No free dining week one December

[hollygolitely93]

Kind of freaking...we are taking three families to the world 12/1-12/8. I see pins came out and my week is excluded? Yikes! Week before and after we can't go due to business commitments. What to do?

Did the have week one blacked out last year? Why?

Boo hoo!

 

[tyzzle]

Kind of freaking...we are taking three families to the world 12/1-12/8. I see pins came out and my week is excluded? Yikes! Week before and after we can't go due to business commitments. What to do?

Did the have week one blacked out last year? Why?

Boo hoo!

As long as your check in date is covered under free dining it will apply to your whole trip (I am pretty sure this applies even for a blackout period). Can you move your trip up enough so your check in date falls during the promotion?

 

[DisneyGuess]

The first week of December is usually blacked out for promos as it is the week of Pop Warner.

 

[cybrkitn]

Yes, it was blacked out last year as well. We're arriving on 11/29 and are waiting for the general public announcement of free dining since we didn't get a pin code.

 

[ZoeisMommy]

We go every year the week of pop Warner and always moss out on free dining. So this year after seeing the black out dates I bumped ours up here is to hoping you guys get it to work out for you (and that they release free dining sooooooon)

 

[mommycal]

please help a newbie out. we're thinking of going around the 1st two weeks of DEC. Date TBD but we'd like to do a week. what does this all mean for us? TIA for your help!

when are the blackout dates and where can I find more info on this? when will we know if/when free dinning will be offered. we're ready to book just not sure of all these what if's, LOL

 

[TDC Nala]

It doesn't mean anything unless you've gotten a PIN for free dining. There's currently no general public offer for free dining, and no guarantee that if there is a general public offer it will have the same dates as the PIN offer.

But Disney does block out some of the first week in December lately, it's more popular than it used to be, and they have a lot of guests coming for the Pop Warner tournament, I think the kids have to stay where the teams stay, but the parents and siblings often stay at WDW too.

 

[mommycal]

so should we not go the 1st week in December? I'm still confused as to what blackout means? does it affect me going/staying at WDW

 

[mommyof3princess27]

so should we not go the 1st week in December? I'm still confused as to what blackout means? does it affect me going/staying at WDW

BLACKOUT period is when Disney choses a period in which NOT to offer a discount like 11/10-11/15; 11/20-11/25( these are examples... the 16th-19th are BLACKED OUT meaning if you arrive during those dates you CANNOT get the discount being offered. Now if your arrival date was the 16th, some ppl come one day earlier. If your arrival date is the 9th, some ppl will do a room only the first night then the 10th on will be the offer. For Free Dining, you have to CHECK IN during one of the offer dates. It doesnt matter if all the rest of your trip is in the dates or not-just your check in date. For a room only, your discount will only be on the dates in the offer) Hope this helps a little

 

[cybrkitn]

so should we not go the 1st week in December? I'm still confused as to what blackout means? does it affect me going/staying at WDW

It won't affect you going to Disney. It just means that you will not be able to get a discount if you arrive during a blackout period. You will be paying rack rate.

We're going 11/29-12/8 this year. Because we are arriving a day before the Pop Warner blackout dates, we can still take advantage of any discounts that are offered to the general public - as long as the 29th is listed as part of the discount that is being offered (whatever it may be).

Here's an example. Say free dining is being offered and the last date to use it is November 29 before the blackout dates. If you check in on the 29th and have the free dining discount applied to your package, it will apply to your entire stay even during the blackout dates. As long as you check in on the 29th. This will only work with checking in before the blackout period. It doesn't work if you are arriving during and staying after.

From what I found out here on the DISboards, we will barely even notice the kids in the parks during Pop Warner week since they are busy doing their sports. We are also staying at a moderate resort. Pop Warner kids and their families stay at the value resort, especially All Star Sports. If there is an overflow, they will use one moderate resort (I don't know if Disney has decided which one this year).

 

[mommycal]

I think I get. So exactly what dates has Disney bloked out?

