the first trip for out 2 DS. DH and I haven't been in 10 years so we are not up to date on most things, including free dining. I'm hoping that the dates may be one week earlier in August this year.

From what I've gathered on these boards, free dining is limited to a certain number of rooms at each resort right? Are you guaranteed free dining if you already have an existing ressie? No, you will not be guaranteed free dining. Having a previous reservation has nothing to do with it. In fact if it is not being offered at your resort, you may have to move to another resort. This happened to us two years ago. The people without reservations, who are calling in that morning, will have just as good a chance as you of getting free dining. The only ones who get a head start are Disney VISA holders. Free dining is usually released for them about three days before it is released to the general public.

In the event, they open up the dates to a week earlier in Aug. where do I obtain the code? We currently have ressies at Pop and booked that room using a pin for 40% off. Would I be able to combine my 40%with the free dining offer or is it one or the other? I assure you within a few minutes of the free dining being released, it will be announced here on the DIS. Just keep checking first thing every morning. You would not be able to combine free dining with your 40% off code. Free dining has always required paying rack rate for the rooms and buying a pkg that includes at least one day MYW tickets for everyone in the room. No way would Disney let you have a room for $47.00/night, plus free dining for four people. That would mean you would be paying $10.00/day for a room, a counter service, a table service, and a snack/person. No way is that happening!

If I only had to choose one discount, which would be the better of the two. We are paying for dining for 2 adults and 2 children. Free dining would be a better deal for you. The room at rack rate is only about $79.00/night. The 40% discount would only save you $31.60/night. No way could you feed your family of four for $31.60/day. The 40% discount would only be better if you were staying in a deluxe resort. For the Values the free dining is a MUCH better deal.

Just one more question, when (thinking positive!) free dining opens, is it almost impossible to get through to the WDW travel co? Should I get up at the crack of dawn to try to modify my ressie? What would be my chances of actually getting the free dining? Definitely call at 0700 eastern time. There will only be a limited number of rooms designated for free dining at each resort (and some resorts may not even have free dining). Once they're gone, they're gone!

Thanks for answering my questions!

Kris (41) DH (38) DS (9) DS (6)

Good luck!

 

[The Brain]

Is it possible to get shut out of the free dining? Is it the kind of thing I need to be ready and call first thing that morning? How early can you call - 7am?How do you know it is being offered for sure that day? Is it on the Disney website when you go to check the prices?

I'm sure you could get shut out of it eventually, but I'm betting you don't have to wait for the second it goes on sale. Last year we got it a couple weeks or so after the promotion had started. The problem we had was we didn't get the particular resort we wanted, but that didn't bother us too bad.

 

[1gr8mouse]

Great suggestion! I would recommend a Disney Specialist like Dreams Unlimited (disboards sponsor) or Small World Travel - since (a) they specialize in Disney vacations and (b) likely have more flexible hours than your local bricks & mortar Agency.

If the reservation lines open at 7 AM (which they do) and your local Travel Agency opens at 10 AM (likely), you're missing out on three hours of availability - and that's if you're on the East Coast.

Your DU or SWT Agent will likely be on the phone AT or by 7 AM, booking your (and, okay, other clients' ) trips - increasing the likelihood of you getting what you want.

Thanks to both of you.....didnt even think of TA doing....I have always booked all of our trips.....I have AAA but am not too impressed with the travel agent at my AAA office...(I know a lot more about WDW than her).
I will give DU a call Monday and see what info. they can provide me!!!
I appreciate it!!

 

[MariDisney]

My apologies if this has been asked. I was wondering if your 1st day (or several days) of your trip is included in the dates if you would be eligible for your whole stay. If I recall, in the past as long as you checked in on or before the last day of the promotion then it applied to your whole stay, up to 10 days or something. Does that sound right? We'll be there 9/27-10/4, so I'm hoping we might get free DDP.

 

[kimsuenew]

My apologies if this has been asked. I was wondering if your 1st day (or several days) of your trip is included in the dates if you would be eligible for your whole stay. If I recall, in the past as long as you checked in on or before the last day of the promotion then it applied to your whole stay, up to 10 days or something. Does that sound right? We'll be there 9/27-10/4, so I'm hoping we might get free DDP.

People were able to do this previous year, and some that booked bounceback free DDP for 2008 were able to do that but not me personally. We were offered the bounceback date range of 8/30 - 9/27/2008 to choose from. I wanted the last full week of that September date range, and then the next week (end of September/first couple days of October), and was told three times (three different people) no... it could not be extended past the ending date.

 

[kimsuenew]

Has anyone heard what the predicted dates for free dining are going to be this year? We are hoping to travel the last week in September, 22-27? If we book during the start of free dining and end after the promo, does anyone know if they extend the free dining beyond the end date of the promo, and cover our whole vacation? I have read online that some have had this happen? Any info would be helpful.

Everyone is guessing at this point but... those of us that were there for free DDP in 2007 and bounced back with free DDP 2008 already, were given the date range to book of 8/30/08 - 9/27/08, so that may be what will be offered. I cannot imagine if the free DDP is offered again that the date range would be any broader than what we were given but that is simply my guess!

As far as the extension of dates, they did let this happen in previous years and even some that did the bounceback free DDP for 2008 were allowed but we were not. We tried to schedule it (extending into the first couple of days of October) to no avail. We talked with three different people and basically we were told that when it ended, it ended!

Who knows what will happen when/if it is offered, it will be interesting that's for sure!

The UK (they were able to book there free DDP for 2008 in fall 2007) HAD to book Moderates and up, no Values. I am wondering if that will be mirrored if/when it is offered to US residents?

 

[tiger4me2]

I'm not sure what you mean, but even though I am a "veteran," I am relatively new to free dining. I had the good fortune of getting it once in 2005 (the first year it was offered), but I didn't book my own reservation that year -- my AAA agent did this for me. As a matter of fact, I have only booked one other package with dining in the past, and that was only after the discount had been announced (% off room - NOT free dining). In other words, I've never had experience with trying to apply free dining or any code to an existing package reservation. For the most part, I've only booked room-only reservations on my own, and I have never had problems applying codes to those reservations. (BTW, those room-only discounts I'm referring to were back in the "OLD DAYS" -- 2000, 1999 & 1998. I had a few GREAT years of renting points from DVC members between my most-recent package stays, and the room-only stays.) Veterans who don't go yearly - and certainly not always for free dining - have a lot to learn too sometimes.

Diane
I don't think the person meant you but the OP.