New free dining offer yeaaah

[heatherwillmom]

I hope this works out for everyone!

 

[mommyrosa2]

Wow... it amazes me how many people are so willing to change their dates based on a rumor. I, for one, do not plan to change a thing on my October reservation until I see the FD promo come out first hand from Disney either thru my Disney VISA (which as of this morning, shows nothing yet) or thru the Disney website.

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Well, it's 8 am here and no word on DV free dining. I was really hoping to wake up to an offer this morning.... sigh.

 

[Tinker Pam]

Wow... it amazes me how many people are so willing to change their dates based on a rumor. I, for one, do not plan to change a thing on my October reservation until I see the FD promo come out first hand from Disney either thru my Disney VISA (which as of this morning, shows nothing yet) or thru the Disney website.

The main reason for my change is airfare. Almost 1300 bucks for 3 people is outrageous especially if I can adjust my dates and pay 600.

 

[figmentswife]

I love how the word "free" has gotten everyone into a tizzy, myself included.

I have run the numbers 100 times all weekend, I have dreamed of nothing but how to stay on property....but the "free" will end up costing me another $400 to ONLY get 2 "free" meals per day.

Bottom line...."free" doesn't look so "free" to me.

Buena Vista Suites HERE WE COME. I will have a suite, with frig. and coffee maker, and FREE breakfast and I am very happy to only be paying......$588 (that's with taxes) for 7 nights.

I hope that this rumor is true for all of you waiting for it. I can't wait to hear your great stories on Wed of being able to change your reservations and get your free dining and all of the ADR's you made b\c of it.

And for those you who think I will be missing some magic...don't worry, there will be tons of magic for is cause we are only paying $588 for our accommodations, now we can afford ALL the magic we want. (again, we have never really stayed on property, so I don't have a clue what I am missing)

 

[mommyrosa2]

The main reason for my change is airfare. Almost 1300 bucks for 3 people is outrageous especially if I can adjust my dates and pay 600.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for saving a buck and as long as those who are making changes ahead of the actual announcement are ok with their new dates, then wonderful...but I would hate to see folks disappointed or upset if they changed their dates prematurely and the actual dates announced didn't end up coinciding with their changes. It's a gamble for sure.

 

[My2Angels]

I love how the word "free" has gotten everyone into a tizzy, myself included.

I have run the numbers 100 times all weekend, I have dreamed of nothing but how to stay on property....but the "free" will end up costing me another $400 to ONLY get 2 "free" meals per day.

Bottom line...."free" doesn't look so "free" to me.

Buena Vista Suites HERE WE COME. I will have a suite, with frig. and coffee maker, and FREE breakfast and I am very happy to only be paying......$588 (that's with taxes) for 7 nights.

I hope that this rumor is true for all of you waiting for it. I can't wait to hear your great stories on Wed of being able to change your reservations and get your free dining and all of the ADR's you made b\c of it.

And for those you who think I will be missing some magic...don't worry, there will be tons of magic for is cause we are only paying $588 for our accommodations, now we can afford ALL the magic we want. (again, we have never really stayed on property, so I don't have a clue what I am missing)

The "free" in free dining is definitely worth an extra $400 for a family like my own. We would spend $150.00 or more on just one of the free table service meals. A counter service for us is usually $50 or more. I think it totally depends on the make up of your family. Food is so expensive at Disney. I have stayed offsite in a $49 per night room and paid out of pocket for meals, and I still spent more on my trip than during free dining onsite. Free dining will take almost $1000.00 off my total bill.

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

The "free" in free dining is definitely worth an extra $400 for a family like my own. We would spend $150.00 or more on just one of the free table service meals. A counter service for us is usually $50 or more. I think it totally depends on the make up of your family. Food is so expensive at Disney. I have stayed offsite in a $49 per night room and paid out of pocket for meals, and I still spent more on my trip than during free dining onsite. Free dining will take almost $1000.00 off my total bill.

Same here. We always save around $1000 with FD. We could eat CS food our whole trip and probably save money by staying off site, but Disney dining is how I lure my DH back to Disney over and over again. The man loves to eat a good meal! So for us, the dining experiences are just as important a part of our trip as our park tickets. Every family is different though so you have to consider what works for you, not others. My neighbor for example, was disappointed that FD was the only offer that came out for her trip a few years back. Her family had no interest in eating at a restaurant every day of their trip. She said that it took up too much of their park time. In fact, I think they took the FD since it was the only discount, but ended up using their TS credits to buy CS meals. That is something I would NEVER consider doing...... but to each his own.

