How long can you stay

[Nohal]

I feel I should know this and have read it here somewhere so not sure where to post this. I would love to go to Disney next year for one month. Since I would go in Sept and would want to take advantage of free dining was also wondering if it is worth breaking up a trip. I'm thinking that AP might be the way to go but know that FD isn't available or is it for AP? Would it be worth it to book free dining and just take the minimum number of days and then bridge to AP. We would probably stay in a value for most of the trip and a moderate for a part of it. Just tossing things around in my head and don't know which way to go. Hopefully someone has done this and can give me some advice. Of course this may end up being wishful thinking once I run the numbers.

 

[buzznina]

I feel I should know this and have read it here somewhere so not sure where to post this. I would love to go to Disney next year for one month. Since I would go in Sept and would want to take advantage of free dining was also wondering if it is worth breaking up a trip. I'm thinking that AP might be the way to go but know that FD isn't available or is it for AP? Would it be worth it to book free dining and just take the minimum number of days and then bridge to AP. We would probably stay in a value for most of the trip and a moderate for a part of it. Just tossing things around in my head and don't know which way to go. Hopefully someone has done this and can give me some advice. Of course this may end up being wishful thinking once I run the numbers.

This
3 weeks would be our max and yes we would definitely want to break up the trip at multiple resorts. Disney usually has a maximum 14 days that you can get FD, so you would have to break it up into 2 separate trips. We are still waiting to do this, if only we can pick the right lotto numbers

 

[DisBuckMan]

First, there is no guarantee that free dining will be offered next year.

Assuming that it is, however, and if it works like it has in the past....for you to be able to stay a month under free dining, you'd have to have three separate reservations due to the promotion being limited to (either) 10 or 14 days max (can't remember which one it is...I think it is 10 days). You would have to buy at least a two day ticket with either park hoppers or water parks attached to them for each person staying under the promotion for each separate reservation. You cannot get free dining without the ticket component, so an AP wouldn't keep you from having to buy the tickets for any part of the stay.

 

[Dave006]

Most "Deals" have a specific "length of stay" requirement. For example Free Dining is listed as a minimum of 1 night and a maximum of 14 nights per offer.

However, your money will run out before Disney will send you away. You will just have to have multiple reservations so your idea to split your stay across multiple resorts will meet that reservation length requirement.

Dave

 

[Jadyreen1282]

First, there is no guarantee that free dining will be offered next year.

Assuming that it is, however, and if it works like it has in the past....for you to be able to stay a month under free dining, you'd have to have three separate reservations due to the promotion being limited to (either) 10 or 14 days max (can't remember which one it is...I think it is 10 days). You would have to buy at least a two day ticket with either park hoppers or water parks attached to them for each person staying under the promotion for each separate reservation.

I know I'm getting free dining next Sept because the bounce back has been announced. My next trip is in 30 days and the first thing I'm going to do is dial 8844.

 

[DisBuckMan]

I know I'm getting free dining next Sept because the bounce back has been announced. My next trip is in 30 days and the first thing I'm going to do is dial 8844.

True, but for the OP, I'm assuming:

1) We're not talking about a bounceback, and
2) You won't be staying for a month in September, even with a bounceback under the newly announced terms.

 

[purple figment]

I feel I should know this and have read it here somewhere so not sure where to post this. I would love to go to Disney next year for one month. Since I would go in Sept and would want to take advantage of free dining was also wondering if it is worth breaking up a trip.
1. I'm thinking that AP might be the way to go but know that FD isn't available or is it for AP?
2. Would it be worth it to book free dining and just take the minimum number of days and then bridge to AP.
3. We would probably stay in a value for most of the trip and a moderate for a part of it. Just tossing things around in my head and don't know which way to go. Hopefully someone has done this and can give me some advice. Of course this may end up being wishful thinking once I run the numbers.

1. The FD special has always required tickets as part of the package. The 2016 FD offer requires a minimum of 2 day tickets with either the park hopper or Water Parks & More add on. Even those who already have APs have to purchase tickets to get FD. The FD special can be booked for a maximum of 14 nights so if you are going for a month you will need at least 2 separate reservations, but then you would need to purchase park tickets for each FD package.

