Free dining 2015?

[Lynn2205]

Hi

i was told by Virgin that the free dining is not going to be offered anymore for October 2015 regardless that the time we are going is half term. I know usually half term in October doesn't qualify for the free dining but wondered if the free dining is going to offered whether to alter our dates.

I was wondering if anyone else had heard if the free dining is going to be offered in Feb?

 

[dixonsontour]

Us free dining sometimes covers oct half term dates.

Usually released May for the same year.

Full DDP at a moderate and Qsdp at a value.

We booked the U.S. deal for oct half term 2013 stayed at all star movies upgraded to DDP

 

[Spencerfamily]

Sorry to jump in on the thread but wondered if anyone knew if the U.S. Free dining is likely to include last week in August? Just managed to book flights to add in an extra trip this year so excited but still need to book accommodation and are weighing up options. We will be in Orlando for 21 days from 13 August and want to stay on site for some off it and thought last week in August/ beg Sept may be better as less busy.
Any thoughts on whether dining is likely to come up would be appreciated as well as any other ideas eg if there may be room only discounts.

 

[Minniesgal]

Sorry to jump in on the thread but wondered if anyone knew if the U.S. Free dining is likely to include last week in August? Just managed to book flights to add in an extra trip this year so excited but still need to book accommodation and are weighing up options. We will be in Orlando for 21 days from 13 August and want to stay on site for some off it and thought last week in August/ beg Sept may be better as less busy. Any thoughts on whether dining is likely to come up would be appreciated as well as any other ideas eg if there may be room only discounts. dde00

I'm fairly sure it hasn't the last two years.

 

[disneyholic family]

Sorry to jump in on the thread but wondered if anyone knew if the U.S. Free dining is likely to include last week in August? Just managed to book flights to add in an extra trip this year so excited but still need to book accommodation and are weighing up options. We will be in Orlando for 21 days from 13 August and want to stay on site for some off it and thought last week in August/ beg Sept may be better as less busy.
Any thoughts on whether dining is likely to come up would be appreciated as well as any other ideas eg if there may be room only discounts.

 

[chmurf]

in 2013, US free dining started at the very end of august (maybe it was august 30? - i don't recall the exact date)...
i remember it was one week too late for us (we were there the last 2 weeks of august).

august 31st 2013 for 2014 packages with free dining
deal was released may 7th for the general public. The deal had a blackout period in october (4th through 25th)

mousesavers has a history of discounts offered on the us site
http://www.mousesavers.com/historical-information-on-walt-disney-world-resort-discounts/

@OP, we here the "no more free dining" routine each and every year.
I doubt the US site will stop offering FD in 2015 when the international site (UK) has offered FD for 2015 over a 6 months period in 2014

 

[disneyholic family]

yes, they do that "no more free dining" bit every year and then they offer it again the next year..

DD and her husband were on the US free dining plan this year - in november...
there were so many people on free dining that there were absolutely no walk ups at all at any park restaurants during the time they were there...none...if you didn't have an ADR, you were out of luck...

 

[Toffeewoffy]

Agreed. This year I was making enquiries early April and was told that they would definitely NOT be doing free dining for 2015. I got a great deal getting 2 of our 3 flights free, though, which worked out the same as paying for our 3 QSDPs for the 14 days so that's what I booked. I was not happy to discover that they did indeed offer the free dining less than a month later, but it was a calculated risk: book now and get the free flights or wait for the free dining and risk them not doing it.

Incidentally, the free dining is now free breakfast at the Values, QSDP for the Moderates and full DDP at the Deluxe. Only the US gets offered QSDP for the Values, and they get less choice of hotels than we do; this year, for example, they only got CBR as their option for a Moderate with free dining whereas the UK could book any of the Moderates to get it.

So, every year they say they won't be doing it any more, and every year up it pops again. However, people do seem to be preferring to get discount on their rooms at the moment as that's more common as an offer - in the US, anyway.

