Free Dining 2013 Part 2 ~ The Sequel

[babydoll65]

So iv read daves post from myfirstvisit and I don't know how to take this. When I first read it my take was no fd for gp. But I went back to read it again and now I'm not sure. He kind of leaves it up in the air. My thought is why have they had to send out pins so many times? Have they in the past send these out in three or more waves? If they have had to send them out so many times maybe there not getting the response they want. Also they keep sending them to the same people who either booked with the gp offer in Sept or booked with the first pin code they received.

 

[Seeker615]

I call every day. No pin, no pixie dust FD. I would understand if it were JUST pins giving people FD, but these random CM giving random guests without a GP offer? It's really discouraging, and unfair. It's leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

I feel the same way. I tried many times and told them how we are planning our 30th anniversary and nothing. One even got my hopes up by putting me on hold for several minutes but still came up with nothing!

 

[Tarheel Mom]

So iv read daves post from myfirstvisit and I don't know how to take this. When I first read it my take was no fd for gp. But I went back to read it again and now I'm not sure. He kind of leaves it up in the air. My thought is why have they had to send out pins so many times? Have they in the past send these out in three or more waves? If they have had to send them out so many times maybe there not getting the response they want. Also they keep sending them to the same people who either booked with the gp offer in Sept or booked with the first pin code they received.

This puzzles me as well. Why keep sending them to the same people? I know several people on here have said they received 3 or more ~ what's up with that?

 

[Sylkie31]

This puzzles me as well. Why keep sending them to the same people? I know several people on here have said they received 3 or more ~ what's up with that?

I've said it before, and I'll say it again here:

Trying to apply reason and logic to how the mailing list is done for Disney's FD offer pin codes is like trying to apply reason and logic to anything our government does - can't be done!

 

[Tarheel Mom]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again here:

Trying to apply reason and logic to how the mailing list is done for Disney's FD offer pin codes is like trying to apply reason and logic to anything our government does - can't be done!

Haha, so true Sylkie. BTW, have you had much rain this week? All of my son's baseball games have been rained out except last night ~ he actually played a doubleheader in Wilson. I was shocked we made it through both games but we did!

 

[DisneyMom5]

While I know that getting FD with a value requires a 'premium' room and not a standard, I assume (and we all know what that can do to us) that at a Moderate they would require a premium room as well. Hence why I booked the royal room at PO-R. Should I change this to something else or leave it? I'm hoping to jump on the early Disney Visa FD if/when it's released for a 12/4 arrival.
Thoughts on room change or keep? TY!

No, you have bad info. It doesn't "require" a preferred or upgraded room.
If standards are available, you can book them. Doesn't matter if you are already booked.
I've never booked a preferred room at a value, and this will be my fourth trip with FD.
The first day of booking with dis visa should have plenty available, with the possible exception of a handful of popular resorts.
No matter what you have booked, you will only be able to get free dining for what they have available.
So what you book now in no way affects what you will be able to book with FD. You might keep the same type of room level, you might have to change to another room or resort.
Does that answer your question?
Am I understanding your question correctly?

 

[Sylkie31]

Haha, so true Sylkie. BTW, have you had much rain this week? All of my son's baseball games have been rained out except last night ~ he actually played a doubleheader in Wilson. I was shocked we made it through both games but we did!

Yep - rain, rain and then more rain. Was surprised we didn't get another storm last night. All the rain we've been having is making the grass grow really fast (well, technically most of the green stuff in the yard is weeds, but at least there's something green-colored in my yard). The neighbor kid down the street that mows my yard is gonna make a small fortune this summer if this keeps up.

 

[1rockinmama]

No, you have bad info. It doesn't "require" a preferred or upgraded room.
If standards are available, you can book them. Doesn't matter if you are already booked.
I've never booked a preferred room at a value, and this will be my fourth trip with FD.
The first day of booking with dis visa should have plenty available, with the possible exception of a handful of popular resorts.
No matter what you have booked, you will only be able to get free dining for what they have available.
So what you book now in no way affects what you will be able to book with FD. You might keep the same type of room level, you might have to change to another room or resort.
Does that answer your question?
Am I understanding your question correctly?

Yes and No and thank you for tackling my question.
I always prebook a room before FD goes live. And it's always been a standard value resort room. But when I call day of Disney Visa FD, they tell me they don't have anymore 'standard' rooms available allocated for that and I'll have to upgrade to a preferred room b/c that's all they have available.
So my question I guess was, was I 'safe' to book a 'prefered' room at PO-R in case that problem arrises again. But from your answer, it sounds like I should just go with a standard and 'IF' they force me again, I can go the 'preferred' route.

 

[disneyfantotheend]

Dave runs a good site. Always good info there. Plus you can never have too much Disney world information.

You still predicting it will go public, Joe? Or is it a lost cause?

 

[prettypatchesmsu]

You still predicting it will go public, Joe? Or is it a lost cause?

Yeah, I been wondering that too. Have the tides turned against us?

