IF there is free dining...does it matter if you have the DP already

[5starmom]

in your reservation? Meaning, would it be easier or better in any way to reserve a package WITHOUT dining and then add it on later if it becomes free OR just get a package with dining and get credited for the dining portion if it's free?

 

[WildGrits]

IF you have a reservation with dining, they are not going to credit you.

If you make a reservation without dining and dining becomes free, you will not be able to add it.

Free dining plan is offered to fill up rooms that are not yet reserved.

If you want to to make a reservation and then free dining is offered, you can make a new reservation and cancel your old one.

Or you can just wait till April and see if it will be offered again.

Last year the promotion was offered in April.

The year before it was offered in June.

 

[bicker]

Booking a room before free dining is offered provides you no advantage whatsoever with regard to getting free dining if and when it is offered.

Regarding whether or not you can switch your reservation later:

It does depend on the rules applicable to your current reservation, with whom you made the reservation, and whether there is availability in the limited "free dining" inventory at the time you call to switch your reservation.

If you or your TA didn't make your reservation with Disney directly or with AAA, then you probably won't be able to switch your reservation. Free dining has never been offered via travel agency allocations (except AAA), so if your current reservation is from a travel agency allocation, your travel agency will generally not allow you to switch out of their allocation, at least not without paying a fee or forfeiting a deposit.

Also, if you couldn't actually reserve free dining in the room you've already reserved for the dates you've already reserved, then you cannot switch your existing reservation to free dining.

Keep in mind that Disney has already offered free dining for 2007 twice, but both times it was to targeted groups. We don't know whether or not they'll offer free dining again this year, of course, but we also don't know, if they do offer free dining again, whether or not they'll offer it solely to targeted groups.

 

[The Sweetness]

I think their bounce back, and over-seas promos are brilliant If they feel like they still have the need to fill more rooms (by whatever means nec)room for more free dining guests can be offered. I might even go so far as to offer the *free* promo for only mods and deluxes But that's just business

I will be paying for dining on my trip (as well as paying regular rates for room/ tix when I could get discounts without a pkg) and I doubt that I am the ONLY ONE who thinks its worth it, for whatever reason

 

[5starmom]

Thank you all very much! This clarifies things for me. Since we want the dining plan regardless, I'd rather make my reservation now to get the resort and room type we want--maybe even get the 40% off code if we're reallllllly lucky!--and worry about free dining later.

Thanks again!

 

[n2mm]

IF you have a reservation with dining, they are not going to credit you.

If you make a reservation without dining and dining becomes free, you will not be able to add it.

Free dining plan is offered to fill up rooms that are not yet reserved.

If you want to to make a reservation and then free dining is offered, you can make a new reservation and cancel your old one.

Or you can just wait till April and see if it will be offered again.

Last year the promotion was offered in April.

The year before it was offered in June.

Well said!!

I'm sitting here waiting and waiting and hoping that the free ddp comes out and I continue to read all of the threads of folks booking rooms and feel my chances of free dining are slipping further and further away as the resorts for August and September continue to fill.

Remember: full resorts = no free dining

 

[The Sweetness]

Those resorts ARE being filled for free dining. From the overseas, and bounce back promos

 

[n2mm]

Those resorts ARE being filled for free dining. From the overseas, and bounce back promos

Those promotions have ended now. Actually if the BBP was still around, I would be booking it next week while we're there. We missed it when it was out as it started the beginning of November and we checked out the end of October.

 

[zookeeper]

I'm not quite sure I understand the logic of booking a room now in hopes of Disney offering Free Dining. If resorts are being booked without an offer of Free Dining, where is the motivation for Disney to offer anything? Why try to entice guests to Disney who are booking anyways? It would seem more logical (to me anyways) to hold off on booking so that Disney will be more motivated to make a good offer to fill those resort rooms. Am I missing something???