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

[karaintn]

I'm mostly a lurker, and have been following this thread pretty closely. The rumor about free dining dates matches up with the trip dates I had in mind, so that's a win. However, I just went to check some prices for my desired trip - a stay at the Poly, Nov 18-25, and there's absolutely no rooms showing available. I've never had this issue before, probably because I typically book farther out and not peak time like Thanksgiving. Anyway, my question is - is it typical for rooms to come available? Or should I give up hope for this particular week at this particular resort? Thanks in advance!

 

[KimBean]

These dates are different than the rumored dates....

You are correct. Black said start of 8/13. Same end date though. Maybe the earlier dates will have stipulation like Visa member or something.

 

[FinnsMom7]

Ok so while I wait and stew and over think - what would everyone say is the arrival day being the "best" I know arriving in Disney any day is awesome but I am sure seasoned travelers have input on certain trends/preferences. I am torn between a Friday to Thurs/Fri (still debating adding a 7th night) or a Sunday to Sat/Sun

This is going to be a long week!

 

[Disneylover99]

concerning the website posting from Disney last night... Some think Disney does stuff like this on purpose to get a feel for the reaction. Last year it was the 2 credits for some buffets that came up online.. there was an uproar and then nothing. Sometimes companies release things in the web/press to get a feeling.. Disney has been known to post and then pull things

Oh yes! I had completely forgotten about that.

 

[Dismomof2boys]

Can someone recap what the current FD rumor seems to be? This thread moves at a fast pace, and I have been out of the loop for a few days and am having a hard time catching up! lol! So far, I gather that there may be a 4 night min requirement, a park hopper requirement on tickets, and POR/POFQ may be excluded. Anything else? Any rumors regarding when this will be released?

Also that Mods will only get QS instead of regular dining plan. Still all rumors but looks reliable.

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

Ok so while I wait and stew and over think - what would everyone say is the arrival day being the "best" I know arriving in Disney any day is awesome but I am sure seasoned travelers have input on certain trends/preferences. I am torn between a Friday to Thurs/Fri (still debating adding a 7th night) or a Sunday to Sat/Sun

This is going to be a long week!

Weekday to weekday would be best IMHO. We arrived on a Saturday last year and waited over an hour just to board Magical Express. 2 years ago we arrived on a weekday (I think it was a Tuesday) and walked right on to our Magical Express bus. This is a small sample so I offer it with a grain of salt.

 

[Sharongal74]

Pretty sure last year the same webpage "leak" came up before FD. And all the glitching. However the site glitches a lot. Getting close!

 

[KimBean]

Alright. I have some life to do today. I'll check back in this evening. Nothing happen while I'm gone. Lol.

 

[Disneylover99]

Ok so while I wait and stew and over think - what would everyone say is the arrival day being the "best" I know arriving in Disney any day is awesome but I am sure seasoned travelers have input on certain trends/preferences. I am torn between a Friday to Thurs/Fri (still debating adding a 7th night) or a Sunday to Sat/Sun

This is going to be a long week!

Do you mean best in terms of getting room requests met? I think I've checked in on every day of the week and getting room requests met or getting a room that is ready early has been completely random for me.

I will say arriving earlier in the day is better than arriving late. If something is wrong with your room, there is more availability to make a change.

 

[sarah24]

If you check in a day or two before free dining starts if you're able to get it, does it start the first night you check in? thanks

 

[DJFan88]

I'm mostly a lurker, and have been following this thread pretty closely. The rumor about free dining dates matches up with the trip dates I had in mind, so that's a win. However, I just went to check some prices for my desired trip - a stay at the Poly, Nov 18-25, and there's absolutely no rooms showing available. I've never had this issue before, probably because I typically book farther out and not peak time like Thanksgiving. Anyway, my question is - is it typical for rooms to come available? Or should I give up hope for this particular week at this particular resort? Thanks in advance!

Just wondering if you checked under current summer promotion circle or on the basic rates circle on the resort booking page. I checked a resort for our dates first under the summer promotion and only a garden room was available, but then when I checked for the far left just room rate, it showed all categories available. So, for the summer promotion rate, only one thing was available, but not the whole resort unavailable. In this case, you would not know what they may put for availability under a new promotion.

 

[brittanidp]

Disney probably was setting it up for next Monday, so all they have to do is flip the switch to make it live!