 

[alylyn80]

A friend of mine who is going in October called today to make a payment and the CM told her not to pay in full because a good deal would be coming on the next couple weeks.

A little renewed hope for all of us with the "no pin for you" curse!

 

[Tarheel Mom]

A friend of mine who is going in October called today to make a payment and the CM told her not to pay in full because a good deal would be coming on the next couple weeks.

A little renewed hope for all of us with the "no pin for you" curse!

I'll tell ya, this roller coaster of a ride that is free dining rivals anything Disney has with all of these ups and downs!

 

[black562]

Yeah, I been wondering that too. Have the tides turned against us?

It's a wait and see game at this point. I've spoken with Dave, and as he said, it can go either way. The fact that they're still sending out PINs is good, because that means they aren't filling rooms. At a certain point, if that continues to be the case, they will go public. The interesting kink lately is them offering it to the public, in terms of randomly giving it to those calling without a PIN....how that changes the dynamic is anyone's guess. But it's clear that they still are not getting the occupancy rates they're looking for because new waves of PINs continue to fly. I still think that whatever offer goes public will most likely be into the first week of August.

 

[black562]

Ok, who's up for a chat?

I'm in the room!!!

In other news, the D23 presentation of upcoming attractions has been cancelled. It seems that all of the new attractions/lands are not far enough along on the drawing boards to present anything at this point....and interestingly enough, Avatarland is still in the cards so far.

 

[HBGdancermom]

AMEN!!!! I just called to check for a pin and, of course, no luck. I even mentioned that without free dining we would have to cancel our reservation, no budging. I asked her how some people are getting fd without getting a pin and she said "Oh, they can only get it if they have a pin" ~ yeah, right and I have some ocean front property in Tennessee to sell ya. So, either she wasn't the cm picked to spread pixie dust today or I wasn't the correct number caller. Oh, well, in 21 weeks I'll be in Disney World with free dining or not ~ but it sure would be nice to try it

Lol!!!

 

[HBGdancermom]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again here:

Trying to apply reason and logic to how the mailing list is done for Disney's FD offer pin codes is like trying to apply reason and logic to anything our government does - can't be done!

Baaaahaaaaa!!! So true!!

 

[black562]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again here:

Trying to apply reason and logic to how the mailing list is done for Disney's FD offer pin codes is like trying to apply reason and logic to anything our government does - can't be done!

HEY NOW...I work for the Government....and I still don't know how Disney does it. So that makes the pin code system WORSE than Government logic.

 

[Sylkie31]

HEY NOW...I work for the Government....and I still don't know how Disney does it. So that makes the pin code system WORSE than Government logic.

Ah yes, "government logic" - I used to think it was the quintessential oxymoron until I became a Disboard addict & started reading all the posts about the FD pin codes. Now I think gov logic has a serious rival for that title!
My daughter works for the government, too. When she 1st started, she'd call me and tell me so-and-so at work was going to driver her crazy because they wanted her to do something this way instead of that way and not do something that way instead of this way. Then she'd go on about how it made absolutely no sense at all. I'd just remind her to take a deep breath, remember who she was working for, & relax!

 

[DisneyMom5]

Yes and No and thank you for tackling my question.
I always prebook a room before FD goes live. And it's always been a standard value resort room. But when I call day of Disney Visa FD, they tell me they don't have anymore 'standard' rooms available allocated for that and I'll have to upgrade to a preferred room b/c that's all they have available.
So my question I guess was, was I 'safe' to book a 'prefered' room at PO-R in case that problem arrises again. But from your answer, it sounds like I should just go with a standard and 'IF' they force me again, I can go the 'preferred' route.

Right...it doesn't matter what you have already booked, so you don't have to stress out about it.
Sounds like you've had a string of bad luck! Like I said, many have had no problem getting standards first day...just depending on the resort.
And, no matter what you end up getting when you call, don't be afraid to call back and see what opens up if you'd prefer a different room level.
People cancel, or upgrade, or downgrade all the time, and also sometimes WDW opens extra rooms for a sale.
Hope you get what you are looking for!

 

[DavidHobart]

It's a wait and see game at this point. I've spoken with Dave, and as he said, it can go either way. The fact that they're still sending out PINs is good, because that means they aren't filling rooms. At a certain point, if that continues to be the case, they will go public. The interesting kink lately is them offering it to the public, in terms of randomly giving it to those calling without a PIN....how that changes the dynamic is anyone's guess. But it's clear that they still are not getting the occupancy rates they're looking for because new waves of PINs continue to fly. I still think that whatever offer goes public will most likely be into the first week of August.

Joe does a much better job of explaining the whys behind this here than I did on the site!!!

I have just two slight adds

1. My guess on when a GP FD deal would come out, if it does, would be after 8/6--so that it's after DIsney's quarterly earning call.
2. The passing out of pins to those who call--maybe its done so that just this kind of discussion happens? That is, it's a "social" strategy to get us all talking about WDW?