Free Dining Strategy- Is this a popular plan with DVC members

[TenThousandVolts]

When free dining was offered did many/any of you DVC members get a MYW package with free dining for 3 nights over the weekend- then move to a DVC resort on Sunday -when pts. per night goes down? 3 nights of the ddp is enough for me- a week of it was way too much food imo.
Switching resorts is kind of a pain- but other than that- it might be an okay plan. What is the general opinion on this idea?
I would love to see free dining again!

 

[Chuck S]

If you would normally move on a weekend, then I see no problem with your plan at all. We hated moving in the moddle of our stays, so we bought additional points to cover the weekends.

Remember that there is no guarantee that the free dining will be offered next year to US residents...though they do have a free dining promo being offered to Europeans.

 

[starbox]

Do you have annual passes? If not and if you are wanting to do a MYW package stay (with or without the free dining), you might want to consider getting 7 or 10 day no expiration tickets.

To get the free dining, you'll be required to purchase tickets with your rack-rate room. This can get very expensive, since the bulk of the cost of tickets is shouldered in the first 3-4 days. With no expiration tickets, we booked 3 different MYW packages with the minimum of 1 day tickets so that we could get the dining plan. Then, we used our no-expiration tickets for the remainder of each stay. We had the water park option added to the tickets, so we got lots of mileage out of them. We actually still have one park day and one water park visit left over.

 

[TenThousandVolts]

Starbox- we have the 10 day non-exp. plus hoppers. When we did free dining last year we just bought 1 day base tickets, we still have them for a future trip. I am just thinking- if I buy DVC- and then they offer free dining again- I know I will be trying to work something out like this plan- can't pass up free food.
We did a split stay once- and I agree- it was a pain switching.

 

[InstImpres]

We did it last year and took our package tickets to Guest Services and used it toward the renewal of our DVC APs. It was win/win timing for us.

 

[Dusted]

Subscribing

 

[n2mm]

We did the free dining last year and this year. We had 3 DVC trips planned for this year and when the free dining came out, we just added another trip and did not have to use our points. We stayed 4 nights at Pop (but was upgraded free to CSR). We bought a one day ticket each (which we have used to upgrade our AP when it expired in October). We got the free dining and our package cost a little over $400 total. We used $200 disney reward points and OOP we only paid about $200. We went in August and still took our 2 week DVC trip in October.

Next summer we plan to do 4 days free ddp at one of the value resorts, then on Sunday move to the BCV, 2 bedroom for 5 nights. Buying the one day tickets is a no brainer for us, because we just see it as pre-purchasing our tickets. We have tucked this one day tickets away in the past for future use and have had no problem using them to apply to the cost of our AP.

The free ddp is already available to book in case you guys don't follow the resort board. Guest who are staying at a disney resort from Nov. 8 to Dec 31, 2006 can now book the free dining package. If you're not going to be in WDW during that time, you have to sit back and wait for it to be released, if there is any availability left after this current promotion is over.

 

[Didney Daddy]

We usually get DDE cards and enjoy the discounts they provide. We usually eat a nice lunch and dinner and do breakfast at the room. We like the flexibility and the savings really add up if you have a large group. You might want to consider the DDE by budgeting your normal meal costs and seeing if DDE works for you.

 

[TenThousandVolts]

DidneyDaddy- that would probably work for us- I really felt the dining plan was kind of hard to manage- to much food- too many ADRs- I felt rushed like I always had an appointment somewhere, CMs charging wrong and then try to work it out, it was complicated. I might try it again sometime but for now, I think I am over the dining plan.

 

[eliza61]

When free dining was offered did many/any of you DVC members get a MYW package with free dining for 3 nights over the weekend- then move to a DVC resort on Sunday -when pts. per night goes down? 3 nights of the ddp is enough for me- a week of it was way too much food imo.
Switching resorts is kind of a pain- but other than that- it might be an okay plan. What is the general opinion on this idea?
I would love to see free dining again!

I thought about it for a hot second but then decided the pain of changing resorts and then planning my days around my adr's seemed to be way more planning than my family and I wanted to do. We are the "laid back, what should we do today/" type of vactionners. I got a dde card and that worked well for us.

