Free Dining 2014 Discussion

[tony609]

I guess I'll keep checking. We're booked POR standard but I paid trip insurance ( non refundable) so I'm May book online at midnight in an upgraded room then in am cancel the first ressie and when the refund posts apply it to my new ressie. I can do that right?

 

[Dawn Dis]

Okay I called to see if there was a PIN number attached to my reservation for free dining hopefully . However the CM told me that since I've reserved with a TA that they would not be able to change my reservation even if an offer should come out. Does that leave me at the mercy of my TA if free dining should come out or can I also go on and take care of it?

 

[ToyStory3]

Okay I called to see if there was a PIN number attached to my reservation for free dining hopefully . However the CM told me that since I've reserved with a TA that they would not be able to change my reservation even if an offer should come out. Does that leave me at the mercy of my TA if free dining should come out or can I also go on and take care of it?

If you booked through a TA you cannot change your reservation yourself. It has to go through the TA.

 

[Dawn Dis]

If you booked through a TA you cannot change your reservation yourself. It has to go through the TA.

Okay thank you I was able to change some of my dining reservations that my TA made for me so I just assumed I would be able to change everything else. Let's hope she's as on top of this FD thing as I have been lately....

 

[scard192]

Okay I called to see if there was a PIN number attached to my reservation for free dining hopefully . However the CM told me that since I've reserved with a TA that they would not be able to change my reservation even if an offer should come out. Does that leave me at the mercy of my TA if free dining should come out or can I also go on and take care of it?

Make sure your TA has your 2nd and 3rd choices in advance in case your preferred resort or room type is not available when they call to add FD.

 

[lisafab]

Can anyone reassure me that if I set my alarm for 5am (midnight Orlando time, I'm in the UK) that I will have a reasonable chance of getting a room at POR/FQ? Either will do but I wouldn't want to pay for more than a garden view room really. We have OKW booked with a room discount with Disney UK but free DDP with a moderate would work out the same cost wise and our food would be sorted. So all that money I have for food can go on spends! We would take CBR if we have to but really like the look of PO and just wondered historically how people have got on in the past? For our dates currently POR has all categories other than standard available and POFQ has all categories available.

 

[SPOERLX3]

Can anyone reassure me that if I set my alarm for 5am (midnight Orlando time, I'm in the UK) that I will have a reasonable chance of getting a room at POR/FQ? Either will do but I wouldn't want to pay for more than a garden view room really. We have OKW booked with a room discount with Disney UK but free DDP with a moderate would work out the same cost wise and our food would be sorted. So all that money I have for food can go on spends! We would take CBR if we have to but really like the look of PO and just wondered historically how people have got on in the past? For our dates currently POR has all categories other than standard available and POFQ has all categories available.

I am not sure anyone can reassure you of that
Knowing that POR/POFQ are 2 of the most popular resorts, POR is already booking really well w/o any promo at all so this could exclude POR or at least some room catagories/dates and since POFQ is the smallest resort that Disney offers, even though it has availablity right now, it will depend on everyone else that is wanting the same thing. It will also depend on what gets booked by DV holders, if they are given advance booking. I think everyone wanting POR/POFQ will have to wait and see what the FD promo brings and have a back up resort ready, just in case.
Definitely be on the phone when they open!
I am so glad you have a back up resort in mind and I truly hope that everyone of our disboard friends get exactly what they want

 

[scard192]

Can anyone reassure me that if I set my alarm for 5am (midnight Orlando time, I'm in the UK) that I will have a reasonable chance of getting a room at POR/FQ? Either will do but I wouldn't want to pay for more than a garden view room really. We have OKW booked with a room discount with Disney UK but free DDP with a moderate would work out the same cost wise and our food would be sorted. So all that money I have for food can go on spends! We would take CBR if we have to but really like the look of PO and just wondered historically how people have got on in the past? For our dates currently POR has all categories other than standard available and POFQ has all categories available.

we had to upgrade from standard to garden view last year to use the FD PIN at POFQ and it only cost ~ $80 for the 7 nights. Still saved a ton on FD for 2A1C. run the numbers and see if it makes sense to switch the view if needed for FD.

