So, FD question - if you have a room only booking so you can secure your ADRs, then free dining drops within the time frame - how do you change to take advantage of it? Online? Is it easy enough? Or do you have to call?
Just my $.02 here but if I were in your situation I would do the following:
1. Try to modify existing room only reservation online when it is announced. If for whatever reason you are not able to modify online (such as website glitches, or maybe you booked through a
travel agent and therefore would need to contact said travel agent to make changes for you) I wouldn't waste any time waiting for website to cooperate with modifying existing res. or waiting for TA to get back to you to secure FD for you.
-if no success modifying online I would:
2. I would book a completely new reservation online for the dates you want to go, confirm you have a separate confirmation number reflecting the new FD booking, write down the confirmation#, print the email with the new confirmation#, etc. Then cancel the room-only reservation that you previously made.
This will not effect any of the ADRs you previously booked. They will still be there. In fact, when canceling a reservation on website, there is a screen that pops up toward the end of the process that notifies you that canceling your reservation does not cancel your ADRs, you would have to go and cancel those separately.
So your ADRs will be safe.
-or as a last resort:
3. If your not comfortable having deposit money tied up from temporarily having 2 separate reservations you could call Disney starting at 7am EST and check for FD availability for your travel dates and whatever resort(s) you prefer. If there is availability they will be able to make all necessary changes during that phone call as long as you didn't book through a travel agent.
Just keep in mind that if you decide to wait until 7am EST to call, FD will have very likely been available online for several hours (using previous years release times as an indication) and the availability may be limited. Also expect long wait times on the phone the morning FD is released. Like hours-long hold times.
Good luck.