Free Dining Watch 2009 - Dates Released!! Update post 1

Hi,
I'm on the phone with CRO now. I asked the reservationist how the Free Dining has been selling and she said it has been a lot lower than they expected. She sounded pretty down about it. I wonder if they'll try to sweeten the deal in the coming months.
They've been offering 3 free days for months now, and it's available up until free dining starts. Of course there's not as much excitement about free dining as in the past few years, now that it's just one big discount replacing another one.
 
I'm NOT saying that there aren't people who are plenty happy to eat two, or even three TS meals a day, and get in as many Signature meals as possible. For them, the Deluxe Dining Plan is well worth it.

For people who are there to go on rides, and experience other aspects of Disney, I think that the regular dining plan is more than enough. I personally would never spend that much of my vacation time sitting down eating, it just isn't what I'm going to Disney for.

I wholeheartedly agree! We aren't going to WDW for the food, we're going for the rides/attractions. We go to Europe for the food and the culture, we go to WDW for the sheer fun of it! :banana:

It'll be interesting to see how much park time having one sit-down meal each day takes up this time - last time, we only did one sit-down meal (the rest were counter service or off-site in the evenings).
 
Hi,
I'm on the phone with CRO now. I asked the reservationist how the Free Dining has been selling and she said it has been a lot lower than they expected. She sounded pretty down about it. I wonder if they'll try to sweeten the deal in the coming months.

I would love if they extended it so it started at the beginning of Aug. I'm loving this free dining. It's my first time, and I'm super excited.
 

Of course everyone has their own way of doing things, and own opinions, etc. But I don't think that you will find one TS meal a day cuts into your touring time too much. We didn't bother with mid day breaks, which did cut into our park time way too much, and didn't give us the rest we were looking for. Instead, we spent an hour or so at a TS meal each day. That was our rest time. It's usually in an air conditioned dining room (not always though) and was just the right amount of down time for us to recharge the batteries a bit, and get going again.

We almost always do our TS for supper. Breakfast is in the room, except for MK days when we do CP, and lunch is generally a CS meal. Since my entire family has decidedly McDonalds inspired food tastes, we only did one Signature meal (CRT for breakfast). The balance of our TS meals are mostly the places that it seems everyone else says to avoid, like Tony's Town Square, Sci Fi Dine In, Coral Reef, etc. On the positive side, since we prefer places that many others avoid, it is usually easier for us to get ADR's for the exact times we want.
 
I thought briefly about going deluxe, but there is no way it would pay for it's self. The way I figure it, you would pretty much have to eat three TS meals a day, and get a few of the signature meals in there in order to realize and kind of real value from it.

I booked the seven day free basic dining plan and am toying with the idea of upgrading to Deluxe. I understand that on deluxe you get your choice of 3 TS or CS meals per day but when I read the rules it still says it takes 2 TS credits to eat at a signature restaurant. So am I correct in saying that whether you're on the basic or the deluxe it's always 2 TS credits for a signature restaurant meal?
Also, if you stay on the basic plan, I'm going assume you can order an appetizer and pay for it OOP.
 
I booked the seven day free basic dining plan and am toying with the idea of upgrading to Deluxe. I understand that on deluxe you get your choice of 3 TS or CS meals per day but when I read the rules it still says it takes 2 TS credits to eat at a signature restaurant. So am I correct in saying that whether you're on the basic or the deluxe it's always 2 TS credits for a signature restaurant meal?
Also, if you stay on the basic plan, I'm going assume you can order an appetizer and pay for it OOP.

Correct on all counts. :goodvibes
 
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DH and I knew from the time we originally made our reservation for Sept that we would do Deluxe Dining. We made our reservation with it in hopes that free dining would be announced and when in was it saved ALOT of money!
I really do think it's worth it, since it's been over 11 years since we have been able to take a WDW vacation w/o the kids!
 
While I'm super excited for free dining, as a first timer on the dining plan it is very overwhemling!

Luckily we booked with a ta that just focuses on disney vacations so we are going to meet with her this weekend to decide where we will be eating!

Anyone have any suggestions of must try's?
Its men my dbf and we are both in our early 20s and are not picky eaters! Also which would u suggest as the best character breakfast?

TIA
 
While I'm super excited for free dining, as a first timer on the dining plan it is very overwhemling!

Luckily we booked with a ta that just focuses on disney vacations so we are going to meet with her this weekend to decide where we will be eating!

Anyone have any suggestions of must try's?
Its men my dbf and we are both in our early 20s and are not picky eaters! Also which would u suggest as the best character breakfast?

TIA

Whenever DBF (22) and I (20) go to Disney, it's all about the food!! We never go through a TA but we do go through the menus online whenever we need a Disney fix - usually procrastinating for exams and stuff like that, but it's still getting something done - or at least that's how we look at it!

