I have to ask

[alite]

Please don't flame-But I need something to explain. My father always asked me if they will bring free dining back, since we enjoyed it last year. I always told him there's no chance, thanks to this board and our travel agent. I always told him this was a way to introduce the dining plan, which was read off Dis. I know this is a way to bring in crowds in the off-season, but nobody thought they would offer this again. I caught some backlash convincing him of another trip, after convincing him we would never see free dining again. But, at least were going back Any idea why this was such a suprise to so many people?

 

[Cruz Family]

I personally thought it would return because of hurricane season. Though the big problems last year were west of Florida, a lot of people will not want to travel just incase. Even with that said I am still in the same boat as you, reading these boards had me convinced it would not happen again.
But with a deal like this its all good.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

Many of us were surprised by the offer because Disney has a reputation for not repeating popular promotions. I think we all expected something, such as a "kids eat free" or "kids stay, play & eat for free" promo. I never imagined that they would offer free dining to everyone! It was insanely popular and jammed the table service restaurants. But, I'm very happy to admit that I was mistaken.

 

[Amyrlin]

I think it is down to the bsad hurricane year last year, bookings must have been very down. The good think about free dining for Disney is that it keeps the guests onsite, so they spend more overall.

 

[Becky2005]

I'm going to say I don't really know but agree with the others, it seemed like a great deal & the dining plan was new then, so it seemed more like an introduction. Not something they would make a regular promotion.

There was when I was first planning our original trip I think it was the Fairytale Packages???? Where you bought X days and got something like 2 or 3 free days added on. I wanted to go so bad since it didn't sound like that deal would show up again (maybe it was kids were free??? I can't remember I planned our 2005 trip for about 2 years so read many, many things). Anyway, I didn't see that deal come back around (of course, that's when all the changes took place - the Magic Your Way tickets, dining plan, kids ages changed for dining.)

 

[pedro2112]

It makes you wonder about the cost of food at Disney as compared to capturing the customer onsite for a guranteed number of days.

 

[nluvwithmickey]

Of all my trips to WDW, this will be the cheapest one. I am sooo happy to be getting this opportunity, I acould just dance!

Thanks to free dining, we splurged and bought 10 day no exp. tickets. since there is no food to pay, we jump on the opportunity. DD being 10 now, this is an even bigger saving since we would have had to pay for adult meal plan and adult tickets.

 

[ngtotd_dtrt]

nluv, exactly.

My guess is they ran the numbers and found that enough more people chose WDW in off-season, and per-person spending went up (shopping, extras, ticket add-ons) due to getting such a big freebie, that it was enough to even out the food-loss.

In the restaurants alone, people drank more (big profit item!). Adults who wouldn't drink or might get one and split it, were ordering a couple. In shops, toys and clothes and collectables were more readily purchased ('we just saved $200 on dinner, so I can buy this $45 sweatshirt I want', etc.). Upgrading tickets to add water-parks, or no-expiration, etc. Keeping people on Disney-grounds for most all of their vacation. And don't forget everyone paying full price for the room vs. discounted by AAA or room-only discount deals.

My fear was that menus/quality/portions would be adjusted to help the free-DP not lose much, but that didn't seem to be the case last year. There may be some small adjustments, but probably not that noticeable. The fact that they're doing it again means it worked for them on macro level. I mean, my family is going back again this year and we wouldn't have w/o the free-DP.

Viewing last year, I hoped and sorta suspected they would do it again. If people enjoy spending a little more elsewhere due to the free-DP, then they'll probably bring it back again after this year.

I'll see you there! (We'll be the ones gaining 8lbs. every Fall )