Help me...

[kdisser]

I have huge questions on purchasing my next disney package. I am crossing my fingers for free dining in September. I have not booked ANYTHING yet because I am waiting for Free Dining IF it comes out. So in the meantime I have been looking through options.

1. Could I get more details on AP
-Could I purchase 1 for one person in my family and get the benefits if the rest of the family doesn't have AP? (could I book a room with 1 person AP and 3 adults being regular nonAP) to get the AP rate
-If you get AP rate on room can you add another discount, or is that still a no like regular guests.
-Does AP usually get FD promotions?
I just need more understanding on AP.......

Any tidbits of info would be amazing!!!!

 

[Robo]

One AP can handle booking for a room.
Rarely (if ever) can you combine pkg. deals.
Free Dining requires minimum tickets for all, but
those tickets can be used to renew an AP.

 

[kdisser]

Do you know if AP are allowed to get the FD promotion?

 

[powellrj]

You have to buy a park ticket.

 

[HopperFan]

Do you know if AP are allowed to get the FD promotion?

Yes, but you still have to buy the required minimum tickets.

I believe last year was 2 day ticket with Hopper or Water Park & More.
You do not have to use those tickets during that trip.
We have saved ours to use towards our next AP renewal.
We have used our for others to go with us on future trips.

Do the math, depending on your people numbers, where you stay etc FD may not be a good deal.
We did FD for years but then it stopped being a value as our numbers changed.
We found that AP discounted room and paying for our own food (with our TiW card or AP food discount) saves us more.

 

[Spork24]

if I were you I would go ahead and book trough a specialty travel agent and let them help you through the decision of how to get the deal your looking for.

 

[joe1946]

Definitely look into getting a TiW card -- you and your entire family will save 20% on virtually all your meals

 

[HopperFan]

Definitely look into getting a TiW card -- you and your entire family will save 20% on virtually all your meals

And alcohol so if you do enjoy some drinks with Disney prices, a big help!

 

[kdisser]

Oh man thank you guys for the tips!!!!

Last year we went during FD and including flight I spent $3,700 for 4 adults and we stayed 7 nights. I wasn't for sure if I could get any lower lol
I was just wanting to browse from different approaches this time around because I have been basically thinking and planning since we stepped off the airplane and arrived home.....

 

[Tomh]

Yup, always do the numbers. We used to be a group of 4 or 5, and would stay at a Moderate (POR) with the free dining plan. That was a fair enough deal, but recently, the added requirements for getting FD, and the fact that it isn't available until nearly the end of August have ruled it out for us. This year, we decided to stay off site for our first time ever, and to bring some of our lunches in with us. Turns out we will save a ton of money on food, and be able to rent a 5 bedroom house for less than we would have paid to stay at POR.