So nothing offered as of yet for free dining, right? We're ready to book our trip and are totally open to going any 7 days, 6 nights the first 2 weeks in dec.

When will Disney release a new deal/special? Anyone have any ideas?


A huge thanks to all that helped this newbie out.

 

[jenlov]

If you want to go in December, you'll need to arrive 11/29 or wait until 12/10 to get the free dining. Not sure when the public offer comes out. We booked 12/10 w/ a PIN offer.

 

[teamperry]

We went last year with free dining from 12/2 to 12/10. The general public offer came out on 8/3/11. Disney later changed the beginning date to 12/4 instead of 12/2, so make sure you book right away when it comes out.

 

[cybrkitn]

We went last year with free dining from 12/2 to 12/10. The general public offer came out on 8/3/11. Disney later changed the beginning date to 12/4 instead of 12/2, so make sure you book right away when it comes out.

Those were our original dates before we had to postpone it to this year. We also got the free dining offer via snail mail in August. It's so hard for me this year to be patient for the GP offer.

 

[teamperry]

Those were our original dates before we had to postpone it to this year. We also got the free dining offer via snail mail in August. It's so hard for me this year to be patient for the GP offer.

I booked in June last year hoping for free dining to be released for December. I was so scared it wouldn't happen. When it did, I was on the phone first thing in the morning the day it was released to make sure I got it. It saved my family of 5 almost $1600 and we got to eat at a lot of great restaurants including Cinderella's Castle. The weather was great, and the crowds weren't bad. It was a good time to go.

 

[Phatoomch]

We were lucky enough to receive a PIN for Free QS Dining (we upgraded to Reg DP) and it covered our check-in date 7th December

 

[mom2taylorandemily]

Those were our original dates before we had to postpone it to this year. We also got the free dining offer via snail mail in August. It's so hard for me this year to be patient for the GP offer.

Oh my, me too!!! I call every couple of days hoping for a PIN but so far no luck! I have a trip booked for 12-11 thru 12-19 for DDs Sweet 16!!! We have FD for our August trip but this is a surprise and we've already booked our airfare as we got an awesome rate!!! So now, if I could just get FD in Dec. my vacation for Christmas would be just awesome!!!!!! I wish for Pixie Dust daily!!!

 

[jn0662]

We were lucky enough to receive a PIN for Free QS Dining (we upgraded to Reg DP) and it covered our check-in date 7th December

Our check in is set for the 7th. Did you receive the pin for the 7th this year? Waiting for the GP to be announced, hoping we are covered.

 

[cybrkitn]

Our check in is set for the 7th. Did you receive the pin for the 7th this year? Waiting for the GP to be announced, hoping we are covered.

Free dining is not being offered from 12/1-12/9 due to Pop Warner. The first week of December is always blocked b/c of this. It's the kid's version of the superbowl and also cheerleading for the girls. In order to get FD, you would need to arrive on 11/29 or arrive on 12/10 when it starts up again.

There are several thread right now going on regarding the Fall free dining offer. The main one right now is http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2951866. I believe Dan lists the dates that are covered and he seems to have "inside" information of the general public offer being released on Thursday.

From what I'm hearing, if you have the Disney Visa card, the free dining offer should be coming out in a day or so.

 

[jn0662]

Free dining is not being offered from 12/1-12/9 due to Pop Warner. The first week of December is always blocked b/c of this. It's the kid's version of the superbowl and also cheerleading for the girls. In order to get FD, you would need to arrive on 11/29 or arrive on 12/10 when it starts up again.

There are several thread right now going on regarding the Fall free dining offer. The main one right now is http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2951866. I believe Dan lists the dates that are covered and he seems to have "inside" information of the general public offer being released on Thursday.

From what I'm hearing, if you have the Disney Visa card, the free dining offer should be coming out in a day or so.

Thanks so much! Changed our dates around to check in the 10th and used the VISA. Can not wait for Ohana's!!!!!!!!!!!