Free Dining Plan. A promotion for Fall visitors staying "on-site".

[sonnyjane]

Anyone have a code they would like to shaer with my family? We are going 9/28-10/2.

Thanks!

Unfortunately pin codes are non-transferable and are linked to the recipient's name.

 

[disneymom0104]

I look forward to hearing your thoughts disneymom. It sounds like you're doing some homework to make sure you don't "waste" any of the vouchers.

I'm curious what the difference is between the "rack" rate per night vrs. any "bargain" rates that might be available. Also curious on how much (per day) the vouchers are worth.

Thanks again.

The vouchers you receive are the same as if you paid out of pocket for them. For each night you stay each adult gets 1 "character" or table service voucher, good for $32 per person. Each child gets the same but their "Character" or table service voucher is good for $16. Then each adult gets one counter service voucher- this is good for $15, for children (9 and under) it is good for $10. Then each person gets 1 snack worth $5 each. So per day it is worth $52 per adult and $31 per child- if you used the maximum value every time. Character meals are below the maximum value (other than Ariel's Grotto and Goofy's Kitchen, but they only allow you to do one of those- and those cost more than $32 per adult- I think it is around $40 per adult)

So if you were staying 1 night with 2 adults/2 kids you would have a total of 4 character or table service vouchers, 4 counter service vouchers and 4 snack vouchers. If you were staying 5 nights (which was the max for this free dining promotion) you would get 20 total character/table vouchers, 20 counter service vouchers and 20 snack vouchers- each person is getting 5 of each (if you are there 5 nights) Hope that makes sense! Oh- tax and gratuity are included in the vouchers- which is no longer the case with WDW's dining plan- so that is nice and a bit more savings.

The rack room rate for Paradise Pier is $250 per night, DL Hotel is $315 per night and Grand Californian is $380 per night.

 

[Coconut36]

Darn..looks like we will just miss this promotion as we arrive 10/14!

 

[Halloweenqueen]

Unfortunately pin codes are non-transferable and are linked to the recipient's name.

Yes. That's why I'm confused that a PP posted that she used her MIL's pin.

 

[Hound 109]

The vouchers you receive are the same as if you paid out of pocket for them. For each night you stay each adult gets 1 "character" or table service voucher, good for $32 per person. Each child gets the same but their "Character" or table service voucher is good for $16. Then each adult gets one counter service voucher- this is good for $15, for children (9 and under) it is good for $10. Then each person gets 1 snack worth $5 each. So per day it is worth $52 per adult and $31 per child- if you used the maximum value every time. Character meals are below the maximum value (other than Ariel's Grotto and Goofy's Kitchen, but they only allow you to do one of those- and those cost more than $32 per adult- I think it is around $40 per adult)

So if you were staying 1 night with 2 adults/2 kids you would have a total of 4 character or table service vouchers, 4 counter service vouchers and 4 snack vouchers. If you were staying 5 nights (which was the max for this free dining promotion) you would get 20 total character/table vouchers, 20 counter service vouchers and 20 snack vouchers- each person is getting 5 of each (if you are there 5 nights) Hope that makes sense! Oh- tax and gratuity are included in the vouchers- which is no longer the case with WDW's dining plan- so that is nice and a bit more savings.

The rack room rate for Paradise Pier is $250 per night, DL Hotel is $315 per night and Grand Californian is $380 per night.

Fantastic info. Thanks for posting this DisneyMom.

I did the Math for a family of 4. Given your info above.....a family would get $212 in vouchers per night's stay. If the PP rack rate is $250 per night, what a no-brainer this is.


Further voucher questions:

Can one use the vouchers the day of check in AND the day of check out?

To take it a step further.....Can they use it the day AFTER check out (or 2 days after?)?

I know some would say that there's NO WAY my family could eat all that food.....but what if a family stayed a couple of extra nights at HOJOs (& used 2 days of vouchers over 4 days instead of 2 days?). Or say an extended family visited with 4 folks staying at the PP & the extra 2-3 staying over at Hojo's.....could a voucher or two be whipped out (at say the Carnation Cafe) to pay for all 7 meals?

 

[sandgrace]

Has anyone tried booking with someone else's code and been successful? The dates would work for us but we haven't received an email.

