******Official 2017 Free Dining Plan Watch, Wait, and Dream

[Attracted to Beasts]

We love Columbia harbour house. It's prob one of my fav QS. I'm gonna get beat for this one but I thought BOG for lunch was just meh... the ambiance inside is beautiful but I thought the food was just ok. Just my opinion though

I totally agree! I like the fried shrimp at Columbia Harbor house and my boys say they have the best Mac and cheese! Haha We ate lunch at BOG once when it first opened and haven't been back since. My son didn't like anything on the menu and my husband said the turkey sandwich wasn't great. I liked the pork but overall we werent impressed. I currently have a reseveration to try breakfast so we'll see if our opinions change!

 

[menotyou21]

Never had the pasta, only the flatbreads. That said, I've never had good pasta at any Disney QS location.

Yes....the kids always get the flatbreads or the Gluten Free chicken fingers (much better than the nuggets).

 

[menotyou21]

We love Columbia harbour house. It's prob one of my fav QS. I'm gonna get beat for this one but I thought BOG for lunch was just meh... the ambiance inside is beautiful but I thought the food was just ok. Just my opinion though

I can't wait to have the lobster roll @ CHH. I'm hoping I can get my wife to take the kids to Dumbo so I can sneak off and get it!

As for BoG, my kids think the menu looks "yuck", but they don't care because they want to experience the atmosphere and try the grey stuff.....because clearly "IT's DELICIOUS".

 

[cshell624]

good luck!

Good Luck!!!!

Thanks scard192 and Candice!! The one I'm most worried about is the Bon Voyage breakfast, but I did check dates yesterday around noon and there were still times available. Ohana might be the hardest because last year when I booked 180+10, there was only one time available at the end of our trip. BOG is also on our list, but maybe I'll just try for lunch.

 

[Amunet]

Isn't BOG just 1 credit?

BOG is only 1TS credit for dinner.

Yes lol my mistake, I was thinking 1TS Credit but typed 2 credits

 

[pigletto]

So another day nearing an end and no closer to a solid rumour. Sigh...
I am in serious Disney withdrawal. You know how some days you are excited for your trip and other days you're ready to start walking if you have to and can't possibly wait one.more.day. ? I'm the latter today.
I'm thinking it might be because I have no idea what this trip is going to look like/where I will be staying until this promo comes out and I see if I can get what I need. I'm so impatient.

 

[cshell624]

What is everyone's take on free dining in early October. Usually ends the 1, 2 or 3. I'm looking to go October 1 but just want some opinions. The 180 date for ADR is coming up and I really wanna get Bog for dinner.

Anyone else stressing over this? I definitely am

We've been fortunate to get FD for late Sept/early Oct in the past. Holding out hope for FD this year.

 

[JackieO]

We had 2 bottles of wine.

That's only 2 small glasses of wine per person. That wouldn't even be a splurge.

 

[cshell624]

What a great thread! We love Disney and love the free dining promotion. We have been to Disney four times over the past few years and are planning a trip late November/early December this year... We have tended to take a wait and see approach in hopes to score the free dining promotion but we opted for a great deal on airfare a month ago so we are pretty locked into our dates... I have found in years past that by waiting for the free dining we tended to pay a lot more for the airfare! We scored free dining last year at CB for a two week stay starting November 26th and are hoping for a repeat this coming year for the 25th... We shall see. We are also Canadian so have been keeping an eye on the Canadian ticket deal which is now worth about 35/36% off sticker price (save around $684)... If we could put that with a room only discount we might be able to hit around a $1,000 discount... Maybe... Still a far cry from the roughly $2650 we would save with free dining (two adults, two kids). We will be following along for any hints on the free dining and look forward to chatting along with you.

to the fun!!

 

[tinkpower]

Does anyone else think that Disney can't wait much longer until FD is released due to the fact that there is NEXT TO NO AVAILABILITY out there for pretty much any time (exaggeration of course)? I'm thinking even 3 weeks seems a long time to wait. I'm sure that rooms are being held back, but if I were just starting to look for an end of year trip and I found so many restrictions;I would probably give up! I'm sure they don't want to scare people away.

I think if there seems to be no availability that is NOT good for us. Disney isn't holding rooms back so they can give us free food. They are giving us free food (hopefully) to fill up the empty rooms and spend money in the parks. If the rooms are booked it's going to seriously limit the availability of free dining.

 

[cshell624]

Park hopper is really nice. We didn't have it the first time and second time they required it for free dining. Now that we have had it, we don't think we can go back to doing one park a day.

Last year was the first time we used the PH (thanks to it being a requirement for FD) and we loved it! The kids said the didn't want to go without it now.

