Free Dining 2014 Discussion ~ Part 3

[dansdad]

Sorry, should have clarified, but really tired! If I book a new reservation online, can I call in a day or two when the chaos dies down and move the gift card over to the new reservation. Or would it be lost if I did that since I don't have the numbers any longer?

Thanks

Yes, you will be able to do that.

 

[tinkerone]

We are currently in BCR CL for 9/20-9/27. Was thinking of changing to regular garden view room at BCR and adding free dining (don't want CL and DDP together). But, the website is showing now availability at BCR at all anymore. Hard to believe these places are selling out in the first 3 hours of it being released - during the slowest time of year. Doesn't make any sense. The offer is open until August but everything will be gone in the first 2 hours?? My TA has been on hold since 8 am. It took her an hour to even get through.

Is all of BCR really gone do you think???

try using this site. I found it gave me different openings than the regular site. I know it is all the same but this worked when Disney.com didn't.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/resort-stays-dining/?CMP=SOC-WDWFY12Q2FBDM1124/

 

[GigiDisneyfreak]

I want to know this too. I just took a good look at my ressie and it says the same thing as yours. I have an almost 14 yr old and almost 10 yr old. (booked as 14 and 10). They're going to be really disappointed if they're not on the adult DP.

It is probably a glitch. I would just wait until all the chaos dies down and call back and check. It is free dining so your rate won't change and they will fix it if it's a mistake. Sometimes MDE doesn't update as fast.

 

[JewelsG]

what number is everyone calling - I keep getting all circuits are busy

 

[mommyof3princess27]

what number is everyone calling - I keep getting all circuits are busy

407-939-7639 say new ressie and agent

 

[Kwiig]

what number is everyone calling - I keep getting all circuits are busy

4079397675 , got thru in less than 3 minutes and currently talking to a CM. Keep trying! Say new reservation and "agent"

 

[tink97]

We were big fans of POR and POFQ but had to switch to CBR for FD some years ago. After that first stay we were hooked. Ever since we cannot stay anywhere else. CBR is our favorite by far.

Great! What do you love about it? Kids are most upset about missing the boat to DTD & Yeehaw Bob.

 

[dpswift]

Thank you Black because of you DD got exactly what she wanted a standard room at WL.

 

[Elizamarie763]

Yay! Finally got through by calling 407-939-4357 and got the regular dining plan for POP 9/14-9/20! With holding and talking to the CM it only took about 25 minutes

 

[tink97]

You'll find a really WIDE range of CBR opinions. I think a few questions need to be answered to understand how you'll like it.

Such as... Is bussing important to you? If so, CBR can be brutal. Lots of stops, lots of busses too full (during high attendance times).

Which building are you in? Some are far away and aren't as nice as others. We stayed in a room with large paint chips missing, cracks in the walls. We reported it, they didn't care and didn't move us.

Is the internet important? CBR has really terrible connection (including cell towers). We could not make calls from our room using cells. Had to go out into the middle of the Parking Lot. Had to go to local McDonalds to finish a project for work using the internet for a reliable signal that wouldn't drop.

What about the kids? They will love it! Our girls didn't mind any of the above (other than having to stand on the bus at midnight!).

Are you spending a lot of time at the resort? This is CBR's huge advantage. The pool is spectacular. The food court is really good. Lots of fun activities throughout the day. Absolutely breath taking scenery. It is an absolutely marvelous resort. If we were planning on a trip that didn't involve theme parks daily, we'd stay here again.

All of the value and Mods have pros and cons. In the end, the experience will be what YOU make of it!!!

I hope you love it!!!

Hmmm......let's see. We do care about condition & cleanliness of room. We also care about the busses. Internet not important at all (no work....yay!!)!! Which building/location should we request? Thanks!!

 

[CaffeinatedMama]

Does anyone know if it's possible to upgrade a child dining plan to an adult dining plan and pay the difference? My 9yo is kind of over the kids meals.

 

[welshraz]

Hi,

I am after some advice please. Looking at booking with FD from December 12th to 20th after a week off site (I-Drive probably). Price would be $2154 for POP or $2726/$2771 for CBR/CSR respectivley with 9 day tickets and FD.

We are going to upgrade to regular dining if we stay at a value, which should cost approx $304 for two adults, so the price difference would actually be $2458 vs. $2726. This equates to a £158 difference in "real" money lol.

My question is: is it worth the move to a moderate?? The money isn't the issue, it's more what I get for that money. When we went to Orlando last year (1st time) we stayed off site and spent very little time in our room. 12+ hour days at the park plus travel time meant the room was just for eating, sleeping and other body bits! We also spent a lot of money on table service at Disney ($100+ a night) at BOG, Sci-fi, Rainforest Cafe and the Coral Reef restaurant.

I guess my second question should be: if we do move to a moderate, what would you recommend? CBR or CSR and for what reasons? I'm leaning towards CSR.

Thanks.

 

[dansdad]

Great! What do you love about it? Kids are most upset about missing the boat to DTD & Yeehaw Bob.

