Free Dining Room Exclusion Rationale

[Naterfan]

Just wondering what rationale causes the below rooms to be excluded from the free dining deal...

3-bedroom villas
Campsites
Disney’s Art of Animation Resort – Little Mermaid Standard Rooms
Bungalows at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows

Any ideas?

 

[Alesia]

Just wondering what rationale causes the below rooms to be excluded from the free dining deal...

3-bedroom villas
Campsites
Disney’s Art of Animation Resort – Little Mermaid Standard Rooms
Bungalows at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows

Any ideas?

The campsites are excluded because too many people were booking them to get free dining and then staying offsite.

The rest are excluded because they don't need help filling them.

 

[Naterfan]

Damn, that was easy. What's so special about the Little Mermaid rooms? They're the cheapest?

 

[Alesia]

Damn, that was easy. What's so special about the Little Mermaid rooms? They're the cheapest?

They're Little Mermaid themed. Also, they're the cheapest.

 

[HopperFan]

Reasons above.

Lots of people want to stay at AoA but the suites are pricey. If they can fit in the LM room then they book to stay there. They have no issues filling those rooms and the whole point of Free Dining is to fill rooms.

The other issue with the campsites is that they can be booked as low as $50 per night and yet you can put 10 guests on them. Do the math, it would be crazy for Disney to allow any kind of Free Dining on theses. 10 folks on DDP paying only $50 a night, major loss.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

The campsites are excluded because too many people were booking them to get free dining and then staying offsite.

The rest are excluded because they don't need help filling them.

Exactly.

There is no reason to offer free dining for rooms that would fill up anyway.

 

[Naterfan]

We always stay at Shades of Green, so I'm not too savvy when it comes to Disney resort room types, but what is the difference between a room and a villa? Space and price? I've always pictured a villa as a separate building, like the new ones at the Polynesian. Are all villas separate buildings? Or am I confusing villas with bungalows?

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

We always stay at Shades of Green, so I'm not too savvy when it comes to Disney resort room types, but what is the difference between a room and a villa? Space and price? I've always pictured a villa as a separate building, like the new ones at the Polynesian. Are all villas separate buildings?

Depending on the size of the "Villa," it either has a kitchen or kitchenette. A three bedroom villa has a kitchen and a living room. (As does a two bedroom and one bedroom.)

 

[rubysapphire]

Along these lines, does anyone know if Bay Lake Tower is included in a promotion if "Contemporary Resort" is listed as included, and Bay Lake Tower is not specified as included, but also not specified as excluded?

 

[erionm]

Along these lines, does anyone know if Bay Lake Tower is included in a promotion if "Contemporary Resort" is listed as included, and Bay Lake Tower is not specified as included, but also not specified as excluded?

BLT is not included in the list when you click 'Check Availability'.

 

[GatorChris]

I'm guessing only one Moderate made the list for Free Dining, because only Coronado comes up when I'm selecting November dates. We're a group of 5, so we were hoping POR or CBR would make the list. And that means no WDW for us this year

Edit: After checking the website for a family of 4, looks like CBR is on the list. But NOT for a family of 5. Families of 5 matter, Disney!

 

[AngiTN]

I'm guessing only one Moderate made the list for Free Dining, because only Coronado comes up when I'm selecting November dates. We're a group of 5, so we were hoping POR or CBR would make the list. And that means no WDW for us this year

Edit: After checking the website for a family of 4, looks like CBR is on the list. But NOT for a family of 5. Families of 5 matter, Disney!

That means the regular rooms are sold out and only the pirate rooms are left. Common problem during free dining.
Remember, not available and not included could be 2 different things.
They may include the resort but some room categories are excluded or sold out

 

[serenitynow]

Port Orleans (a moderate) has the free dining offer but with restricted dates available.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Some of the restricted dates are during Pop Warner.

 

[DisBuckMan]

Edit: After checking the website for a family of 4, looks like CBR is on the list. But NOT for a family of 5. Families of 5 matter, Disney!

Some rooms for 5 were available, but due to their limited availability and high demand, they always go very quickly.

 

[GatorChris]

Some rooms for 5 were available, but due to their limited availability and high demand, they always go very quickly.

Quickly as in 4-5 hours. That's a pretty limited supply. And it makes it harder to swallow when I get this news from a Tide fan

 

[DisBuckMan]

Quickly as in 4-5 hours. That's a pretty limited supply. And it makes it harder to swallow when I get this news from a Tide fan

 

[AngiTN]

Quickly as in 4-5 hours. That's a pretty limited supply. And it makes it harder to swallow when I get this news from a Tide fan

Extremely and gets more limited every single year

 

[GatorChris]

Extremely and gets more limited every single year

I think my problem is coveting. I'm stupid enough to sit here and read all these posts where people got exactly what they wanted. And then I want what they want and get really angry about it.

At least I still have DL nearby. It's not nearly as good as WDW and I thought this was the year we could make it back. Guess I'll just have to pop in all my old home movies of Kilimanjaro Safari and Epcot...all the stuff I wish DL had.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

3 bedroom villas are rare, in demand and can hold up to 12 people. I'm not sure many of them go to anyone outside DVC members.

Campsites, too many guests. Up to 10 can be registered at a campsite. The cabins are generally available, though.

Little Mermaid rooms are not numerous (most of AoA is suites), are popular and generally book up without WDW having to offer any type of discount on them whatsoever. Best way to get a discount on these rooms is via a third party reseller, but they never have very many of them available and they go fast.

There are only 20 Polynesian bungalows. Some of them will be booked by DVC members. There are very few left to work with. No need to discount them in this fashion.

Some of the more popular locations like BLT may have some discounted rooms available but on a very limited scale although it appears to be indicated that BLT is completely excluded from the 2016 offer. Some of the moderates are working out to have very limited availability and only in certain categories (the cheaper categories are often excluded entirely or very few rooms are made available, and only at certain times.) As of last year, very limited inventory has been noted in a lot of resorts. One has to book quickly to get the more popular choices for the promotion.

One blog is reporting very limited availability at Pop Century. With AS Movies and Little Mermaid AoA excluded, this leaves All Star Sports and Music as the most available value choices. For the moderates, POFQ is excluded, and the most availability appears to be at Coronado Springs.

This offer is further limited from 2015's in that all of October except the first is excluded as an eligible check-in date. Also the entire first 2 weeks of November.

anything designated as a "villa" was built as timeshare (DVC) accommodations. DVC releases some of its unused inventory to CRO to rent out to "cash" customers. Some DVC rooms feature things like full kitchens and in-room laundry. The smallest are closer to regular hotels rooms, but will include a kitchenette.

A reference for "Contemporary Resort" would not be the same as a reference for "Bay Lake Tower." BLT is a DVC resort and would be referred to separately.