Free Dining Oct-Dec Is Here!!

[MickeyMomTo2]

We'll it's hard to say for sure what rooms will be available for the offer during your visit. (only Disney really knows)

The murphy bed at POR is ONLY available in the Alligator Bayou rooms, so this limits your choices even more. All of the AB rooms are preferred rooms, so you'll be guaranteed a AB room by booking the preferred category. Otherwise, you can only put in a request to be in a AB room and this is not guaranteed.

I looked online for the week you're going (oct 19-27) and there are NO preferred rooms available. So I would assume that there won't be any available for FD.

Oh one more thing, do not book a Royal Room at POR, they are only located in the Mansions (not AB, so no murphy bed). Also, if you keep your current reservation (standard room) put a request to be in an Alligator Bayou room on your reservation.

I don't think that all AB rooms are preferred, but all preferred rooms are in AB. So, you can get a different room category in AB, but the only way to guarantee that you will be in AB is to pay for preferred (you can request AB when booking a different category, but there are no guarantees with requests).

 

[kddisney502]

I don't think that all AB rooms are preferred, but all preferred rooms are in AB. So, you can get a different room category in AB, but the only way to guarantee that you will be in AB is to pay for preferred (you can request AB when booking a different category, but there are no guarantees with requests).

Yes, you're right, I said that wrong. All preferred rooms are in AB, but they can book another category room (garden, standard, etc) and request a AB room. I'll update my first post

 

[AwayWeGo]

Does anyone know what the average wait time to talk with a CM will be on July 29th? I am a teacher and it is my first day back at school? Not sure if I should try to call or just let someone else do it.

If it were me I would let someone else call. The 1st day back at school with kids can be very easy to get tied up and not be able to call til later than you wanted. You could be on the phone for an hour after your call is answered just getting all the details of booking. Esp if you need to make changes due to booked rooms/resorts etc. Now if its an inservice day you could swing that. Good luck!

 

[LINYMOM]

A CM I spoke to said they never have a set amount of FD. Anyone can get it.

 

[smitch425]

A CM I spoke to said they never have a set amount of FD. Anyone can get it.

The CM was wrong. They only set aside a certain number of rooms at each resort for any type of deal they offer. Rooms for the deals often sell out even though there is still plenty of availability at the resort. Some room types are completely excluded, such as the LM rooms at AoA.

 

[ausmum]

Sorry I am a bit confused. I am a first timer to Dis from Australia and about to go on our first trip to Disneyworld arriving October 2.

We have already booked a theme park tower room at CR with regular dining and park tickets (magic my way).

Can I be a pain and ask a couple of questions?

Am I correct that we will be eligible for free dining for the whole trip (1 week)?

And if we email our booking agent on Aug 1 does that mean we will automatically be able to upgrade to get the free dining as we already have a room booked?

After reading some of the posts I am a bit worried about there only being a handful of rooms this applies to and us not being able to get in the queue quick enough due to time differences etc.

Thank you in advance

 

[saraelizabethpearl]

I have not officially booked with Disney yet for my planned dates of 10/24-10/30. I was going to wait until the deals were released to the public.

Do you guys think I should book now and then add my deal? Sorry, I'm new and this is my first trip that I'm planning.

Also, I was going to stay at a value resort, I don't have a preference really, but is there a specific room I should attempt to book that will give me a better chance at a deal?

I'm not sure if I'm going to take advantage of FD or room discount, basically I'm just waiting to see what's available, but now I'm nervous I will miss out. :/

 

[RCSpur]

I am going to be there November 1-6 to celebrate my son's one year birthday and his one year anniversary of life saving heart surgery...

Will the free dining cover the entire trip? We are staying at Pop Century and plan to upgrade to the table and counter service plan.

 

[sjs314]

I am going to be there November 1-6 to celebrate my son's one year birthday and his one year anniversary of life saving heart surgery...

Will the free dining cover the entire trip? We are staying at Pop Century and plan to upgrade to the table and counter service plan.

Yes your entire stay will be covered for FD since you are checking in on Nov 1

 

[ALD85]

I don't think that all AB rooms are preferred, but all preferred rooms are in AB. So, you can get a different room category in AB, but the only way to guarantee that you will be in AB is to pay for preferred (you can request AB when booking a different category, but there are no guarantees with requests).

All preferred rooms are in AB. But not all AB rooms are preferred.

But the only way to guarantee an AB room is to book preferred. AB is not a booking category. Unless there are 5 people in your room (being there are no infants they don't count) you will get AB.

 

[Letsbgoofy]

The CM was wrong. They only set aside a certain number of rooms at each resort for any type of deal they offer. Rooms for the deals often sell out even though there is still plenty of availability at the resort. Some room types are completely excluded, such as the LM rooms at AoA.

I second what Smitch said, this is not correct information that the CM gave you.

Do you guys think I should book now and then add my deal?

Booking now does not give you any better of a chance at getting the resort and room type that you want with FD. In fact, it just makes your resort choice look more limited when Disney is allocating the number of rooms for the FD promotion.

 

[prettypatchesmsu]

Unless I'm missing something not available to you...you don't need to visit a physical Chase bank in order to apply for the Chase Disney Visa. You can apply online: https://creditcards.chase.com/a1/disney_classic/chasecomdisney?CELL=648T

Sorry, I was not very clear that I was also talking about the debit card. We only have one credit card that we pay totally off when used and have no interest in having another at this point. If we visited Disney more then it might be something we would consider. But we cannot afford to go very often. We've been saving 3 years for the trip we are taking this year. If we had a Chase bank in town, then I would switch banks to have the debit card. But we do not have one anywhere near where we are located.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Booking now does not give you any better of a chance at getting the resort and room type that you want with FD. In fact, it just makes your resort choice look more limited when Disney is allocating the number of rooms for the FD promotion.

