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

[ThistleMae]

It makes it trickier as I will be handing it all over to my husband to do, which was not planned!!
Midnight EST on Monday is 2pm here in Sydney and is my first day back at work (teacher) after the holidays so I will not be able to do anything for at least 3 hours.

So hubby will be on his computer at work checking regularly to see if the offer has dropped and will need to be ready to pounce if it does drop before 4am.

Problem is, I have planned EVERYTHING so far. He doesn't even know the difference between Disneyland and WDW. He keeps telling people we're going to California.

So it will be much easier if he can just log in to my MDE and add another reservation rather than start a new one. That's just more confusion on top of the chaotic confusion he will be faced with when he meets "The Spreadsheet".

OMG....you must be a wreck! This is hysterical! He's telling everyone you are going to Disneyland...just too funny. I feel your DH frustration. Let's hope it doesn't screw it up. And OMG, the Spreadsheet....you're not going to show it to him are you?

 

[Disneylover99]

what are the chances additional info will come out before next Sunday night/Monday morning? Or is it at the point we have our "rumor" and until it drops we won't have the confirmed details?

I think we'll get more info. Maybe a more solid confirmation of resort blackout dates - like POR. But I'm just guessing really.

 

[ThistleMae]

Not too far off though. I'm trial running my shoes today. I practice pack and I trial run any new shoes I've bought to make sure I'm comfortable for the long haul. I also trial run my hands free pocket shorts to make sure they are not to bulky for the "no bags" security line. Is anyone else this crazy?

 

[scard192]

what are the chances additional info will come out before next Sunday night/Monday morning? Or is it at the point we have our "rumor" and until it drops we won't have the confirmed details?

I would expect Black will update next weekend at the latest. He will tell you that nothing is confirmed until FD drops. But he usually is pretty close with his predictions. Last year the dates were spot on. With the construction at CBR and CSR, the excluded resorts could be the wild card this year

 

[ThistleMae]

Yeah, next weekend, starting Friday night should be telling. I looked through the entire thread from last year and from what I recall, on that Friday before Monday, people were expecting it to drop that Monday! And it did!

 

[DisneyNic]

I wonder how many people they will lose being yearly patrons if they take away the table service from the moderate resorts and then eventually take away FD all together? It is obvious that is the way it is going and better Disney analysts than myself have predicted this. Probably not enough to make a difference to the bottom line. Finding value for this trip is getting harder and harder for us. We cut our trip to Disney to 5 nights instead of 10 staying at WL. Then we are going on vacation this year to Paris at a beautiful time of year that is a longer trip than our booked Disney stay at a undesirable time of year. The short Disney trip is more expensive than our trip to Paris that includes airfare from Boston on a major airline. I love Disney and it is of course a totally different kind of vacation. The price hikes and reduction in value have done us a favor and we are starting to see more of the world again.

I am a Disney nut. We love going, We love everything about it except the out of control cost associated with the vacation. It is not a rant but I just wonder how many people who can afford the Disney vacation but are still concerned with overall cost are making the decision to walk away or significantly shorten the trip like we have? And no..we will not go to Disney Paris LOL.

Strangely the taking away of the HWS Christmas lights was really a bummer for me..we enjoyed that so much. It is the little things that add up as well to making the decision to downsize the trip.

At this moment I am at a complete loss. I thought I would switch to a moderate to try and curtail costs and now I can see that the deluxe may be our best bet since we will not do QS alone....which may be what they want people to do.

Either way we eagerly anticipate the dining deal whatever it ultimately is and figure out the best deal for our Disney trip!

The reason they are phasing out FD, which is what I believe they are doing, is because they don't need it anymore. They have no problems filling resorts, parks or restaurants, therefore, they don't need to offer such deep promotions. Some will start taking their trips elsewhere or taking shorter trips, but there will be new visitors to make up for that. Disney is not losing anything. Just my thoughts.

Not really sure. On here they say 4 because that's when it came out the last couple of years. Also the thought is 4 is midnight west coast time

4 AM ET = 1 AM PT

 

[Neeky78]

OMG....you must be a wreck! This is hysterical! He's telling everyone you are going to Disneyland...just too funny. I feel your DH frustration. Let's hope it doesn't screw it up. And OMG, the Spreadsheet....you're not going to show it to him are you?

Not all of them...

 

[FriendoftheHatter]

what are the chances additional info will come out before next Sunday night/Monday morning? Or is it at the point we have our "rumor" and until it drops we won't have the confirmed details?

