Free Dining Oct-Dec Is Here!!

[black562]

I LOVE the poly. We're staying at POR this time because my mother loves New Orleans so this is where we ended up. But I made sure that we got Kona cafe two times for breakfast. We all need to keep positive about the room availability. I'm sure on fd day we will all get what we want.

Poly is my absolute favorite. Walt built it because of his love of Hawaii and Polynesia. He enjoyed vacationing there a lot.

 

[michigandergirl]

Sorry I haven't had a chance to read thru this whole thread, so I apologize for any repeat questions. Is this free dining information solid? Where is this leak coming from? I have been away from the DIS for a few days and holy moly this is blowing my mind!

We have a reservation for Thanksgiving week arriving on 11/23, so we would have free dining for the whole week, right? When is the announcement for disney visa cardholders, the 29th?

DH and I were seriously considering rescheduling our trip for spring break, but with this news we may not have to! And I've been watching flight $ for weeks now and now those are coming down too. I am beyond excited!

 

[babydoll65]

Poly is my absolute favorite. Walt built it because of his love of Hawaii and Polynesia. He enjoyed vacationing there a lot.

This will be the first time at POR. From the pictures iv seen the place looks pretty big. I don't care so much about location since I love to walk and would rather not be near a pool due to the noise .

 

[chocolateavocado]

Well those are my two dream resorts!!! Maybe someday when I have an adult trip or some of the kids get older and can't make it, or I win the lottery! Right now we need two rooms or a suite/villa; I will keep dreamin! Have fun! It sounds like a magical vacation!!!

I know...I'm really excited, but honestly this is really a HUGE splurge for us. That's why when I heard there may be free dining- well, that would just make it a whole lot easier. This will be our 1st vacation in 3 years anywhere- I was really sick for 2 years and had to spend some time at hospitals in Philadelphia for testing & evals- so we really had no time or money to do much of anything else. My conditions (all gi related/digestive disorders) are under control now. It made me realize, we really do need to live each day & not put everything (like disney & vacations) off for "someday"....

That being said, we are by no means wealthy- I'm a sahm; I used to sell part on ebay- ds satrted full day kindergarten this past yaer- I started selling full time on ebay- and well, basically that's what's paying for our Disney trip!

 

[GSUJillybean]

Ok, so it looks like a referb is beginning at CBR and will also include queen beds....finally.

I LOVE it! Cannot wait to try it on the next trip!

Also, you know what burns my toast? We have two grownups, a 5 year old, and a baby. The ideal option for us would be a king room in POR AB-- me and DH in the king, DS in the tiny bed, and DD in her PnP. But that's not an option.

 

[plutospalforever]

Poly is my absolute favorite. Walt built it because of his love of Hawaii and Polynesia. He enjoyed vacationing there a lot.

As a child, we only stayed at Contemporary (or off site), but I ALWAYS wanted to stay at Poly; perhaps that is why I am obsessed with staying there.

I considered staying there with 5 plus toddler (price not that much different than AoA), but you don't realize how much stuff and space those little guys take up!

 

[babydoll65]

Sorry I haven't had a chance to read thru this whole thread, so I apologize for any repeat questions. Is this free dining information solid? Where is this leak coming from? I have been away from the DIS for a few days and holy moly this is blowing my mind!

We have a reservation for Thanksgiving week arriving on 11/23, so we would have free dining for the whole week, right? When is the announcement for disney visa cardholders, the 29th?

DH and I were seriously considering rescheduling our trip for spring break, but with this news we may not have to! And I've been watching flight $ for weeks now and now those are coming down too. I am beyond excited!

If your room category covers it then YES would get fd for your entire vacation. It's looking like dv for the 29th gp 8/1

 

[chocolateavocado]

I LOVE the poly. We're staying at POR this time because my mother loves New Orleans so this is where we ended up. But I made sure that we got Kona cafe two times for breakfast. We all need to keep positive about the room availability. I'm sure on fd day we will all get what we want.

