Free Dining 2014 Discussion

[SPOERLX3]

How do they let Disney Visa cardholders know about the Free Dining. Do they contact them through email, or do we have to check the website?

I'm hoping to go 9/19-9/28 and can't wait for the announcement!

You may get an email (not always). It will come from Disney Rewards but you won't get it till later in the day. The best place to look is right here on Disboards. It will light up like the Osborne's spectacle of lights!

 

[Stacied68]

We are at 150 also

We will be there the same time. I am 151 days out

 

[PeaMuff]

What is going on a POR and POFQ
There is not one king room available for even one day, the entire month of September. Simular with standard view rooms. Very, very, very limited dates any time during September. If I was trying to book at either of these resorts the most I could have booked in a standard room was 2-3 nights

Are they doing any type of transition/refurb of rooms in these 2 resorts or has everyone just already booked those 2 room types at those 2 resorts for September?

Since we only stay value, I was really just playing with room types and dates waiting for FD and trying to get an idea of how crowded it appears to be based on resorts and I was totally shocked that I couldn't find a standard view room for more than just a couple of nights in a row and no kings at all.

The silver lining that I found in all of this "Disney research" is that I didn't find this issue at any other resort.

I sure hope this is a glitch in the system cause if all these rooms are really booked at POR and POFQ for the month of September then I can surely see both of them possibly being excluded from a September promo.

I have also noticed that CSR is sold out for pretty much all of Sept. Disappointing since our first choice was POR and second choice was CSR. Not sure where to go for the third choice. I'm a little hesitant to book CSR - so now we're thinking we may just do POP and upgrade to the regular DP.

 

[SPOERLX3]

I have a question about split stays and FD. Assuming that your entire stay falls during a FD promotion, how does the ticket situation work? For example, if I’m staying 8 nights and want 5 days of park tickets, will a split stay be treated like two completely different stays (like hotel & 3-park day tickets, check out and then new hotel and 2-day park tickets) or do they book it under one master reservation where you can buy all 5 park day tickets with the multiple day-discount (does what I’m asking make sense?)

Also, would someone be kind enough to post which resorts are typically included in FD?

Here are the resorts that are typically excluded.

Mermaid rooms at AoA
Camp sites
Three bedroom villas
Villas at the grand Floridian
The other resorts that are excluded are the ones that are already booking well by Disney's standards. POR and POFQ and ASMo are always potential to be excluded....but not always.

 

[LoveSplashMountain]

You may get an email (not always). It will come from Disney Rewards but you won't get it till later in the day. The best place to look is right here on Disboards. It will light up like the Osborne's spectacle of lights!

I've been checking boards, websites, and etc OBSESSIVELY. So I was wondering if they announce to Disney Visa cardholders first, if anyone knows if that information is posted on the Disney Visa website or not. One more place for me to check. Lol. Free Dining - hurry before I develop a nervous twitch from all the checking!!!

 

[black562]

I've been checking boards, websites, and etc OBSESSIVELY. So I was wondering if they announce to Disney Visa cardholders first, if anyone knows if that information is posted on the Disney Visa website or not. One more place for me to check. Lol. Free Dining - hurry before I develop a nervous twitch from all the checking!!!

Keep your eyes here. When Visa does actually get around to sending a notice, most people don't even get one. Here, you'll know that morning, and maybe even a few days before.

 

[crazymomof4]

What is going on a POR and POFQ

I sure hope this is a glitch in the system cause if all these rooms are really booked at POR and POFQ for the month of September then I can surely see both of them possibly being excluded from a September promo.

I found the same thing this morning when I was working up a Plan B, Plan C, Plan D and so on... .....
~Free Ding at this or that Deluxe resort vs No FD at POR
~FD vs "room only" discount and paying oop for food at various resorts
~etc
~etc

And I had the same thought as you in regards to IF PO is truly THAT booked, then I'd better have these alternate plans bc that is where we are planning to stay and I don't want to be scrambing on day 1 of FD release (IF it's released that is.... don't want to jinx it.... altho... your earlier post IS encouraging!)

 

[tbone00]

POR is a big resort it would likely be included in FD. The rooms that are in short supply are the ones that sleep 5. If standard rooms sell out you might need to book a different room type that would cost more so run the #'s to see what the savings would be. My family was lucky enough to get an FP PIN that we used for our October 2013 trip at FQ. Even though I called the first day the PINS came out, months before the Fall GP FD promo came out, there were no standard view rooms available. We had to book Garden View at ~ $80 more for the week but still a HUGE savings with the FD.

We did upgrade to a preferred room. I'm hoping for a pin!! Or anything really! My in-laws are paying but will feel horribly guilty if I can't save that extra money for them!!!

 

[SPOERLX3]

Keep your eyes here. When Visa does actually get around to sending a notice, most people don't even get one. Here, you'll know that morning, and maybe even a few days before.

