Free Dining Frenzy

[KateDrake]

Is it just me, or is the furor around this year's Free Dining offer a whole new level of crazy? I keep hearing stories of multi-hour waits on the phone, rooms sold out, etc. Any of you insiders ideas on why it is so crazy this year?

We're hoping to book free dining next year for a large family group, and I'm a little nervous after all the craziness this year! Last time we did FD (couple years ago), I called the day it was released, mid morning, and got in no problem. Then my in-laws called a few days later and were also able to get the deal. Obviously that wouldn't be the case this year!

So what's the change? Any insight on why it is so different this year?

 

[Craigdarroch]

No idea ... I don't even want the FD (DH and I could never eat enough to make it worthwhile, we basically eat one meal a day at lunch and just have a light snack in the evening).

Still, I had a heck of a time just trying to call to get the RO discount. Took more than half a day to get through.

 

[hdh23]

I have no idea either this is our first year booking so I assumed it was always like this. I have read that in previous years they rolled dates out at different times and this year it's all together. It was a frenzy though you are right. I got through at 7am on the dot and waited on hold 4 hours! Then she said "hmm it's not giving me the last screen for some reason but I'm about 90% sure it went through, I would call back in a bit to make sure. Lol yeah right. I will say that people that waited to make their reservations and then made them online once the promotion was out seemed to have better luck.

 

[tinkerbella16]

It seems like every year it keeps getting worse and worse. People just go crazy for it which adds to the hours of waiting on hold because the whole world calls at once. I get that it is a great savings, but we don't book our trip because of it- we go either way. Last year we did not get it, just paid OOP for DDP and still went and it was all worth every penny. Now everyone is booking POR & POFQ early, and all it did was ruin the chances for them to be included. Seems like less and less resorts are being included.

I miss the days when barely anyone even knew about free dining and when they literally ONLY offered it just a few weeks out of the year (mainly Fall). I'd be able to call and get it applied in minutes. Now you are lucky if you get through in an hour. Its crazy.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

I think it's a combination of more people wanting it, and Disney scaling back on it. Disney said a few years ago they were going to ramp down the discounts. I think they are doing that with free dining. This is just my opinion, but I think free dining is going to go away altogether, except for maybe a few weeks a year when hotel bookings are at rock bottom (Jan/Feb, early Sept), and room only or Stay/Play/Dine will take its place. FD fills rooms, but it also creates a nightmare for table service restaurants that can't keep up with the demand and have to turn away paying customers.

 

[Nezumi Fan]

This was kind of kooky. I stayed up all night on the eve of the opening of the FD promotion to the general public, phoned at 4:00 a.m. PST (7:00 a.m. EST) exactly, waited almost two hours to get through. Booked FD at the Pop; yay.

Spent some time watching more resort reviews on the DIS videos and was swayed by the effusive review of the Coronado. Also, what I had not counted on was how expensive it would be to upgrade the "free" QS plan at the Pop to the Regular DP.

By fiddling with a day or two, I ended up saving nearly $500...by upgrading from a value to moderate. Go figure!

 

[tevisco4]

I think it was a whole mess of things that caused the frenzy. Disney scaled back on what hotels were included with free dining which limited the options and rooms available. Also, Disney released free dining through the end of the year, which they don't normally do, which in turn made more people booking. I would have gone with or without free dining this year. I almost prefer to pay for dining for less craziness.

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

I agree, it was pretty cut throat this year. I'm also of the philosophy to wait until the discount release and then book. As mentioned pre booking limits the amount of rooms/resorts available for a discount. I used to book and then modify, but not anymore. I think allowing booking into October, November and December just added to the volume of people calling. One last thought, social media seems to add to drama/mayhem. Not only here, but in other situations as well. I think it creates panic.

 

[karnold]

I think there are many reasons too. More and more schools around the country are going to year round schedules creating many more families having fall breaks and going to Disney. Disney limited rooms and hotels and everyone across the country are still in budget mode needing to get the absolute most for the money.

 

[saskdw]

Is it just me, or is the furor around this year's Free Dining offer a whole new level of crazy? I keep hearing stories of multi-hour waits on the phone, rooms sold out, etc. Any of you insiders ideas on why it is so crazy this year?

We're hoping to book free dining next year for a large family group, and I'm a little nervous after all the craziness this year! Last time we did FD (couple years ago), I called the day it was released, mid morning, and got in no problem. Then my in-laws called a few days later and were also able to get the deal. Obviously that wouldn't be the case this year!

So what's the change? Any insight on why it is so different this year?

Most of the chaos with the phone lines is from people who already have a reservation calling to change it to the FD promo. The smart people like myself don't book until the offer comes out and then do it online. Takes a few minutes online and it's done.

Honestly if Disney was smart they would make a rule that the first few days after FD comes out only fresh reservations can be made and make the people who already booked wait to see if there is any rooms left.

 

[Craigdarroch]

I don't ever make reservations until I get a PIN or see a discount code offered. What's the point of doing that?

Doesn't it just make the resort look like it's filling up and then the marketing staff decide it's full enough not to offer a FD PIN or a RO discount?

Is there some benefit to booking a resort early and then trying to get a code or discount later that I'm not aware of?

 

[saskdw]

I don't ever make reservations until I get a PIN or see a discount code offered. What's the point of doing that?