 

[Wojodis]

I think of the seems to be no availability that is NOT good for us. Disney isn't holding rooms back so they can give us free food. They are giving us free food (hopefully) to fill up the empty rooms and spend money in the parks. If the rooms are booked it's going to seriously limit the availability of free dining.

I agree that this is just a promotion and Disney is trying to fill rooms. However, do we all truly believe that all these resorts are almost at max capacity for September through December by the end of March!?! Many different reasons and theories why there seems to be no availability from (a) Disney holding back rooms to (b) people making multiple reservations to increase their chances of landing FD. Regardless of the reason--the quicker its released--the quicker people change or cancel reservations; thus, allowing greater availability (I'm talking about new customers trying to make reservations). Also, for those of us waiting on FD, I tend to focus on the fact that everyone seems to be getting their 1st choice ADRs as a very good sign, versus, the current availability as being a bad sign.

 

[agassizsmile]

I think if there seems to be no availability that is NOT good for us. Disney isn't holding rooms back so they can give us free food. They are giving us free food (hopefully) to fill up the empty rooms and spend money in the parks. If the rooms are booked it's going to seriously limit the availability of free dining.

Maybe they are holding back rooms, I called two days ago tried to change my room type.It showed as available but it wouldn't let me check out with my changes I called and was told I had a code on my account and that she coukd only apply the code to the room discount and then change my room type.I told her no.She said to wait and call in a few days.

 

[Marianm]

I was just scanning my emails from Disney Destinations, in case I missed something... and I came across a UOC from last year for FD.. WHYYy didn't I take advantage of that then??
I used to get them every few months and now it's been a while since I had one.

 

[JackieO]

We also like Pinocchio, but a lot of people apparently don't. Sit upstairs - much quieter. At Epcot my daughter and I always get a brat and potato salad from Sommerfest and like breakfast/lunch at Les Halles.

This is a MUST on all of our trips. It's kind of our go to. Pinocchio or Pecos Bill's. I'm sad to hear a lot of people don't like it.

 

[Greg36]

I think if there seems to be no availability that is NOT good for us. Disney isn't holding rooms back so they can give us free food. They are giving us free food (hopefully) to fill up the empty rooms and spend money in the parks. If the rooms are booked it's going to seriously limit the availability of free dining.

I had asked a CM a couple of weeks ago what the chances were that Disney was holding back rooms for an upcoming promotion. Her answer was she did not believe that was the case. I asked because I was surprised by some of the limited availability. I am thinking CSR and CB are down a lot of rooms with the rehab work so that likely accounts for some of the limited rooms. I do wonder if that will impact any FD offers...

I do think though that Disney must be aware that people sometimes book anticipating FD offers and even sometimes book multiple rooms... I wonder how many people are making bookings that they would cancel or dramatically alter if Disney did not offer FD or offered limited FD. I would think that must be on Disney's radar and their promotions would take that into account, even despite high room reservation rates. They have such a generous cancellation policy it makes altering and cancelling really easy if discounts are not released...

 

[pigletto]

You know, I had the same concerns and then went peeking around at all the third party sites (Orbitz, Cheaptickets, Hotels.com, Expedia, Booking.com.. etc etc.) and they ALL had room types for my dates that I couldn't get when searching the actual Disney site. I wonder if they farm out their rooms to everyone to sell and then pull them back in by a certain date if unsold? They aren't this booked up for the rest of the year.
Plus people on the resorts board are reporting finding nothing available and then calling and having their choice of rooms. So something is up. I don't doubt popular times are booking up, but they simply aren't this full in my opinion.

 

[brooke789]

You know, I had the same concerns and then went peeking around at all the third party sites (Orbitz, Cheaptickets, Hotels.com, Expedia, Booking.com.. etc etc.) and they ALL had room types for my dates that I couldn't get when searching the actual Disney site. I wonder if they farm out their rooms to everyone to sell and then pull them back in by a certain date if unsold? They aren't this booked up for the rest of the year..

At least with small hotels (like the one where I work) you are required to give them a certain number of rooms per night to sell. You have to hold those out of your inventory for expedia, etc even if they don't sell there. it very likely could be much different for a place like Disney, but that is how it works for the little guys.

 

[Felicis]

I booked my room this morning by telephone, and had a lovely chat with the Cast Member, who brought up the fact that free dining would be coming soon, and that is with her knowing my dates (28/9 - 9/10), basically to tell me to look out for it, so I am taking this as a very positive sign!

 

[DisneyLifePapioNe]

This is a MUST on all of our trips. It's kind of our go to. Pinocchio or Pecos Bill's. I'm sad to hear a lot of people don't like it.

The food may not be "fine dining" but we love the environment of these places, so that makes up for it, still not bad, Pecos we do just about every trip.