I think how it works is that the South American travel agents get their information a week or so out, which gives us a rough idea of what to expect as far as blackout dates and resorts. Then a couple days before the deal officially drops (seems like friday night in recent years) the Cast members that will be working on the american (and probably canadian?) phone lines get their 'homework' which gives us much more concrete information about the deal that will be offered for us. I'd hope for better information about QSDP/DDP for mods and the POR question by the end of this week. As always, no guarantees until it drops though

 

[Neeky78]

Not too far off though. I'm trial running my shoes today. I practice pack and I trial run any new shoes I've bought to make sure I'm comfortable for the long haul. I also trial run my hands free pocket shorts to make sure they are not to bulky for the "no bags" security line. Is anyone else this crazy?

I'm sure someone is. Not me though!
You retain the crazy trophy for now.

 

[KimBean]

I would expect Black will update next weekend at the latest. He will tell you that nothing is confirmed until FD drops. But he usually is pretty close with his predictions. Last year the dates were spot on. With the construction at CBR and CSR, the excluded resorts could be the wild card this year

I'm not sure that there is much more to know... is it resorts you are looking for?

 

[KimBean]

The reason they are phasing out FD, which is what I believe they are doing, is because they don't need it anymore. They have no problems filling resorts, parks or restaurants, therefore, they don't need to offer such deep promotions. Some will start taking their trips elsewhere or taking shorter trips, but there will be new visitors to make up for that. Disney is not losing anything. Just my thoughts.


4 AM ET = 1 AM PT

I agree. I'm already planning to stay offsite next time. Pool and hot tub baby!!

 

[scard192]

The reason they are phasing out FD, which is what I believe they are doing, is because they don't need it anymore. They have no problems filling resorts, parks or restaurants, therefore, they don't need to offer such deep promotions. Some will start taking their trips elsewhere or taking shorter trips, but there will be new visitors to make up for that. Disney is not losing anything. Just my thoughts.


4 AM ET = 1 AM PT

agreed, and Disney has said a few years ago that they would be scaling back on discounts. seems like there are few "slow" periods anymore where they need to offer significant discounts to get people to book. October used to be a slower time and now the whole month is excluded from FD.

I think there will still be Fall discounts but maybe Stay/Play/Dine might replace FD in a few years.

 

[krisfan]

Ok.. let's disney phase out FD. We don't need wait.. for the promotion and discuss about plus and minus being onsite.. and crunch numbers .. excel sheets.. no 180 day dinner planning...
Just find out the budget what we can afford.. and decide offsite or onsite.. EASY
I hope offsite hotels take this as opportunity and come up some kind attractive plans which includes food .. transport


What's ur thoughts if disney phase out FD..

 

[KimBean]

I just tried to book my same reservation, it is saying unavailable, does this mean there won't be any rooms available when FD starts?

Just my opinion not an expert but if it isn't there now I don't think it will be there when FD drops. You might have some luck a few days after since they are probably some people holding things that will finalize their plans and let them go. Some people probably already holding various weeks hoping for FD.

Resort availability online has oddly been low. I tried to add 1 day the first week of December to my ASMu and it says not available. Some are saying it's better if you call (for availability not FD.)

 

[TomServo27]

The reason they are phasing out FD, which is what I believe they are doing, is because they don't need it anymore. They have no problems filling resorts, parks or restaurants, therefore, they don't need to offer such deep promotions. Some will start taking their trips elsewhere or taking shorter trips, but there will be new visitors to make up for that. Disney is not losing anything. Just my thoughts.

Especially once Star Wars land is done that will bring people who would have never considered going to a Disney park gonna be a game changer.

 

[Neeky78]

I'm not sure that there is much more to know... is it resorts you are looking for?

I think the details people are after are which resorts and rooms are excluded (esp CBR with the gift cards compensation), exact dates (especially those for POR which are often limited to earlier months), if park hopper on a 4 day ticket is the minimum requirement or if you have to have Park Hopper+, and also which dining plan the moderates will get.

Nothing much! Just that!

 

[Kindermouse]

I'm also waiting for MNSSHP!

But I have booked ROL dining package for early October already (Tusker). When in October were you wanting it?

Edit: oops. I actually booked for Sept 30. Still no October avail.

AAAAHHHHHH!!!!! dont scare me like that. I am also waiting for Tusker House ROL dining to open on October 1st. For a minute I thought it opened and I didnt know realize it and I didnt get my reservation.

 

[TomServo27]

With that said no one foresaw 9/11 and what that would do to the travel industry. The world can change overnight.

 

[Neeky78]

AAAAHHHHHH!!!!! dont scare me like that. I am also waiting for Tusker House ROL dining to open on October 1st. For a minute I thought it opened and I didnt know realize it and I didnt get my reservation.

Sorrrrryyyy! We arrive the 29th so most of my planning has been for October dates. I forgot about the 30th!

 

[scard192]

I agree. I'm already planning to stay offsite next time. Pool and hot tub baby!!

our school system is getting more strict about taking the kids out of school for a week. Not enough days off in the Fall (except Thanksgiving) to make a trip worthwile. Thinking
of trying to do Spring trip a few days before our school vacation starts with a TA exclusive.