Are you upgrading to Deluxe Dining? Every time we've gone, we've had Deluxe and we've never felt like it was too much food - maybe because we mostly eat dinner at signature restaurants. Also, some people feel like it takes away from their park time.... we don't feel this way at all. We usually eat breakfast before the park opens and eat dinner after the park closes. For lunch and during the day, we use snack credits.

The one thing we always have an issue with is getting rid of those 3 snack credits. The thing is, we tend to split most snacks rather than getting two of something, so we look at it more as 6 snacks during each day that we're getting. The nice thing is at the end of the trip, when we load up on cookies and other snacks to bring home. It helps ease us back into reality to have Disney food around!

If you're sticking with the basic dining plan, I'm not really sure about CS restaurants. I've never eaten at them with DBF.... being in college and working in a restaurant, I eat burgers and chicken a lot... that's not really what we're looking for when we go to WDW. I have eaten CS (although not many, so don't think this is the only good one!) with my family - Flame Tree BBQ in AK is the only one i enjoyed and would probably bring DBF to if we had some extra room for food - which we don't haha! And I almost forgot Earl of Sandwich in DTD! We pay OOP for this usually and I could eat there every day if I had the chance!

As for TS restaurants, we do the following:

*Sci-Fi first meal every trip - themed restaurant, low-key, quick lunch so we can get some fuel and into the parks
*Le Cellier at some point. We tend to eat here for lunch since it is worth only 1 TS credit and we usually eat at signature restaurants every night. Since they're not open during the day, we can only eat there for dinner and therefore we need to "get rid of" the 1 TS meals during the day! If we eat here for lunch, we make the earliest ADR available and make dinner the latest ADR possible!
*Crystal Palace - first breakfast every trip, as long as the MK is not open for EMH. We make our ADR for 8:05 and get there super early so we are on Main Street alone. We refuse to go to MK on our arrival day so we can see the castle first thing, practically alone, when we wake up on our first full day there....
*Liberty Tree Tavern - A lot of people don't like it here, but if you get something good I think you'll enjoy it. It's also very quick for being a sit-down restaurant so we sometimes do it for lunch when we're in the MK. (I always get the William Penn pasta, if that helps....)
*Tusker House for breakfast before AK opens! We tried this on a whim once - just trying to get into the parks before they open - and it was so amazing. The selection of foods is great, the juice is fantastic, and the characters wake us up a little bit!
*Kona (for breakfast and dinner) - we HAVE to stop here for breakfast every trip for some Tonga Toast. If you are doing the basic plan, though, I would say you could pay OOP for this meal (or any other breakfasts that aren't buffets) because they run about $10/person.... For dinner, the food is excellent and unique - I'm always surprised there aren't more people here. The steak and the sushi are equally fantastic and the desserts are fun, too.
*Chef Mickey's for breakfast - people have mixed reviews about it, but we always go when it opens - 7:05 ADR and everything is hot, fresh, quick, and relaxed. The characters seem to go through a bit faster here, though, than at Tusker House or Crystal Palace.

Some Signatures:
*Artist Point - when we want our nice, quiet, romantic, relaxed meal of the trip. It's always so quiet and pleasant here. The champagne is good, and I can order some things I don't usually eat at home - I usually have the venison spring roll and the buffalo, which is amazing.
*Narcoossee's- Ordering the surf and turf here is the highlight of our trip, I think, haha! It seals the deal, for us anyways, that the deluxe is worth it.The seafood chowder is also great.
*California Grill - absolutely love it. I know people like to go to watch Wishes, but like I said we just go after the park closes.... We usually make the 9:50 ADR. Flatbread, great steak, awesome sushi.... And we've always had fantastic waiters who have never given us a bad recommendation.

Some other good 1 TS credit restaurants:
Prime Time
Boma
Ohana (we don't LOVE it, but lots of other people do, so I'd say give it a shot)
Whispering Canyon (we've had good and bad meals here, so I'm neutral....)
Cape May Cafe Breakfast
San Angel (but it seems like it used to be better a few years ago)


I don't think our friends "get" why we go to Disney so much. Or why we choose to get up to eat breakfast at 7AM when we're on vacation, etc. But it really doesn't feel bad when it's in Disney!! If you and your DBF are anything like us, we work so hard to be able to go to Disney a couple times a year - 40 hours/week at work, full time students, extracurriculars, etc. When we finally get there it's like we don't really want to waste any time! I love hearing about other couples our age who are going :). If you have any other questions let me know.... Sorry I didn't know if you were doing deluxe or basic, but either way I'm sure you will find plenty of good food to eat!!
 
While I'm super excited for free dining, as a first timer on the dining plan it is very overwhemling!