 

[MinMouse]

The free ddp is already available to book in case you guys don't follow the resort board. Guest who are staying at a disney resort from Nov. 8 to Dec 31, 2006 can now book the free dining package. If you're not going to be in WDW during that time, you have to sit back and wait for it to be released, if there is any availability left after this current promotion is over.

We've been talking about taking advantage of this next year. Is the free dining during August and September again? Also we were at BWV November 4-11 . . . would I be able to call and book now? We were there on points though.

Also hadn't thought about using the tickets to renew our AP. Ours aren't up until next October (for two of us) and November (for the other two) but I guess we could hold onto the passes that come with MYW and use them towards getting our next APs (we expect that'll be June 08) or I can always give them to my parents who often travel with us but don't purchase APs. Am I understanding this correctly?

Great info . . . keep it coming!

 

[TenThousandVolts]

We've been talking about taking advantage of this next year. Is the free dining during August and September again?QUOTE]
I think it is check ins Aug 5th-Sept 29th. Possibly by the time it is offered to the gen. public (if that happens) that window will be smaller- Like Aug. 12th - Sept. 25th. Or something like that. I checked in on Sept. 29th 2006 for 5 nights free dining and it was CRAZY crowded (similar to June crowds that I have experienced) - that was 1st day of Food and Wine and there were hoardes of people everywhere I went.

 

[DonnaL]

I also agree with above poster who said "Planning our days around ADR's is not for us". My family also doesn't like a real structured vacation where we've got to be somewhere at a very specific time. Although we haven't used free dining in the past, from everything I've heard.....i.e. overcrowded restaurants, long waits even with an ADR, being rushed out to make room for the next wave of ADR's, etc. I don't think we will if offered in the future either. We do have the DDE which works well for us since we tend to eat breakfast mostly in our DVC accommodations and we don't make ADR's months in advance (I don't know if I'm going to feel like eating Italian or Mexican on a Wednesday or Thursday three months from now). When DH and I were there in mid October we decided the day before we'd like to have dinner at Artist Point and had no problem getting a 6:15 p.m. ADR for a Tuesday evening. That would be difficult during a free dining promotion and IMO something suffers when restaurants are THAT busy and crowded......usually the service and quality of food. In so far as moving for the weekend to save points...we did it.....once.. and probably won't do it again since it really was a pain. However, I guess it depends how you do it and how many in your party. We had the whole family with us (six of us) and needed to downsize from a 2 bdrm villa to two rooms. I suppose if we were ever to do it again I would plan to have the hotel portion of the trip come first and then move to DVC for the remainder.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

We did the free this year (checked in on 9/29) and enjoyed it, but did think it took quite a bit of park time away while we were sitting in restaurants (or trying to get to one). I think we will try to have the best of both worlds if it is offered to the general public again in Fall '07 and stay 7-10 days in a non-DVC resort w/free dining, and then on Sunday move to a DVC resort to recooperate!

 

[tjkraz]

I don't know how universally popular that approach might have been to DVC members simply because the period in which the free dining was offered (mid August through September) is almost certainly the slowest period at the DVC resorts. From the sound of things, you can pretty much book any DVC resort--even on short notice--during that period.

But if you like going then, I think it's a great way to get the best of both worlds--free dining for a few days and then cheap DVC rooms the rest of the week.

That said, I think it's far from a certainty that the free dining will be offered again. Disney announced a pilot program to those visiting WDW now through the end of the year. Those folks are eligible to book their next WDW trip (during roughly the same dates in Aug and Sept) and receive the free dining.

If this program is a success (which obviously remains to be seen), I can't see Disney making the blanket "free dining" offer to the general public. In doing so they would be negating any incentive to book a trip 9 months ahead of time--which includes giving Disney a deposit, of course--if guests know that they can book the same package 6 months later at the same price. Unless this pilot program fails to meet any expectations, I think it is a pretty clear indication that the "free dining" incentive will not be offered to the general public in the same fashion as 2005 and 2006.

