Free Dining Oct-Dec Is Here!! Dates Confirmed!!! ~ Part 2

[Shanna-like-Banana]

Did you not bother to read this post just a few above yours that was unnecessarily harsh and ridiculous? I'm double booked. My other room is at POFQ which is not under FD and only has a tiny RO discount. Most of us are in a similar situation. There is no need for us all to crash the phone lines again today.

uumm, excuse me ?

No, I did not wade through the pages and pages of postings.

And, you very well know that at the exact same time your writing your response, that another person is posting something at the exact same time and it's luck of the draw who hits SUMBIT and in what order they are posting.

And as I cleared stated, this is simply what the CM said. I was quoting her, so feel free to call Disney and complain to them

And, as I stated in my previous post that I waited less than a min ! Or did you not read that ?

The point of my post was that the CM's remain positive that more rooms may be added back in.

 

[dmoore718]

So as we awake on this much less crazy morning, how does everyone feel about their vacation at this point?

After this week-long ordeal that seemed to last an eternity, did anyone learn anything valuable that they'll remember for the next time? Something that you should or should not have done?

I've learned to never anticipate, rely, or at this point expect the Disney Visa early booking perk. Last night, while chatting, I was looking down my blog and came upon the free dining posts from 2010. The "leak" date was May 3 and I had posted the DV should be available "on or around May 1" (I like that phrasing better looking back). While the May 3rd date was correct as leaked, the DV actually dropped on April 29...it came early. This was before there was really any kind of rhyme or reason for the DV date in relation to the GP date.


So after looking back at that, I realized that it's twice the DV has become quite unreliable, and now not always even offered at all. Of course, there were no complaints that it came early, as bookings went very smooth and calm as word slowly got out, everyone got what they wanted, and everyone was happy.

What have you learned?

I am a TA, work from home. I am going to advise my clients in the future that we should book a 2nd reservation with the FD online and then I'll call, when it's less crazy to cancel the original one. That way, I can do it right away at 7am and not risk waiting hours on hold only for the availability to be gone at their resort.

 

[sweetnjmom]

I agree with your overall point...not the way it is being delivered though.

I think WDWPlanner is really referring to those who are using TA's. Yesterday we saw on here a LOT of people who just couldn't be patient enough to wait to hear from their TA and went online and booked their own FD room. Those ressie's have to be cancelled...either the FD one they did on their own or the FD on the TA made...either way there is a FD room waiting in the wind and wasted. Those poeple really should be getting in the phone ASAP to cancel. Even if it involves waiting on hold for a few hours. It's called the cost of inpatience!

Sorry...really don't mean to flame anyone...but I see WDWPlanner's point!

FWIW, I'm on hold now trying to cancel.

 

[OHBelle]

Thanks to these boards we were able to get FD for our trip in October. While I would have liked to have stayed at POR that was not meant to be this trip. We have had rooms booked at POP with the dining plan since December, as we were going regardless of any discounts. I'm thrilled that even with upgrading from the Quick Service plan to the regular Dining plan, our group saved $1631. Since I am paying for three of the four rooms, the savings for me is $1167! More money for the Food and Wine Festival! So excited to turn 50 in Disney!

After hearing a few complaints about some TA's, I have say we were very lucky. Ours worked very hard for us and kept me in the loop all day.

 

[emsmommy323]

Anyone else notice that the Cabins at Fort Wilderness are now a part of the Dining Plan?

 

[Dancegrl624]

Spent another hour on hold this morning, but I was able to save my clients even more money. I was so happy that POR had availability for a Standard room from Nov 11-14...saved more money than the All-Star Music suite with upgraded dining. Yay! Families of 5 are always tricky..but don't lose hope! Keep checking back if you didn't get what you wanted/needed.

 

[chester629]

For those who are upset by people who ended up with multiple reservations and needing to cancel one, please keep in mind that USUALLY the one needing to be cancelled was NOT one with a discount or free dining. So the double bookings were not taking any of the discounted rooms out of the pool (minus the one people intended to use.)

I admit I did have a FD room I had to cancel (and tried to get on the phone to do it immediately, although it took me EIGHT hours to get through on the phone to do it!) as my entire family decided to jump ship from the resort we were supposed to stay at in order to get free dining (I was the only one out of 4 who got free dining for the resort of our choice.)

My biggest concern with all this is that obviously this is a mess for Disney. They have rooms switching going on every which way and now clearly need to invest time back into reviewing what they have and don't have occupancy wise when the dust settles. I am worried that this mess will prove to be not worth it for them in the future and that they will change the rules next year on the FD promo. Either not do it at all, or make it a new ressie only deal...which would really hurt those who want to go regardless and are just trying to get a deal.

 

[MickeyMomTo2]

My biggest concern with all this is that obviously this is a mess for Disney. They have rooms switching going on every which way and now clearly need to invest time back into reviewing what they have and don't have occupancy wise when the dust settles. I am worried that this mess will prove to be not worth it for them in the future and that they will change the rules next year on the FD promo. Either not do it at all, or make it a new ressie only deal...which would really hurt those who want to go regardless and are just trying to get a deal.

If Disney would allow modifications online, they wouldn't have a problem. Disney does many things amazingly well. IT is not one of those things.

 

[chester629]

FWIW, I'm on hold now trying to cancel.

