October 2014 Code watch!

[agavegirl1]

Thanks for the information on possibly upgrading the dining plan. We are staying at POP Oct 17-26. I am not sure if it will work for us or not and will need to crunch numbers. Also, we eat dessert VERY rarely and I would likely be giving them away to other restaurant patrons or just skipping them. Is a room discount likely to be 10-15% on a value resort (if offered)?

 

[volleygirl]

Hmmm...I had to mull this over. If they came out with FD and you are currently have a booking at a value resort and it is an applicable room, you could take the plan, which, yes, gives you QS. You would be paying OOP for all your table service, which to me, is an expensive prospect. Granted you'd have a QS to use each day to counter all the TS (using it for breakfast & lunch or lunch & dinner or breakfast & dinner) but you'd probably be better off, if you are desiring the dining plan, to upgrade from the QS plan to the next level (1 snack, 1 QS, 1 TS) by checking the thread the PP gave.

I know some opt to upgrade their resort to a Mod to get the next level DP. Again, you'd have to crunch the number to see if that would be an expense you'd find reasonable. You'd be paying more for the mod, but getting the higher level dining plan.

Does any of this make sense, or am I just in a Monday morning fog!

Thank you so much for starting me on this path!

I love math...so this will be fun for me, but would anyone mind giving their thoughts to our situation?

We have our airfare, but nothing else. We are staying October 14th - 21st. We have priced out our hotel options and think we are going to do Ft. Wilderness with bunk beds. We have never taken advantage of free dining anything. We have not bought tickets yet, because I'm worried that a discount will come out that will save us more money if we buy the tickets through Disney as a package rather than having purchased the discounted tickets at a different location.

This is not our first trip, but will probably be a last for at least a few years.

I have already scheduled a bunch of reservations:

Hollywood and Vine
50's prime time
Akershus
San Angel Inn
BBB
CRT
Liberty Square
Tusker House
Teppan Edo

And perhaps one or two other TS, but will fill in with CS as well. We will also be going to a night of the MNSSHP. I have been saving the reward $$ and have a Disney Visa card.

I first made a hotel reservation, but cancelled it because I read that the rooms available for discount are fewer and it will be easier if I have the chance to make the reservation online than if I have to call and change a reservation on the phone.

So that is my pre-plan plan. In the past, we have used our reward dollars to pay for our dining reservations and BBB bill. We have quite a chunk of change and it gets us through usually 5 of the 6 days.

Now, I'm not sure what I should do if a free dining plan comes up. If I determine that it would save us money to upgrade, is that the time I would have to make a hotel reservation? What happens if they add a discount onto the room only? Would I still have to call and change the reservation? Did I read it correctly that you may not have to change an existing reservation in order to take advantage of the free dining?

Sorry for all the questions, but I like to get lots of help! Thanks!

 

[LisaTC]

Thank you so much for starting me on this path!

I love math...so this will be fun for me, but would anyone mind giving their thoughts to our situation?

We have our airfare, but nothing else. We are staying October 14th - 21st. We have priced out our hotel options and think we are going to do Ft. Wilderness with bunk beds. We have never taken advantage of free dining anything. We have not bought tickets yet, because I'm worried that a discount will come out that will save us more money if we buy the tickets through Disney as a package rather than having purchased the discounted tickets at a different location.

This is not our first trip, but will probably be a last for at least a few years.

I have already scheduled a bunch of reservations:

Hollywood and Vine
50's prime time
Akershus
San Angel Inn
BBB
CRT
Liberty Square
Tusker House
Teppan Edo

And perhaps one or two other TS, but will fill in with CS as well. We will also be going to a night of the MNSSHP. I have been saving the reward $$ and have a Disney Visa card.

I first made a hotel reservation, but cancelled it because I read that the rooms available for discount are fewer and it will be easier if I have the chance to make the reservation online than if I have to call and change a reservation on the phone.

So that is my pre-plan plan. In the past, we have used our reward dollars to pay for our dining reservations and BBB bill. We have quite a chunk of change and it gets us through usually 5 of the 6 days.

Now, I'm not sure what I should do if a free dining plan comes up. If I determine that it would save us money to upgrade, is that the time I would have to make a hotel reservation? What happens if they add a discount onto the room only? Would I still have to call and change the reservation? Did I read it correctly that you may not have to change an existing reservation in order to take advantage of the free dining?

Sorry for all the questions, but I like to get lots of help! Thanks!

This has been our experience. First, though, & maybe somebody else can comment on this, but it seems to me that sometimes FW cabins are sometimes excluded in the dining offer, FYI. I don't know why that's rattling around in my head.

