Free Dining At The World?

[snow.white]

I saw some threads talking about free dining, and how disney offers free dining during certain months, i have never heard of this before how do you become eligible ? any info will be greatly appreciated

 

[TDC Nala]

There must be a current active offer for which you are eligible.

The general free dining offer is usually available for booking in April for trips in mid- to late August through September. To take advantage of the offer you must book a full price room plus tickets package. Free dining is not available with any other type of booking.

There is a current active offer for Disney Visa Card holders only for stays beginning 11/9 - 11/22 and 12/14-12/20.

There is also a current active offer for residents of the United Kingdom who can book from 8/2 - 10/3, 2009. That offer must be booked by November 4.

 

[snow.white]

There must be a current active offer for which you are eligible.

The general free dining offer is usually available for booking in April for trips in mid- to late August through September. To take advantage of the offer you must book a full price room plus tickets package. Free dining is not available with any other type of booking.

There is a current active offer for Disney Visa Card holders only for stays beginning 11/9 - 11/22 and 12/14-12/20.

There is also a current active offer for residents of the United Kingdom who can book from 8/2 - 10/3, 2009. That offer must be booked by November 4.

I am a DVC holder and actually planning to go on those dates , do i just tell them that when booking? and what exactly does the free dining consist of?

 

[PrincessTiffany]

I saw some threads talking about free dining, and how disney offers free dining during certain months, i have never heard of this before how do you become eligible ? any info will be greatly appreciated

Since 2005, Disney has been offering the Free Dining promo for Magic Your way packages with a 3 night minimum and a 14 day maximum (Basic Dining Plan; 1 TS, 1 CS, 1 Snack per person per night) during the last part of August until the end of September, give or take a few days. The free dining offer is usually announced during the first week of April. The first couple of days it will only be open to Disney Visa holders and then will open up to the general public. The booking dates for this year for the general public were August 24 through September 20 and you had to book by June 22 to receive the FD offer.

People wo were staying on-site at WDW during the 2008 fall free dining timeframe could have booked a free dining "bounceback" for next fall by calling WDW dining from their resort room and putting down a $200.00 deposit.

At the end of September Disney Destinations sent out some emails that offered free dining pin codes for select dates in October, November and December. These emails were random, not for the general public, and the codes were non-transferrable. Last month Disney Visa send out a free dining code for their card holders for the same select dates in October, November and December. These pin codes were not part of the regular Fall Dining promotion.

 

[natsiswdw]

For 12/14-12/20 can you stay at any hotel and get the free dining through your disney visa or do you have to stay at a value resort????

 

[PrincessTiffany]

For 12/14-12/20 can you stay at any hotel and get the free dining through your disney visa or do you have to stay at a value resort????

You can use it to stay at any resort that has availability. But, availability at any of the resorts is slim to none at this point. You will just have to call and see if they have anything available left under the Disney Visa Free Dining Promo.

 

[natsiswdw]

I already have a reservation can I still apply for the visa and transfer money to it to get the free dining??

 

[TDC Nala]

I am a DVC holder and actually planning to go on those dates , do i just tell them that when booking? and what exactly does the free dining consist of?

You would need to call Disney and ask about availability and, if you already have a reservation in the system, whether they could switch your reservation to one of these packages.

You would purchase a full price room plus tickets package (you must buy at least a one-day base ticket for everyone on your reservation age 3 or over) and the basic dining plan (1 table service meal credit, 1 counter service meal credit, 1 snack credit per person per night of your stay) is added at no extra charge.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

I already have a reservation can I still apply for the visa and transfer money to it to get the free dining??

Well, first of all, I would call and see if your resort has any availability under the Disney Free Dining Visa code, before I went to all of the trouble of trying to get a Visa card in time to book the promo. Since you would already be within the 45 day time frame the entire balance would have to be paid with a Disney Visa, at least according to the Chase Disney Visa site.

