Free Dining Plan

[cinderkelli]

I just wanted to see if anyone, perhaps someone with inside info, knew how the Free Dining is going for Disney? Is it helping them a lot to increase park goers during that time? Any idea if they are thinking about doing it again next year? I would love to go next year at that time and I just wanted to know if anyone knew anything about how it is going for Disney. Thanks!

 

[lsjones]

I would also like to know if they are going to do free dining next year, we're considering getting ap's and returning next August or so.

 

[bicker]

I don't think the primary intent was to increase park admission. I believe the primary intent was to increase Disney's share of the resort guests -- having folks who would normally stay off-site stay at a Disney hotel instead. While it may have also prompted more guests overall, the main objective was almost surely to help fill the hotels.

 

[laceemouse]

Nobody knows for sure yet, it will probably not be announced until the Spring. Disney is offering free dining for visitors from the UK next fall, but they have to buy a full package with tickets for every day. Some folks think there may be free dining offered to all of us, but with these same new restictions. I hope they have it too, but some folks hope it will never be offered again!

 

[cinderkelli]

Oh, yeah, that makes sense. I would definitely stay on property versus off if I were planning on going then! I wonder if it helped a lot. I would guess so!

 

[aubriee]

Nobody knows for sure yet, it will probably not be announced until the Spring. Disney is offering free dining for visitors from the UK next fall, but they have to buy a full package with tickets for every day. Some folks think there may be free dining offered to all of us, but with these same new restictions. I hope they have it too, but some folks hope it will never be offered again!

If tickets for the length of stay are required I wish they would go ahead and announce it. I would hate to go ahead and renew my AP next May then find I couldn't get the dining plan without buying a length of stay park ticket. Besides I already have a 7 day MYW with pluses left over from last Sept and will have a one day MYW base ticket left over from our trip this Sept.

If they are going to require length of stay tickets in order to get the DDP, AP holders are going to be left out and I'd be willing to bet that most DVC owners are also AP holders, so they'd be left out too. Personally I'd rather have the DDP than my AP discounts.

 

[bicker]

I'd be willing to bet that most DVC owners are also AP holders

Though that wouldn't matter, much, since you cannot get free dining with DVC reservations, and DVC members with APs getting cash reservations aren't any more of a significant group then guests with APs in general.

 

[n2mm]

If they are going to require length of stay tickets in order to get the DDP, AP holders are going to be left out and I'd be willing to bet that most DVC owners are also AP holders, so they'd be left out too. Personally I'd rather have the DDP than my AP discounts.

AP holder and DVC member here and the changes would not stop me at all. We've already crunched the numbers and if we have to buy a length of stay ticket, probably 3 or 4 days, it's still a great deal, because we would just apply these tickets to our AP purchase or AP renewal. We have to renew our APs anyhow, it's sort of like prepaying for us and still getting the free dining. We just returned from a short 4 night stay doing the free ddp. We saved our points (which we don't have too, because I still have a ton leftover and need to bank). Next year we think we will book a 2 bedroom DVC (BC?) for 5 nights and if the free ddp comes out in the spring, we will again book a 3 or 4 night stay to attach to the beginning of our arrival. That way, the family members can used their length of stay tickets and upgraded them to a 10 day or AP. We can get the free ddp for 4 days, then chill for the 5 days at the DVC resort and eat at our cheaper favorite places....yes, I already have a plan! Even though we are DVC owners, we have done the free ddp 2 years in a row now and paid OOP, but since we used our disney reward points, our last trip only costed us less than $300 for a 4 night/5 day stay, free ddp, and 2 one day tickets. (and we were booked at Pop but upgraded for free to CSR). So AP holders and DVC members are not really left out, they just need to be more creative.

 

[ntsammy5]

I don't think the primary intent was to increase park admission. I believe the primary intent was to increase Disney's share of the resort guests -- having folks who would normally stay off-site stay at a Disney hotel instead. While it may have also prompted more guests overall, the main objective was almost surely to help fill the hotels.