 

[disneyholic family]

Agreed. This year I was making enquiries early April and was told that they would definitely NOT be doing free dining for 2015. I got a great deal getting 2 of our 3 flights free, though, which worked out the same as paying for our 3 QSDPs for the 14 days so that's what I booked. I was not happy to discover that they did indeed offer the free dining less than a month later, but it was a calculated risk: book now and get the free flights or wait for the free dining and risk them not doing it.

Incidentally, the free dining is now free breakfast at the Values, QSDP for the Moderates and full DDP at the Deluxe. Only the US gets offered QSDP for the Values, and they get less choice of hotels than we do; this year, for example, they only got CBR as their option for a Moderate with free dining whereas the UK could book any of the Moderates to get it.

So, every year they say they won't be doing it any more, and every year up it pops again. However, people do seem to be preferring to get discount on their rooms at the moment as that's more common as an offer - in the US, anyway.

the US free dining hotel options vary....
when i first looked at free dining for this past autumn, it included pop century..
by the time, DD and her husband decided to book, it was only 95 days in advance..
by that time pop century was no longer available - only All Star Movies was still available for the values..
but they suddenly opened up POR for free dining...
which is what i booked for her...
so there's no hard and fast rules as to what will be available for the US free dining package..

 

[ChipnDaleRule]

If or when they stop free dining I think (referring to UK) they will have to offer some discount somehow, especially when you think now flights can cost the same as accommodation. If we paid rack rate + today's flight prices + the extra needed to add DDP would price us out.

 

[CAL2]

hi, they seemed to have offered the U.K free dining for 2015 early this year, we booked our hol with free dining about 6 months ago, we are going in Nov 2015. the offer for free dining ended Nov 2014. not sure if they will offer it again for 2015, don't know about U.S offers.
cal

 

[Toffeewoffy]

hi, they seemed to have offered the U.K free dining for 2015 early this year, we booked our hol with free dining about 6 months ago, we are going in Nov 2015. the offer for free dining ended Nov 2014. not sure if they will offer it again for 2015, don't know about U.S offers.
cal

The free dining for March 2015 was released back in May 2014. The second half of 2015 was bookable second half of 2014. So, for the second half of 2016 I should imagine it'll become bookable next summer/autumn. I don't think you'll get it for 2015 now as it seems to be finished.

 

[Lynn2205]

oh darn it! so i've missed the deadline? that sucks. the QSDP is so worth it for me and my hubby.

if i've missed it for October 2015, is it worth purchasing the QSDP? the refil cups and the ease of the dining plan was very useful for us, but i'm not sure if it warrants the £800 price tag.

what do you guys think?

 

[chmurf]

oh darn it! so i've missed the deadline?

you've missed the UK offer. (it was offered from April 21st through November 11th IIRC)

if i've missed it for October 2015, is it worth purchasing the QSDP?

Absolutely not (well ... depends )

the refil cups

you can purchase it at your resort.

and the ease of the dining plan was very useful for us, but i'm not sure if it warrants the £800 price tag.

you need to do your maths.
It really depends if you're having dessert when you're on the QSDP or if you end up throwing it away because you're no longer hungry at the end of the meal.

a basic entrée is $10, add $3 for a soft drink (you can get a free cup of ice water at CS restaurants)
so if you don't have a dessert, your daily expenses are around 2 * $13 + a $4 snack + $1 to $1.5 (value for the mug depending on your length of stay)

that's $31.5 if you pay OOP without getting a dessert. (and $25 if you only use your refillable mug at your hotel, and drink water)

if you pay for the convinience of the QSDP you're going to pay over $42 per night, so basically you might waste $10 to $15 per night per person

IF you have dessert, and always go for the most expensive item on the menu (not all CS restaurants have over $10 items) then you might break even, and you can justify the price tag for the convinience of being on the dining plan but you won't save. You'll end up paying a bit more than going OOP.
If you don't, and can settle for an ice water cup from time to time with your meal, and skip dessert, then it's not worth purchasing the QSDP at all.

other option will be to go for a room only reservation on the US website, and IF a deal comes out for october (depends on your dates) then you may call the reservation center and upgrade to a package by adding tickets and the free US dining plan (QSDP for values, DDP for mods and deluxes). In this case, tickets will be US MYW tickets, limited to 10 days max
If the dining deal doesn't come out, or if your dates don't qualify, then just add tickets (US or UK tickets)

 

[disneyholic family]

regarding the US ticket 10 day max - yes, that's a problem if you want to do a 14 day holiday..
what we've done for the past few trips - we've done the US free dining package, but taken tickets for 2 days (the minimum ticket you're allowed to purchase to get the free dining package).

