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

[GeorgiaHoo]

Hey guys! Lurker coming to join. My family is looking to go the weekend after labor day for a week long trip. We are hoping to get free dining. Will wilderness lodge be included? We will be bringing a toddler and I want something closer to magic kingdom.

The deluxe resorts, including Wilderness Lodge, are typically included.

 

[marcigel]

First post ever here! Sorry if this is a repeat question. I do plan on reading back through previous pages ...but...
I have a standard room booked at the Poly in late August and we are hoping for FD. (Would be willing to change to the contemporary or gf to get the FD if necessary) but if not, we will just stick with the poly.

Are Poly standard rooms usually FD eligibility? And deluxe hotels usually get the regularl DDP right? (We've never had FD before!)

 

[Amunet]

We love POR too. The CSR renovations from a couple years ago changed it for us though. Our favorite section is the Cabanas and we always request a first floor corner room, in either 9A or 8A. These put you very close to El Centro and The Dig Site.

What changes made you change your mind about CSR?

As silly as it may seem, the greenery does make a difference outside. I'm not a fan of desert plants, which I know CSR has a lot of. Do you know if any sections have more of a nice tree feel?

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

First post ever here! Sorry if this is a repeat question. I do plan on reading back through previous pages ...but...
I have a standard room booked at the Poly in late August and we are hoping for FD. (Would be willing to change to the contemporary or gf to get the FD if necessary) but if not, we will just stick with the poly.

Are Poly standard rooms usually FD eligibility? And deluxe hotels usually get the regularl DDP right? (We've never had FD before!)

Poly standard rooms should be included -- we usually stay at Yacht Club and standard rooms are typically included there. In the past deluxe hotels offered the regular dining plan for free dining, or you could pay for an upgrade to deluxe dining plan.

 

[The Dirty Steve]

First post ever here! Sorry if this is a repeat question. I do plan on reading back through previous pages ...but...
I have a standard room booked at the Poly in late August and we are hoping for FD. (Would be willing to change to the contemporary or gf to get the FD if necessary) but if not, we will just stick with the poly.

Are Poly standard rooms usually FD eligibility? And deluxe hotels usually get the regularl DDP right? (We've never had FD before!)

Welcome! Normally you can find some standard views available at the Deluxe resorts. The question will be whether or not your dates will be included in an offer.

 

[traciruns]

A bit OT but wanted to thank previous posters who mentioned checking airfare again even after you've booked. I booked SW flights last week and just on a whim checked the flight schedule yesterday. Our return flight dropped $25 per person (family of 5), so we got a $125 credit toward future flights. Now I'll be obsessed with checking the SW site every day along with checking here!

 

[Abbey Albright]

The answer is based off what you want. We stay away from values as they will have full size beds instead of queens in double rooms. Now, my guess is that CSR and CBR will be the only mods included in a potential FD offer. The availability will be extremely limited. I also believe that any offer will wipe out the gift card at CBR. That may open additional availability there as people cancel reservations that were place holders.

Curious to know why you think the GC will not be offered to those at CBR if they take FD. I have the GC and was able to keep it when it applied the summer discount. Thanks.

 

[Azjenn]

A bit OT but wanted to thank previous posters who mentioned checking airfare again even after you've booked. I booked SW flights last week and just on a whim checked the flight schedule yesterday. Our return flight dropped $25 per person (family of 5), so we got a $125 credit toward future flights. Now I'll be obsessed with checking the SW site every day along with checking here!

If you happen to get up in the middle of the night between a tues and wed check, sometimes sw does crazy flash sales in the middle of the night on those days.

 

[The Dirty Steve]

What changes made you change your mind about CSR?

As silly as it may seem, the greenery does make a difference outside. I'm not a fan of desert plants, which I know CSR has a lot of. Do you know if any sections have more of a nice tree feel?

Room updates....decor, etc. Just refreshing does wonders. They made the Cabana rooms feel almost like a day spa. Other sections are continuing to receive updates as well. We like the beach. Palms are normally what we are looking for when it comes to trees. But, here's what I found at the bus stop during our last stay.....




Here's a good fan site to check out. https://buzz2k1.wixsite.com/coronado/resort

 

[squirrel]

First post ever here! Sorry if this is a repeat question. I do plan on reading back through previous pages ...but...
I have a standard room booked at the Poly in late August and we are hoping for FD. (Would be willing to change to the contemporary or gf to get the FD if necessary) but if not, we will just stick with the poly.

