Free Dining Here Again

[Headrock6]

Dates just announced for another round of free dining for fall. Obviously they are not liking what they are seeing at all in terms of vacancy. Free dining at opening of Galaxy's Edge, Christmas, and Thanksgiving? Those numbers must be a disaster at this point.

September 1 through September 18, 2019
November 17 through November 27, 2019
December 8 through December 23, 2019

 

[DISNEY1975]

Super limited availability. I just checked 2 sets of dates.. All Star Movies was the only one available in Sept and November got 2 resorts.

 

[Headrock6]

Super limited availability. I just checked 2 sets of dates.. All Star Movies was the only one available in Sept and November got 2 resorts.

Yeah i just looked too. I found it weird they offered September again considering those dates were in the 1st free dining offer along with Galaxys Edge opening a week before. No bueno

 

[DISNEY1975]

Yeah i just looked too. I found it weird they offered September again considering those dates were in the 1st free dining offer along with Galaxys Edge opening a week before. No bueno

Yeah, but availability is next to nothing on the website. I checked 09/01- 09/06 and 09/11 - 09/17 and got next to nothing available.

 

[HopperFan]

Dates just announced for another round of free dining for fall. Obviously they are not liking what they are seeing at all in terms of vacancy. Free dining at opening of Galaxy's Edge, Christmas, and Thanksgiving? Those numbers must be a disaster at this point.

September 1 through September 18, 2019
November 17 through November 27, 2019
December 8 through December 23, 2019

I wouldn't read too much into the offering in terms of bookings. September is very limited, October doesn't exist and I'm sure the number of rooms available during the holiday could be small if resort is more reasonable and possibly more ample at higher priced resorts .... they are after all getting full price peak rates. Every hotel gets to decide how many rooms it wants to offer at these rates as they absorb the cost. Throwing crumbs out there to get you looking will often lead to a booking with or without the "Free" Dining.

Disney is quite good at putting something out there ~ hey look at what we are offering ~ but when it comes down to it, can be tough to get. As an example I haven't been able to get an AP Discounted room, even within hours of it coming out for where & when I want for years. I've been booking on the General Public Discount. While I used to, I would never suggest one count room discounts as a way to justify the AP cost.

 

[Disneylover99]

Super limited availability. I just checked 2 sets of dates.. All Star Movies was the only one available in Sept and November got 2 resorts.

You should try going over Christmas, lots of availability.

 

[DISNEY1975]

You should try going over Christmas, lots of availability.

I just looked at a possible quick trip for DD and I since her BDay is a few days before Christmas and she will be 16 this year. The 4 night price for 2 is the practically the same as what Im paying for 8 nights for 3 in August! No thanks!

 

[HopperFan]

I just looked at a possible quick trip for DD and I since her BDay is a few days before Christmas and she will be 16 this year. The 4 night price for 2 is the practically the same as what Im paying for 8 nights for 3 in August! No thanks!

YUP!

"Free" Dining isn't free. It's really only a value if you would stay Deluxe anyway, buy those kind of tickets anyway and there are four in your party. We did it for many years but stopped when we couldn't make the numbers work.

 

[Disneylover99]

I just looked at a possible quick trip for DD and I since her BDay is a few days before Christmas and she will be 16 this year. The 4 night price for 2 is the practically the same as what Im paying for 8 nights for 3 in August! No thanks!

Oh, it’s pricey, no doubt, I’m just talking availability.

 

[TravelandLeisure]

There was lots of availability for my dates (12/19-25), although I’m not really surprised. Getting ADRs at my 180 day mark was a breeze, and there still seemed to be plenty of open rooms before this.

Just for fun I priced out “free” dining for my dates at Coronado Springs. It ended up being about $600 MORE than my Old Key West Point rental, DDP out of pocket, and tickets purchased prior to the October price increase. No thanks lol.

 

[Disneylover99]

YUP!

"Free" Dining isn't free. It's really only a value if you would stay Deluxe anyway, buy those kind of tickets anyway and there are four in your party. We did it for many years but stopped when we couldn't make the numbers work.

It’s still a good deal over Christmas as a family of four in a value resort who prefer the quick service plan. If you’re booking through Disney over
Christmas and New Years, you’re going to be paying rack rate anyways.