Free Dining Sept. 2011

[suz2]

When is free dining normally announced for Sept. dates? Do you have to make reservations after the announcment to get it or would it apply to prior reservations for dates in Sept.?

 

[DonaldTDuck]

It's usually offered in late April/early May. You would have to rebook with the code.

 

[B-Ride]

Usually it is announced in the first week of April. Last year it was April 29th for Disney Visa holders, May 3rd for the general public. This was much later than normal.

Not sure about this year, though. Disney already had a free Dining offer for Sept 2011 announced in August 2010. This offer ended in December 2010. This was a real departure from their normal practice so who knows if there will be another offer.

As for booking, as with all Disney offers, you can apply the offer to existing reservations. However, there isn't any real motivation to book early as having a pre-existing booking doesn't guarantee you a room when the offer comes out. It is still first come, first serve.

 

[Tikitoi]

.

Not sure about this year, though. Disney already had a free Dining offer for Sept 2011 announced in August 2010. This offer ended in December 2010. This was a real departure from their normal practice so who knows if there will be another offer.

What dates were those in Sept? The whole month?

 

[TDC Nala]

It was already announced through September 29 and has expired - booking had to be made by December 20. The relevant dates in that time period were August 15 - September 29. As to whether or not there will be another offer for that time period, no one knows. There has never been such an early offer for August/September free dining before. There was also no bounceback free dining offer for 2011.

 

[nkereina]

I've read that the free dining offer for September that had to be booked by December 20th did very well so there may be no need to re-offer it, which is why the room discounts have been prevalent. Of course no one knows for sure!

 

[RFrank9504]

"Free Dining" is a promotion sometimes given-its not ALWAYS given. It just so happens the past 2-3 years its been something they've done to push the "off-season". It was announced late in 2010-and when I called to book our trip for this coming september I inquired and the CM said it doesnt look like they are going to do it again for the fall of 2011. We can always cross our fingers and hope-but I'm not holding my breath. Luckily for me, the passholder rate, with passholder dining would come out cheaper anyways.

 

[Sneezie]

"Free Dining" is a promotion sometimes given-its not ALWAYS given. It just so happens the past 2-3 years its been something they've done to push the "off-season". It was announced late in 2010-and when I called to book our trip for this coming september I inquired and the CM said it doesnt look like they are going to do it again for the fall of 2011. We can always cross our fingers and hope-but I'm not holding my breath. Luckily for me, the passholder rate, with passholder dining would come out cheaper anyways.

What is the passholder rate for dining? I didn't know that had one. Probably because this is my first year being a passholder.

ETA: It's clicking. You mean individual restaurant discounts. I was thinking of a discount on the dining plan.

 

[TDC Nala]

there is no passholder rate for the dining plan. What the previous poster is referring to is the ability to book a room with an annual passholder discount on the room and then add dining as a ticketless package.

 

[bangeliabee]

the free dinning was avaliable the first of may in 2008,an 2009,so i am waiting to to add on our reservation for sept 4months 6days til wdw 4months10days disney dream cruise

 

[MOM POPPINS]

Looks like free dining is coming.. it is now available for Disney Visa card holders for August and September dates.

 

[TDC Nala]

This offer is expected to go public on May 2. The big difference between this and previous offers is not changing mods to QS - they're still regular dining. It's that to book this offer you are required to buy a Photo Pass memory book with your package. Not clear on the actual cost of this or tax charged on it, but it's between $90 and $100. Another thing to factor in when considering if free dining is the best deal for you.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

"Free Dining" is a promotion sometimes given-its not ALWAYS given. It just so happens the past 2-3 years its been something they've done to push the "off-season". It was announced late in 2010-and when I called to book our trip for this coming september I inquired and the CM said it doesnt look like they are going to do it again for the fall of 2011. We can always cross our fingers and hope-but I'm not holding my breath. Luckily for me, the passholder rate, with passholder dining would come out cheaper anyways.

Free Dining has been offered every year for the past 7 years - they started offering it in the fall of 2005. And really, WDW is making millions off the free dining promos and they are still coming, as witnessed by the Disney Visa promo that came out today and that will come out to the general public on May 2.