 

[pycees312]

ah man i need to find my pin code i got one in the mail but have no idea what i did with it.. sinc ei have an ap didn't give it much thought... uuggghh

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

I did the Math for a family of 4. Given your info above.....a family would get $212 in vouchers per night's stay. If the PP rack rate is $250 per night, what a no-brainer this is.

Further voucher questions:

Can one use the vouchers the day of check in AND the day of check out?

To take it a step further.....Can they use it the day AFTER check out (or 2 days after?)?

I know some would say that there's NO WAY my family could eat all that food.....but what if a family stayed a couple of extra nights at HOJOs (& used 2 days of vouchers over 4 days instead of 2 days?). Or say an extended family visited with 4 folks staying at the PP & the extra 2-3 staying over at Hojo's.....could a voucher or two be whipped out (at say the Carnation Cafe) to pay for all 7 meals?

I had an online chat over at the official Disney trip-planning site with one of the Cast Member reservation agents 10 days ago, and I had similar questions. If he was correct and I interpreted him correctly, then yes, you can use the vouchers as described. Essentially, because they aren't tied to your the dates of your hotel stay, he was trying to sell me on the idea that I could get, say, the two-day dining plan even if I booked four nights at PPH.

***My understanding for you WDW vets is that this is a BIG difference from the WDW dining plans that require that the number of nights in their hotels equals the number of days of dining plan you purchase. Yes?***

The vouchers then act like Disney dollars you can spend at the park restaurants, except that unlike normal cash, you don't ever get any change if you're buying less than the voucher's value. But yes, a $15 "adult CS meal" voucher should be able to purchase, say, two kids' meals at the Hungry Bear if you prefer.
The only thing he was not sure about were the $5 snack vouchers. Are they more strictly tied to snack vendors or could you use them at a sit-down restaurant to top up the $32 "adult character meal" voucher you want to spend at, say, Blue Bayou?

As ever, they are no good at the DTD options.

CAVEAT: All of the above is based on my online conversation with a travel CM. I have never tried any of this. I'm hoping some of you will soon have real experiences to share with us on how the vouchers worked (or didn't work) for your family's needs.

AJ

 

[skiingfast]

People have used the $15 and $5 vouchers at TS locations

They used the dollar value coupons and a character meal coupon to cover the cost of their TS.

The only thing he was not sure about were the $5 snack vouchers. Are they more strictly tied to snack vendors or could you use them at a sit-down restaurant to top up the $32 "adult character meal" voucher you want to spend at, say, Blue Bayou?

As I stated back a page, it's been done in the past.

 

[disneymom0104]

Fantastic info. Thanks for posting this DisneyMom.

I did the Math for a family of 4. Given your info above.....a family would get $212 in vouchers per night's stay. If the PP rack rate is $250 per night, what a no-brainer this is.


Further voucher questions:

Can one use the vouchers the day of check in AND the day of check out?

To take it a step further.....Can they use it the day AFTER check out (or 2 days after?)?

I know some would say that there's NO WAY my family could eat all that food.....but what if a family stayed a couple of extra nights at HOJOs (& used 2 days of vouchers over 4 days instead of 2 days?). Or say an extended family visited with 4 folks staying at the PP & the extra 2-3 staying over at Hojo's.....could a voucher or two be whipped out (at say the Carnation Cafe) to pay for all 7 meals?

The e-mail says the vouchers expire Dec. 31, 2011- so they don't seem to be tied to your reservation at all. The savings also depends on your family make-up. We have 2 adults, and a 9, 7 and 1 year old. So for us the "savings" is $166 per night. A lot of your questions seem to be about the vouchers in general- this is not a new thing at DL- you can purchase the vouchers at face value and have been able to for a long time. It is just a new promotion to offer them for free.

 

[dsny1mom]

This sounds like a wonderful option for those of us that stay on site! I would certainly take advantage of this type of free dinning pin code in the future.

There is no reason that this option wouldn't work at DLR. There are plenty of table service/character dinning locations and tons of counter service venues. I don't see how this could turn into the complicated mess that WDW offers because DLR has nowhere near the amount of on site rooms that DW does.