That's my $.02...

 

[MommaX03]

I think that Disney does the free dining plan incentive from August 13 to September 30 for the past two years for three main reasons: Southern schools start back in mid August, it is really, really hot in FL, and that time is ripe for hurricanes/tropical storms. That said, I am inclined to think that free dining will be offered again. Lots and lots of people I met on ride lines, etc. said they were at WDW for the free dining. I told a lot of my friends about the free dining, and none of them wanted to travel during that time for the above reasons. For some people, even "free" food is not enough of an incentive to battle extreme heat and humidity.

 

[tjkraz]

That said, I am inclined to think that free dining will be offered again. Lots and lots of people I met on ride lines, etc. said they were at WDW for the free dining.

I disagree for two reasons:

1. If Disney becomes predictable in its promotional offerings, then they start siphoning business off of other time periods when people are used to paying full price. There are probably people now second-guessing their July / early-August trips for 2007, wondering if Disney will offer the free dining a couple weeks later. Others caught the Disney "bug" thanks to the free dining and are just waiting for it to be offered again. Even free dining isn't offered, some will still go at higher prices.

At the same time, Disney may try to concoct some other promotional offer that will appeal to a new audience.

The free dining was just one of a series of late-summer promotional deals offered. In recent memory, I don't recall any of those lasting longer than 2 years. Back in 2003/2004 they had "Buy 4 nights, get 3 free" deals at the Disney resorts. By '05 they were ready to try something new.

2. The other reason is what I said in my other post. They're using the free dining as an incentive to get people to re-book trips NOW...9-10 months ahead of time. If they turn around and offer the same deal to the general public come May or June, they would be undercutting their own prior deal. In the Internet age, people aren't stupid. There's no sense in putting a $500 deposit on your credit card in December if you can wait 8 months and get the same offer.

Disney's goal with these sort of package incentives is to fill the resorts during an otherwise slow period. As such, there is a finite number of slots available--you can't get the free dining by booking at a Holiday Inn.

If we assume for a moment that Disney was able to completely fill its resorts during many dates within the free dining window, they should now be contemplating a way to get MORE out of their guests. Why be content with the status quo? Their current attempt to get "more" is to secure those advance booking deposits 10 months ahead of time. The interest on all of those deposits will certainly add up for Disney.

If that program doesn't produce the type of activity they want to see, perhaps they'll offer half-price dining to the general public, or something like the current offer of free water park ticket add-on.

The only way I see them offering the free dining again under the same terms for the same dates is if this advance booking pilot program is a complete bomb and they still have thousands of empty rooms early-summer. Otherwise, like I said, they are just undercutting their other discount programs which makes no sense.

Time will tell...

 

[MommaX03]

At the same time, Disney may try to concoct some other promotional offer that will appeal to a new audience...Time will tell...

I completely enjoyed your thought-provoking analysis. I am almost tempted to change my opinion, especially with your compelling argument that people will not want to put money down in the winter to find out the free dining plan will be open to the general public later. The one thing that holds me back from changing my opinion is that Disney has a lot of rooms to fill in the late hot summer, especially in the values range.

I agree that Disney will put a new spin on things to get the customers in the door or coming back. As you mentioned, Disney is doing the promo for current visitors to pay down toward their summer trip for the free dining. Also, Disney is offering a special free dining plan aimed at UK visitors.

As we both conceed that who knows whether or not Disney will offer free dining again as it was originally conceived over the past two years , it is certainly fascinating to watch Disney develop variations on the theme.

 

[miamimama]

We've been talking about taking advantage of this next year. Is the free dining during August and September again? Also we were at BWV November 4-11 . . . would I be able to call and book now? We were there on points though.

Similar question - we just got back from SSR on points, and I didn't see anything about free dining, but I assume that was available to those on points?

 

[kimberh]

AS for us, we went to Flordia, in the heat, for the FREE Dining. I would not have done it for any other reason. We turned around and went again in Oct. I am not going in Dec to book the Free Dining trip. I think that is to much, I guess I will have to wait and see what happens to the promo.