Free Dining / cabins only, no campsites

[2goofycampers]

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneypackages.htm#general

 

[DisCamper]

The sad thing is it’s been like this for years now. The only time we got the free dinning plan was when we rented a cabin for friends come in so we added our names to the reservation so we could use the free dinning plan.

 

[katrina1122]

Such a bummer, we would have booked if we could get free dining.

 

[Brocktoon]

I guess it's a sign that the Fort still has no issues filling up the sites? ... or from a monetary perspective does filling sites via free dining still not offset the operating costs? Face it, they never really offer site discounts anyway, and you have to pay rack rate at the resorts and cabins to get the free dining. Until you start seeing large discounts given to the camping sites, I don't think you'll ever see the free dining offered

 

[DisCamper]

You are right even with gas prices going through the roof people are not cutting back from their fort trips. So until Disney starts seeing less people booking sites at the Fort they will not even think about throwing us a bone.

 

[acenorm]

The problem is because you can put 10 people on a site. If they offer this during Value Season and a pop up/tent site is $46, than they are taking a major loss. Now what they need to do is have a kids eat free deal where a child gets free dining with every adult paid dining. If you have 3 kids than you would have to pay for one if there are only 2 adults and so on.

 

[Brocktoon]

The problem is because you can put 10 people on a site.

That's a great point ... I forgot all about that

 

[bama_ed]

"Free dining" is actually charged back to the hosting resort as negative revenue (aka contra-revenue) which drives the point home about why tent sites that hold 10 folks dont qualify for free dining.

Even a value resort which holds only 4 people barely produces positive income once the contra-revenue is applied (quick service dining in this example). Of course the avg # of people per room.is less than 4 but the principle applies. And some pay the child dining rate.

All I know is if my 3 teens got a hold of free dining somebody would lose money.

Bama ed

 

[aceys_h0ney]

While we are on the topic of FW discounts, what if any can we expect in the way of discounts here? We are planning for our first trip next June. We are looking into getting APs, do we get a discount with those? We will still use the Fort since we are a family of 6 so even at rack rate it's still cheaper then two rooms or a suite at the hotels but I do enjoy a discount. We would be bringing a camper not staying in the cabins.

 

[bama_ed]

While we are on the topic of FW discounts, what if any can we expect in the way of discounts here? We are planning for our first trip next June. We are looking into getting APs, do we get a discount with those? We will still use the Fort since we are a family of 6 so even at rack rate it's still cheaper then two rooms or a suite at the hotels but I do enjoy a discount. We would be bringing a camper not staying in the cabins.

Here's the way it works.

Rate for the next year are fixed about August of the current year. You can call (not online) and make a ressie now for next year (500 days out) but it will be held at current year rack rates (one night deposit for a room only ressie). So I always would recommend getting your ressie in as soon as you know you want to go. And book extra days before/after to give yourself some cushion because you can always drop days up till 5 days prior to arrival. Once we are past August and the next year's rates are available then the online system will allow bookings.

Once the rates are set in August, the various discounts are also available. Watch this forum for when people start saying they got a discount. It could be a AAA discount (what I use); DVC or AP or FL Resident also qualify if available. Most discounts are 10% in the busy times and up to 20% in the slack times. Some times discounts are limited to certain types of sites (Partials not Premiums) for example. Also there are a limited number of discount eligible sites available and the early bird gets the worm here. Once they get "used up" you might call for the same date/space/discount and it won't be available.

Look at the Fort calendar at http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/campsites-at-fort-wilderness-resort/rates-rooms/?showYear=2011+Regular+Season+1+-+Weekday. This is for 2011 weekday rates in June which will give you an idea of rack rate. Weekend nights are about $3 higher.

Finally if you do book some extra "cushion" days drop them as soon as you know you won't need them so somebody else (maybe on this forum) who is looking for those dates can pick them up and make their family happy.

Good luck to you!

Bama ED