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

[VillainFavs]

And the other option is they may just not offer it at CB at all, knowing that a lot of people staying there already have the $75 gift card coming to them. Or they may allow very limited rooms for FD, like just the pirate rooms which are much more expensive.

 

[Dinsey2013]

I spoke to a guest services rep to ask, I suggest you do the same.

Ok thanks. Is it guest services at CBR?

 

[Sharongal74]

BRIEF HISTORY FROM 2016. Looked back at the 2016 thread. I tried to capture the highlights for you all. By April 22nd...a Friday, there was an Air Canada offer that people were sure was going to be the exact offer for US and predicted to be announced on Monday. After 250 pages of chatter, a new thread was created for all the weekend warriors, all waiting for Monday at 4 a.m....the predicted day of the announcement. Then came Sunday night, and there were about 105/106 pages of people trying to stay awake, watching and refreshing pages. It seems some folks saw things before other's, refreshing pages etc. Then folks started to see an advertisement at the top of the page announcing FREE DINING with a link, which wasn't yet working. Other people were asking, "where did you see this!" So people continued to stress, reporting changes on MDE. Some said pages were frozen. People kept refreshing pages, again and again. Everyone was reporting different things they were seeing or not seeing. It was intense! Then by page 140 someone created a Facebook page so folks could continue to chat when Dis boards went down for maintenance. Next thing happened on page 143! The offer went up on MDE at 4:05 a.m. Monday morning.

THIS WAS THE POST:

get a FREE Dining Plan when you buy a non-discounted 5-night/6-day package that includes a room at a select Walt Disney World® Resort hotel and ticket with the Park Hopper® or Water Park Fun & More Option for arrivals most nights Aug. 23-Oct. 1, 2016, Nov. 15-21, Nov. 26-28 and Dec. 10-Dec. 21, 2016 when they book by July 8, 2016.

When you stay at a select Disney Moderate Resort, Disney Deluxe Resort or Disney Deluxe Villa Resort, you get the Disney Dining Plan with a variety of delicious dining options! When you stay at a select Disney Value Resort, you get the Quick-Service Dining Plan that allows you to enjoy a quick bite!

The number of rooms allocated for this offer is limited. Tickets and options must be used within 14 days of first use. Cannot be combined with any other discount or promotion. Advance reservations required. Offer excludes the following room types: campsites, 3-bedroom villas, Disney's Art of Animation Resort—The Little Mermaid Standard Rooms and the Bungalows at Disney's Polynesian Villas & Bungalows. Dining plan excludes gratuities and alcoholic beverages. Children ages 3-9 must order from children's menu, if available. Some Table-Service restaurants may have limited or no availability at time of package purchase.

Booking Window:
April 25-July 8, 2016

Arrival Window:
Aug. 23-Oct. 1, 2016, Nov. 15-21, Nov. 26-28 and Dec. 10-21, 2016

Booking Information:
This offer is available to book as "Free Delicious Offer" , or by calling the Disney Reservation Center beginning at 7 a.m. ET.

Length of Stay Requirements:
Minimum – 3 nights
Maximum – 14 nights

Full List of Offer Exclusions:
Campsites, 3-bedroom villas, Disney's Art of Animation Resort—The Little Mermaid Standard Rooms, the Bungalows at Disney's Polynesian Villas & Bungalows, The Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort, Disney's All-Star Movies Resort and Disney's Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter. Disney's Port Orleans – Riverside is excluded during the following dates: November 15 to 21, November 26 to 28 and December 10 to 21, 2016.

ROOM ONLY

save up to 25% on rooms at select Walt Disney World® Resort hotels for stays most nights Aug. 26-Nov. 5, 2016 when you book by Aug. 31, 2016. Check availability for other great rates for stays most nights Aug. 1-25, 2016.

The number of rooms allocated for this offer is limited. Length-of-stay requirements may apply. Savings based on the non-discounted price for the same room. Additional per-adult charges may apply if more than two adults per room at Disney Value, Moderate and Deluxe Resorts. Cannot be combined with any other discount or promotion. Advance reservations required. Offer excludes The Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort, campsites, 3-bedroom villas, Bungalows at Disney's Polynesian Villas & Bungalows and Disney's Art of Animation Resort—The Little Mermaid Standard Rooms. 25% savings for select Disney Deluxe and Deluxe Villa Resorts; lower savings may be available for other Resort hotels.

Booking Window:
April 25-Aug. 31, 2016

And before the offer even came out Dirty Steve posted this:
"Just a reminder....if the resort you are wanting is not available, be patient. There will be a tremendous amount of reservations over the next couple of days. TAs can place holds on dates and rooms for their clients that last 72 hours which means there may be additional rooms available in a few days."

I IMAGINE THE SAME SORT OF CHAOS IS SOON TO BEGIN IN HERE (hopefully). GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!

Ahhhh thanks for the fond memories! I woke up about every hour and refreshed the Disney special offer page! I remember rolling over a little after 4, my DH looks at me and I said "it's up, gotta go!" I just looked up old email and my conformation email is at 4:22 am.i felt like I won the lottery after all the anticipation lol!

