Free dining 2014

[McKelly]

Free Dining should be available as soon as Thursday, May 1 for Disney Visa holders and Wednesday, May 7 for the general public. You can book through September 12.

The likely dates included are:
August 31 - October 3
October 26 - November 1
November 9 - November 20
December 12 - December 23

OMG OMG - Are you saying that Free Dining is coming out THROUGH December???????

 

[snuggly duckling]

Free Dining should be available as soon as Thursday, May 1 for Disney Visa holders and Wednesday, May 7 for the general public. You can book through September 12. The likely dates included are: August 31 - October 3 October 26 - November 1 November 9 - November 20 December 12 - December 23

Huzzah!!!

 

[Sunnyday3]

Free Dining should be available as soon as Thursday, May 1 for Disney Visa holders and Wednesday, May 7 for the general public. You can book through September 12. The likely dates included are: August 31 - October 3 October 26 - November 1 November 9 - November 20 December 12 - December 23

Ahhhh! We are planning a November 11-16 trip. So excited about this!! But do I book...or wait til it comes out?! Book, wait, book, wait. The torture!!!!

 

[BridgetR3]

So they are opening it all at once this year?? EEK!!! I have to be to work early this Thursday!

 

[iheartMagicKingdom]

Well this sucks. We check in on 10/23. Now time to decide if we change our dates. I just made all my ADR's....I knew everything was going to smoothly.

 

[smitch425]

Ahhhh! We are planning a November 11-16 trip. So excited about this!! But do I book...or wait til it comes out?! Book, wait, book, wait. The torture!!!!

You absolutely wait. Booking now will only slow you down, and gives you no advantage.

 

[Sunnyday3]

You absolutely wait. Booking now will only slow you down, and gives you no advantage.

Thanks-am I reading it right that FD for November will also be offered now? I thought they wasn't released until late summer. (That was why I was pondering booking now-but if it's going to be released in May, then that's a no-brainer lol).

 

[elmjimmlm]

Free Dining should be available as soon as Thursday, May 1 for Disney Visa holders and Wednesday, May 7 for the general public. You can book through September 12.

The likely dates included are:
August 31 - October 3
October 26 - November 1
November 9 - November 20
December 12 - December 23

So you don't think that the end date in November will be on Saturday the 22nd like it ended the Saturday before thanksgiving week last year? I am so bummed...My chance is out the window now.

 

[smitch425]

Thanks-am I reading it right that FD for November will also be offered now? I thought they wasn't released until late summer. (That was why I was pondering booking now-but if it's going to be released in May, then that's a no-brainer lol).

You are reading it correctly.

 

[Sunnyday3]

You are reading it correctly.

Hot dang. That is awesome news!
Thanks!

 

[Sunnyday3]

So they are opening it all at once this year?? EEK!!! I have to be to work early this Thursday!

I'd be curious to know if anyone has ever not been able to take advantage of the offer because of not being able to call that quickly. I wouldn't mind waiting a day or two-I know that we want a moderate resort-would the FD available packages really get snapped up that quickly?

Sorry if it's a foolish question-this is the first time we've ever been able to take advantage.

 

[BridgetR3]

I'd be curious to know if anyone has ever not been able to take advantage of the offer because of not being able to call that quickly. I wouldn't mind waiting a day or two-I know that we want a moderate resort-would the FD available packages really get snapped up that quickly?

Sorry if it's a foolish question-this is the first time we've ever been able to take advantage.

I'd love to answer you but I have never booked free dining before so I'm not one to ask! Sorry but I'm sure someone will come along quickly and answer both of us!

 

[lcoult]

I'm a little nervous as well as we don't have a Disney visa.

 

[donp]

I'd be curious to know if anyone has ever not been able to take advantage of the offer because of not being able to call that quickly. I wouldn't mind waiting a day or two-I know that we want a moderate resort-would the FD available packages really get snapped up that quickly?

Sorry if it's a foolish question-this is the first time we've ever been able to take advantage.

If you are flexible on where and what type of room, I would not worry. If there is a specific type of room, and resort that you feel that you HAVE to have, then it might be a little more dicey. This promotion will be out for MONTHS. People will be able to call and still get it many weeks from now, but the more flexible you are, the easier it will be. I have always gotten moderate resorts without trouble on the free dining in September. I know the rooms are fewer and farther between the rest of the year. For what it is worth. . .

 

[WDWdadof3]

So I have not read the entire history of posts about free dining but I'm getting the impression that all free dining availability gets scooped up quickly by Disney Visa card holders.

I do not have a Disney Visa. I have a POR Royal Room booked for Nov 16 - 21 (our first trip with DD5 and DD3); if I call in on May 7, are my chances fairly good to get the FD promotion applied? Or is there a strong chance that I will need to change to a standard room or another resort in order to receive get the promotion?

Again - sorry if these questions have been answered in earlier posts.

Thanks.

 

[Pineappley]

Really pleased for everyone who this works out for, however for me it is worse than any worst case scenario I imagined. My backup resort options are no help now.

I'm there 17th to 30th Oct. I've got a POR Royal Room booked and was thinking I may need to do a split stay. But with the FD not kicking in until 26th I can't see it being worth it. I would need to collect my park tickets 9 days early. Is that even possible?

I had budgeted for maybe up to half of my my stay to not have free dining going by historical dates, but now I'm thinking of cancelling
and going to AOA Little Mermaid room which is about $1000 cheaper, maybe $1300 if an Orbitz code comes up, and just not doing so much on site dining.

The last four nights of my stay are covered, which is when I have CRT and BOG reservations.

I didn't think I'd be having to make decisions this early!

If there's any chance of the October dates being extended I'd stick with my current booking and wait for that to happen. But then if that doesn't happen I run the risk of there being no AOA standard Lm rooms left.

Aaaarghhg. Not doing the happy dance. Doing the sad dance. And burning a hold in my calculator.

 

[Cdn Mickey]

I'm a little nervous as well as we don't have a Disney visa.

Don't worry, I don't have a Disney Visa and we have never had a problem booking.
This is the 4th time we have booked Free Dining

 

[ARAITHEL]

Everyone that is worried about not having a Disney Visa, don't fret about it!

I've went the past 6 years in September and have NEVER booked with a DV card. We even booked in July one year and still got FD. Granted, we stayed at Caribbean Beach (YUCK) but we didn't know any better at that time! HAHA! Sorry, CBR lovers, not my favorite resort.

Take a breath, there's enough FD for everyone...that is if it is released on Thursday!

 

[ARAITHEL]

I do not have a Disney Visa. I have a POR Royal Room booked for Nov 16 - 21 (our first trip with DD5 and DD3); if I call in on May 7, are my chances fairly good to get the FD promotion applied? Or is there a strong chance that I will need to change to a standard room or another resort in order to receive get the promotion?

When the FD comes out for the public, call in with your reservation number and have the CM check for availability. I did this in 2012 for POR Royal Rooms. I had no problem switching my reservation over to FD. It will all be fine.

 

[oldtink]

I'm a little nervous as well as we don't have a Disney visa.

We don't either, but we do two things that help:
1) book your ADRs anyway as they don't require a resort OR a FD.
2) Have a second or third choice for resorts in case they fill up before you get the one you want.
We actually have our reservations, have for a while, but if POFQ is all of a sudden off the FD (it never has been in Sept), then our TA has our order of preferred resorts to shift to right away. If doing your own, then do the same.

Remember, that once FD is open, they don't run out of FD, they run out of resort rooms.