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

[KimBean]

I'm dying waiting to know what December dates will be listed. Historically, I should be okay but I never have luck on these things. This is what I get for starting to plan my trip in 10 months out.

I'm right there with you. We would be happy with any 9 nights from 11/26-12/19 at any value or moderate (if standard room.)

 

[Tom P.]

If I'm not mistaken, I believe that other countries, particularly the UK, have always gotten free dining offers in advance of the US. I don't think the fact that the same seems to be the case this year portends anything negative toward our availability for FD. I think that's the same as always.

 

[KimBean]

Throwing in my 2 cents when you modify aka "change" your reservation for the FD promo you are in effect re-booking a "new" reservation ergo the reason you have to pay the new prices for tickets, the date you originally booked has no baring on your new FD package so I do believe your $75 Gc will go bye-bye too

I have heard this in the past too. That it is always a new reservation even if you call and "modify" your existing one. That's why I will just make a new reservation and then cancel my OOP plans if I get free dining.

 

[JackieO]

If I'm not mistaken, I believe that other countries, particularly the UK, have always gotten free dining offers in advance of the US. I don't think the fact that the same seems to be the case this year portends anything negative toward our availability for FD. I think that's the same as always.

That's good to know.

 

[KimBean]

Is it absolutely necessary to book at 4 a.m. to get FD? No. In 2015 we managed to get it several weeks after the initial drop when more availability was added. Is it best to book at 4 a.m. on the day it drops? Definitely. That's the best chance of getting what you want.

Agreed. In 2014 I booked on May 19th. That was 3 weeks after it came out. I went through the whole Free Dining experience last year. I was hoping I could talk hubs into it so booked a room, but then let it go. I also wanted to just see what it was like because I knew we would be 100% this year. It will have been 3 YEARS since we went. The torture!! Anyway, the point is there was still availability for 3-4 weeks after the drop date at some resorts and they weren't all deluxe because I wouldn't even look at those. I also noticed a lot more availability coming up about 10 days after the drop.

 

[Attracted to Beasts]

Totally true! I stayed up and got a WL standard which was not what I wanted...ended up with a CBR standard a few days later and saved $800! There was no point in staying up last year as it didn't give me my first 3 choices! Although it was fun! lol I do the same thing for the lilly pulitzer sale...stay up all night for a bargain! I have a problem when it comes to spending (but saving!) money! Lol

 

[Annam3]

Those of you with high school age kids, do you take them out of school?

 

[Jeaniec]

Those of you with high school age kids, do you take them out of school?[/QUOTE

I have. We don't go often. When we do, we try to go when the crowds will be low. That usually means during the school year. We let the school and teachers know what we are doing. All homework is completed by the time we return. With online assignments, this really wasn't too difficult. His grades did not suffer.

 

[Lesley Wake]

Interesting....I just noticed that! I'm currently booked at WL but was considering YC/BC if I need to change dates (it's DH 40th so we're splurging for a deluxe) I wouldn't put it past Disney to change it to that especially since so many mods are under construction or excluded! The BB offer though did give mods the Disney dining plan not QS....crazy!!!

If they did that I would go with the room discount instead of dining plan. The places we really want to eat at and have reservations for are all TS (BOG, CRT, Le Cellier). If we can't get FD on my existing reservation I would be bummed but I don't think I would change it-we are doing POR garden view from sept 9-18, booked last august! We would just cut back in other areas, like maybe just do QS in HS and/or AK.

I really hope they don't mess with us and give us the crappy dining plan!

 

[Janet McDonald]

I'm following along just to see what FD is like this year. I'm hoping that we can get it in 2018.

I did book FD in 2015 for 10 of us at POP. We needed 4 rooms. I was so nervous that I wouldn't be able to get them all. We had word the night before it was supposed to drop so I had 2 laptops/devices ready to go. I woke up around 1:00 PST and found that FD had gone live. I booked two rooms under my MDE on one device. I don't remember all of the steps but I do remember that it was not an extra step to put a different name on the second room. It would have been more steps to book the room under a different MDE though, so I stayed logged in and just entered the other name (my brother and family). I was logged into my parents' MDE on the other device and booked their room and then my sister's and her family on their MDE. I made sure that all of our MDE's were linked and ready to go. I also made sure that I had my credit card added to both accounts. I just used my card for all of the rooms and got reimbursed. That helped to save some steps too.

It worked and I was able to get all 4 rooms. I think it helped that we were booking at POP as I think they had more availability than some of the moderate resorts. I hope my experience helps! Good luck!

ETA: If your accounts are linked previously, I think all you have to do is click on the names and not enter each of them in. At least it was the case when I booked.

Thank you so much for this information! You have helped me so much and I so appreciate it!!

 

[Sharongal74]

Those of you with high school age kids, do you take them out of school?

I have taken mine out at varying grade levels with no problems. Last year we went aug 31, I probably wouldn't go that early again due to them not being in a routine yet.

