Free Dining Oct-Dec Is Here!!

[plutospalforever]

hi!! everything you said totally makes sense to me - I think my TA is the one who just doesn't "get it".

But if I'm getting a better discount by using AAA than I would with the free dining then I'll just keep everything the way it is - we've been paying off our Disney trip for a while now and our last payment is July 31 then it's done yippee!

I think my big issue this time around is in 2011 we stayed at POFQ and was able to go through AAA and get the FDP. Is it safe for me to assume that because we're staying at a deluxe resort that is where my confusion lies? If we stayed somewhere less expensive we'd get FD for those days in late September/early October?

thank you for helping me

Yep, you're gonna have to price out all the options. For comparison, the RO for the current deal is 30% for bay/garden view at CR. To figure out what price would be with free dining just go to WDW website and price out the room with tickets for the number of days staying; that would be your free dining price. But have to figure in that 1 RO night on the 28th.

When you booked before did you get a AAA discount and free dining??? If you did, then, yea!!!, but typically they do not allow both. Otherwise, you should be able to book any resort with AAA. And if you have paid off your trip, Disney will refund the amount of the discount on your form of payment; they say it may take up to 2 billing cycles to see it on your credit card, however. Feel free to ask more questions! We love talking Disney stuff!

 

[Kat016]

Yeah I don't like having to always wonder if someone else is actually calling and making the right changes. I've always enjoyed the booking of hotels and dining to be an exciting part of my vacation experience.

Me too....if I'm planning it than I know exactly what I'm getting. And if there's any changes to be made, they'll be done correctly.

 

[AwayWeGo]

I think some of the worry comes from 2 of us who had POFQ booked for the first week of December. When we were able to apply FD to those reservations, we had to change locations as there were no rooms that qualified during that time frame at POFQ.

Hopefully, there will be plenty of rooms at the locations everyone is hoping for. I'll keep my fingers crossed for all.

Yes, probably in seeing my post were I switched was misleading.
Sorry!
I had a res at POFQ, but received a PIN via pixie dust by a CM, not the FD offer to come out on Aug 1st.
So I booked that, but the PIN technically had came out in May so it's been awhile for other people who received PINs to book.
On the dates I am scheduled (1st week of Dec...not showing to be scheduled for FD offer) the POFQ was booked.
Who knows...they may open up rooms at POFQ for those dates and put those dates into the FD offer. Anything is possible.

Hope that helps clear it up, and I didn't make it even more confusing.

 

[houstonmama]

I just need 1 more post to hit 10 and then maybe it will stop limiting me from doing things like quoting people with website links and etc so here it is. #10

Congrats!!

 

[babydoll65]

Tell me if this makes sense. I know I will need to make a ro ress on 11/10. If I go on disneys web site now it shows that the room category I'm in ( POR standard room with roll in shower) is not available at this time. I'm expecting that a ro discount will come on or soon after the fd promo hits on 7/29 or gp 8/1. Wouldn't it make sense that rooms would open up due to the fact not everyone is looking for fd but upgrading from value to mod or mod to delux leaving some people changing resort's as they apply there ro discounts. I'm sure there are people staying at POR who have made ress in the hope of a good ro discount in order to upgrade to a delux.

 

[JenniD44]

The leak of the dates yesterday led me on quite the emotional journey. It kind of looked like this :
and finally,

I booked our airfare on Southwest. No change fees - I wonder what the fare difference would be? I was THRILLED to find that if we changed our dates to 11/16 - 11/24, only two weeks earlier than planned, we would actually save $70 on our airfare. I called to see what the price of an identical package would be for that time frame, and it was available (POFQ) and the same price. AMAZING. I then called to see what kind of ADR's I could possibly get, and lo and behold, I found almost everything I wanted, with the exception of Be our Guest and Ohana dinner. BOG I can at least ensure a lunch at, and I got in for breakfast at Ohana, and will keep trying. I still got pre-park ressies at CRT and Tusker House, dinner at Chef Mickey's, Garden Grill, Chefs de France (at the Remy time) a fantasmic dinner package at MM, and Pirate's League reservations for my kiddos. All in all, it worked out to be a no brainer to make the change, so we did!

As disappointed as I was yesterday, I am SO grateful that I had the chance to get a head start on making the change, because we really couldn't stay onsite without some kind of signficant discount. Thanks so much for keeping us informed. It is much appreciated!

Now I only have 13 days of anxious waiting to book the DV FD promo and no FOR SURE that our dates are included. I kept all our other ressies in place, just in case we want to switch back, but I'm feeling pretty solid in these new plans. Honestly, I just can't wait to have it all set in stone so I can stop thinking about it for a while and just look forward to our vacation.

Congrats to everyone who got good news yesterday, and good luck to those, who like me, was disappointed. I hope all of you have truly magical trips!

I'm still working my way through this thread, but I love this post! I went through pretty much the same emotions. I too am/was planning to go the 1st week of December. We have gone several times this week and gotten free dining. The reason I like to make the reservation early is in order to make my dining reservations, but I do understand that when people do this, it books up the rooms and the likelihood of free dining goes down. Of course, I never get PIN codes either. I was okay with not having free dining, until the PIN offer came out and now it bothers me to not be able to get the free dining like others--I know silly really.

