Free Dining Questions

[khurley23]

Hi all,
It's been a long time since my last trip to the World and it seems like there is even MORE preparation to do now than the last time I went. I'm a little confused on the hopefully free dining plan. First off, from what I'm gathering, I'd be better off booking my trip and then adding the free dining to it once it's released? How would I get these "pin" numbers I'm seeing mentioned? If my chosen and booked hotel is not available, I can switch it to one that is? Do I just do that my calling Disney? And finally, if I am booking a room for say 10 nights but only going to the park say 7 days, does my dining plan cover me the whole time? Or only the days I'm paying to be in the parks?
Thanks for the help!

 

[supersnoop]

Dining is based on the number of nights in your reservation, not your ticket days.

You can always change your resort or arrival day for free dining eligibility. However, free dining is a promotion that Disney uses to fill hotel rooms. If everyone pre-books, then Disney would have no incentive to offer the promotion.

 

[FFMickey]

Only book the room if you are going to stay at the resort whether or not free dining is offered. If you need to have free dining, don't book until it is offered because as PP said, they use the free dining promotion to fill the resorts. Dining is based on the number of nights at the resort and not number of park days.

 

[khurley23]

Thanks for the help. So if/when the free dining is offered, how do I get the pin # people have mentioned? Do we usually get a head's up in advance?

 

[scard192]

Thanks for the help. So if/when the free dining is offered, how do I get the pin # people have mentioned? Do we usually get a head's up in advance?

PINS (now UOC) are hard to come by and no one is sure what determines who gets one. Some people think that saving a vacation on MDE helps or ordering the vacation DVD helps. I used to get PINS all the time until I booked 2 rooms for October 2013 with my sister's family. Now I get none and she gets them all the time. We will travel together so we both can use her PIN.

People go to WDW every year and never get a PIN and others get them often. They are not as widespread as it might seem here on the DIS so it might be best to plan on NOT getting one rather than counting on one being sent to you.

You don't need a PIN for Free Dining discount that is released to the General Public. Often Disney Visa card holders get a 3-4 day advance booking window

 

[Mikie]

If you book ahead of time and then a public free dining promotion is announced, then you simply call to ask them to apply the discount to your reservation. The number of rooms at each resort set aside for the promotion will vary and you may have to change room categories (standard up to preferred, water view vs garden view, etc) or change resorts to find a room eligible for the deal. As PPs have said, a PIN is one way to get a discount, but no one knows how they determine who gets one (via email). The DIS is a good place to keep an eye out for upcoming discount offerings - there's usually a thread here with a heads up on expected discounts that gives at least a few days notice before the discounts are actually available on Disney's Special Offers page.