I look forward to hearing about how this works out for the OP. I rcvd and am using a $156 per night at PP pin for the end of Oct,. but would gladly have used the free dining pin if it was being offered the time I will be there.

dsny1mom

 

[Hound 109]

The e-mail says the vouchers expire Dec. 31, 2011- so they don't seem to be tied to your reservation at all.

.....A lot of your questions seem to be about the vouchers in general- this is not a new thing at DL- you can purchase the vouchers at face value and have been able to for a long time. It is just a new promotion to offer them for free.

Thanks for this information. The "DLR meal plan, voucher system" never made sense to me (when one paid dollar for dollar), so i never bothered to learn the details. But......if free or discounted.....now I'm interested.

Great to hear that one can use the vouchers AFTER checking out.

The savings also depends on your family make-up. We have 2 adults, and a 9, 7 and 1 year old. So for us the "savings" is $166 per night.

My math was wrong in my previous post. (I incorrectly came up with $212 per night stay) for a family of 4 (2 adults & 2 kids).

Revised Math:

- 2 adult character meal vouchers (2X32 = $64)
- 2 "kid" character meal vouchers (2X16 = $32)
- 2 adult CS vouchers (2X15 = $30)
- 2 kid CS vouchers (2X10 = $20)
- 4 Snacks (4X5 = $20)

So.....64 + 32 + 30 + 20 + 20 = $166 (per day for a family of 4)

Does this look accurate DisneyMom?

Thanks!



-

 

[Hound 109]

This sounds like a wonderful option for those of us that stay on site! I would certainly take advantage of this type of free dinning pin code in the future.

This is my take as well. Unlike WDW, there aren't THAT MANY "heads in beds" at DLR (compared to WDW). I merely see the hotel restaurants getting a little more business than they normally would.

There is no reason that this option wouldn't work at DLR. There are plenty of table service/character dinning locations and tons of counter service venues. I don't see how this could turn into the complicated mess that WDW offers because DLR has nowhere near the amount of on site rooms that DW does.

Exactly. And unlike WDW, it sounds like one has a little more flexibility with these "vouchers". Perhaps we could use a couple of (so called) character meal vouchers at table service restaurants (Napa Rose?)......& one could ALSO use them at counter service locations. (say on your day of "check out".....thus spreading the vouchers out over more days.....resulting in greater value & less "pig out" feasts.

I look forward to hearing about how this works out for the OP. I rcvd and am using a $156 per night at PP pin for the end of Oct,. but would gladly have used the free dining pin if it was being offered the time I will be there.

dsny1mom

Yes.....those who participate in this program, please report back.



(oh no....now there are 2 different DisneyMom's (or dsny1mom) in this thread that I'm quoting. ......but i am enjoying both of their posts. )

 

[disneymom0104]

My math was wrong in my previous post. (I incorrectly came up with $212 per night stay) for a family of 4 (2 adults & 2 kids).

Revised Math:

- 2 adult character meal vouchers (2X32 = $64)
- 2 "kid" character meal vouchers (2X16 = $32)
- 2 adult CS vouchers (2X15 = $30)
- 2 kid CS vouchers (2X9 = $18)
- 4 Snacks (4X5 = $20)

So.....64 + 32 + 30 + 18 + 20 = $164 (per day for a family of 4)

Does this look accurate DisneyMom?

Thanks!



-

Kids CS vouchers are worth $10, not $9- so $166- but really, what is $2 anyway?

I hadn't thought about how many less rooms DLR has than WDW- that is a good point.

 

[Hound 109]

Kids CS vouchers are worth $10, not $9- so $166- but really, what is $2 anyway?

I hadn't thought about how many less rooms DLR has than WDW- that is a good point.

Thanks....made the correction in my post above. (& of course you're right, $2 wouldn't be a deal killer to anyone reading this....but i'm trying to be accurate )


But....I like to eat.....& i like to get "deals",......so I like this offer & hope they'll offer it again when they are looking to put "heads in beds" & "hungry tummys" in DLR restaurants during off peak periods.

 

[Kauinohea]

This PIN code would definately get me to stay on site!!!

 

[Keurigirl]

To reply to the questions...

The voucher book is per person - we are traveling with two adults, one child, and one baby, and we have three books (2 adult books and one child book).

The Promotional Pin was emailed to my MIL - she wasn't going to use it, so we did. I don't think it matters who uses the pin that is emailed.

