Free Dining News (See Page 9 & 10)- Post It Here

[always quiet]

I wonder about the FW rumor. Last weekend, when the little box appeared, I called in and inquired about this. I specifically told the CM I was going to be booking a cabin for 2 weeks. I initially had said that I would just call back when the promo was released. She STRONGLY encouraged me not to wait, go ahead and put the hold on FW, then modify when the code is released. All the CMs I speak to all know what is coming and it sounds like from talking to many of them, Disney is preparing to have all their staff ready.

I know what I will be doing next week..............

 

[hinodis]

Anyone have any speculation on whether or not the family suites in the value resorts will be included this year?? I sure hope so, I have one booked. Also, how is it checking in very late...our flight lands in Orlando at 9:43p.m.

 

[CanadianGuy]

The family suites have not been eligible for discounts or promotions in the past. I'm not sure about free dining however.

Knox

 

[ducklite]

So Anne, is it safe to say that the starting date for free dining is 8/26 and there is no way that it will be starting earlier than that?

The whole idea behind offering free dining is to sell hotel rooms. They are still busy until the week before Labor Day, so there is no reason for them to offer an incentive of that magnitude during what is still a busy season. If you notice the dates, they fall during about the slowest point of the year for WDW. Between the threat of hurricanes, kids back to school, too early for the UK fall school break, and prior to F&W.

So my guess is that the chances are very, very slim that the dates would extend earlier or later this year. There's just no reason for this to happen.

Anne

 

[ducklite]

Anyone have any speculation on whether or not the family suites in the value resorts will be included this year?? I sure hope so, I have one booked. Also, how is it checking in very late...our flight lands in Orlando at 9:43p.m.

That's not a late check-in. 2:00 am is late. You should be there before 11:00-ish. There shouldn't be much of a line to check-in.

Anne

 

[CanadianGuy]

If you are the slightest bit worried about your arrival time - you can call and let them know what time you'll be arriving.

Your room should be guaranteed until 6am the day following your scheduled check-in.

 

[Sammie]

Knox,

What I've been told is that there will be less packages this year than last year for two reasons. One is that they already ahve more rooms booked during that period this year than they did last year, so there's simply not as much of an incentive to fill rooms. The other is due to the overcrowding of a lot of the restaurants, which caused many people not on the dining plan to not be able to get reservations even months in advance. It was a huge sore spot for a lot of guests, and caused a huge number of complaints.

Anne

That is accurate info. I was told by someone that does work for Disney, in Dining management that "if" they offered free dining this year, it would be a for a much shorter time period, requirements for the package would possibly be changing and due to the over whelming response to the Dreams promotion, fewer rooms to be offered simply because they did not have the availability to offer.

 

[ruthma]

Caresy:

We're all working on the idea that this is a similar promotion to last year with just a smaller available travel window.

Last year the free dining packages did not sell out (or come close apparently) in the first booking window and then it was extended a few more weeks... so Disney could sell MORE free dining packages.

So, even IF Disney were to reduce the number of rooms eligible for this promotion (which we have no indication of them doing I'd like to point out.. ) but even IF they did... it still seems fair to assume that it would be highly unlikely for ALL the packages to sell out in three days.. when it took an extended booking window of over 8 weeks last year before they closed the bookings.

It IS worth noting that some resorts (CSR at end of August) are showing no availability PERIOD even today, for some dates in the Free Dining period. Therefore it seems likely that getting free dining at ONE particular resort may be difficult no matter when you call ... if the resort is already significantly booked for your dates.

It is very easy to caught up in the whirlwind on these boards... But the reality is.. if you can be a little bit flexible with either your dates, or your resort, or even better, both -- the odds of you being shut out of this promotion are small. On the other hand, if you've got your heart set on free dining and a stay at POLY over Labor Day -- you may be disappointed already... even before the first free dining package is booked.

Flexibility is key.

Knox

Keep in mind that alot of rooms for FD have already been booked dur to the AUK and the Bounceback...

 

[Poohsmom]

Knox,

What I've been told is that there will be less packages this year than last year for two reasons. One is that they already ahve more rooms booked during that period this year than they did last year, so there's simply not as much of an incentive to fill rooms. The other is due to the overcrowding of a lot of the restaurants, which caused many people not on the dining plan to not be able to get reservations even months in advance. It was a huge sore spot for a lot of guests, and caused a huge number of complaints.

Anne

I wonder if there is less availability because so many people booked in anticipation of free dining being offered, even though it did not give them an advantage, because they would still have to change over to rooms with free dining. But there booking cut down on availability.

 

[clombardi]

The whole site is on a CMS. It's been built, tested, and is scheduled for a production push for Monday. They just need someone to be available to test once it's released. There should be no effect on the site today. My guess is that they run mirror production boxes with load balancing and can shut down one sprayer during a release until after the release is live, then do the same for the second box as they light the first box back up.

Anne

Anne~ Was that written in English? Just kidding! I really am glad that someone has a clue about such things. If left up to me, we'd be communicating with Disney using tiny messages strapped to the leg of a pigeon.

 

[frannn]

When the 40% offer was big news around these boards, the Movies was only available for preferred rooms, and the Music & Sports were available for standard and preferred. Do you think the Movies will be excluded or severly limited due to it's popularity?

 

[CanadianGuy]

I haven't heard it will not be included.

I imagine it will.

Knox

 

[CarolA]

The whole site is on a CMS. It's been built, tested, and is scheduled for a production push for Monday. They just need someone to be available to test once it's released. There should be no effect on the site today. My guess is that they run mirror production boxes with load balancing and can shut down one sprayer during a release until after the release is live, then do the same for the second box as they light the first box back up.

Anne

Anne,
You just devestated me. As BAD as that site works they actually Test????? (Have they tried VOLUME testing? LOL!)

 

[DonaldTDuck]

Who cares where you sleep when you can play and eat in the parks all day. And last year I booked on June 11 and got in. We were at AS-Sports and it was quiet as a---well, you know.

 

[mking624]

Anne,
You just devestated me. As BAD as that site works they actually Test????? (Have they tried VOLUME testing? LOL!)

 

[First timer]

Free dining begins on 8/26/07 so you would have to make two reservations -- one from 8/22 - 8/26 without free DDP and the other from 8/26 - 8/29 with free DDP.

Oh, thank you kindly.