 

[Tod&CopperFan]

I'm still confused on how to book more than one room. I'm planning a trip with my sister and our 4 kids in September and want FD. We are wanting to book 2 rooms at an All Star resort as my sister needs the trip to be as cheap as possible and we are ok with QS plan. I'm hoping this helps us because these rooms won't be in super high demand. I have taken a few trips with my family with FD, know the frantic routine when it drops, and have an MDE account, however I've only ever needed to book one room. My sister has no clue how to do this on her own and does not have an MDE account. It would be way easier if I could just book the two rooms on my MDE when FD drops, I will use the same credit card for both rooms (mine). Can someone explain to me how I can book two rooms online at one time? Can I do that in one transaction?

 

[DisneyLifePapioNe]

We take our kids out also, we typically travel in September or November/December last year was perfect with the dining being offered the weekend after Thanksgiving, we usually stay 8-10 days but they had time to make sure everything was caught up or something's done before our trip, vacation is just that we need a break from work and they need a break from school to......oh we go to Daytona most every February also for the Daytona 500 but that trip is usually 5-6 days.

 

[Annam3]

I will have 2 in high school and one in junior high in the fall. We took them out last year to go to WDW during November. We arranged everything beforehand with their schools. When we got back we received letters from the district saying we could no longer take them out because 5 days is considered excessive absences. Unfortunately it seems the FD dates don't match up with any school breaks.

 

[Snow White 77]

I have 2 reservations on my account. One room with my husband myself and grandson. 2 nd room is my daughter her husband and grand kids. You just do 2 different reservations.

 

[vicb224]

I'm still confused on how to book more than one room. I'm planning a trip with my sister and our 4 kids in September and want FD. We are wanting to book 2 rooms at an All Star resort as my sister needs the trip to be as cheap as possible and we are ok with QS plan. I'm hoping this helps us because these rooms won't be in super high demand. I have taken a few trips with my family with FD, know the frantic routine when it drops, and have an MDE account, however I've only ever needed to book one room. My sister has no clue how to do this on her own and does not have an MDE account. It would be way easier if I could just book the two rooms on my MDE when FD drops, I will use the same credit card for both rooms (mine). Can someone explain to me how I can book two rooms online at one time? Can I do that in one transaction?

Following!!

 

[vicb224]

I have 2 reservations on my account. One room with my husband myself and grandson. 2 nd room is my daughter her husband and grand kids. You just do 2 different reservations.

Ok so you can't do them both in the same like, transaction right?

 

[scard192]

[QUOTE="Annam3, post: 57306683, member: 577220" When we got back we received letters from the district saying we could no longer take them out because 5 days is considered excessive absences. Unfortunately it seems the FD dates don't match up with any school breaks.[/QUOTE]

our schools sent out the same notice recently. only time we will be able to take the kids on a vacation are summer (too hot), Christmas (too busy), February and April vacations (too expensive). Not sure what we will do, no Fall breaks in our state.

 

[PirateD]

I'm still confused on how to book more than one room. I'm planning a trip with my sister and our 4 kids in September and want FD. We are wanting to book 2 rooms at an All Star resort as my sister needs the trip to be as cheap as possible and we are ok with QS plan. I'm hoping this helps us because these rooms won't be in super high demand. I have taken a few trips with my family with FD, know the frantic routine when it drops, and have an MDE account, however I've only ever needed to book one room. My sister has no clue how to do this on her own and does not have an MDE account. It would be way easier if I could just book the two rooms on my MDE when FD drops, I will use the same credit card for both rooms (mine). Can someone explain to me how I can book two rooms online at one time? Can I do that in one transaction?

I don't think you can book them in one transaction at the same time. In my experience, you will need to book them one at a time but you can use your MDE for both. When I booked our 4 rooms, I was able to have 2 different MDE accounts logged in on 2 different devices which helped me to book them sort of simultaneously (as fast as I could click on them both, lol).

To book two rooms on the same MDE, you will need to quickly book one first and then book the other immediately after the first booking without logging out of your MDE.

There are things that you can do ahead of time to make it go faster like adding everyone to your MDE account (or linking if they have a separate account already). You can add your sister and her family to your account and make sure your account info is up to date with your credit card and address. This will save some time. I actually called Disney to make sure I had everyone added and linked correctly before FD came out just to make sure everything went smoothly.

I also recommend practicing booking before the promo comes out. Someone recommended that to me because 2015 FD was the first time I had booked online and it helped me be more confident. I just logged in and did a practice to make sure I wasn't giving the wrong information. You can practice going through check out as long as you don't hit that final submit button--you can cancel at anytime.

I also put in my dates before I went to sleep that night. Because the Disney site will often remember the last dates entered, I was ready to go in the middle of the night.

I hope that helps! Good luck!!!

 

[Snow White 77]

Ok so you can't do them both in the same like, transaction right?

You do two different transactions