We have friends who were going about the same time as us (give and take a day) so we told them about it. When they called Disney, they were told that it was a special deal and required a pin. She told them it was something she received from a friend, and then the CM said you could have two reservations per pin. So my friend was able to use it as well as myself.

The Vouchers are mailed prior to your arrival, so you can use them at anytime. They're basically like gift certificates in a coupon book format. If I wanted to use $58 in vouchers to pay for one meal I could. You can combine them to pay for things. There is no date on them, in fact mine just say void after January 2012. That means I could use them anytime between now and then.

As far as this being an ongoing thing at Disneyland- I absolutely think they should be offering a dining plan like Disneyworld does. There is no reason that they couldn't.

 

[Hound 109]

double post.

 

[Hound 109]

From DisneyMom0104's trip report. Lots of great info regarding the free dining promotion:

Free Dining- Phew. This was a great promotion for our family. We spent between $150 and $200 on food per day with them. We did get some items that we would not have bought without the free promotion, but it still saved us a TON. I think it saved us more than a room discount could have. Not sure I'm a fan of the voucher system, and if this promotion becomes widespread I can forsee some changes needing to be made or I can see a lot of confusion. Nobody at DL knew we received our vouchers as a promotion- as far as every CM knew- we paid cash for them. I felt like some of the CMs felt annoyed with us for using them. We had a few carts tell us their computer system was "down" and they couldn't accept them at that moment, only to try again and have them go through fine. One time we bought 4 Tigger Tails at the Pooh Corner shop and gave the vouchers only to be told they do not accept vouchers. All the items in that shop are considered "merchandise" and we cannot use the vouchers on "merchandise". So, we shelled out $20 for the Tigger Tails- which we would not have purchased 4 of had we known prior to ordering that vouchers were not accepted. But- had we paid dollar for dollar for the vouchers it would be annoying to not be able to use them on certain food items. Some CM's had NEVER seen the vouchers before, which I thought was interesting.

Tax and gratuity are included ONLY at character meals. If you choose to use your vouchers at any other sit down meal, you are responsible for tax and gratuity. This is fine for us but could see how it would be a surprise for some. We did 4 character meals and one meal at Cafe Orleans. You can combine your counter service and snack credits for any other meals, counter service or table service. On our super rainy day we at dinner at PCH Grill at our hotel and used our counter service and snack credits towards it. We paid some out of pocket to cover the difference. They have no problem with this.

I LOVE the buttons they give at most of the character meals. What a nice little souvenier! I can see that being one of the first things cut if this promotion was offered more widespread. We thought Ariel's Grotto was the best of the character meals as far as food, and we thought the character interaction at PCH Grill, Storytellers and Plaza Inn were amazing! So much more interaction than you get at WDW. WDW is on a strict schedule- each character has a "keeper" walking with them and it is very fast paced because the restaurants are so full. Overall we enjoyed our meals. The vouchers are familiar to WDW's dining plan- although with a little more flexibility in how you use them. But it is a pain carrying around 4 booklets. Some CM's wanted to tear out the vouchers themselves, some wanted you to do it and you never knew what you were supposed to be doing until the moment it is happening. Anyway- overall we would use this promotion again but would NEVER pay for it. We were unable to use all our snack vouchers- it was just a TON of food. We also tried to maximize how we used them and often payed .50 or $1 on snacks. Churros are $3.50 so instead of "losing" $1.50 we would get 3 and use 2 vouchers and pay .50. We did this kind of thing a lot.

Also- the vouchers are just looked at as cash, not "per person"- so if adults have $15 and kids have $10 for a counter service meal and the total is $55. They just deduct the value of the vouchers- it doesn't matter if dad has $20 worth of food and the child has $6. That was nice, too.

My response:

I'm thinking that if one hadn't done a "dining plan" before & wasn't used to maximizing & planning a little.....it could be confusing & a "free dining" newbie probably wouldn't maximize it as much as you were able to.

Also.....as i suspected, I'm thinking if one spent an extra couple of nights elsewhere (or returned later in the season), then you could "spread" out the voucher/coupons over a longer period (which might be optimal).

Thanks again!

I hope they incorporate "free dining" into future promotions. The more they offer it, the less confused the CMs will be (& the more food for us).