 

[Our 2 Princesses]

Just curious (because I would love to take advantage of free dining someday ) I was wondering for those of you who decide a couple months in advance to go on a trip because of the free dining, do you get any ADR's you want? Also, I have heard the free dining is good only on the days you are staying the night. (Does that make sense?? ) So, if you have a cs or ts meal left over at the end of your trip, could you use it on the day you are leaving? TIA! Hope these questions weren't too confusing. They are confusing to me and I asked them!!

 

[PrincessTiffany]

It's true good ADRs are hard to come by during free dining promos. When we planned to go for free dining last September 2007, I still made our resort and dining reservations at 180 days out. Then when the free dining code came out I just added it to my existing reservation.

Also, your dining credits are alloted for the number of nights at your resort (not days and it is not linked in any way to the number days on your tickets). Your dining credits are good until midnight on the day you check out.

 

[Our 2 Princesses]

It's true good ADRs are hard to come by during free dining promos. When we planned to go for free dining last September 2007, I still made our resort and dining reservations at 180 days out. Then when the free dining code came out I just added it to my existing reservation.

Also, your dining credits are alloted for the number of nights at your resort (not days and it is not linked in any way to the number days on your tickets). Your dining credits are good until midnight on the day you check out.

Thank you so much for explaining this to me. Making your reservations early is a great idea!!

 

[Momto3Girls&Max]

Just curious (because I would love to take advantage of free dining someday ) I was wondering for those of you who decide a couple months in advance to go on a trip because of the free dining, do you get any ADR's you want?

We booked a Free Dining Christmas Trip last week and were able to get ADRs at most of the places we usually dine. The exceptions, of course, were LeCellier and Coral Reef, but those are sometimes hard to get at 180 days out too. (Plus, we're a party of 6 so they're less likely to be able to "squeeze" us in). We got Kona Cafe, Boma, Grand Floridian Cafe, Cape May Cafe, CP Package Christmas Day at Marrakesh and Maya Grill.

It's a dream for us to be able to spend Christmas Day at EPCOT!!!!!!!! We're so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[natsiswdw]

Thank you Tiffany!!! All that info helps

 

[Our 2 Princesses]

How likely do you think WDW will have free dining again in the late summer of 2009?

 

[tinks86]

They have just extended the UK offer - we can now book up until the 2nd Dec! There couldn't have been a huge uptake on it, because when I booked they were quite definate that it would finish 4th Nov! They are also offering 40% SSR and OKW in conjunction with the DDP!

 

[Our 2 Princesses]

We booked a Free Dining Christmas Trip last week and were able to get ADRs at most of the places we usually dine. The exceptions, of course, were LeCellier and Coral Reef, but those are sometimes hard to get at 180 days out too. (Plus, we're a party of 6 so they're less likely to be able to "squeeze" us in). We got Kona Cafe, Boma, Grand Floridian Cafe, Cape May Cafe, CP Package Christmas Day at Marrakesh and Maya Grill.

It's a dream for us to be able to spend Christmas Day at EPCOT!!!!!!!! We're so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for letting me know the ADR's you were able to get. They sound great! Hope you have a wonderful time!!

 

[tinks86]

How likely do you think WDW will have free dining again in the late summer of 2009?

Are they not offering this in the US at the moment? The current UK offer is for early Aug - Oct 2009. We have booked for Sept

 

[PrincessTiffany]

How likely do you think WDW will have free dining again in the late summer of 2009?

Free Dining has been a brilliant plan on the part of Disney to fill the crowds during what was previously their slowest season, and hurrican season to boot. And then having the bounceback for free food while the free diners are there in the parks, on their Disney high, well I would call that pure marketing genius.

The UK is already being offered a Free Dining promo for next year and a ton of people have already booked the bounceback for next fall. Disney is making money hand over fist with this free dining offer. I would pretty much bet the offer will come out again in April, as it has in the past.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Are they not offering this in the US at the moment? The current UK offer is for early Aug - Oct 2009. We have booked for Sept

Guests who were staying in Disney resorts during the fall free dining dates this year between August 24 - October 24 could book the free dining bounceback for next fall 2009. The free dining offer will not come out in the U.S. for the general public until probably the first week of April.