free dinning

[chimommy]

How far in advance does this offer usually come out... i feel like it was out around march for sept? Does disney usually offer free dining in the early part of dec? Trying to decide if we should go in dec or sept... and if free dining would be better than a room only discount.

Thanks!

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

How far in advance does this offer usually come out... i feel like it was out around march for sept? Does disney usually offer free dining in the early part of dec? Trying to decide if we should go in dec or sept... and if free dining would be better than a room only discount.

Thanks!

Never the first week of December that is when the parade is being taped. The only dates in December this year are December 10 - December 13.

Usually the whole month of Sept is included and is announced around March/April.

There is a huge debate among posters if free dining is worth it. For my family it is a yes. For a family that doesn't eat on a schedule and or enjoy desserts it may not be worth it. I would price it both ways.

If you want free dining I definitely recommend September. Have a nice trip.

 

[EPCOTatNight]

Never the first week of December that is when the parade is being taped. The only dates in December this year are December 10 - December 13.

Usually the whole month of Sept is included and is announced around March/April.

There is a huge debate among posters if free dining is worth it. For my family it is a yes. For a family that doesn't eat on a schedule and or enjoy desserts it may not be worth it. I would price it both ways.

If you want free dining I definitely recommend September. Have a nice trip.

I had free dining the first week of December in 09.

 

[danceintherain]

If your goal is free dining, then planning a trip for September would more likely give you the results you want. December changes every year, while they probably will continue to release Free Dining for December, the exact dates are difficult to predict.

Mousesavers has a historical discount page that tells you when discounts have been released in the past. They don't usually post the amount of the discount, but they do indicate when it was Free Dining.
http://www.mousesavers.com/historical-information-on-walt-disney-world-resort-discounts/

Whether it will be worth it for you will depend on a lot of different factors. For us, it doesn't tend to be that great of a deal, because we're 2 adults with 1 child under 3, enjoy staying in moderate resorts and above, sometimes order water for a drink, and don't enjoy eating dessert with every meal. If we did Free Dining (or the DIning Plan at all) it would be for the convenience of paying everything off in advance ,which isn't really convenient in my mind, though it is in my husband's.
Also, right now we qualify for the Armed Forces Salute discount on tickets and rooms, so we can get a better deal without Free Dining, only have to pay a deposit until check in, and cancel up to 5 days in advance.

I've crunched the numbers several times, and Free Dining probably won't be worth it for us until we have older/more kids, and/or if we choose to stay in the Value resort.

 

[brekin67]

Never the first week of December that is when the parade is being taped. The only dates in December this year are December 10 - December 13.

Usually the whole month of Sept is included and is announced around March/April.

There is a huge debate among posters if free dining is worth it. For my family it is a yes. For a family that doesn't eat on a schedule and or enjoy desserts it may not be worth it. I would price it both ways.

If you want free dining I definitely recommend September. Have a nice trip.

I also had free dining the first week of December. We were there for the taping and free dining. Good luck, I hope you get the dates you want.

 

[LauraLouLovesPooh]

I helped plan a trip about a year ago with free dining dates early in December. Late December early January is a VERY popular time so they never offer free dining then. My DBF and I go every September BECAUSE they usually offer free dining. Kids are back at school and it is the start of hurricane season so my guess is that they offer it to try and bring more people into the parks/resorts. I would suggest to wait until they offer free dining in September, should be probably before or around March as that would be 160 days or so out from the trip (so you could book dining reservations).

Free dining is always a good perk and to us (a couple) it is well worth it price wise. Some of the meals we have are upwards of $100 and when all you have to pay is gratuity it is definitely worth it to us.

Good luck and enjoy your trip no matter when you go!

 

[EPCOTatNight]

I helped plan a trip about a year ago with free dining dates early in December. Late December early January is a VERY popular time so they never offer free dining then. My DBF and I go every September BECAUSE they usually offer free dining. Kids are back at school and it is the start of hurricane season so my guess is that they offer it to try and bring more people into the parks/resorts. I would suggest to wait until they offer free dining in September, should be probably before or around March as that would be 160 days or so out from the trip (so you could book dining reservations).

Free dining is always a good perk and to us (a couple) it is well worth it price wise. Some of the meals we have are upwards of $100 and when all you have to pay is gratuity it is definitely worth it to us.

Good luck and enjoy your trip no matter when you go!

I had free dining in early January 2011. Also, that trip had the lowest crowds I've ever seen. Early January has historically had low crowds.

 

[sduck]

As you can see December/January is a toss-up for free dining and I would call it a major wild card.

But I believe Sept. has been included with each of the free dining promotions at some point in the month.

Remember you can book the starting the last last day of free dining up to the maximum that is set for that year. (I have seen 10 and 14 in different years). This may also be why some were free dining in the first weeks of December.

I believe as the other poster stated AllEars or Mousesaver has a list of all the dates and announcements.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

OP sorry about the mis-information re: December. I know that they have had a few days here and there in December but it was not consistent and to be honest I didn't have the time to copy/paste all the dates. Like stated above, it is out there in Cyber Land.

I still believe September is more of a sure thing for free dining. Again, have fun planning.

 

[Marionnette]

Free dining is NEVER guaranteed to happen from one year to the next, so if you're expecting it to be offered for your next Disney vacation, be prepared for disappointment.

There are a lot of people who are not impressed with the package discount that was just announced for the spring of 2013. Instead of free dining or some sort of other "free" promotion, Disney is offering is straight package discount on packages that include dining. Rumor has it that Disney plans to cut back on the free dining offers for 2013, perhaps eliminating them entirely.

 

[j's m]

Never the first week of December that is when the parade is being taped. The only dates in December this year are December 10 - December 13.
.

They extended it this year after it was first announced. We're arriving Dec 16 and have free dining. I think it was extended through Dec 20.