Free Dining with Disney Visa Card Question

[nbp]

I have been reading about free dining if you have Disney Visa Card. Can anyone tell me if you already have reservations under a another discount code, can you add the DVC free dining to it?

 

[antmaril]

It is my understanding that you cannot stack discounts. Only one discount at a time. You would have to do the math to see which discount is most beneficial to you.

 

[rbrainerd]

What are disney's free dining dates? If you have booked your resort can you add free dining if your vacation falls within the free dining dates? And lastly, do you have to use your Disney Visa when you charge your vacation to be considered? Thanks!

 

[disneyin2008]

When the Disney VISA codes were first announced a few of us seemed to get both the discounted room and the free dining....and get it for a few days past the dates it's offered.....but lately it sounds like they have fixed those loopholes.

It depends on how many people you have in your family and how much of a discount you already have, whether it's better to get the room discount or the free dining. So you'll want to call and ask what is available and at what price to do the math and decide for you. In general, the room discounts at the value and the mods are less than the free dining....since dining costs $38.99 per person per night, you'd need to have a significant discount at a value/mod even if you were the only person going. Add in another adult and it's definitely going to be cheaper to do the free dining at a value/mod.

But at deluxes, it really depends on the discount you got....an $80 discount on a room at a deluxe is often available with codes, so the free dining wouldn't be the better value.


Your other question was about using the Disney VISA to pay for your package....in order to get the free dining code the card must be used....it's how they know you have a card.

 

[rbrainerd]

I just got my Disney Visa. Should I call Disney back to see if I can get a discount on my room or free dining? I thought there specific dates for the free dining though.

 

[lovndisney12]

Our vacation was booked and paid for (with my Disney Visa) when I found out about the deal. Originally we had paid full price but I had already found a discount code for our room and it had been applied saving us $500. Then about a month ago I found the free Visa Disney dining. I called and asked if we could get it since the dates were the same as our visit. It ended up saving us another $400+. There had to be some combination of discounts because the dining alone wouldn't have saved us a $1000 nor did the original room discount.

Either way, it is certainly worth calling to ask. (It saved us another $400) The last statement I received had this for the package code:
QXZ / Magic Your Way PKG+ FREE DINE (our previous code was QXD-with no free dining)

Good luck.

 

[DizGeek]

Is this a new offer? What are the dates?

 

[DisDreaminMom]

This package has been out there for at least a couple of months now. I am not sure they are still doing it, but I'd guess if they are, it's because not enough people booked all the rooms (?). I thought the booking window on this was through October, but maybe I'm wrong. That makes me feel better about my upcoming December vacation using this code! Maybe it won't be so crowded. Let us know if you are able to use the code, please. It's for a few weeks in November (but not Turkey Day week, I believe) and also the first three weeks of December (through the 19th). I heard the first week of Dec. was all booked up.

Good luck!

 

[happymommy]

I just called today. I got a 1br villa at SSR for Dec 17 - 23 (6 nights) with this code.

Here is how ours broke down:

package total (including insurance, maybe I'll get my own) was $2994.26. That is for 2 adults, one "junior", one child.
One day ticket, 6 nights room, 6 nights "free dining".

This was about $700 more than the room only discount that we were going to get (code FZJ, military discount, just came out, a little better than the other general public one). The tickets are worth about $300, so the dining is ending up costing us about $400 extra, which would have been about $786 if we got it added, which we couldn't anyway with the military room discount.

So, I added up how much the room alone would have been for those days, and the rack rate is $3427.20 (tax included also). We are paying less than rack rate for the Visa code, but also getting a one day ticket and dining. The rack rate for all added up is about $4600 (room, ticket, dining).

I am still debating this, as they are giving me a day to think about it (we should have had to pay in full, as we are within 45 days).

I have never done a package, and am unsure about this dining plan. I can still get some reservations (got Hoop De Doo booked already). It just seems like a lot of meals! I do think, though, that we would normally spend over $400 for 6 nights (heck, we spent that on one meal once!).

I put the deposit on my Disney Visa, but was told you can pay for the remainder with any credit card. Bless her heart, the cast member was helping me for two hours!

So, today (Nov. 9) it's still out there, and the room is discounted! I don't know how much, but it's pretty good.

 

[disneyin2008]

The Disney VISA offer is valid for stays most nights 9/28-10/11, 11/9-11/22, 12/14-12/20/08. Call 407-939-7635 or your travel agent. Ask for offer QXZ.

It's still listed as of right now on the Disneyrewards.com website, so I would imgaine that means that the offer is still valid.....now, whether there are any rooms at this Code available is a different matter. But, call and ask, it sure can't hurt!

We leave in exactly one week.....and have 9 days of free dining to enjoy! Then it's off to Grandma's for Thanksgiving, down to Ft Myers and then back to WDW for 2 weeks (but no free dining, boo hoo).