Originally this time we were going to go the week of Thanksgiving, but when the crowd calendar came out, I decided to go back to our usual week, the week after Thanksgiving. But now that it looks like we can get free dining for Thanksgiving week (although this makes no sense to me), I think I'm willing to brave the crowds and do it. My moment. I looked into ADRs and was able to get everything except BOG, so like others, we will do lunch there instead. The times aren't quite as good as what I had, but to save almost $1,500, we will deal.

 

[mggeary]

Do POFQ standard or POR preferred rooms tend to have very limited or no FD availability? Want to have a plan C ready if this is the case.

 

[DisDad10]

Hi. I am new to this so this is my 1st post. Sorry if someone has asked this. We haven't been to Disney World since 1996 so we don't know how this free dining works. We are staying at French Quarter 12/6-12/13/13. So if they do offer the free dining December 12 - 22 would we be able to get it for our entire stay? How does that work? Thanks so much for your help.

 

[smitch425]

Hi. I am new to this so this is my 1st post. Sorry if someone has asked this. We haven't been to Disney World since 1996 so we don't know how this free dining works. We are staying at French Quarter 12/6-12/13/13. So if they do offer the free dining December 12 - 22 would we be able to get it for our entire stay? How does that work? Thanks so much for your help.

Unfortunately, you will not be eligible for free dining for any part of your stay. Free dining is based solely on your check in date. The check in date must be a covered date in order for you to get free dining for your stay. If your dates are not flexible, your best bet is to see if the rumored room discount will help you when it is released. Best of luck to you!

 

[Fivemuggles]

Ordered my Disney debit card today- assuming it arrives in time, the debit card counts for early booking, correct? Or only the actual visa?

 

[blo2002]

Just an observation - I think we're seeing the effect of "booked and hoping for free dining". This debate comes up occasionally. If you book a room, then Disney won't need to give discounts, the resorts are booked enough already. Alternately, there may not be enough rooms booked to matter in the overall scheme of things.

I think you are correct about this. My aunt used to work for Disney and said if it was projected to have a low crowd they would come up with a last minute discount to get people in. Usually releasing it about 3 to 6 months out. This was a little over 10 years ago.

We had no choice or flexibility with dates. This is the only time my DH will be home for more than 3 days in a row and we are taking all 6 days he is off in Disney. So no discount means rack rate for us, a discount will just be added magic.

 

[tracydeech]

Ordered my Disney debit card today- assuming it arrives in time, the debit card counts for early booking, correct? Or only the actual visa?

I'm pretty sure both count. I just got mine in the mail last week! takes about a week to get it. Only thing I don't like about the debit card is you have to keep $1500 in it in order to not get the $12 fee!!!

 

[kddisney502]

Ordered my Disney debit card today- assuming it arrives in time, the debit card counts for early booking, correct? Or only the actual visa?

Both the credit & debit card can be used for early booking. Just have it ready when you call. You will have to pay the down payment with that card.

 

[blo2002]

Good to know about Feb! ). My kids r out of school for 3 weeks in Feb (yikes) and of course I am trying to already plan another trip before I even have this one. Lol

Also the UCA High School Cheerleading Nationals are February 8th and 9th in 2014. Most Arrive on that Thursday and stay thru the following Tuesday. Avoid the All-Star resorts as well as Caribbean Beach. That is where UCA blocks the rooms for participants. I will be there but booked separate from the school since I plan on extending my trip. Also the parks aren't pleasant on Thursday and Friday in the evening since the Cheerleaders practice all day and are set free in the parks at night. My DH refuses to come with us because of the teenage takeover.

 

[summerlady]

Do POFQ standard or POR preferred rooms tend to have very limited or no FD availability? Want to have a plan C ready if this is the case.

I was able to get POFQ standard when I booked FD for my week in Sept., don't know how it's gonna be with the new FD offer, though.

 

[Fivemuggles]

Both the credit & debit card can be used for early booking. Just have it ready when you call. You will have to pay the down payment with that card.

Thanks!! We are already booked actually, through a TA... But I've been buying the Disney gift cards at target and paying with those. Wonder how that'll work? Maybe we can just make a small payment with the debit card on FD day?

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

Our thing with POR is that is just about the only place we can afford to stay.

As a family of 5, we depend on the AB section of POR.

We dont need 2 value rooms, the AoA is too pricy for a value, and Deluxe is out of our budget.

So, that leaves us with POR, we always book a preferred room. We've booked a non-preferred once, and that was enough to get DH to agree to the preferred charge.

 

[Holly Quinlan]

I'm pretty sure both count. I just got mine in the mail last week! takes about a week to get it. Only thing I don't like about the debit card is you have to keep $1500 in it in order to not get the $12 fee!!!

I have never received a fee and I never keep that much money on the account, does this change from state to state ?

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[Fivemuggles]

I'm pretty sure both count. I just got mine in the mail last week! takes about a week to get it. Only thing I don't like about the debit card is you have to keep $1500 in it in order to not get the $12 fee!!!

Hmmm- when I called they didn't mention a fee at all! He just kept trying to get me to shut down my regular chase debit and only have the Disney one- "because it's FREE!"
Now that I think of it though, I remember reading on here one time you have to either have a certain amount in there, or have direct deposit? Not sure, ill try to look it up. Hopefully the 1500 thing is wrong because I don't keep that much in there! But I do have direct deposit from my paychecks.

 

[KathieSmallwood]

I have reservations for BLT on October 27th - November 3rd. Does any type of room at BLT get free dining? Or only certain rooms?