IMO requiring the purchase of park hopper or water parks further erodes the value of the "
free dining" offer. It seems once people were hooked they've been decreasing the value, upping the price, & requiring more & more add ons in order to qualify.
It all depends on what your family would purchase, If you normally add hoppers, why is the value eroded? I think that we all seem to think everyone tours the way we do, and that simply is not the case. My family usually purchases hoppers, so having to buy it makes not one penny of difference to me, it's already factored into our budget.
I just got the same PIN in my email that I got last year (not free dining). It's for up to 30% off room rate + free park hopper for 5/30–8/25/16. Hopefully things continue the way they do and they offer free dining for early September as well. Crossing my fingers for the 2 weeks after Labor Day...
Um, I booked early last year and the whole reason I was able to get the promotion was because of that. So, it's not defeating. If I wouldn't have booked early, I wouldn't have gotten the dates and resort I wanted because it's all done through
AAA for me. So, maybe it doesn't work out for some people, but for me, it did.
You were lucky. In order to "apply" the discount, you need to cancel and rebook. If there was no availability for this discount at the resort you wanted, you would have had to change resorts in order to use it.
AAA may have negotiated the details for you, but they were necessary.
I would prefer cheaper room rates over free dining. Someone has to pay for it and one way is to factor the cost into the room rate.
Nothing in this world is free.
Amazing what the word "FREE" does. I know a store owner who was selling something at 33 1/3 off. It didn't move so he repriced to buy 3 and get the 4th one free it flew off the shelf. The owner had the last laugh. The customer got a 25 percent discount instead of 33 1/3 percent discount. and they didn't even realize it.
You are right, nothing is "free", but the discounts are the discounts. Call them what you want, but respect that for many, FD is the better offer. My family generally needs two rooms, and we will use different FD on one and RO on another many times. Your family may benefit from a RO discount, but mine may not. Or as we have done in the past, FD on one and RO on the other. And I laugh and I laugh and I laugh when people tell me I got snookered. I am pretty clear about what my savings are, and then to double check, I ask DD to build her spreadsheet. And I move our folks around between rooms to make the most of our savings. And I save. A lot.
I admit that I am new to all of this, but if you wait to book how would you get the ADR's you wanted? I just booked mine on Saturday at 6:00AM and still had to give up some of the things I wanted in order to get in. If I waited even a few hours, I wouldn't have got it at all. So how do you wait to try and get free dining and then have restaurant availability?
Also, why would they offer free anything in the peak summer months? Why not wait if they are going to reduce free dining? Again, I am new to this so I may very well be missing something.
Free anything is based on what resorts need to increase their census. My DD booked POR in July for her family, but really would have loved to stay at their favorite, the Poly. They also decided not to buy hoppers, which they dearly like, but she thought they were not worth the money this trip. Well, once teh 30% off pin came and it also included the hoppers, she jumped on it. It was more money but stayed within her vacation budget, and gave them the resort they really wanted.
You can always book your ADR's at 180 days out, but not the +10 that comes with a resort confirmation. I have done that many times when I was in the process of deciding if we were going to go. I was not willing to make that final commitment of a resort but I also needed to be sure I would secure ADR's that would be important to my family. TO be honest, I have always followed through with the trip, but I like to be sure before I book.