I bet you will have a FANTASTIC time!! I still go back & forth between the Poly & Beach Club- BC's pool looks so amazing and the rooms look so bright & airy. I'll be super happy with either one!! If I had more days (can't keep ds out of school too many days & the school holiday/days off aren't included in the promo) I'd probably like to spend a day or 2 at AKL, too.

 

[Mindy5767]

Sorry I haven't had a chance to read thru this whole thread, so I apologize for any repeat questions. Is this free dining information solid? Where is this leak coming from? I have been away from the DIS for a few days and holy moly this is blowing my mind!

We have a reservation for Thanksgiving week arriving on 11/23, so we would have free dining for the whole week, right? When is the announcement for disney visa cardholders, the 29th?

DH and I were seriously considering rescheduling our trip for spring break, but with this news we may not have to! And I've been watching flight $ for weeks now and now those are coming down too. I am beyond excited!

With free dining, the usual restriction is that you need to check-in during the promo period, but the free dining can extend for the length of your stay. Room-only discounts however, are priced day by day, so with those, you'd be discounted only for the days that fall during the promo. And remember, all these discount pools are separate until Disney themselves moves rooms between them, so if you're already booked in one pool, that does not guarantee you'll be able to get the same room from another discount pool. they don't convert the room your already booked it to the discount. They give you a room designated for that discount. If room bookings are slower than expected, they'll move more rooms into a given discount pool.

 

[black562]

This will be the first time at POR. From the pictures iv seen the place looks pretty big. I don't care so much about location since I love to walk and would rather not be near a pool due to the noise .

You'll love POR as well. I've stayed there five times and love it each time I go. Be sure to catch Yeehaw Bob one evening.

 

[babydoll65]

I bet you will have a FANTASTIC time!! I still go back & forth between the Poly & Beach Club- BC's pool looks so amazing and the rooms look so bright & airy. I'll be super happy with either one!! If I had more days (can't keep ds out of school too many days & the school holiday/days off aren't included in the promo) I'd probably like to spend a day or 2 at AKL, too.

When are you thinking about going? I'm pulling my son out for four days (the week following veteran's day) were arriving on the 10th looking for a ro ress then starting my pkg on the 11th in the hopes of adding fd on 7/29

 

[babydoll65]

You'll love POR as well. I've stayed there five times and love it each time I go. Be sure to catch Yeehaw Bob one evening.

What nights is he playing?

 

[MOpGrad2013]

So so excited for the free dining. Unfortunately the onsite rack rates are going to cause my vacation budget to go up quite a bit over the offsite, and we were taking off a night of stay. We'll have to leave our space open for someone else.

Enjoy the food!

 

[black562]

What nights is he playing?

His schedule is on his website. Just google bob Jackson.

 

[AwayWeGo]

We have only stayed in the AllStarMusic family suite at previous trips.
It's 4 of us...the hubs and I, and we have 2 children.
It had a separate bedroom with a queen bed, and then the living room couch pulls out to a (I think it's a king size) bed. Both of my children sleep on it together with plenty of "kickin" room. They are the size of a 12 and 10yr old. There is also a large chair that pulls out into I would say the size of a twin, maybe a smidge wider.
There is also a kitchenette which is nice, and TWO bathrooms which make getting ready and showers very nice.

We wanted to stay at a different resort this year, so we will be in the pirate room at CBR.

Just wanted to let everyone with a family of 5 know that room is a possibility. The rooms are only at the Music though.

Also, when I booked CBR I asked the CM if the beds were queen and he said yes...but I'm reading on here they are not. Did I get a misinformed CM?

 

[WDW1979]

Free dining will be extended beyond September.

...

A two day minimum park ticket is required for each person in the party.

...

I am considering a one-week late summer WDW trip and a two-week Christmas WDW trip. A set of 6-day passes for the summer trip and a set of 10-day passes for the Christmas trip will set us back about as much as annual passes, so I am interested in getting annual passes even though I want to book free dining for the end of December which would require the purchase of a 2-day pass for each person in the room. A benefit of getting APs (in addition to built in park-hopping) is that we could also use the annual passes next March break or in summer 2014.