 

[CaraMiaBelle]

Anyone else notice that the Cabins at Fort Wilderness are now a part of the Dining Plan?

I'm not sure if they were before or not, but I am pricing them out. They would be about the same cost as POR for us without the FD discount, so not really a "deal", but a good back-up plan. Not sure if my DH will go for that though since it is not really cheaper. I'll have to work on him for that one. In the meantime, I'm going to give it time for the dust to settle and see if POR opens up still.

 

[chester629]

If Disney would allow modifications online, they wouldn't have a problem. Disney does many things amazingly well. IT is not one of those things.

SO true! Self mods online would be a simple answer. I can't believe they don't allow it!

 

[black562]

Hey guys, lets let cool heads prevail here alright? We don't want to start any attacks on anyone.

Folks were just doing whatever they thought they needed to in order to get the trip they wanted. I'm sure most will cancel extra bookings today and all will be well.

What's done is done...lets keep trying to get the resort you want!!!

 

[txwdwmom]

Hey guys..

Do you think it's unreasonable to email my TA again today? I emailed her Wednesday night about the fd and then yesterday morning telling her that I had heard it's crazy and to try Por if not, try Poly.

Like I have posted on here , I haven't heard from her since Wednesday Morning. I don't want to be a pest..but I have no idea if she got me a reservation...or if I should be trying to do it myself....or what the heck to do.

I know she is probably crazy busy...Do you think its ok to shoot her an email asking how its going...or should I just wait and see if I hear from her sometime today?

That's just unacceptable Whether she's on the phone trying or not, she owes it to her clients to update them. No contact in two days is wrong.

 

[Mom22girls56]

Hey guys, lets let cool heads prevail here alright? We don't want to start any attacks on anyone.

Folks were just doing whatever they thought they needed to in order to get the trip they wanted. I'm sure most will cancel extra bookings today and all will be well.

What's done is done...lets keep trying to get the resort you want!!!

Amen!

 

[4funwithmickey]

Anyone else notice that the Cabins at Fort Wilderness are now a part of the Dining Plan?

Hmm...just saw that. This is new, right? I wonder why the change?? Maybe complaints that families of 5 and greater have such limited options??

 

[black562]

Hmm...just saw that. This is new, right? I wonder why the change?? Maybe complaints that families of 5 and greater have such limited options??

Cabins were allowed in the past, it's the campsites that are excluded.

 

[4funwithmickey]

Cabins were allowed in the past, it's the campsites that are excluded.

Ohh gotcha! Thanks

 

[POROct2013]

I'm not sure if they were before or not, but I am pricing them out. They would be about the same cost as POR for us without the FD discount, so not really a "deal", but a good back-up plan. Not sure if my DH will go for that though since it is not really cheaper. I'll have to work on him for that one. In the meantime, I'm going to give it time for the dust to settle and see if POR opens up still.

Cara, I plugged in our dates for POR online this morning and it still wasn't available but they offered us the cabins. We don't want the cabins but I did want to confirm that they are available for some dates (our dates are in October).

You and I are in the same boat, I think. We have our reservation for POR for the RGR in October (I think you are going Nov though) and we are not giving up the POR RGR for anything. We have already paid for the DDP so if we don't get FD then so be it. The discount would be nice though if we can get it so we'll keep calling back in the hopes that we'll get it.

I hope you get it too. I'm crossing my fingers for you guys. I know what it is like to have your hearts set on a certain resort.

 

[CaraMiaBelle]

Cara, I plugged in our dates for POR online this morning and it still wasn't available but they offered us the cabins. We don't want the cabins but I did want to confirm that they are available for some dates (our dates are in October).

You and I are in the same boat, I think. We have our reservation for POR for the RGR in October (I think you are going Nov though) and we are not giving up the POR RGR for anything. We have already paid for the DDP so if we don't get FD then so be it. The discount would be nice though if we can get it so we'll keep calling back in the hopes that we'll get it.

I hope you get it too. I'm crossing my fingers for you guys. I know what it is like to have your hearts set on a certain resort.

Thanks, because there are 5 of us, switching to any other resort beside the Cabins (which are available for my dates as well) would put us above the original POR no free dining price, so nothing else really makes sense. I wish they had those rumored CBR rooms for 5 now! I'd switch to that in an instant! I do love POR though...I was there pre-kids, when it was Dixie Landings.

 

[samnbilly]

For those who are upset by people who ended up with multiple reservations and needing to cancel one, please keep in mind that USUALLY the one needing to be cancelled was NOT one with a discount or free dining. So the double bookings were not taking any of the discounted rooms out of the pool (minus the one people intended to use.)

I admit I did have a FD room I had to cancel (and tried to get on the phone to do it immediately, although it took me EIGHT hours to get through on the phone to do it!) as my entire family decided to jump ship from the resort we were supposed to stay at in order to get free dining (I was the only one out of 4 who got free dining for the resort of our choice.)

Maybe this is incorrect, but no matter whether the room was booked with a discount or not, don't you think the # of discounted rooms depend on availability @ such resort?
Even so, trying to call on the first day to cancel additional reservations just ties up the phone lines more. They do go back into rack rate, as far as I've ever heard, they don't go back into the discount pool?
I'm just saying, I think for the people that had multiple reservations, it bogged the phone lines down even more. Even today people were saying how they got thru rather quickly to a C.M., so would it have made a difference if the people with multiple reservations would have called today?