 

[lisafab]

I am not sure anyone can reassure you of that
Knowing that POR/POFQ are 2 of the most popular resorts, POR is already booking really well w/o any promo at all so this could exclude POR or at least some room catagories/dates and since POFQ is the smallest resort that Disney offers, even though it has availablity right now, it will depend on everyone else that is wanting the same thing. It will also depend on what gets booked by DV holders, if they are given advance booking. I think everyone wanting POR/POFQ will have to wait and see what the FD promo brings and have a back up resort ready, just in case.
Definitely be on the phone when they open!
I am so glad you have a back up resort in mind and I truly hope that everyone of our disboard friends get exactly what they want

Thanks for the positive vibes! I just wondered how people had faired in the past getting online at midnight. I have this vision that all the Disney Visa holders will have booked out POR & FQ before I get a chance!

we had to upgrade from standard to garden view last year to use the FD PIN at POFQ and it only cost ~ $80 for the 7 nights. Still saved a ton on FD for 2A1C. run the numbers and see if it makes sense to switch the view if needed for FD.

The garden view works out cheaper than my current deal at OKW with the exchange rate the way it is. I could probably justify a river view or preferred room since food would be paid for. I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed with everyone else!

 

[MsMinnieMouse246]

So I am pretty sure that my husband and I have decided to switch resorts if the FD does come out. We are looking to move to CBR standard rooms from AoA standard rooms. How does it work if you have already paid for most of the trip? With the difference in price and what we have left to pay we would only owe a couple hundred. We booked directly through the Disney website, not through a TA.

 

[karen922]

is Pop Century usually included or should be also look at other all-star hotels?
We are going Nov 7th-11th haven't book anything yet waiting for specials which based on last year was around Aug 1st.

 

[scard192]

is Pop Century usually included or should be also look at other all-star hotels?
We are going Nov 7th-11th haven't book anything yet waiting for specials which based on last year was around Aug 1st.

POP is always included and I don't think I have ever seen that it sold out for FD.

 

[karen922]

POP is always included and I don't think I have ever seen that it sold out for FD.

Thanks makes it more exciting that we might get it for our trip. We are good with the QS plan figure it will be cheaper since we are saving on food and the days we are going to do TS we will just use the QS for breakfast.

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

So I am pretty sure that my husband and I have decided to switch resorts if the FD does come out. We are looking to move to CBR standard rooms from AoA standard rooms. How does it work if you have already paid for most of the trip? With the difference in price and what we have left to pay we would only owe a couple hundred. We booked directly through the Disney website, not through a TA.

You can apply what you have paid to your new reservation. To do this however, you will have to call.

 

[tilir]

Where do you go to do this.

Go to:

disneydebit.com

If you already have a Chase account you can just go to your branch and they will switch it for you with no hassle. Switched mine today!

 

[twoolle]

Does anyone know about AAA discounts? We have a family of 13 going sep 20-27 and have 4 rooms booked at GF, along with PH tix and DDP. We booked using a AAA TA. My mom has been working with the TA but I have been trying to help her with some RO and FD research. We are new to this and it is our first trip since 1991. I don't know if there was a deal going on when we booked in January but when I try to price it out now the cost comes much higher than our current package. Could there possibly be a AAA discount applied? And would we lose that discount if we book a potential RO discount or FD? Thank you!

 

[donp]

Does anyone know about AAA discounts? We have a family of 13 going sep 20-27 and have 4 rooms booked at GF, along with PH tix and DDP. We booked using a AAA TA. My mom has been working with the TA but I have been trying to help her with some RO and FD research. We are new to this and it is our first trip since 1991. I don't know if there was a deal going on when we booked in January but when I try to price it out now the cost comes much higher than our current package. Could there possibly be a AAA discount applied? And would we lose that discount if we book a potential RO discount or FD? Thank you!

I have seen discounts that people are able to get when certain groups book large blocks of rooms that are not available to the general public. For example, a friend of a friend is able to commandeer a large block or rooms at the contemporary for a fraction of the cost of rack rate, but there are very inflexible dates and conditions. I wonder if through AAA you guys snagged something like that and were ultimately part of a larger grouping. Rooms at GF at their cheapest are rarely less than $400 a night. You will NOT be able to tAke any other discounts. RO discounts are often in the 30% off rack rate that time of year. FD may not end up being a better deal. If what you have right now is over 30% off what you are getting quoted now, sounds like you would be best to stick with what you have. But, If you price the tickets and room on a package deal on Disney.com, and leave off the DDP, that would give you the comparison of what FD would be.

 

[MsMinnieMouse246]

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[MsMinnieMouse246]

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Sorry I didn't mean to do that and I can't figure out how to delete it

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I'm sorry if this has already been asked...but I will ask it anyway.

In the past if you had an AP, you were able to book a free dining package and then just save your ticket for the next year.

Will that even be possible this year because of Magic Bands?

If we want to book free dining and use our APs and save the new tickets for next year, how would that even work?