This is very true. I had reserved my vacation at POFQ. Yesterday when I called and received the FD PIN the resort was booked. Even though my name was on one of the rooms at POFQ, my name was not on one of the rooms set aside for FD vacationers. Therefore, I had to choose another resort that did have rooms available with the FD. I did not know what I know now thanks to the Disney experts here. I had booked over 2 months ago and sat waiting for FD. It doesn't work that way though. Had my dates fallen right in sync with the FD offer once I called in to add it to my reservation I would have been told it was booked. Actually, doing what I did helped kick the 1st week of Dec off of the FD offer. So I shot myself in the foot...as well as others. You live, you learn and now I know for the future. Best of luck when you call in. Be up at 7am and keep positive thoughts.

 

[angelabrezovsky]

Mine too! I went and upgraded my debit card to the Disney Visa debit card in hopes of booking it earlier than the general public!

How do you do that?

 

[AwayWeGo]

Sorry I am a bit confused. I am a first timer to Dis from Australia and about to go on our first trip to Disneyworld arriving October 2.

We have already booked a theme park tower room at CR with regular dining and park tickets (magic my way).

Can I be a pain and ask a couple of questions?

Am I correct that we will be eligible for free dining for the whole trip (1 week)?

And if we email our booking agent on Aug 1 does that mean we will automatically be able to upgrade to get the free dining as we already have a room booked?

After reading some of the posts I am a bit worried about there only being a handful of rooms this applies to and us not being able to get in the queue quick enough due to time differences etc.

Thank you in advance

I'm no Disney expert but I think I can answer some of the questions for you. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
If your check in date is Oct 2 then you are included in the FD and it will cover your stay. They go by your check in date and your whole stay afterwords doesn't have to fall in solely in between the dates.
When you get the FD and go to make your reservation, your existing one doesn't factor in as far as availability. The room you have booked right now is a non-FD room. They will check to see if there are any FD rooms at CR available.
Can you call your agent? Maybe email her about calling for you before the 1st. That way she is sure to have read your email before the day to call. She can be ready with your wishes. Best of luck to you!

 

[plutospalforever]

OK....How did you all leave me without me knowing? I am pretty sure my invitation to this new thread was lost or else there is some splanin' to do!

Your invitation definitely got lost!!! We would never leave you!!!

Does anyone know what the average wait time to talk with a CM will be on July 29th? I am a teacher and it is my first day back at school? Not sure if I should try to call or just let someone else do it.

For the Sept. free dining offer, so many called right at 7am and the time seemed to vary greatly. Some got their calls answered promptly and were done in 10-15 minutes. Others were on hold and calls lasted up to 1-1.5 hours. I know there were at least 3 people who were late getting their kids to school that day (anything for Disney and FD, right?) Also, the length of call depends on what the caller needs. When doing a whole booking or canceling a RO and rebooking can take a while; especially when the callers first room choice is not available and the CM has to begin searching for what is available. Just my 2 cents and good luck!!!!

 

[aaarcher86]

How do you do that?

Just go to a Chase location and tell them you want to do it. No charge. No extra fees.

I've seen some people do it over the phone but they told me I had to go in person. Worth a shot to call first.

 

[plutospalforever]

Sorry I am a bit confused. I am a first timer to Dis from Australia and about to go on our first trip to Disneyworld arriving October 2.

We have already booked a theme park tower room at CR with regular dining and park tickets (magic my way).

Can I be a pain and ask a couple of questions?

Am I correct that we will be eligible for free dining for the whole trip (1 week)?

And if we email our booking agent on Aug 1 does that mean we will automatically be able to upgrade to get the free dining as we already have a room booked?

After reading some of the posts I am a bit worried about there only being a handful of rooms this applies to and us not being able to get in the queue quick enough due to time differences etc.

Thank you in advance

Hi! and

Yes, arriving on the 2nd of October does qualify you for the free dining offer. Yea!!! However, already having a reservation does not automatically mean it will be applied. There are only so many rooms allocated at each resort for the offer, so your TA will need to call and have it applied. You will know on the 29th of July if the offer is live and I would call my TA to give them a heads up before the 1st of Aug. And just in case, I always give my TA a list of second and third choice of room category and resorts. It is not so much that free dining rooms will run out, folks biggest concern and reason they call first thing, is because they have their heart set on a certain resort and/or room category. Good luck and don't by shy asking questions. We love to talk Disney!!!!

 

[Flynnismine]

We are going Oct 19-26 so if the dates hold true, we'll be elig for FD. My question is I saw mentioned earlier in the thread that the FD offer is very limited for POR standard view rooms, is that also true for the POR RGR-standard view rooms? Just curious if I'll need to upgrade to a RGR-garden or pool view in order to get FD. Thanks in advance for your replies.

 

[Greenfield1984]

We are going Oct 19-26 so if the dates hold true, we'll be elig for FD. My question is I saw mentioned earlier in the thread that the FD offer is very limited for POR standard view rooms, is that also true for the POR RGR-standard view rooms? Just curious if I'll need to upgrade to a RGR-garden or pool view in order to get FD. Thanks in advance for your replies.

Those are the exact same dates as our trip and I have FD booked with a pin code. With the pin code there are no rooms available at POR at all (i mean none left when i booked). We have to stay at CSR instead. Hopefully when they release FD to the general public they'll open up a few more rooms at POR.