Free Dining

[asmarykay]

Sorry if this has been posted - but I don't see it. Has anyone heard if free dining will be offered this year in August/September like last year?

I am hoping!!!!!!!!

 

[mkross]

It has lots of info on this....also can look at codes section. This has been discussed lots....nothing has been announced as of yet!

 

[stenickar]

There is free dining in Aug/Sept if you booked your stay while at a Disney resort. I was there in Dec06 and you had to make the reservation before you left WDW. Not sure if this offer is still going on or not. I think it was called something like "the bounce back " or something like that.

 

[rstamm]

Over on the codes board it was reported early this morning that Touringplans believes Free Dining will be offered Aug. 26-Sept. 22.
Nothing official but they usually are reliable.

 

[Cookie Princess]

Over on the codes board it was reported early this morning that Touringplans believes Free Dining will be offered Aug. 26-Sept. 22.
Nothing official but they usually are reliable.

I saw this too and it broke my heart as we are leaving on Aug. 26th. BUMMER!

 

[bicker]

This sounds plausible. They've already demonstrated that they're willing to make the offering valid for different time periods for different groups, and August 26 begins not only the deepest part of hurricane season, but also just about every public school in the country is back in session by September 5, just a week into the proposed free dining period, so that period is among the hardest to attract guests for.

It still remains to be seen whether what they offer is targeted or not, or severely capacity limited or not.

 

[englishrose47]

Going in April but 2 friendsreally want to go this year I told them about free dining and they were very interested! What is weather like mid September and how are crowds likely to be with free dining.? Last question can you go to the same restaurants on free DDP as if you are paying for DDP?

 

[Alisha's mom Sarah]

Dang it, I wanted to go Sept 23rd so the 22nd wouldn't do me any good..

 

[mom2jpw]

We are going for the first time from 8/29-9/3 and staying at the Contemporary for my dd's 5th birthday. I am beyond excited!
I am very new to all of this as you can see by my #of posts. How do I go about looking into this? If I book through AAA (am waiting for them to call me with my quote) can you get free dining? How do you have to book to get this deal?

Thanks!

 

[Sxofus]

We are going for the first time from 8/29-9/3 and staying at the Contemporary for my dd's 5th birthday. I am beyond excited!
I am very new to all of this as you can see by my #of posts. How do I go about looking into this? If I book through AAA (am waiting for them to call me with my quote) can you get free dining? How do you have to book to get this deal?

Thanks!

You can book it through AAA, but you won't get the AAA room discount. It's one or the other.

Not thrilled about the dates. We're going 8/19 thru 8/26 and will not be changing even though the free dining would save us $700. We're content with the $450 AAA savings.

 

[theprincess]

That won't work for me!! bummer!!!

 

[mom2jpw]

I only have 2 adults and 1 child (and 1 child not under a plan) so maybe my savings would be more through AAA than through Free Dining. Thanks for your help.

 

[kdzgon]

You can book it through AAA, but you won't get the AAA room discount. It's one or the other.

Not thrilled about the dates. We're going 8/19 thru 8/26 and will not be changing even though the free dining would save us $700. We're content with the $450 AAA savings.

I was told by CRO that if free dining comes out, I should book with an AAA travel agent as then I could get both promotions. If I book directly, they (Disney CMs) cannot book this - it must be booked through AAA. If no free dining, then no need to book with AAA as Disney can apply the AAA room discount. He was quite emphatic that this (AAA) was the only exception to the rule re: free dining and room rack rate.

I do know this was true last year, but only with values and mods - deluxe resorts were not included in the dual-discount promotion.

 

[tinker&belle]

I was told by CRO that if free dining comes out, I should book with an AAA travel agent as then I could get both promotions. If I book directly, they (Disney CMs) cannot book this - it must be booked through AAA. If no free dining, then no need to book with AAA as Disney can apply the AAA room discount. He was quite emphatic that this (AAA) was the only exception to the rule re: free dining and room rack rate.

I do know this was true last year, but only with values and mods - deluxe resorts were not included in the dual-discount promotion.