We usually do a package. That's just what has happened in our case. This time I'm mulling over a different prospect, but, we aren't sure we can go now, but that's a different topic.

One time there was no discount available only what I could get by using my AAA card on the room (around 15% on POR) THEN a special came out. We were able to call and change without any fuss to get dining the dining plan.

Another time, they had extended the dining offer to go further into December and we booked on the fly (Labor Day weekend for Dec 15) and I was able to snag that offer.

FW cabins are a bit more, so a resort discount may be your best bang for the buck. However, many find the DP convenient and convenience would be worth paying for to that person. To each their own. We liked it. We worked the plan. I can also see going without it.

How did you get to book your ADR's if you had no reservation? Or do you have a tentative reservation?

Did I even answer any of your ??? LOL

 

[LisaTC]

Thanks for the information on possibly upgrading the dining plan. We are staying at POP Oct 17-26. I am not sure if it will work for us or not and will need to crunch numbers. Also, we eat dessert VERY rarely and I would likely be giving them away to other restaurant patrons or just skipping them. Is a room discount likely to be 10-15% on a value resort (if offered)?

For what it's worth, many times we could get a fruit or sorbet, gelato - something very light for dessert. A couple of times we got it in a to go container and put it in my bag. Worked well for later in the day or evening. If we were going to Rope drop, the fruit came in handy. I did a sort on the WDWINFO site and got a list of desserts - as you can see, even cupcakes are available.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/searchoutput.cfm?meal=Dinner&MealPortion=Dessert&menuitemmainingredient=%25&MenuItemDescription=&BuffetItem=No

Historically, room discounts for values are generally what you have listed.

 

[smitch425]

Thanks for the information on possibly upgrading the dining plan. We are staying at POP Oct 17-26. I am not sure if it will work for us or not and will need to crunch numbers. Also, we eat dessert VERY rarely and I would likely be giving them away to other restaurant patrons or just skipping them. Is a room discount likely to be 10-15% on a value resort (if offered)?

We will be at POP the exact same dates! Yes, a room discount will typically be around 15%.

 

[volleygirl]

This has been our experience. First, though, & maybe somebody else can comment on this, but it seems to me that sometimes FW cabins are sometimes excluded in the dining offer, FYI. I don't know why that's rattling around in my head.

We usually do a package. That's just what has happened in our case. This time I'm mulling over a different prospect, but, we aren't sure we can go now, but that's a different topic.

One time there was no discount available only what I could get by using my AAA card on the room (around 15% on POR) THEN a special came out. We were able to call and change without any fuss to get dining the dining plan.

Another time, they had extended the dining offer to go further into December and we booked on the fly (Labor Day weekend for Dec 15) and I was able to snag that offer.

FW cabins are a bit more, so a resort discount may be your best bang for the buck. However, many find the DP convenient and convenience would be worth paying for to that person. To each their own. We liked it. We worked the plan. I can also see going without it.

How did you get to book your ADR's if you had no reservation? Or do you have a tentative reservation?

Did I even answer any of your ??? LOL

Thanks Lisa for your insight! We are actually staying at the Lodge, not the cabins, which has usually been included - although the cabins usually are not, so you are correct.

I was able to book our ADR's at 180 days out, but not the 180+10, so I'm not able to get BOG. The two days we are going to MK, they are days they close early for the MNSSHP anyway, so I think we'll just do the FP+ option. I think if we get the Regular dining option, it would save us money, because we usually only eat 2 meals there, not 3 like the Deluxe gives us.

Anyway - thanks for the great discussion! I'm working it all out in my head!

 

[loriinks]

Thank you so much for starting me on this path! I love math...so this will be fun for me, but would anyone mind giving their thoughts to our situation? We have our airfare, but nothing else. We are staying October 14th - 21st. We have priced out our hotel options and think we are going to do Ft. Wilderness with bunk beds. We have never taken advantage of free dining anything. We have not bought tickets yet, because I'm worried that a discount will come out that will save us more money if we buy the tickets through Disney as a package rather than having purchased the discounted tickets at a different location. This is not our first trip, but will probably be a last for at least a few years. I have already scheduled a bunch of reservations: Hollywood and Vine 50's prime time Akershus San Angel Inn BBB CRT Liberty Square Tusker House Teppan Edo And perhaps one or two other TS, but will fill in with CS as well. We will also be going to a night of the MNSSHP. I have been saving the reward $$ and have a Disney Visa card. I first made a hotel reservation, but cancelled it because I read that the rooms available for discount are fewer and it will be easier if I have the chance to make the reservation online than if I have to call and change a reservation on the phone. So that is my pre-plan plan. In the past, we have used our reward dollars to pay for our dining reservations and BBB bill. We have quite a chunk of change and it gets us through usually 5 of the 6 days. Now, I'm not sure what I should do if a free dining plan comes up. If I determine that it would save us money to upgrade, is that the time I would have to make a hotel reservation? What happens if they add a discount onto the room only? Would I still have to call and change the reservation? Did I read it correctly that you may not have to change an existing reservation in order to take advantage of the free dining? Sorry for all the questions, but I like to get lots of help! Thanks!

