Free Dining and Contemporary Reservations

[jhaig]

Before FD came out last year, we had made reservations at the Contemporary and we called Guest Relations to add FD to our reservation. We were told that there were no "FD rooms" available at the Contemporary and they tried to move us to another resort. What exactly were they meaning that no FD rooms were available?

We have reservations for the Contemporary for Sept 2014. We are hopefully anticipating FD ( yes things may change but we will hope for the best) but I am worried about not being able to get FD since we are at the Contemporary. Does this happen because of the CR's popularity and that they don't need help in filling the rooms? Should I have alternate plans or just use a room discount instead?

 

[LilyWDW]

When Disney releases discounts, they are often limited. Some resorts may not get allocated any discounted rooms, others might have some but not many, and others might have a lot. It all comes down to the fact that Disney releases discounts to fill rooms. If they can fill the rooms with no discounts then it would not be smart to discount them anyway.

So yes, a resort can be "sold out" of discounted rooms.

The way I think about it is I book what I can afford. I never count on discounts and don't book "in case" I might get one.

 

[purple figment]

Before FD came out last year, we had made reservations at the Contemporary and we called Guest Relations to add FD to our reservation. We were told that there were no "FD rooms" available at the Contemporary and they tried to move us to another resort. What exactly were they meaning that no FD rooms were available?

We have reservations for the Contemporary for Sept 2014. We are hopefully anticipating FD ( yes things may change but we will hope for the best) but I am worried about not being able to get FD since we are at the Contemporary. Does this happen because of the CR's popularity and that they don't need help in filling the rooms? Should I have alternate plans or just use a room discount instead?

Disney offers specials such as free dining or room rate discounts in order to fill rooms. The number of rooms available for the special will vary depending on how many rooms in that resort and room category Disney needs to fill. It's possible that the room type you booked at the CR only had a very limited availability or none at all so they were booked up by others before you were able to call - thus no FD rooms were available.

Having a room or package already booked does not guarantee that you will be able to apply the special to your reservation. Youtr resort and room category must be included and there must still be availability so it is important to call as soon as the special becomes available.

If you have a room only reservation you cannot just add a dining plan. Instead if you have a room only reservation booked and FD comes out, you will have to book a package (room + tickets + dining plan), pay the new deposit and then cancel the room only reservation.

 

[2Tiggies]

In case a FD offer does come out, have you done the math to see that this is the best discount for you? Often at a higher end resort a room discount works out way better. It is worth crunching the numbers first.

 

[jhaig]

In case a FD offer does come out, have you done the math to see that this is the best discount for you? Often at a higher end resort a room discount works out way better. It is worth crunching the numbers first.

A FD special does work out better for us by about $400

 

[jhaig]

The way I think about it is I book what I can afford. I never count on discounts and don't book "in case" I might get one.

We will stay at CR whether we get either a FD or a room discount promo. The FD will save us more money in the long run.

 

[purple figment]

We will stay at CR whether we get either a FD or a room discount promo. The FD will save us more money in the long run.

Already having a room or package booked won't guarantee that you'll be able to apply a special if one comes out. If your room qualifies you will need to call as soon as the special comes out to have it applied to your reservation because all specials are for a limited number of rooms and some sell out very quickly.

 

[doberlady]

We are at CR too. I had a package booked for the garden wing rooms. I had to upgrade to a Tower Baylake view room in order to get the FD so I am paying way more then I wanted even with FD but we only wanted CR

Last year I was able to book a garden wing room and received a PIN for FD. Was a GREAT savings!!

 

[jillgunter]

Rooms were super limited this time. We were gonna do POR to save money, even tho I wanted WL. Well 7 am that morning there were none left! But plenty of non discounted rooms. So a discounted room must be open for you to switch to. We got the last woods view bunk bed at WL at 8:30 that morning when I got to my TAs office. They went so fast! We did a room only discount. I figured it out and free dining was almost the same. And I wasnt sure what we wanted to do. I can add on dining later, which I guess we will be doing now.

 

[TDC Nala]

This particular free dining offer seems to have very limited availability at many resorts, and quite a few more resorts have been exempted entirely than usual. There isn't any way to know if that is going to be the way of the future, but it might be.

You can wait until an offer for your dates in 2014 is released. Then if they are not able to give you free dining at the Contemporary, you can make the decision whether to keep it or change resorts. It looks as though you would pick the Contemporary over free dining no matter what, so hang onto your Contemporary reservation and see what happens. No discount will be automatially applied to your existing reservation, you'd need to call when the discount is released and see if it can be added. In the meantime, take any discount you are eligible for.