If I purchase annual passes now and book the free dining package but not use the 2-day passes that are part of the package until a much later trip (when I would upgrade them with more days), do the 2-day passes remain valid indefinitely as long as they are not used?

If I decide to use annual passes in lieu of the 2-day tickets when I am in Disney in December as part of free dining, would there be a way to avoid accidentally using the 2-day tickets such as getting our annual passes put on the wristbands and placing the unused 2-day passes on some sort of other media for future use?

 

[HBGdancermom]

We are currently booked 10/19/13 thru 10/27/13 at the AKL Club Level. Does anyone know if they offer FD ever in the club level rooms?

We have the Disney Visa Debit card so will definitely be trying to get this if at all possible on the 29th. Every little bit helps.

I don't know from personal experience, but I believe they do if there is availability.

OMG!!!! How did I miss this news and thread over the last few days? And how did I not see this until it got to page 68?

Thanks so much Black562! You made my day. If the FD was going to go by the PIN dates, then I would have had to check in on Halloween and my kids already said they didn't want to miss trick or treating at home. Yay!

Was wondering wher you have been!!

 

[Mindy5767]

I am considering a one-week summer WDW trip and a two-week Christmas WDW trip. A set of 6-day passes for the summer trip and a set of 10-passes for the Christmas trip will set us back about as much as annual passes, so I am interested in getting annual passes even though I want to book free dining for the end of December which would require the purchase of a 2-day pass for each person in the room.

If I was to purchase annual passes now and book the free dining package but not use the 2-day passes that are part of the package until a much later trip (when I would upgrade them with more days), do the 2-day passes remain valid indefinitely as long as they are not used?

If I decide to use annual passes in lieu of the 2-day tickets when I am in Disney in December as part of free dining, would there be a way to avoid accidentally using the 2-day tickets such as getting our annual passes put on the wristbands and placing the unused 2-day passes on some sort of other media for future use?

Yes, you can save the 2 day tickets. They've always been good indefinitely as long as you don't use them. I'd have guest relations un-bundle them from your KTTW card, or wrist band or whatever media you have..so they're separate. My AP is on a hard plastic RFID card and I don't have any plans to put it on a wrist band. Not my thing.

 

[chocolateavocado]

When are you thinking about going? I'm pulling my son out for four days (the week following veteran's day) were arriving on the 10th looking for a ro ress then starting my pkg on the 11th in the hopes of adding fd on 7/29

Since I have to take my son out of school, my dates are pretty open. I originally had the BC booked for the last wk in Sept (dh's 40th bday) w/ free dining but quickly realized there's no way I'd handle the heat- and while we knew we'd lose free dining- we booked 1 less night to somewhat make up for it- because what's the use in going at all if you're going to be sick in the heat. we decided to go a little later. I changed the reservation to 11/6-11/11 - bc wasn't available so we booked the poly. Now that free dining is going to be available- we can do almost anything- he'll prob have to miss 4 days of school, too. I hope it won't be too much of a problem. He's only going into 1st grade. Last yr tons of kids in kindergarten class were off for a week for vacation. I asked his kindergarten teacher the end of the yr if there'd be a prob w/ me booking and him missing a few days & she said not at all- go ahead & book it....so I'm pretty sure the 4 days off should be good.

11/4 is our 13th wedding anniversary (altho dh & i have been together 22 years this past May- lol- i feel sooo old now!) and 11/18 is my 40th b-day. Anytime in Nov would be good.

 

[carlys13]

Hi! I'm new so I apologize if this has been addressed already (probably several times lol) but I have never been able to retrieve dining reservations on the disney website to cancel them or view them or anything. I had the same problem last year and the year before, I always get the message that they are unable to retrieve reservations at this time, try again later. 3 years later you would think that's long enough!
Anybody else have this issue? Happens no matter what computer I try it from!