Oct. 14-21 falls over Columbus Day and is usually blocked out from free dining. We learned that the hard way a couple of years ago. I was told it is often blocked out shortly prior to until the Friday after Columbus Day.

 

[smitch425]

Oct. 14-21 falls over Columbus Day and is usually blocked out from free dining. We learned that the hard way a couple of years ago. I was told it is often blocked out shortly prior to until the Friday after Columbus Day.

This correct. There is zero chance of free dining for an Oct. 14 check in. If FD follows past patterns, the earliest mid October date will be the 17th.

 

[bigsis1970]

Jumping in here hopeful for a trip Oct 1 to 5 .. Just hubs and myself.. staying at Pop with free dining.. in the past we have just booked the dining plan with the table, counter and snack and paid the difference between that and the quick plan.. I have a note here at my computer station that says for discounts in Oct they came out on 8/1.. that seems soo far away.. but I can book now and change to discount later right? if available of course..

 

[lizandjason]

We are booked at CSR for Oct 24-Oct 31. (Okay WHERE is the dancing banana icon when I need it?!)

I was looking through the 'discounts history' on some sites and last year it appears that Disney Visa cardholders did NOT get a chance to book fall (October-December) free dining before the general public, as they had in years past. The dates for FD were released in early August. Does anyone know why this was? And is there any possible way to anticipate if Disney Visa cardholders will get a 'jump start' on FD bookings for THIS fall?

Thanks!

 

[laura12581]

This correct. There is zero chance of free dining for an Oct. 14 check in. If FD follows past patterns, the earliest mid October date will be the 17th.

So if we check in the 16th, we get nothing (hypothetically) or could we get free dining for the rest of the trip? Will that mean any discount would not be eligible for those dates? We are going the 16th to the 21st and booked airfare already

 

[LisaTC]

So if we check in the 16th, we get nothing (hypothetically) or could we get free dining for the rest of the trip? Will that mean any discount would not be eligible for those dates? We are going the 16th to the 21st and booked airfare already

This was exactly our scenario, 3 years ago. We did room only on the first night and FD for the remainder of the trip. The first day we were flying in and got there around 4...went to dinner and DTD and the next day we were ready to roll with our pkg beginning on the next day. It worked fine.

 

[Goofy4ever91977]

October is a good time of the year to visit WDW.

 

[JenDisFan02]

Others have said as long as there is a free dining date within your stay, you get free dining.

 

[smitch425]

This was exactly our scenario, 3 years ago. We did room only on the first night and FD for the remainder of the trip. The first day we were flying in and got there around 4...went to dinner and DTD and the next day we were ready to roll with our pkg beginning on the next day. It worked fine.

Others have said as long as there is a free dining date within your stay, you get free dining.

FD is based solely on your check in date. You can get FD for up to 14 nights as long as your check in is a covered date. No other dates matter.

 

[jdondzila]

Just jumping in here, we just booked our trip for October 6th - 11th and have always gotten free dining when we went, hoping for it again!! SO excited I can't stand it

 

[TennesseeGirl]

Others have said as long as there is a free dining date within your stay, you get free dining.

If you were to check in on the 16th and FD started on the 17th then you would make two separate reservations... Which is what we had to do last year. I think what Jen is referring to is that if check in on the last day of a FD offer you still get it for your entire stay. The bad news is that if you have to do a split reservation your tickets aren't really connected to that first nights stay since you're purchasing a package. So if you are planning to hit the parks on the 16th you will have to do some research... Or buy a one day ticket. When we went I read and read some more about how to get your park tickets early and decided it wasn't worth it. We wound up making the first day a beach day. I don't know if anything has changed since tickets are now on your magic band but supposedly you get pick up park tickets three days before your package starts.

 

[JenDisFan02]

Yeah, what she said

 

[hedberg1661]

Hoping for a RO discount for 10/4-11. F&W here I come!

 

[dobirdsmommy]

We are hoping for Some discount DH wants FD for 10/18-10/25

2 years ago we had a pin and did 12 days down there FD.
I just did an excel spreadsheet and FD for us, even though I have the lapband works out better. DH and DS love to eat. I have yet to book but I do have the Disney VISA so I am hoping something will be in my inbox Thursday when I get up at 330am