This is our opinion. Our DS loves the CBR pool area. In fact after our first stay at CBR our trips have gone from 7 - 10 nights so we can have 2-3 days to just enjoy the resort. Our first stay we felt like we were "punishing" our DS by making him leave the pool to go to the parks. We like the food court better, the way it's laid out and the options. We like that every village has it's own bus stop. You are never more than 1-2 minutes away from one. Every village has it's own quiet pool so if you just want/need a quick dip after the parks just a few steps away from one. The resort just has a more laid back relaxed feel. Even when it's at full capacity during Free Dining, it never feels that way. We prefer Shutters over Boatrights. We also like that the check-in/check-out area is separate from the food court, gift shop and arcade. When all of those are in the same area, it just seems crazy. There's a concierge desk at OPR where the food court is where you can do anything you would need to do at the front desk. The buses have always been great for us. CBR is a large resort so they usually send multiple buses at once at park closing and rope drop.

Our favorite location is Jamaica 45. It's a quick 4 minute stroll over the bridge to OPR and the main pool. Plus the bright yellow color of the buildings just screams Caribbean to us. Aruba 51 is the same quick stroll across the bridge.

Believe me, we would have no problem staying at POR or POFQ if we had to. But if we have a choice, we just can't stay away from CBR.

 

[dansdad]

Does anyone know if it's possible to upgrade a child dining plan to an adult dining plan and pay the difference? My 9yo is kind of over the kids meals.

Yup. We did this when our DS was 8 and when he was 9.

 

[Kwiig]

Just wanted to say that I too booked in the early hours thru the Canadian link and was worrying, just spoke to a CM and my reservation is fine. Nothing saying it's only for Canadian residents

 

[Kristymos]

Heard a busy signal since 6 am! This is crazy!!!! Art of Animation Family suites GONE? Needs to be a better system - not fair to clients who have been sitting on these reservations for MONTHS!!!!

 

[JewelsG]

4079397675 , got thru in less than 3 minutes and currently talking to a CM. Keep trying! Say new reservation and "agent"

Got it!!! So relieved

 

[TennesseeGirl]

It is probably a glitch. I would just wait until all the chaos dies down and call back and check. It is free dining so your rate won't change and they will fix it if it's a mistake. Sometimes MDE doesn't update as fast.

It's fine. Last year my ds was 10 and I must have asked three or four times if he was getting the adult plan because it said child on mde. But call and double check ... It will make you feel better.

 

[tink97]

Thanks, dansdad. I'm getting more excited for it now that I'm reading some positive reviews Most said the bus system was terrible - glad you had a different experience. We do 9 days & 2 are dedicated "resort" days. Other than that, we're in the parks. I guess it'll be nice to try somewhere new......

 

[ktlm]

Whoever you talked to did not know what they were doing. That $2000 is probably what the Dining Plan cost for your trip. They did not look it up with the FD offer. I helped my neighbor this morning who had a trip booked for CBR already with rack room rate. She called this morning and changed to the FD promo and their price was exactly the same but they now have the Dining Plan.

Mine came out to exactly what I had figured when I put the dates and resort room I wanted without the dining. Where are you booked? I would try going into the website to check the prices.

It appears they significantly raised the room prices for the week of our trip since I originally booked. I did try online and got the same over $2,000 higher rate. I knew it would go up a few hundred adding an extra day, but did not expect it to jump like that. Then I went in took out the extra day I added to get the free dining and ran our dates online at rack rate just to see if it was the same now as what we are paying- the price for the same room was hugely increased from what it was when I booked. If I switch it to the week before, then it winds up being the same price we are paying now with the free dining added...but we can't go that week. So, no free dining for us. We have been watching FP+ closely anyway to decide if we are still going to take this trip. We did an MDE/FP+ trip last fall and are in no hurry to repeat that experience unless there are some significant changes. We weren't even going to book this year for the first time in 6 years, but I couldn't resist booking a "maybe" trip. Free dining was going to be a big point in the direction of keeping the trip. So, I guess now we just keep watching. I thought WDW was at least trying to take a step in the right direction with the recent change that you can add additional FP+ after you use them (even though this is worthless if you want to originally FP+ any nighttime entertainment), but then I saw where it looks like they are making AK's meet and greet with Donald and Daisy a FP+ only meet and greet (i.e. no FP+ no Donald AT ALL unless you eat at TH- which we do anyway, but it is the principle of the thing. ) and I got irritated all over again and then I also got irritated that it looks like Pooh and Tigger's meet at the UK in EPCOT is being made a TIER ONE FP+, and Minnie at DHS is being made a TIER ONE FP+. It may be that I wind up waiting until 60 days out to see if we can get A&E and 7DMT FP+ for our trip, and if not we will just cancel the whole thing and take a trip somewhere else! Sorry, didn't mean to turn this into a FP+ thing again. Sorry, I'm just cranky about the whole free dining thing! Oh well, looks like they are expecting our week to be really busy if they raised the prices like that anyway- might be time to branch out!

Congratulations to all who were able to get free dining!