Free dining: a cautionary tale

[Christopher5927]

I know this has been discussed before - but has Disney overbooked their Free Dining? We are just back from 2 weeks at WDW (CR, BWV and OKW). Luckily we made ADRs months in advance and secured everything we wanted. The restaurants were VERY busy however, although we waited no longer than 10 minutes. Friends we met up with had not made reservations for all their meals and on 3 separate occasions could not get ANYWHERE in the World for dinner. (Admittedly they were trying to make ADRs just 3 days in advance.)
Now, had we seen nothing else we would have thought it was their own fault for not booking earlier. HOWEVER, a Disney Guest Update distributed during the stay made us wonder if Disney had overbooked free dining. The flyer read thus:
"Due to the popularity of the Disney Dining Plan reservations are filling up quickly...As a special offer during your stay, if you choose to dine in any Quick Service locations using your Table Service entitlements, you will receive a certificate redeemable for your choice of the following: two (2) snacks, a collectible Disney Trading Pin and lanyard, or a 'Where the Magic Lives' poster featuring Mickey and his friends..."
Make of this what you will, but I cannot see how anyone would want to 'trade' a Table Service for a Quick Service, 2 snacks and a pin.
What do others think?
My conclusion: make ADRs as far in advance as you can. My wife did not want me to make ADRs in February but I sure am glad I did!

 

[gigi1313]

thanks for the info... we, too, made our ADRs wayyyyy in advance and glad we did! i feel for those that did not know to... also glad to hear that you did not have long waits w/your ADRs... last year during free dining we had at least two half hour + waits, which really stinks imo!

i just read that Disney is extending the opening early, opening for lunch, extra buffet locations, etc accomodations they put in place to offset some of this problem...

as to whom would choose the CS plus 2 snack option... well, we might... if we wanted to do a lot of touring/riding while everyone else was eating, it would be a great choice, esp for FREE!

 

[TenThousandVolts]

so is it your choice of
2 snack credits
OR
1 pin & lanyard
OR
1 poster?

Or is it 2 snacks and a pin? OR a poster
Confused by the wording of the OP.

 

[PaulaSB12]

Got my adrs booked already. Now just about to book a 21 day holiday for September 2007 with the ddp free (its available for us in the UK )

 

[Christopher5927]

so is it your choice of
2 snack credits
OR
1 pin & lanyard
OR
1 poster?

Or is it 2 snacks and a pin? OR a poster
Confused by the wording of the OP.

I am the OP and I quoted Disney directly. What is confusing?:
two (2) snacks, a collectible Disney Trading Pin and lanyard, or a 'Where the Magic Lives' poster featuring Mickey and his friends..."

two (2) snacks, a collectible Disney Trading Pin AND lanyard,

OR a 'Where the Magic Lives' poster featuring Mickey and his friends..."

 

[TenThousandVolts]

you will receive a certificate redeemable for your choice of the following: two (2) snacks, a collectible Disney Trading Pin and lanyard, or a 'Where the Magic Lives' poster featuring Mickey and his friends..."

Make of this what you will, but I cannot see how anyone would want to 'trade' a Table Service for a Quick Service, 2 snacks and a pin.

I thought it was you choice of 3 options when I read the first quote- snacks, or a pin and lanyard or a poster. But I wasn't sure because here- it looked like 2 options based on the second quote- it looked like maybe it was 2 snacks AND a pin. Just trying to clarify.

So I see you have 2 options- not 3
2 snacks and a pin
OR
a poster.
Thanks for clarifying.

 

[DiszyDeanette]

I know this has been discussed before - but has Disney overbooked their Free Dining? We are just back from 2 weeks at WDW (CR, BWV and OKW). Luckily we made ADRs months in advance and secured everything we wanted. The restaurants were VERY busy however, although we waited no longer than 10 minutes. Friends we met up with had not made reservations for all their meals and on 3 separate occasions could not get ANYWHERE in the World for dinner. (Admittedly they were trying to make ADRs just 3 days in advance.)

We were at WDW the first week of August last year when there was no free dining. We had to wait up to 40 minutes for our ADRs (most notably Crystal Palace and Sci-Fi) and saw people without reservations being turned away everywhere. I'm sure free dining doesn't help, but it's hardly something that can be blamed on free dining alone. Lots of people there now have paid for the DDP, or are paying OOP too. Lots of people eating = full restaurants, no matter how it gets that way.

 

[lisabelll]

I am the OP and I quoted Disney directly. What is confusing?:
two (2) snacks, a collectible Disney Trading Pin and lanyard, or a 'Where the Magic Lives' poster featuring Mickey and his friends..."

two (2) snacks, a collectible Disney Trading Pin AND lanyard,

OR a 'Where the Magic Lives' poster featuring Mickey and his friends..."

Not sure if I am right, but the way I was reading it was:

2 snacks and a collctible pin and a lanyard

or

2 snacks and a "where the Magic Lives" poster

Not that I plan to trade in my TS!!! We have had ADRs for MONTHS and I have called to confirm them 3 times We actually still have 1 TS more then we have credits for, but it is for our last day and I thought seeing the Princesses (1900 PF) one more time would be worth OOP

 

[AdventureGuru]

What does the pin say
"I went to to Disney for Free Dining and All I got was this pin?"

 

[TenThousandVolts]

What does the pin say
"I went to to Disney for Free Dining and All I got was this pin?"