​

That's what I think too. Also with the MYW tickets, many people will decide to stay in the WDW parks and not go to Universal, SeaWorld or other non-Disney venues, because of the small incremental costs associated with additional days at WDW. Great marketing ploy. It probably won't noticeably increase attendance, except around the restaurants!

 

[JimMIA]

I just wanted to see if anyone, perhaps someone with inside info, knew how the Free Dining is going for Disney? Is it helping them a lot to increase park goers during that time? Any idea if they are thinking about doing it again next year? I would love to go next year at that time and I just wanted to know if anyone knew anything about how it is going for Disney. Thanks!

To get back to your original question, I don't think there is any question that free dining has been a big success. Will it be offered next year in the same format? Who knows?

As Bicker correctly noted, free dining is designed to fill hotel beds, not theme parks and not restaurants. But it is only one marketing tool in Disney's arsenal. I suspect next Spring they'll take a look, see what bookings for the late summer look like, and then put something together.

I personally think free dining will be back, but we won't know until they announce it.

 

[JimMIA]

We just returned from a short 4 night stay doing the free ddp. We saved our points (which we don't have too, because I still have a ton leftover and need to bank). Next year we think we will book a 2 bedroom DVC (BC?) for 5 nights and if the free ddp comes out in the spring, we will again book a 3 or 4 night stay to attach to the beginning of our arrival. That way, the family members can used their length of stay tickets and upgraded them to a 10 day or AP. We can get the free ddp for 4 days, then chill for the 5 days at the DVC resort and eat at our cheaper favorite places....yes, I already have a plan! Even though we are DVC owners, we have done the free ddp 2 years in a row now and paid OOP, but since we used our disney reward points, our last trip only costed us less than $300 for a 4 night/5 day stay, free ddp, and 2 one day tickets. (and we were booked at Pop but upgraded for free to CSR). So AP holders and DVC members are not really left out, they just need to be more creative.

This is not only a good strategy for DVC owners, it's also got to be a dream come true for the Disney marketing kids! They get some of their best customers both ways!

We either stay longer and spend more money -- or, we stay the same length of time, pay rack rate part of the time, and turn our DVC availability back to Disney to rent out!. They have to love that.

 

[lustergirl]

I also think that the free dining promo will be back for next year late summer. We enjoyed the free dining plan last year and from reading the boards within the last couple of months I can tell alot of people are going to the "world" during this time of promotion. I have notice quite alot of people will be at disney around the same timeframe that my family of 4 will be enjoying ourselves. So if was Disney's purpose to fill the rooms with this free dining promo then they succeeded at great lengths. If this is their key objective then you can probably count on the same type of promo for next year.

 

[HACAM]

I agree with Bicker. I too believe that the objective of the free dining is to fill the resorts up, and get guests on the WDW site, not off site.


I sure hope they offer this promotion again next year...as we will definitely be taking advantage of it again then.

 

[kathytx111]

I would also like to know if they are going to do free dining next year, we're considering getting ap's and returning next August or so.

I would like to know this also

 

[emmabelle]

We were in Disney last week and I was checking to see how many people had on the EMH bracelets before MGM closed on Aug 28th and seemed that most of the people had them on, so I would say it was working for Disney. I also noticed that when we were at the water parks there were pretty big crowds waiting to get into the park and only maybe ten cars in the lot, leading me to believe that most of the people waiting to get in were staying on property. I'll definately do it again if offered and now that I'm totally out of leftover hoppers, I could use length of stay passes.

 

[Amyrlin]

It is looking good as it is already on offer for next year to the UK, as part fo packages booked for up to two weeks, for the same perod with bookings needing to be made by 5th Nov.

They have probably offered it earlier to the UK as for long haul travel most people will plan pacakges that far in advance.

 

[Dizneydaz]

Hopefully they will offer it again next year. We did it last year, we're doing it this year, and if they offer it we'll do it next year too! It's easy to convince my DM to go again so soon (we were just there in Jan. 06-also Jan. 05) with the lure of the free dining.