People will argue differently...but we DID get AAA and free DDP last year, people are convinced otherwise, but they said at my branch they checked through disney and it was the one exception.

 

[kdzgon]

People will argue differently...but we DID get AAA and free DDP last year, people are convinced otherwise, but they said at my branch they checked through disney and it was the one exception.

We decided to pass on the AAA discount as my DH really wanted to stay at a monorail resort, but I know this: if they offer free dining again I'll be switching my kids' value resort reservations to AAA if possible. Let people argue ~ like you, I'll take the extra savings, thank you very much! The CM actually advised me to book through AAA instead if the free dining comes out, explaining the advantage, so even if I did not price it out last year I knew about this thanks to a helpful CM.

BTW, I was told (repeatedly) by a very popular Disney travel agency that this was *not* the case (must be booked through AAA to get both discounts) but her price quotes were definitely higher than AAA's.

 

[bicker]

I think the issue is that you can get free dining at the highest rate AAA offers, which often happens to be a lower rate than you can get from Disney directly. The issue is that you couldn't get free dining with some of the really deep discounts that are sometimes made available through AAA.

 

[kdzgon]

I think the issue is that you can get free dining at the highest rate AAA offers, which often happens to be a lower rate than you can get from Disney directly. The issue is that you couldn't get free dining with some of the really deep discounts that are sometimes made available through AAA.

Well, the "regular" AAA discount is 20% for this year; add free dining to that and it's a pretty compelling deal, IMO. (And, let's face it - something off the room in addition to free dining is still better than rack rates + free dining) Of course, DH feels differently: last year it was the Contemporary with free dining, and this year it will be the Poly with a 40% off offer. With two young grandkids with us, he's all about "easier transportation" and a little extra room, too. Works for me - I've always wanted to stay at each of these hotels.

Disney marketing knows what it's doing - we're making up for "lost time" - before last Sept, neither of us had been to WDW since the 80s. It was the offer of "free" dining that caught our attention and brought us back. We were there with 2 DGSs last Sept, planned a family trip for this Sept (~22 people), and we purchased at DVC. IMO free dining is about a lot more than just filling the parks in Aug/Sept. - I'm sure we're not the only ones to have "returned" to WDW vacations. (In case we're the only suckers, please don't burst my bubble - I'm having too much fun planning! )

 

[TDC Nala]

Going in April but 2 friendsreally want to go this year I told them about free dining and they were very interested! What is weather like mid September and how are crowds likely to be with free dining.? Last question can you go to the same restaurants on free DDP as if you are paying for DDP?

Hot. And free dining always ups the crowds, at least in the restaurants. Yes, you can go to the same restaurants, but if you want table service you had better have a reservation.

 

[warriorboy648]

When I made my AAA reservation, I was told that if free dining comes out that I would have to choose between the discount and free dining. I called another office and I was told the same thing.

 

[angwill]

We decided to pass on the AAA discount as my DH really wanted to stay at a monorail resort, but I know this: if they offer free dining again I'll be switching my kids' value resort reservations to AAA if possible. Let people argue ~ like you, I'll take the extra savings, thank you very much! The CM actually advised me to book through AAA instead if the free dining comes out, explaining the advantage, so even if I did not price it out last year I knew about this thanks to a helpful CM.

BTW, I was told (repeatedly) by a very popular Disney travel agency that this was *not* the case (must be booked through AAA to get both discounts) but her price quotes were definitely higher than AAA's.

Oh my goodness, how funny the same exact thing happened to me last year. I got the AAA discount with free dining. I priced the package through Disney travel co, AAA, and a very popular disney travel agency. AAA gave me both free dining and a discount since there package gave me the free dining plus I saved almost $200 compared to the other quotes. I posted to let people know about it and this very popular Disney travel agency about had a cow that I posted it and berated me and tried to make me look like a liar. I even got a private email from them. I wasn't going to argue I just took my discount and enjoyed my trip. lol It is nice to hear I was not alone and making the whole thing up in my head.