Free dining?

[bobbiwoz]

A friend has asked me to help plan her WDW vacation. I'm DVC and do not know anything about free dining, however, I sometimes see it refered to. I have tried to find information about if she could book something now for 2012 that would include free dining, but I cannot find anything pertinent. Can someone here please direct me?

I'm partial to staying on site. Do you think I'm doing her a disservice by not mentioning being off site. There will be 6 in her party, 5 adults and 1 much loved 5 year old!

Thank you.
Bobbi

 

[shoney]

I would post this under the disney restaurants forum. There is a sub-category about the dining plan.

My limited knowledge:

Free dining is offered during slower times. You must book a package (room and tickets). Values get the quick service and the mods/deluxe get the regular.

some people have found that a room only with a % of discount was cheaper for them or worked out better for their famiy. So, there is lots to think about, but I think you will gets lots of info over there from people who really know the ins and outs of the dining plan.

I believe the dates that were released for 2012 had to be booked already, so the offer has expired.

 

[HM]

There was a Free Dining special for Winter/Spring that just expired on Dec 17th. If they can wait and take a trip in the Fall, you might suggest that they wait to reserve until around April when a Free Dining for Sept deal might be announced.

With six people, they may find free dining to be a good choice for them. I'd suggest they look at Fort Wilderness Cabins or two value rooms.

 

[KarenAylwood]

Ditto looking at the Restaurant board (and also the codes board).

We've been every year since they started offering Free Dining (2005 or 2006, can't remember the first one)- it's morphed a little over the years. Originally it was just for hurricane season- part of August, almost all of September and in the early years part of October too. The past few years they started offering it at random times throughout the year- not just hurricane season. This past February we took advantage of it during the Princess Half Marathon weekend. The predicted dates this year are the end of August until end of September (the exact dates were on the Restaurant or Codes board from those who booked the bounceback offer).

My DH and I will be going to Disney for the first time together this year and it's the first time in a long time I'm going back without the bounceback offer (if you go during free dining Aug/Sept 2011 you got an offer for 2012 in most rooms). I'm going to book the time we want in September and then if/when Free Dining comes out I'm going to call and add it.

Since you generally need to book 6 months in advance to get ADRs for the better restaurants in WDW, you'd need to book them before Free Dining came out. This is predicted to be April since it's when it's been released in the past. You can always cancel ADRs though (if the deal doesn't come out and you don't want them) and they don't need to be tied to a reservation since anyone (staying on site or off) can book an ADR.

If they're set on a time of year then I'd say book it and then hope that Free Dining will come out, then call to add it if it does. If they 100% want free dining then they could wait until April.

I'm pretty sure there's a FAQ on one of the above-mentioned boards

 

[Marionnette]

A friend has asked me to help plan her WDW vacation. I'm DVC and do not know anything about free dining, however, I sometimes see it refered to. I have tried to find information about if she could book something now for 2012 that would include free dining, but I cannot find anything pertinent. Can someone here please direct me?

I'm partial to staying on site. Do you think I'm doing her a disservice by not mentioning being off site. There will be 6 in her party, 5 adults and 1 much loved 5 year old!

Thank you.
Bobbi

I would share whatever information I am familiar with and let my friend look for other details herself. You don't want to give her incomplete, 3rd party information. So, in that respect, I wouldn't even touch the offsite topic. If she shows an interest in staying offsite, point her in the direction of the Orlando Area & Attractions forum. She should be able to find answers to offsite questions between there and Trip Advisor.

Personally, I would try some out of the box thinking that might be more affordable than the "free" dining offers.

Room-only discounts at moderates and deluxes can be a better deal than free dining at rack rate. You can always make a room-only into a package by adding tickets and then add on the dining plan. There's a room-only offer for most nights between 2/21-3/31/2012 but it has to be booked by 1/22/2012. There is another one that goes from 4/13-6/14/2012 and that one has to be booked by 2/28/2012.

Annual Pass room discounts can be pretty good plus AP holders do not have to purchase tickets in order to add the dining plan to their stay. The guest still has to pay full price for the dining plan but they can buy their tickets for the other family members from any place they want to. Undercovertourist is usually a good source. There's a current AP room discount that runs 1/2-3/8/2012 that must be booked by 3/8/2012.

You might also want to point her in the direction of renting points and adding the dining plan if she is considering a deluxe stay. I rented points and paid my brother $13/pt for an upcoming trip (yes, I know it's high but he could use the money). I have seen DVC points for the same period going for as little as $6/pt. recently! The cost of my 5 night trip for 3 adults on the DDP is going to be under $1500 for a studio and dining. If we needed to purchase tickets, we could have purchased them from Undercovertourist for less than what Disney wants. By comparison, the same nights at the same resort would have cost me almost $1100 if I could have gotten it with the 35% discount that was offered at the time that I was booking this trip. They would have also charged me an additional nightly fee for the 3rd adult in the room and I would not have been able to get the DDP unless I added tickets to make it a package.

She will have to run the numbers herself to see what really does work the best for her. I just wanted to point out that "free dining" is not always the most economical way for someone to book their trip.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Thank you all! I now at least understand that Free Dining is a promotion with limited times and booking period. When I had gone to the Disney site, the option was always to add dining to the plan, and whatever dates I put in there was a charge for dining, so that answers that!

She's coming over tomorrow and I'll mention things that were brought up.

Bobbi

PS. Marionnette, your dates with the room only offer does coincide with possible dates for her, and we are within that booking period. We'll have lots to talk about.