 

[lovndisney12]

I think the extra $400 for the dining plan is really worth it. I spent a lot of time on the math for our trip- even looking at menu prices - (all before we ended up getting the plan for free) and being conservative (sharing a CS meal, bringing our own breakfast, using mainly CS, etc) it still was a little cheaper to go with the dining plan and we would end up with more food and better restaurants.

Think about the $400 extra this way - You are staying 6 nights and there are two adults a junior and child. So, if you divide $400 by 24 (6 nights X 4 people) it comes out to just under $17 per person per night. For $17 a day you get a TS, CS, and snack. Even if you try, I bet you can't eat cheaper than that. (Don't forget your TS and CS include drink and dessert).
Another note - My oldest DS will be 10 when we go and at first I was bummed that we had to pay the full adult price - HOWEVER, looking at the kids meals - I know they might not be enough food. I'm sure that he and I will share some CS meals as they will be too much for him - but that will leave us extra for a breakfast or two.

My only concern would be what TSs would be available at this point. But if you aren't too picky and/or are willing to check in on cancellations, you should be just fine. And if you already have a couple of reservations you should be just fine finding a couple more.

 

[rbrainerd]

Wow, I am feeling left out of all these good deals We are not going until April 3-13. We also are in the "black out" week of the 4/3 deal. It would be nice to get something with all these great offers out there. Uggh

 

[disneyin2008]

I think the extra $400 for the dining plan is really worth it. I spent a lot of time on the math for our trip- even looking at menu prices - (all before we ended up getting the plan for free) and being conservative (sharing a CS meal, bringing our own breakfast, using mainly CS, etc) it still was a little cheaper to go with the dining plan and we would end up with more food and better restaurants.

Think about the $400 extra this way - You are staying 6 nights and there are two adults a junior and child. So, if you divide $400 by 24 (6 nights X 4 people) it comes out to just under $17 per person per night. For $17 a day you get a TS, CS, and snack. Even if you try, I bet you can't eat cheaper than that. (Don't forget your TS and CS include drink and dessert).
Another note - My oldest DS will be 10 when we go and at first I was bummed that we had to pay the full adult price - HOWEVER, looking at the kids meals - I know they might not be enough food. I'm sure that he and I will share some CS meals as they will be too much for him - but that will leave us extra for a breakfast or two.

My only concern would be what TSs would be available at this point. But if you aren't too picky and/or are willing to check in on cancellations, you should be just fine. And if you already have a couple of reservations you should be just fine finding a couple more.

Oh yeah, $400 for 6 nights for 4 people is an excellent deal for food in Disney....maybe not at home, lol...but at Disney for sure.

If you find that all the popular TS restaurants are full, be sure to check into some of the less popular, resort restaurants. A few that come to mind where in Jan/Feb of this year, we were able to walk in with little or no wait......Cape May at the Beach Club, Boatwrights at Riverside; Captain's Grill at Yacht Club; San Angel, Biergarten, Marrakesh all at EPCOT. Of course it all depends on what their schedule is......but we also found that we could call in the morning and ask what was available that night and actually got a couple of the semi-popular ones this way during our long trip. And many people have reported walking up in the afternoon and asking about space for the evening and received a reservation....of course they talked just as much about being turned away, but it's worth a quick stop as you go by earlier in the day.

 

[nbp]

Thanks to all of you for all of he info!
Well it looks like the dates we will be there are not included. I originally booked a few months back with the Fantastic Fall Getaway Package (QXZ)and paid it with my Disney Visa Card to get the reward dollars. I did the park hopper tickets without the dining plan. I don't think I will call because our dates are not included.
Received my rewards card in the mail and it is in my wallet ready to spend at WDW in 2 weeks!

 

[happymommy]

Hi all!

Thanks for all your additional input. Unfortunately, my DH has to travel so much earlier in December (from here near Baltimore to Memphis as well as again to Arizona), that he is going to stay home. The kids and I are still going! But the villa is overkill for just the 3 of us.

I cancelled the package, but am going to call back today to see what (less expensive) option is there.

I agree - even the kids and I alone doing just mostly counter service would spend close to the cost of the dining plan. I have never saved my receipts, but would be curious.

I was able to get some dining reservations when I called this weekend - just really depends, if you're flexible there are plenty.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Wow, I am feeling left out of all these good deals We are not going until April 3-13. We also are in the "black out" week of the 4/3 deal. It would be nice to get something with all these great offers out there. Uggh

Well, unfortunatley, you will be there during Easter week, which is about the busiest week at WDW. The resorts and parks are at capacity levels so Disney doesn't really have to offer incentives to get people into the resorts and parks during those dates. Getting a discount rate or code during a peak holiday week would be very, very rare.