 

[sjs314]

Just for Ha ha's I decided to price out my dates @ BVS, I know the special is over but guess what 2 of my nights are not available Oct 19 & 20 for the suites. Glad I did not really want to book.

 

[pixiedaisy]

You're fine, just call on Wednesday and have them add the FD to your reservation. They will adjust your existing reservation and you'll keep the same reservation number...

Thank you so much!!

Was hoping to see a DV offer today, but no such luck. Crossing my fingers for Wednesday!!

 

[figmentswife]

My2Angels - the free dining will not save my family anything. (2 adults, 1 child)

If I had not already paid for our tickets (my mistake) it WOULD have saved us money for this trip, but having to purchase 2 tickets to get the free dining hurts us. I was going to go with the free dining deal on Wed. (if it happens) if we only had to purchase 1 day tickets and we would have used those tickets next year. I have learned my lesson....DON'T purchase your tickets 6 months in advance.

Our ORIGINAL plan was this....stay at Swan/Dolphin (we get employee rates, that are lower then discounted Value rates) and we would only pay 1/2 price for food at Swan/Dolphin, purchase tickets before rate increase and have a GREAT time at Disney for my DD 10th Birthday..... all for less then $3000

However, about 3 weeks ago the Swan/Dolphin booked up for 2 nights in the middle of our stay which means they will NOT offer employee rate...so we booked off property (unbelievable deal) and still plan to eat dinners at Swan/Dolphin with employee discount, and still have a GREAT time at Disney.

Than all this talk about free dining happened Friday and I got excited, thinking we could do this.....comes down to my less then $3000 birthday/vacation has gotten me staying up at night running numbers, yelling at my kids and husband and NOW I have a cold sore...

So I woke up this morning and decided that I was in love with what we have and we still get to go to Disney.

(while typing this, my husband called from work and said we could change our dates to 2 weeks later, free dining will be available, and we could stay 2 more nights....now the stressing begins AGAIN. I guess I am off to crunching more numbers..UGGGG)

 

[sjs314]

Same here. We always save around $1000 with FD. We could eat CS food our whole trip and probably save money by staying off site, but Disney dining is how I lure my DH back to Disney over and over again. The man loves to eat a good meal! So for us, the dining experiences are just as important a part of our trip as our park tickets. Every family is different though so you have to consider what works for you, not others. My neighbor for example, was disappointed that FD was the only offer that came out for her trip a few years back. Her family had no interest in eating at a restaurant every day of their trip. She said that it took up too much of their park time. In fact, I think they took the FD since it was the only discount, but ended up using their TS credits to buy CS meals. That is something I would NEVER consider doing...... but to each his own.

Rinky - I use the same tactic with DH, he loves him some good food, although we have always paid OOP I am looking forward to the DP this year even if I have to pay for it. I think it will be a lot less stressful than looking at those inflated prices and digging into our pockets each day.

 

[TheRatPack]

Thank you so much!!

Was hoping to see a DV offer today, but no such luck. Crossing my fingers for Wednesday!!

Yea, that's kind of a new one. DV always gets a 3 day headstart....wonder why not this time. Maybe the new rules about credit cards and reward programs has somehow changed the way they can offer these deals?

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Rinky - I use the same tactic with DH, he loves him some good food, although we have always paid OOP I am looking forward to the DP this year even if I have to pay for it. I think it will be a lot less stressful than looking at those inflated prices and digging into our pockets each day.

Everyone is different for sure, but we LOVE the dining plan for that very reason. My DH likes to order whatever he wants without worrying about the cost or getting "the look" from me if he orders something too expensive! It is a great feeling to peruse at menu, choose whatever you want, and never look at the prices! That's something that I never get to do in 'real life'!

 

[kerplop]

With all of the spreadsheets I've made over the past week, budgeting our trip and paying the rest of it off, I'm wondering if I should have gone into accounting.