The exact same thing happened last year before the drop!! All of this, Brazil, the website... deja vu!

 

[Sharongal74]

If you check in a day or two before free dining starts if you're able to get it, does it start the first night you check in? thanks

Not before free dining. Your check in date has to be during FD. You can extend your dates after but not before. You would need two different reservations.
Someone else help on the ticket situation. If you do 1 room only and 1 FD can you use the FD tickets earlier?

 

[JackieO]

That and people prefer PoP generally over the All Stars.. I believe the AoA suites were always included, but the little mermaid rooms were not... correct me if I am wrong. Pop generally speaking for a value has great reviews.. We stayed there once and it was nice ( for a vallue). those budget minded folks, where FDing and character meals are a priority, consider Pop as a value and use the savings from a rack Moderalte to get the QS FD and upgrade to the DDP... I know many do that. Especially if the room is only used to sleep in and the extras a mod/delux offer are not that important compared to Disney Dining.

You described us to a T. If Mods include DDS then it will be the same as paying for Pop, getting quick service and paying OOP for our TS, but if we can only get QS at a Mod then we're looking at Pop or off property.

We like Pop the best of the values and have stayed there many times. We like the lake, and the short walk to AoA. That gives us two shops and QS restaurants to choose from.

I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that mods get TS. We were REALLY looking forward to that extra bed!!!

 

[jmlipari]

I haven't had to add Free Dining since about 2011 since we've always had a bounceback. Can someone refresh me on how I add it to an existing reservation online the morning of the release? We are going at the end of September so last year's bounceback was no good.

I need the same info!! I already have a reservation with park tickets and dining arriving August 27th. Am I able to modify my reservation myself when free dining comes out? How? Please help, I wanna be prepared!!!!

 

[mousefan73]

If you check in a day or two before free dining starts if you're able to get it, does it start the first night you check in? thanks

I am confused by your statement... Your FD package starts on a specific date.. what do you mean by checking in a day or two before? Do you mean with a different RO reservation? a split stay? if so, your FD starts when you check in for the 2nd reservation.

as a tip if you do a split stay with FD, do your FD first and then the RO part.. This way you have your park tickets for the entire part.. with FD you have to get park tickets.. so let's say your FD is for 4 nights, and you do a split stay with RO, for 3 nights, you book your FD but when select park days, add those other day... ex. package for 4 nights, but a 7 or 8 day ticket.. your tickets are still valid when you check out of your FD room and check into a RO room.. Sometimes you dont have to phycically change rooms, sometimes you do.

 

[aprescher]

I am new to booking with offers and have only been to Disney once before so I'm pretty clueless!

My sister surprised me with a trip in December 10-16 for my birthday! Yay! She already has reservations made so if free dining is released would we just need to call and have that discount applied? Or would we need to modify or cancel and rebook?

 

[debf]

If you search Google:

Free Dining Plan with Vacation Package | Walt Disney World Resort ...
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/resort-stay-dine-package/
Explore a room and ticket package offer that includes a dining plan at select Disney Resort hotels, most nights from August 21 through December 23, 2017.

I hope the dates on this are wrong since we check in 8/16.

 

[mousefan73]

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I am new to booking with offers and have only been to Disney once before so I'm pretty clueless!

My sister surprised me with a trip in December 10-16 for my birthday! Yay! She already has reservations made so if free dining is released would we just need to call and have that discount applied? Or would we need to modify or cancel and rebook?

first try to modify
If that doesnt work, try a new reservation BEFORE canceling the other... then once you have what you want booked, cancel the other.. but normall there should be modify or change button... some reservations you cannot self modify.. mine for example is a TA special with group rates,, anything that is not available via the normal disney site.. this only the TA can touch.

 

[karaintn]

Just wondering if you checked under current summer promotion circle or on the basic rates circle on the resort booking page. I checked a resort for our dates first under the summer promotion and only a garden room was available, but then when I checked for the far left just room rate, it showed all categories available. So, for the summer promotion rate, only one thing was available, but not the whole resort unavailable. In this case, you would not know what they may put for availability under a new promotion.

Thanks for the reply. I was just looking under basic rates - I don't think there are any posted promotions for November right now (that I know of). I'm so mad I didn't go ahead and book a room when we first started talking about a trip months ago!