Are Poly standard rooms usually FD eligibility? And deluxe hotels usually get the regularl DDP right? (We've never had FD before!)

Check to see if FD is a better deal than a room discount. Usually room discounts for deluxe resorts are 30%. Which is a better deal for a small family. Then add in the dining plan, if you really want it.

 

[Lesley Wake]

Now, my guess is that CSR and CBR will be the only mods included in a potential FD offer.

Do you think POR won't be offered at all or just only available in the early days? What about room discounts?
I'm going in early/mid September and staying at POR. I know we won't change our dates (just booked airfare and already took those days off work), and I've already fallen in love with POR based on all my research!

 

[ColoradoDisneyFamily]

Has anyone ever signed up for Free Dining and then only bought the minimum 2 day park hopper and used an AP for the rest of their park tickets? We just booked a 9 day stay at Port Orleans Riverside in the Fall but have not bought our tickets yet. We are planning on coming back in the Spring, so an AP would be cheaper. Should we just add the 2-day park hopper tickets onto our current reservation now before 4/17 and then buy the AP separately so that we'll get Free Dining, and then when we check in have them use apply our AP for the remaining days?

Last year we had AP passes and visited two times during FD. After checking into the resort and Before entering the parks we went to customer service and asked they remove our 2-day tickets so we could use our AP. We now have the extra tickets to use for a future trip.

 

[The Dirty Steve]

Curious to know why you think the GC will not be offered to those at CBR if they take FD. I have the GC and was able to keep it when it applied the summer discount. Thanks.

It's not that the gift card won't be honored. I'm certain it will be honored. A lot of people booked rooms at CBR when the gift card was announced. Even more booked it just in case FD was offered for their dates and CBR was an included resort.

As a general rule, availability for FD offers follows the need for Disney to book a certain number of rooms, with certain views, at certain resorts. If the occupancy level is at the level Disney needs for a specific date/specific resort, you will not find the offer valid when you search, regardless of whether or not the resort is excluded or the dates a blacked out. This also applies if you have a current reservation. If the promotion is not available for those dates/rooms/resorts, you will not be able to add the promotion to your trip.

Now, based off what is currently available just by searching for available dates, there isn't much available to book at CBR for most of the remaining months of this year, especially if you have three or more guests in a single room. Sure, there could be holds placed on blocks of rooms by WDW for groups and such. However, if there is a chance for them to book a room without a promotion, I'm pretty sure they will take that reservation now.

 

[JP267]

Some people have posted on the Resort board in one of the CBR threads that they were able to add the new summer discount and keep the gift card as well, since it isn't a discount.

I don't see why free dining will be any different.

I will be shocked though if CBR has much in the way of free dining, because rooms are pretty scarce. Only king bed and pirate rooms are left open for our dates.

I am still hoping for free dining though!

I was able to keep my GC and apply the summer UOC to my res, I had to upgrade our room type to save $30. It wasn't much b/c the promo was only applied to 2 days of our stay. Needless to say we are hoping for FD as well.

 

[archdandy]

I'm joining in on the watch. I'm hoping for early December FD. We've never been with the Christmas decorations up so it will be something new for us.

 

[The Dirty Steve]

Do you think POR won't be offered at all or just only available in the early days? What about room discounts?
I'm going in early/mid September and staying at POR. I know we won't change our dates (just booked airfare and already took those days off work), and I've already fallen in love with POR based on all my research!

No one really knows what will be offered. Its all guesses at the moment since there are no rumors to base speculation off. POR has been excluded in the past and recently have very limited availability. I would have a backup plan in place.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

I know there aren't any rumors yet, but I always get nervous on sunday nights. I know the last 2 years it was released on a monday, so every sunday night I'm nervous...

 

[TomServo27]

I am personally pretty worried about finding any fd for mods availability seems so limited right now. Hopefully I can get 2 bedroom villa at okw or ss if we can't find anything at a mod.

 

[Causin_a_commotion]

Maybe this has been said, but I can't read all 13342039880938 pages of chatting How do people know what day FD will be released?

 

[Mbuksa]

Maybe this has been said, but I can't read all 13342039880938 pages of chatting How do people know what day FD will be released?

We don't know yet. People just share rumors and information on this thread