Free Dining 2015 - The Results - Poll

[jhaig]

Now that the tidal wave of free dining has passed, let's see how things shake out....

 

[crb60]

I'm probably in between b and c, but voted B. I wanted a moderate (CSR specifically, but no preference) standard view for our budget. Ended up booking Pop for 7 nights with an upgraded plan for under $2000. CBR was available at the time for a king room for $2500. We couldn't justify another $500 just to move, so I am happy we saved about $300, but we really wanted a Mod.

 

[gem21]

I'm not really any of those... We really wanted POFQ but knew that wasn't going to be included, so we figured CBR looked nice and we'd go with that. It wasn't available for our dates, so we had to go with POR in a Royal Room. It's not "a" because it's not our original choice but it's not "b" because we think it's more than an acceptable room and resort. We're very excited as my mom thinks it's a beautiful resort as well (and is now impressed with the Royal Rooms), and Royal Rooms have always been somewhere I wished I could stay! So we're happy! We love PH (get them every time), and this time we are also doing TL, so we got the PH+WP&M option so we didn't care about that being a requirement. Even with upgrading from our "original" reservation (CBR Standard to POR-Royal Room) we still saved close to 1400$!

 

[woodynjessiesmomma]

I voted "a" because we were able to keep our dates and add FD to our existing reservation, but I'm not happy about having to add the PHs. I'm still happy to have the discounted dining though, just not as ecstatic as I thought I would feel.

 

[5kidsmommy]

We originally planned on December but decided with Christmas and multiple birthday November would work better but that changed before free dining. We knew POR would be excluded so we decided that CBR would be a great compromise. We booked a standard room for the dates we wanted, even with the purchase of PH we certainly saved money. I wouldn't have bought the park hopper because I'm cheap but I am glad I had a reason to buy it because I will certainly use it. So yeah definitely a for me.

 

[Elffriend]

I voted "a" because this worked out wonderfully for us. I already had reservations with Park Hopper tickets. We were able to keep the dates and resort and just add the free dining. YAY!

 

[lauracitawita]

I voted b because we were already going to stay at a moderate with park hoppers. Unfortunately we had to go to CBR which would have been our last choice and we had to upgrade to a water view room which added $400 to our trip.

The more I research CBR, the more excited I am to try something new. Also, even though we had to pay extra on the room, we are saving over $2500 CDN with free dining stil...so very happy!

 

[staceycrouton]

I voted "c". We had a pre-existing reservation for Coronado Springs standard view for Nov.13-22. There were no rooms available for Coronado with free dining (except a king junior suite for an additional $2000) so we ended up at CBR pirate room with free dining. Thrilled for free dining but DD15 and DD13 aren't thrilled about the pirate room and we have heard that the buses are horrible at CBR. So, we have mixed emotions. Happy about free dining and disappointed about resort. The important thing is that we will be at Disney, our favorite place!!!! By the way, we had already purchased our airline tickets so we couldn't change our dates.

 

[jhaig]

So, we have mixed emotions. Happy about free dining and disappointed about resort. The important thing is that we will be at Disney, our favorite place!!!!

That's the spirit!

 

[Funfire240]

I voted a. Originally we wanted CBR but when I booked our trip 2 weeks ago all that was available were pirate rooms and we decided we didn't want that this time so we went to All Star Sports - our dates were within the dates that came out so Monday I got online about 6:10 am and changed ours to include free dining

 

[CatKel1202]

I got squat. First time visiting WDW in many, many years and this is already leaving a bad taste, but I'll put it behind me and hopefully have a great trip anyway in November. Lesson learned - don't book through a travel agent (I feel really bad for them...mine will likely lose my business through no fault of her own if a RO deal comes out since I have discounted tickets at work).

 

[happymommy]

I was going August 29th to Sept 5th, and DD wanted to stay at Pop (it's just the 2 of us). Ended up paying maybe $150 more total for the free QS dining than I would have paid with the room discount, so it worked out perfect for us! We don't plan on any table service (but do have a lunch at BOG booked, and think we'll book another one too).

 

[verleniahall]

We were pre-booked at POP , was able to add free dining, but paid to upgrade to plus dining, saved 189.04 over all -

 

[tinkermom_of_two]

A for sure We stayed at CSR on our first Christmas trip, and it was an absolutely beautiful resort! Also, I was excited to be able to talk hubby into trying out business class as standard rooms were not available with FD when I booked, and it was a minimal difference between business class and water view.

 

[Disney Dynamite]

I voted a. My husband and I were already booked with a BB at POFQ when we invited the in-laws to join us on this trip. Since we were covering the resort and park tickets, they wanted to pay for their meals if we couldn't get FD. However, we were fully prepared to pay for a dining plan and just claim that we got it free, if necessary. (They would have been none the wiser.) I guess our standards weren't very high to begin with. We just wanted a standard, pool view, garden view or king at a mod. I was able to snag a pool view (later changed to a garden view) at POR for the dates we wanted.

Getting free dining was awesome. Getting it at POR was just icing on the cake.

 

[midnightlouise]

I chose B, because while we did get the resort we wanted (CBR), we had to upgrade to the Pirate rooms to get FD. That plus hoppers added a good $500 onto our trip, but we're still "saving" $1200 on the dining plan, so no real tears shed here.

 

[00zero00]

Chose B, we originally booked a LM at AOA, knew that wasn't going to be included. If we didn't get free dining, we were going to stay there. Ended up with FD at POP in a preferred room, wanted a standard. Still saved $$!

 

[NYCANC]

My choice was not there- got nothing but still going happily
We are at CR beginning of Oct. but CR only had club level for FD.
My TA was great- tried- was on hold for 3 hours. Also looked at GF- just club level and Poly was booked for our days.
Looked at going a day earlier- nothing.
So we are hoping for a RO discount but even without it, we will go with a big smile!
Would be nice to save a few bucks though!

 

[Bella749]

I chose A, but I came so close to not getting Free Dining. I was taking the advice from others by not booking anything in advance, but the night before Free Dining came out the Standard Rooms at CBR were sold out for my dates. So I decided to book a water view room. The next morning when I woke up at 5 and tried to add free dining only preferred rooms at CBR were available which were going to cost me an extra $300. Once I added everything and hit the confirm button I kept getting an error adding payment method message. About time I tried another browser the preferred rooms were sold out for my dates. I had to wait to call Disney at 7. Got through in 20 minutes, but CM said sorry nothing is available maybe try a different resort. I kept telling her that it was a glitch in their system and I even have a screen shot to prove it. I think she realized I wasn't willing to switch to another resort for a lot more money so she got her manager. He was very nice and did not give me any problems and added free dining to my existing reservation. I got to keep the water view room and it saved me $300 from having to upgrade.

 

[mel19]

Got squat! Still going to Disney but hoping for a room discount or possibly a switch to off property.