2. You could use the tickets from the first FD package to upgrade to APs after you arrive. The tickets that are part of the FD package can be up to 10 days in length which might be something to consider depending on the number of days you want to book FPs in advance. For the second FD package you could choose the minimum ticket length and save them for a future trip when you don't have an AP or to apply towards an AP renewal the following year.

3. Definitely run the numbers. It might be worth comparing FD with one reservation and a room only with meals OOP on the other reservation vs the cost of 2 FD packages.

 

[Nancyg56]

Will you have a car? Others here are we'll versed with the AP/park tix part of your question, but I want o chime in on teh FD portion.

Since you want to break up your stay between value and moderate resorts, I would price out RO discount on one segment. You may find that no matter how varied WDW foods is, it can get old, so having a vehicle may make a difference in your decision. You would be able to eat offsite, and might save a lot of money.

The value of FD depends on how many of you are in a room, as well as the level of stay, and when you add the length of your stay, the puchase of park tickets, and the dates discounts may be included, I think you will need a good spreadsheet to be sure you are choosing the best value for each segment of you stay.

 

[happymommy]

If it were me, I'd book the max number of nights for free dining with a purchase of an AP (let's say it's 14 nights) at a value resort (if you like the QSDP, which honestly I do prefer as I don't care to be tied down to ADRs a whole lot, and no way could I do that many in 2 weeks - I just am more of one to snack than eat a large meal).

If it doesn't seem to allow the AP then a 10 day park hopper, then upgrade when you arrive. I've only upgraded after arriving that I can recall.

Then see if there is any AP discounts or other room only discounts to book the following two weeks. No, you won't get dining. You do get some discounts at lunches with AP's as well as a discount at the value resort food courts.

If I went for so long, though, I'd likely agree about having a car. Longest stay for me was 15 nights, and we had a condo (it was just me and my two kids) and a car. I cooked for us a lot, so we weren't eating so much unfamiliar foods, and it saved money too.

 

[Nohal]

We would be booking bounceback with the free dining. For us staying in a value free dining is usually the better deal as it is DH and me. Upgrading to DDP is still a better value than staying in a MOD. Didn't think about RO discount for a mod may be the better way to go as the dining gets old after awhile and off site would be cheaper. We would rent a car for part of the trip as going to US/IOA and seaworld would be part of the trip. Going for 10 days this year so after this trip maybe staying 30 days would be overkill for us. Don't know that I could stay in a hotel for 30 days.

 

[Nancyg56]

We would be booking bounceback with the free dining. For us staying in a value free dining is usually the better deal as it is DH and me. Upgrading to DDP is still a better value than staying in a MOD. Didn't think about RO discount for a mod may be the better way to go as the dining gets old after awhile and off site would be cheaper. We would rent a car for part of the trip as going to US/IOA and seaworld would be part of the trip. Going for 10 days this year so after this trip maybe staying 30 days would be overkill for us. Don't know that I could stay in a hotel for 30 days.

At a moderate the discount can be the better value than the FD option. I alwasy have to run my numbers. For my family we generally fare better with FD, but we travel with a group.

 

[married2mm]

In the UK the max we can book free dining is for 21 nights

And fd has already been announced for 2017.

 

[Nohal]

True, but for the OP, I'm assuming:

1) We're not talking about a bounceback, and
2) You won't be staying for a month in September, even with a bounceback under the newly announced terms.

We have been going in Sept for the last 12 years. The plan would be to go again in September with the FD bounceback for part of the trip and RO in a Mod for the last part. I'm a little confused with the dates for BB for next year. Seems like we would have to go mid Aug to mid Sept. Thinking they cut Sept short because they will have F&W and MNSSHP earlier even though both start earlier this year than last.

 

[BobC]

The prior poster who said about renting a car and getting non-Disney food is wise.

I love Disney food for the first few days, but when i stayed for 14 days it got old the last week. Can only eat so many chicken nuggets, burgers, and reheated frozen pizza for lunch. Even got tired of the steak and table-service food after a while, hate to say it.