Free Dining in 2007?

[PrincessBelle23]

Has there been any more word about Disney offering free dining again this summer? I know it's been offered to people in the UK, and more recently people who were vacationing in Disney last month. I'm praying they do it again this summer, or my chances of going are slim! Any new news would be great!

 

[Castillo Mom]

No news. I would think there would be no info until spring - April to be precise. That's how it went last year.

 

[cinderkelli]

I am anxious to hear something too! My mom and sister have said they would go with me ONLY if they get free dining. So it will determine if I get to go or not and I need my Disney World this year!!!

 

[Booknut]

Here in the UK there were some deals a few months ago that if you booked a trip (flights, accommodation etc) with Virgin you got free dining for the period of August/Sept so i'm assuming that Disney will be offering it again!

Wish I could go again!!!!

 

[Cinderumbrella]

I booked my trip with CRO this AM and the agent said he was "confident" it would be offered again and to keep checking back.

 

[Cookie Princess]

I booked my trip with CRO this AM and the agent said he was "confident" it would be offered again and to keep checking back.

OHHH..I do love to hear that word "confident". Count me in for an August trip!

 

[bicker]

Uh, the confidence of a random, practically unnamed CM, isn't something I'd hang my hat on!

 

[sl_underwood]

We hope they offer it again as well otherwise we will not be going this fall.

 

[aubriee]

Uh, the confidence of a random, practically unnamed CM, isn't something I'd hang my hat on!

I agree!

Hopefully it will be, but when I booked the Bounce Back program when I was down there Dec 9th-17th, the CM I booked with said Disney was 'significantly reducing the number of free dining pkgs available for 2007 due to the complaints of both the restaraunts and visitors'. He said the only way free dining was going to be offered was through the UK program and the Bounce Back Program. I asked him twice if there was any chance of it being offered to the general public like it has been the last two years and he said "no". This was after I had already booked my free dining trip for Sept 29th-Oct 7th. He also said Disney was very surprised at the turnout for the Bounce Back program considering they did very little promoting of it. Who knows which CM is correct.

 

[PrincessBelle23]

Thank you all for your feedback! I remain hopeful, and I guess I'll have to keep checking. I know so many people are holding out on this as there only chance to go, just like me!

 

[Selket]

If Disney decides to only offer the free dining to those who were there in December (and some of January? not sure when the dates were) then I wonder why they would choose that time period? I was just thinking that for the future if they did this every year then people would probably plan very short trips in December (1 person fly down, spend the night, no parks) just to be eligible to get the free dining plan package for the family in the summer.

I know they want to fill some rooms in Aug and Sept (or whenever) but don't exactly see the point of creating that weird sort of travel planning. Why not open it up to the public (or Disney Visa holders or something) and just sell whatever limited # of packages to begin with that is open to everyone - or at least more open to everyone?

 

[angiedora]

I really believe there will be free dining offered to the public in March or April. Considering they opened it up last year in April and ran the special for a couple of weeks longer than originally posted, chances are in our favor they will still have some rooms to fill for this promotion. I know we have those on this board who hold out hope for nothing until they see it. But I think we hopeful Disers have reason to hope. It may not be offered for long, maybe a 2 week window but I believe it will be offered.

 

[bicker]

If Disney decides to only offer the free dining to those who were there in December (and some of January? not sure when the dates were) then I wonder why they would choose that time period?

Earlier, they'd come too close to the guests that would have visited that time of year anyway. I'm not sure why they wouldn't offer this straight through January, at least, though.

Why not open it up to the public (or Disney Visa holders or something) and just sell whatever limited # of packages to begin with that is open to everyone - or at least more open to everyone?

By targeting the offer, they can perhaps catch more of the guests that wouldn't otherwise visit, and less of the guests that would pay a higher or full price.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Uh, the confidence of a random, practically unnamed CM, isn't something I'd hang my hat on!

His name was Frank and he worked at the CRO in Houston

 

[bicker]

Often, the CMs don't give their real names. Regardless, my point was that my recommendation is to not rely on anything told to you verbally. It is all subject to change anyway, and if they didn't take the time and effort to put it in writing then even more so. I just hate reading messages online from folks who expected something only to be surprised by what they encountered, because they placed too much confidence in someone trying to give them encouragement rather than factual information.

Best of luck.

 

[MickeyEars]

It works both ways in my opinion. We also cannot rely on the word of those CM's such as the one that booked the Bounce Back promotion for aubriee when they say "no, it won't be offered to the general public". The truth is none of them know what Disney will or will not do.
I think it's safe to say those on the DIS often know more of what's going on than the Disney CM's.

Carla

 

[bicker]

It works both ways in my opinion. We also cannot rely on the word of those CM's such as the one that booked the Bounce Back promotion for aubriee when they say "no, it won't be offered to the general public". The truth is none of them know what Disney will or will not do.
I think it's safe to say those on the DIS often know more of what's going on than the Disney CM's.

That's a great point Carla. It doesn't take much work to find information about what's "coming soon" at WDW that directly contradict each other. Some folks look at that as a situation where they get to "choose what to believe". I suppose you could look at it that way, but what you're really deciding is not which one of the two are correct, but rather you're choosing between the risk of being pleasantly suprised versus the risk of being unpleasantly suprised. Which do you prefer?

 

[ruthma]

Often, the CMs don't give their real names. Regardless, my point was that my recommendation is to not rely on anything told to you verbally. It is all subject to change anyway, and if they didn't take the time and effort to put it in writing then even more so. I just hate reading messages online from folks who expected something only to be surprised by what they encountered, because they placed too much confidence in someone trying to give them encouragement rather than factual information.

Best of luck.

I perfer to be optimistic!

 

[MickeyEars]

Since you asked, let's see, I think I'll go with optimistic that I'll be pleasantly surprised!!! I always seem to prefer to look at the glass as being half full.

Carla

 

[ruthma]

Since you asked, let's see, I think I'll go with optimistic that I'll be pleasantly surprised!!! I always seem to prefer to look at the glass as being half full.

Carla

Ditto.....