Yes, what he says

 

[SPOERLX3]

I have also noticed that CSR is sold out for pretty much all of Sept. Disappointing since our first choice was POR and second choice was CSR. Not sure where to go for the third choice. I'm a little hesitant to book CSR - so now we're thinking we may just do POP and upgrade to the regular DP.

I don't know how I missed CSR, you are soooo right! They are booked on all King rooms in all catagories and their casitas and suites!
They do have standard rooms available on most dates in September.
Maybe some of these resorts are going through refurbs since September is the slowest month of the year

I sure hope that is what is going on or a lot of people that have booked "hoping" for FD are going to be really disappointed when their resort of choice is excluded.

Check out Carribean Beach, we loved it there when we stayed several years ago. We are a value family now. We book 2 rooms at POP and upgrade to the DDP, it does it's job since we are only there to sleep and it saves us money at the same time and our grandkids really love the activities at the pool when we take time to hang out at the resort.

 

[black562]

I don't know how I missed CSR, you are soooo right! They are booked on all King rooms in all catagories and their casitas and suites!
They do have standard rooms available on most dates in September.
Maybe some of these resorts are going through refurbs since September is the slowest month of the year

I sure hope that is what is going on or a lot of people that have booked "hoping" for FD are going to be really disappointed when their resort of choice is excluded.

My bounceback is CSR....but it's at the end of August though.

 

[newbies04901]

I'm being a good girl and not booking, but I'm stressing! Of course I want FD, but If I'm sure I want to book for late October at either POFQ or POR, even if FD is not offered, when will it be too late to get into my preferred resort? I know you're not mind-readers, but in your experience...

 

[SPOERLX3]

My bounceback is CSR....but it's at the end of August though.

ok guys..........y'all want to know how dumb I am
The reason the king beds were showing not available is because I was trying to book with 2 adults and 2 kids!
Of course they are not going to let 2 adults + 2 kids in a king room!

 

[black562]

I'm being a good girl and not booking, but I'm stressing! Of course I want FD, but If I'm sure I want to book for late October at either POFQ or POR, even if FD is not offered, when will it be too late to get into my preferred resort? I know you're not mind-readers, but in your experience...

Been doing this routine since 2005. In the end, everyone looks back at how easy it all turned out to be.

But if you want a certain resort with or without a discount, go. ahead and book now. One of those two will be excluded during late fall offers.

 

[SPOERLX3]

I don't know how I missed CSR, you are soooo right! They are booked on all King rooms in all catagories and their casitas and suites!
They do have standard rooms available on most dates in September.
Maybe some of these resorts are going through refurbs since September is the slowest month of the year

I sure hope that is what is going on or a lot of people that have booked "hoping" for FD are going to be really disappointed when their resort of choice is excluded.

Check out Carribean Beach, we loved it there when we stayed several years ago. We are a value family now. We book 2 rooms at POP and upgrade to the DDP, it does it's job since we are only there to sleep and it saves us money at the same time and our grandkids really love the activities at the pool when we take time to hang out at the resort.

ok guys..........y'all want to know how dumb I am
The reason the king beds were showing not available is because I was trying to book with 2 adults and 2 kids!
Of course they are not going to let 2 adults + 2 kids in a king room!

 

[DisMom829]

Right about now is when folks start panicking. I've already seen a couple of facebook comments saying things like "maybe they've done away with free dining". Free dining certainly brings out the many stages of emotion....excitement, nervousness, panic, fear, dread, anger, and eventually relief.

FB page? Did I miss the FB page?? Title please?

 

[PeaMuff]

My bounceback is CSR....but it's at the end of August though.

It looks like there is one date that is messing up the availability at CSR for us. It would seem that it's Sept 22nd that's sold out. We have a bit of flexibility, but since we're driving down, we're looking at either Sept 14th-23rd, or Sept 21st-30th. Of course, Sept 22nd falls in both those scenarios, which is why I'm not getting any availability at CSR. Oh boy... back to the drawing board.

 

[LoveSplashMountain]

Keep your eyes here. When Visa does actually get around to sending a notice, most people don't even get one. Here, you'll know that morning, and maybe even a few days before.

Thank you wise one!!

 

[scard192]

I'm being a good girl and not booking, but I'm stressing! Of course I want FD, but If I'm sure I want to book for late October at either POFQ or POR, even if FD is not offered, when will it be too late to get into my preferred resort? I know you're not mind-readers, but in your experience...

We booked 2 standard rooms at POFQ early May last year for our trip October 19-26, 2013. at little less than 6 months out. The resort is small and so popular so I booked it; FQ was my dream resort to stay at.

I knew it likely wouldn't be included in the Fall FD offer and it wasn't.

 

[coastermom]

We are going to WDW from 9/24-9/28 because our schools are closed here for a Jewish Holiday ( NYC) so I seem to be thinking that the parks are going to be crowded that week / weekend ! I am just looking to get into MNSSHP !!