We don't use that ticket. We buy 14 day ultimates separately.
So yes, we're throwing out that 2 day ticket, but the free dining package still works out cheaper for us (even with the additional cost of the 14 day ultimate tickets)

 

[chipndalefan]

How do the U.S. prices with the free dining compare to the UK prices?

I'm looking for 14 nights in Sept for 2 adults in a value or moderate.

 

[chmurf]

How do the U.S. prices with the free dining compare to the UK prices?

I'm looking for 14 nights in Sept for 2 adults in a value or moderate.

US rates are better with FD if you stay at values or mods since you get QSDP for values, and DDP for mods/deluxes.
you only get QSDP for mods with UK deals (and nothing, bar sometimes breakfast) at values

another difference is that you'll need to pay in USD and may incur crossborder fees if you don't have a bank account/card in USD

last but not least, you can only purchase 10 days of tickets with a US package, and they don't have hopper or waterparks, those are options you need to add (can make a saving over UK tickets if you only need 10 days at a park and don't need hopper or WP)

also, like a previous poster suggested, you can buy the FD package with the minimum length of tickets on the US site, not use those tickets and buy a 14 days ultimate from the UK
you might still make a saving over UK rates

but the best thing to do is to make a dummy booking for your dates on the US site, add accomodation and tickets, do not add dining, and you'll get the amount you'd pay IF the free dining is offered for your dates.
apply the exchange rate and crossborder fees id applicable.

compare this with the same quote on the UK website, then you'll know immediatl

 

[disneyholic family]

US rates are better with FD if you stay at values or mods since you get QSDP for values, and DDP for mods/deluxes.
you only get QSDP for mods with UK deals (and nothing, bar sometimes breakfast) at values

another difference is that you'll need to pay in USD and may incur crossborder fees if you don't have a bank account/card in USD

last but not least, you can only purchase 10 days of tickets with a US package, and they don't have hopper or waterparks, those are options you need to add (can make a saving over UK tickets if you only need 10 days at a park and don't need hopper or WP)

also, like a previous poster suggested, you can buy the FD package with the minimum length of tickets on the US site, not use those tickets and buy a 14 days ultimate from the UK
you might still make a saving over UK rates

but the best thing to do is to make a dummy booking for your dates on the US site, add accomodation and tickets, do not add dining, and you'll get the amount you'd pay IF the free dining is offered for your dates.
apply the exchange rate and crossborder fees id applicable.

compare this with the same quote on the UK website, then you'll know immediatl

good explanation..

the other advantage for us of the US package is it's offered closer to the dates of travel..
we never know a full year in advance if or when we might go...
half a year is the best we can do, and the US package lends itself to that..

by the way, when i booked DD's trip this year (free dining), i first calculated using the discounted room rate and adding on a paid dining plan....
and i compared all the possibilities, as follows:
- Value with room discount + paid Quick Service
- Value with room discount + paid Table service plan
- Moderate with room discount + paid table service
- Value with free dining (quick service)
- Value with free dining upgraded to table service
- Moderate with free dining (table service)

in all cases, the free dining came out cheaper than the paid dining on top of a discounted room.

and that was even though we had to throw away a 2 day ticket for the free dining, while only throwing away a 1 day ticket for the add on dining...


As for the value with upgraded free dining vs moderate with free dining - it worked out that the moderate came out slightly cheaper....so it was a no brainer so to speak...
(so bottom line, she ended up staying at POR with free table service dining and using a 14 day ultimate ticket)

.

 

[disneydude365]

so for fall 2015 they have already offered the free dining for the US? and I've missed deadline?

 

[disneyholic family]

so for fall 2015 they have already offered the free dining for the US? and I've missed deadline?

they've already offered the UK package.
The US package hasn't been released yet.