Free Meal Plan

[jimkirst]

On our last trip to DW we got the "free" Disney meal plan and thought it was a great deal. Does anyone have any idea when they post the dates for this promotion or where I should watch for this information?
Jim

 

[Chester's Mum]

Usually during hurricane season Watch for it in the late spring.

 

[madonna31]

Last year, the free dining was offered as of April 4th and the year prior it was offerered on June 06th. Also, there is no guarantee that Disney will offer the free dining again.

 

[Albertan mom]

We booked last year in April.
Rumors are that this year it will be offered Aug 5-Sept 30.

Rumors are also that they have already hit their goal and filled all the spots for the free dining on the 'Bounceback' deal. Hoping this is a false rumor, because I am (impatiently!) waiting for April so I can book again also!!

 

[bicker]

Some information from the Dining Plan FAQ you might be interested in (especially the second half):

What is "free dining"? Will they offer free dining this year?
During the heart of Hurricane Season, Disney has offered a free dining promotion to help encourage reluctant guests to visit during this normally very quiet time of the year. The free dining promotion requires guests to book a Disney MYW package, paying for the hotel at the rack rate, and in return offers the Dining Plan as a free add-on to the package. For the UK/European residents offer, the free dining promotion had to be booked between August 25 and November 6, 2006. The free dining promotion has also been offered to guests while on-site at WDW if staying at Disney resort hotels during December 2006. In both cases, the free dining promotion applies for arrivals between August 12 and September 29, 2007. There is no indication, one way or another, whether free dining will be offered to other targeted groups and/or to the general public.

If you have more questions about the Dining Plan, you might find the answer in the FAQ:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1305783

 

[maryliz]

We got our free dining for this upcoming August on the Bounce-back special in December. Odd that they didn't promote it at the resort ... if you didn't know about it already, they weren't about to tell you. So I really can't see how their "goal" could have been filled given that they didn't tell anyone about it. Unlike the free dining package offered to the UK, I was able to book buying only ONE base ticket per family member ... the UK special required them to buy at least 5 days worth of park tickets.

We're working as a family to determine all of our ADR's as I can make them as of Feb 24th.

I really think they'll offer it again to the general public ... so watch for it come April or so. Depending on whether or not you have AP's or days left on MYW passes, and other hotel discounts, it may or may not be the way to go. I know that in 2005, it was not worth the price difference for my DSis and I ... we could have eaten on the "free plan" for about an extra $175/person for the 6 days we were there ... because it was so hot, we really didn't eat that much and ended up spending less than that on our total food, and didn't waste a lot of time waiting for tables in restaurants. Although I AM looking forward to trying it this summer with my family.

 

[bicker]

Odd that they didn't promote it at the resort ... if you didn't know about it already, they weren't about to tell you.

Given that word is that got far more response than they planned on getting, they're probably pretty pleased that they didn't promote it heavily.

 

[madonna31]

Given that word is that got far more response than they planned on getting, they're probably pretty pleased that they didn't promote it heavily.

This was a pilot program based upon the long-standing success of onboard sales programs in the cruise industry. Like all travel companies, Disney was looking for ways to enhance the Guest experience and generate repeat business.

Therefore, why would Disney be 'pleased' that they didn't 'promote it heavily', when the whole point of the offer was to generate more business in the first place???

 

[bicker]

I think you misunderstand Disney's intent with offering this as a bounce-back deal. Their objective, this year, was to target it to guests who specifically would be less likely to book a vacation during Hurricane Season 2007 in the absence of free dining, rather than making it the free-for-all it was last year. It's always better to reserve your discounts for the customers who wouldn't make the purchase at full price! The hard part is determining how to target your discounts. It's never perfect, but it doesn't have to be -- just keep in mind that you want to give priority for the discount to any easily-segmentable set of prospective guests who are significantly less likely to have visited otherwise, as compare to the total population. Folks who were already on a WDW vacation is a great target group: easy to identify, and while guests do make return visits, of course, they do so less often so soon after their previous trip.

So in the end, they're happy that they got such a strong response, even though they didn't promote it heavily. The booked up a lot of rooms, many of which might have otherwise gone to guests who would have visited even without the free dining plan. By not promoting it heavily, they didn't raise a lot of expectations in this set of guests, many of whom would have been disappointed if when they went to the booking kiosk they were told that basically what they wanted was all booked-up.

 

[CinRell]

What was the bounce back deal? Sorry for my naivity but I have no idea what that even means

If you book your trip and THEN the free dining is offered, can they adjust your price?

 

[bicker]

From the 2007 Disney Dining Plan FAQ:

What is "free dining"? Will they offer free dining this year?
During the heart of Hurricane Season, Disney has offered a free dining promotion to help encourage reluctant guests to visit during this normally very quiet time of the year. The free dining promotion requires guests to book a Disney MYW package, paying for the hotel at the rack rate, and in return offers the Dining Plan as a free add-on to the package. For the UK/European residents offer, the free dining promotion had to be booked between August 25 and November 6, 2006. The free dining promotion has also been offered to guests while on-site at WDW if staying at Disney resort hotels during December 2006. In both cases, the free dining promotion applies for arrivals between August 12 and September 29, 2007. There is no indication, one way or another, whether free dining will be offered to other targeted groups and/or to the general public.

The FAQ can be found here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1305783

 

[madonna31]

I think you misunderstand Disney's intent with offering this as a bounce-back deal.

rotfl actually no, I did not misunderstand Disney's intent with this offer, but thanks for coming out.

Their objective, this year, was to target it to guests who specifically would be less likely to book a vacation during Hurricane Season 2007 in the absence of free dining, rather than making it the free-for-all it was last year.

The 'free for all' issue you have raised has nothing to do with the point I was trying to make. Disney was offering this *pilot* program to see if they could capture repeat business on-site; so of course they are pleased with the huge success of it, as this only dictates for them that it's something that they should continue to do.

 

[drag n' fly]

So I assume suckers like us who paid the full price will never see a free meal?

 

[peanutgirl]

I thought this years free dining was from Aug. 5th not 12th??