Doesn't it just make the resort look like it's filling up and then the marketing staff decide it's full enough not to offer a FD PIN or a RO discount?

Is there some benefit to booking a resort early and then trying to get a code or discount later that I'm not aware of?

There is no benefit unless you're ok with paying the "rack rate".

 

[monty22183]

I was just telling my mom the samething. I feel like this year the free dinning promo was crazy. I waited on hold lastnight for 4 hours and 31 minutes before I was able to speak with someone. And once I did I did get the resort I wanted but I had to take standard room instead of a preferred room like we wanted they didnt have any preferred rooms left I was on hold the night before for over 5 hours and never did get through. Seems really busy this time and I am not sure why? I was wondering the samething

 

[Laketravis]

FD fills rooms, but it also creates a nightmare for table service restaurants that can't keep up with the demand and have to turn away paying customers.

I'm pretty sure they still get paid as an internal transfer from resort to food service.

 

[wdw4rfam]

I don't ever make reservations until I get a PIN or see a discount code offered. What's the point of doing that?

Doesn't it just make the resort look like it's filling up and then the marketing staff decide it's full enough not to offer a FD PIN or a RO discount?

Is there some benefit to booking a resort early and then trying to get a code or discount later that I'm not aware of?

The ONLY advantage I can think of is people like us, who considers ADR's a HUGE part of the trip and need the 180+10 to get them. We are celebrating DD birthdays as well as my parents 45th anniversary and wanted BOG for her birthday (her ONLY request) and my parents favorite, Ohana. Both impossible to get at 180 days without a resort reservation to push it +10. We could only get BOG at 189 days out, 186th day for Ohana (with a decent time). To some, not a big deal, but celebrating 2 big things and needing ADR's for 7 people, I HAD to book to get them. But then again, we booked CBR, which is never full, and have a Disney Visa, and have to call either way, no online bookings. On the other hand, had FD not been released, we still would have gone with a RO and paid OOP because WHERE we eat is probably more important then getting FD to us.

 

[wdw4rfam]

Most of the chaos with the phone lines is from people who already have a reservation calling to change it to the FD promo. The smart people like myself don't book until the offer comes out and then do it online. Takes a few minutes online and it's done.

Honestly if Disney was smart they would make a rule that the first few days after FD comes out only fresh reservations can be made and make the people who already booked wait to see if there is any rooms left.

That's not true. It took less than 5 minutes to complete my adding FD to my reservation. Took my parents 15 minutes to make a new one. So it actually would make the phone time WORSE if EVERYONE waited. Disney Visa cant book online anyways. Plus, the servers were crashing when it went to GP and half the people were on hold on the phones. Imagine if EVERYONE was booking online at the same time Theres really no easy answer. If they said just new reservations, people would just book a new and go back and cancel the old one.

 

[Craigdarroch]

The ONLY advantage I can think of is people like us, who considers ADR's a HUGE part of the trip and need the 180+10 to get them. We are celebrating DD birthdays as well as my parents 45th anniversary and wanted BOG for her birthday (her ONLY request) and my parents favorite, Ohana. Both impossible to get at 180 days without a resort reservation to push it +10. We could only get BOG at 189 days out, 186th day for Ohana (with a decent time). To some, not a big deal, but celebrating 2 big things and needing ADR's for 7 people, I HAD to book to get them. But then again, we booked CBR, which is never full, and have a Disney Visa, and have to call either way, no online bookings. On the other hand, had FD not been released, we still would have gone with a RO and paid OOP because WHERE we eat is probably more important then getting FD to us.

Ahhh, I see. That does make some sense in your case. We don't make a lot of ADR's and if we don't get something, it's not a big deal. I'll eat Fish & Chips at "Cooke's of Dublin" every day if I have to LOL!

 

[Latmlnsn]

Booked my first trip to Disney the day the free dining was offered, for two parties. I kept trying to get everyone to agree and commit and watched things sell out. Just seemed like every time I looked again something was gone! I wondered if it was always that crazy!

 

[chigirl]

I booked online at 6:45 cst on the first day, easy-peasy. But the offer did not go "live" until 6:25 (but I was in the shower, lol). Got WL courtyard view. No stress.

 

[Meetmeinmontauk]

I always wait until the day the discount releases & book a new reservation online! I prefer this way because I can book it faster & I don't have to deal with long wait times from the masses who booked already and are calling to apply the discount. The discount goes up before the phone lines open a lot of the time but this year it didn't go up until almost an hour after phone lines opened.

I decided to call as soon as phones opened and I missed the clock turn 6:00 by a few seconds. It took me 19 minutes to get through and then I was put on hold for 25 minutes. At this point the offer went live online & I was able to book within a few minutes.

This year is different for me because I just got a pin for FD last night. The pin includes resorts excluded in the GP offer. We have been wanting to stay at POFQ so I woke up as soon as phone lines opened this morning. I've been on the phone on and off all morning with at least a 30 minute wait time each call.

I wanted my original dates of 10/1 - 10/10. The first call I was told nothing was available but I could book for 9/30 - 10/9. The second call I told them I wanted to drop 9/30 and check in on 10/1 & that was fine. I also wanted to check out on 10/10 but that wouldn't be possible. I've currently been on hold for 26 minutes for call #3 to hopefully add that last day on. Sorry for the long reply!