 

[sjs314]

My2Angels - the free dining will not save my family anything. (2 adults, 1 child)

If I had not already paid for our tickets (my mistake) it WOULD have saved us money for this trip, but having to purchase 2 tickets to get the free dining hurts us. I was going to go with the free dining deal on Wed. (if it happens) if we only had to purchase 1 day tickets and we would have used those tickets next year. I have learned my lesson....DON'T purchase your tickets 6 months in advance.

Our ORIGINAL plan was this....stay at Swan/Dolphin (we get employee rates, that are lower then discounted Value rates) and we would only pay 1/2 price for food at Swan/Dolphin, purchase tickets before rate increase and have a GREAT time at Disney for my DD 10th Birthday..... all for less then $3000

However, about 3 weeks ago the Swan/Dolphin booked up for 2 nights in the middle of our stay which means they will NOT offer employee rate...so we booked off property (unbelievable deal) and still plan to eat dinners at Swan/Dolphin with employee discount, and still have a GREAT time at Disney.

Than all this talk about free dining happened Friday and I got excited, thinking we could do this.....comes down to my less then $3000 birthday/vacation has gotten me staying up at night running numbers, yelling at my kids and husband and NOW I have a cold sore...

So I woke up this morning and decided that I was in love with what we have and we still get to go to Disney.

(while typing this, my husband called from work and said we could change our dates to 2 weeks later, free dining will be available, and we could stay 2 more nights....now the stressing begins AGAIN. I guess I am off to crunching more numbers..UGGGG) :scared1:

Have fun I played around with a couple of date switches just for fun but since we already have our plane tix , the fees to change those pretty much eats up any savings we would get with FD and then there is the matter of ADRs I have two which I am sure might be impossible to get if I switched dates, Le Cellier and 'Ohanas which are both new for us and we really want to try.

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

there is the matter of ADRs I have two which I am sure might be impossible to get if I switched dates, Le Cellier and 'Ohanas which are both new for us and we really want to try.

That's why I don't switch dates. Once I get my ADRs, no way am I starting over! It's too much work to go back and figure all that out again. And I am pretty sure you would have trouble rebooking those two and you don't want to miss Ohana!!!!

 

[richkorn]

Wow... it amazes me how many people are so willing to change their dates based on a rumor. I, for one, do not plan to change a thing on my October reservation until I see the FD promo come out first hand from Disney either thru my Disney VISA (which as of this morning, shows nothing yet) or thru the Disney website.

Ditto... or from my TA at Small World.

 

[Sandisw]

OK Dis'ers I now have another question...

If I want to do a split stay, arrive on 12/11 and leave on 12/18 how exactly does a split stay work in conjunction with the FD offer?

Say I want to stay at AKL for the first 3 nights and finish at WL.

If I purchase an 8 day pass will they just add my dining credits to the cards already have? I don't have to purchase new park tickets, right?

How does the transferring of luggage work?

Is linking the 2 ressies necessary?


I think that's it.

TIA

Unfortunately, doing a split stay would require you to buy tickets for the 2nd part if you want the free dining promo.

For free dining, you have to book a package, which includes tickets. Now, you could make the first reservation for tickets long enough to cover your stay and then just get the minimum (2 day tickets) with the 2nd part and save those for a future trip.

Doing a split stay with two packages is really expensive with this promo because of the ticket requirement.

Now, you can split stay with dining for the first part and no dining for the second part. In this case, the dining credits would expire at midnight on your check out day (the day you check in to the 2nd resort).

You really would not need to link the reservations because the main goal of that is to ensure that people who book room only/package to qualify for a discount won't have to change rooms. If you are changing resorts, there is nothing to really link.

Luggage transfer is easy--just get a hold of bell services and have them come get your bags or just bring them to them on check out day. Let them know where you are going and they will send the bags.

Once you get to the new resort, and are in your room, give them a call and they will bring it up. The only advice I can give you is to be sure you keep out any things you want as it can take until the late afternoon for the luggage to be at the new resort--things like swimsuits, etc.

 

[pixiedaisy]

That's why I don't switch dates. Once I get my ADRs, no way am I starting over! It's too much work to go back and figure all that out again. And I am pretty sure you would have trouble rebooking those two and you don't want to miss Ohana!!!!

ITA! We plan our trip when we want to go and just hope for discounts. The stress of trying to replan everything is too much for me!