Luckily we booked with a ta that just focuses on disney vacations so we are going to meet with her this weekend to decide where we will be eating!

Anyone have any suggestions of must try's?
Its men my dbf and we are both in our early 20s and are not picky eaters! Also which would u suggest as the best character breakfast?

TIA

But I'll tell you our fav meals...(consensus from 7-62 year olds!)
Le Cellier
Ohana (dinner)
BOMA
Le Chef de France

We will be eating at the first 3 again (hopefully!), and dropping Le Chefs as it is loud in there, and Dad doesn't hear well in such environments.

We are going to try to add: (thought Dad would enjoy these menus as well as the experience of each)
50s Prime Time Cafe
Whispering Canyon Cafe
Jiko

(still not sure of our last meal...Rose & Crown or Raglan Road look to be the favs)
 
But I'll tell you our fav meals...(consensus from 7-62 year olds!)
Le Cellier
Ohana (dinner)
BOMA
Le Chef de France

We will be eating at the first 3 again (hopefully!), and dropping Le Chefs as it is loud in there, and Dad doesn't hear well in such environments.

We are going to try to add: (thought Dad would enjoy these menus as well as the experience of each)
50s Prime Time Cafe
Whispering Canyon Cafe
Jiko

(still not sure of our last meal...Rose & Crown or Raglan Road look to be the favs)

I don't know how loud Le Chef's is but Whispering Canyon CAN get pretty loud. It is a lot of fun though:thumbsup2
 
While I'm super excited for free dining, as a first timer on the dining plan it is very overwhemling!

Luckily we booked with a ta that just focuses on disney vacations so we are going to meet with her this weekend to decide where we will be eating!

Anyone have any suggestions of must try's?
Its men my dbf and we are both in our early 20s and are not picky eaters! Also which would u suggest as the best character breakfast?

TIA

HEY, you are arriving the day we leave, but we aren't leaving early, our plane leaves out @ 9 PM so, it is my DD's 10th B-day that day, so we will spend time at the MK probably....


Anyway, go to Wolf Gang Puck Express in Downtown Disney, their food is yummy and counts as a Counter Service, plus no tip needed! Our Family of 5 ate there for dinner our first day and the kids just HAD to go back before we left! The ticket was like $110 and it was counter service, not just burgers & fries. Mousesavers has a lot more tips on good places for CS meals too. Upgrading will cost us $ 966 for 7 nights, so with our good CS tips we are opting to spend that $ on a second trip with MY family in Oct. for MNSSHP! We add $600 and we get a second trip!
 
I don't know how loud Le Chef's is but Whispering Canyon CAN get pretty loud. It is a lot of fun though:thumbsup2

We don't make ADRs until early June, so this is a work in progress!

WCC looked fun for the kids, and Dad loves BBQ.

Le Chefs was weird...almost an echo in the room. I mean, all our meals were busy & "loud", but I even had difficulty hearing in Le Chefs, but not anywhere else.

We are not into character meals (kids 14, 11, 9) and not buffet fans--but Boma is so unique it is a must do. And AKL is so beautiful inside--thus the desire to hit Jiko for another night.

Rose & Crown menu...I'm just not sure; but we are a good percentage English, so I thought it would be fun.

Raglan Road looks yummy & fun, but almost worth paying OOP.

SOOOOOO...clearly I am going to fuss w/ these for 2 months!

MAYBE we will do 2 signature meals and do Raglan Road OOP...not even sure we want to venture to DTD this trip since they closed the clubs! :confused3DH & I had a blast at 8 Trax last trip until the wee hours while Mom took the kids...
 
Hi,
I'm on the phone with CRO now. I asked the reservationist how the Free Dining has been selling and she said it has been a lot lower than they expected. She sounded pretty down about it. I wonder if they'll try to sweeten the deal in the coming months.

That's fine with me. :thumbsup2 It just means lower crowds when we go in September.:banana:
 
for free dining in late summer and early fall based on the Maple Leaf post.

Disney could think if this doesn't bring them in; they may have to discontinue using this promotion. I hope not. Maybe, they will enhance it for the winter months, if we are lucky. I need a good deal to go.

I'd like to see a free D-23 membership included for a booking. There was a year that I booked where you got a free gift that was fabulous. It was a Disney hat box with a lot of goodies in it. It included a $20 photo book and other nice souvenirs. I believe the value of it was above $50. I felt so good when that gift arrived to the house.:banana:
 
I just booked my trip for Sept 24-Oct 1. I'll get free dining (upgraded to deluxe) and I'll be there for Food & Wine.:woohoo: I've never been to Food & Wine before, so I think I have about 5 months to lose 10 lbs to then gain back again while on vacation.

Thanks to everyone for all the tips and updates!
 

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