"...all I got was this lousy pin"
Or "...all I got was this pin and 2 snacks"

 

[TDC Nala]

"Due to the popularity of the Disney Dining Plan reservations are filling up quickly...As a special offer during your stay, if you choose to dine in any Quick Service locations using your Table Service entitlements, you will receive a certificate redeemable for your choice of the following: two (2) snacks, a collectible Disney Trading Pin and lanyard, or a 'Where the Magic Lives' poster featuring Mickey and his friends..."
Make of this what you will, but I cannot see how anyone would want to 'trade' a Table Service for a Quick Service, 2 snacks and a pin.
What do others think?

You might do that if you had to because you were on the dining plan, were traveling during the free dining promotion period, didn't make ADRs and couldn't get into any table service restaurants. At least someone in that situation would be able to use the credits for something.

 

[sdoll]

I am traveling next week and made my ADR's months ago. However I booked dinner 2 nights at times I really didn't want (don't ask me why I did that) So when I called today to confirm my reservations I asked to see if I could change my times I was surprised to find that I was able to. One was for Ohana and the other for Marrakesh Both were for dinner at 7pm. So I found that encouraging. I think the moral of the story is make your reservations..

 

[ctnurse]

I booked the free dining the 1st day in was available to the public and booked ADRs about 1 week later. I have had my ADRs since April thanks to the board I knew I better make them if I wanted the place and time I wanted. We leave Sept 19 and cant wait. PP love the idea of the pin and wonder if I can get one even if I dont trade a TS.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I know this has been discussed before - but has Disney overbooked their Free Dining? We are just back from 2 weeks at WDW (CR, BWV and OKW). Luckily we made ADRs months in advance and secured everything we wanted. The restaurants were VERY busy however, although we waited no longer than 10 minutes. Friends we met up with had not made reservations for all their meals and on 3 separate occasions could not get ANYWHERE in the World for dinner. (Admittedly they were trying to make ADRs just 3 days in advance.)
Now, had we seen nothing else we would have thought it was their own fault for not booking earlier. HOWEVER, a Disney Guest Update distributed during the stay made us wonder if Disney had overbooked free dining. The flyer read thus:
"Due to the popularity of the Disney Dining Plan reservations are filling up quickly...As a special offer during your stay, if you choose to dine in any Quick Service locations using your Table Service entitlements, you will receive a certificate redeemable for your choice of the following: two (2) snacks, a collectible Disney Trading Pin and lanyard, or a 'Where the Magic Lives' poster featuring Mickey and his friends..."
Make of this what you will, but I cannot see how anyone would want to 'trade' a Table Service for a Quick Service, 2 snacks and a pin.
What do others think?
My conclusion: make ADRs as far in advance as you can. My wife did not want me to make ADRs in February but I sure am glad I did!

"Overbooked" is exactly the word the dining CM used to me last week. I got all my ADRs in April for my trip in a few weeks, but I called recently to try to change a few dining times. Every restaurant I asked about, the CM said was "already overbooked on that date." So I'm a little nervous about how close to my dining times I will actually be seated.

 

[TenThousandVolts]

When I tried to get an ADR yesterday she said that rest is OVERBOOKED (Sci-Fi) does that really mean- more ressie than tables? What a bummer- I hope we won't be waiting too long for our tables where we do have ADRs. All of my ADRs are at fully-booked restaurants- I know because my sister tried to add on or get ressies at the same time with no luck. I am getting nervous about the crowds.

 

[rcyannacci]

Dining plan or no dining plan, if WDW is sending away people who want to eat in their restaurants, they are losing a stream of revenue. Looks like they need to open some new places.

 

[svalencia1]

Well, I keep hearing about people having problems booking there ADRs however I have not personally experianced that. I called yesterday and there was still openings for Chef Mickeys, Princess Storybook dining, and California Grill. I am traveling the week of Sept 12- Sept 17th on free dining. I don't know if this week is not as busy or what? All I know is that my ressies are set and I am happy !

 

[Mich Mouse]

Just returned on Friday from a week at the world. We always visit in August and found no difference in the crowd levels in the parks or restaurants. We had ADR's and did not wait more than a few minutes to be seated. On a side note, the longest line we waited on was at Seashore Sweets after Illuminations for an ice cream cone! About fifteen minutes.

 

[taximomfor4]

we traded a couple of TS for CS (only because we had like 14 meals we were not using...2 TS and 12 CS). We figured, waste the CS and use the 2 TS for CS meals for the bonus snacks (great for the looooong drive home!) For each TS we used for a CS, we got a coupon. Each coupon was good for 2 snacks. So we used 2 TS, getting 2 coupons (4 bonus snacks total). The pin/lanyard is definitely NOT in addition to the snack coupons. HTH some!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Make of this what you will, but I cannot see how anyone would want to 'trade' a Table Service for a Quick Service, 2 snacks and a pin.
What do others think?

You might do that if you had to because you were on the dining plan, were traveling during the free dining promotion period, didn't make ADRs and couldn't get into any table service restaurants.

Or, like my just-returned coworker, you might do that even if you DID have an ADR, then realized there was nothing on that particular menu that your daughter would eat so you went back and ate at your resort's food court, instead. I mean, she didn't get anything extra - she didn't know about this newly-instituted set of options,,, but that's what most people could do.

Every restaurant I asked about, the CM said was "already overbooked on that date." So I'm a little nervous about how close to my dining times I will actually be seated.

Well, don't forget some of that overbooking could well be due to some Guests double- or triple-booking, until they actually decide where to eat. I'm not one of those - I've changed my ADRs several times in the last few weeks and have made SURE to cancel the ones I changed from during the same calls. Plus, I rechecked this morning and yes, I have exactly five reservations - one each night except arrival day.

so is it your choice of
2 snack credits
OR
1 pin & lanyard
OR
1 poster?

Yes, that's EXACTLY what it is.