 

[Dinsey2013]

And the other option is they may just not offer it at CB at all, knowing that a lot of people staying there already have the $75 gift card coming to them. Or they may allow very limited rooms for FD, like just the pirate rooms which are much more expensive.

I'm having mixed emotions on this. I don't know what to think. I'm prepared for no FD, but then I would likely switch to a resort with FD since it would be more of a savings for my family. If most people did this, then they wouldn't have as many people as they planned going there during their construction. Then, how many people would willingly book there knowing the construction is happening and not get an incentive. I'm sure there are people who will, but i'd imagine most would opt to go to a non-construction zone resort and get better deals.

Or on the flip side, they do offer free dining there as a way to keep those people who already booked and give them gift cards. Since they stopped the gift cards, do they plan to pull people in with the free dining promo to boost occupancy? Maybe they realized they wouldn't want to give a ton of people both discounts, so they pulled the gift cards, but keep it more limited to the people who previously booked before knowing about refurbishments (plus a little more, since they offered to everyone for a limited time).

IDK I just want answers and I want them soon!

 

[vicb224]

Was it 4am in 2015 also?

 

[Janet McDonald]

I am going to need two rooms because I have 5 people. So say I go online and get one room with FD at pop but then can't get the second? When I reserve, to do it quickly Can I just put myself in there and then add people into the room later and the FD will be applied to them too? Worst case scenrio is to put one in the second room later and just pay for their dining plan? Do I make sense?

 

[Dinsey2013]

Was it 4am in 2015 also?

Yes. I just looked at my email and it was 4:27am when I finished booking.

 

[samsteele]

Was it 4am in 2015 also?

I can't remember if it was exactly 4am in 2015 but it was very, very early (well before 6am) also on a Monday morning since I checked when I had my coffee (usually 5:30am) and the offers were up but that year waited until my TA was in the office after 9:30am to book through her. I narrowly got the FD deal at POP and then had problems later with my TA & the booking. Last year, I opted to book it directly online just as soon as I saw the offer.

 

[vicb224]

I am going to need two rooms because I have 5 people. So say I go online and get one room with FD at pop but then can't get the second? When I reserve, to do it quickly Can I just put myself in there and then add people into the room later and the FD will be applied to them too? Worst case scenrio is to put one in the second room later and just pay for their dining plan? Do I make sense?

i would like to know the answer to this also!!

 

[Annam3]

Since FD was not offered in October of 2016, I'm guessing it won't be offered this year either. Is the month of October crazy busy? We were thinking about going the second week in October.

 

[wildboyzmommy]

So what time does FD open up? I'm on the west coast. I have to be to work by 4:30am. Should I take the day off?

 

[Janet McDonald]

i would like to know the answer to this also!!

If no one responds on here I will try calling Disney later when I get off work and see if I can get it figured out and then post what I find out!

 

[vicb224]

If no one responds on here I will try calling Disney later when I get off work and see if I can get it figured out and then post what I find out!

If I cant get a 2 bedroom OKW- I need 3 rooms!! ugh
so I wonder if I book them all logged into my MDE but under their names?

 

[dolewhipdreams]

I can't remember if it was exactly 4am in 2015 but it was very, very early (well before 6am) also on a Monday morning since I checked when I had my coffee (usually 5:30am) and the offers were up but that year waited until my TA was in the office after 9:30am to book through her. I narrowly got the FD deal at POP and then had problems later with my TA & the booking. Last year, I opted to book it directly online just as soon as I saw the offer.

4am in what time zone?

 

[allysetraskos]

4am in what time zone?

EST

 

[Calee]

4am in what time zone?

Eastern

 

[Janet McDonald]

If I cant get a 2 bedroom OKW- I need 3 rooms!! ugh
so I wonder if I book them all logged into my MDE but under their names?

That's what I'm trying to figure out too because I'm afraid that once I get one room what if I don't get a second one so I'm wondering if I can just stick one name on there to save time and then add the names later. Just secure the rooms and then sort the rest out later or do I have to put all the names in at booking time.

 

[nagshead]

Just realized we had a bounce back when we were there in sept we didn't book (didn't think we would make it back this soon) now we are booked may 26-June 1 which would have been free dining Any speculation that they might include the dates they gave people for bounce back in this free dining release?

 

[sharonabe]

I'm having mixed emotions on this. I don't know what to think. I'm prepared for no FD, but then I would likely switch to a resort with FD since it would be more of a savings for my family. If most people did this, then they wouldn't have as many people as they planned going there during their construction. Then, how many people would willingly book there knowing the construction is happening and not get an incentive. I'm sure there are people who will, but i'd imagine most would opt to go to a non-construction zone resort and get better deals.

My guess is there will be no FD at CBR. Once you and others jump to other resorts with FD, the GC offer will come back. This prevents anyone who already has CBR with the GCs from double dipping by just using the modify. It may also keep you at CBR with your current GCs if all other offers with FD are more costly. They took it away for now to see what affect FD will have AND without that incentive, more people will book the other mods, filling rooms, and making FD even more limited. WIN-WIN for DISNEY but not us.

 

[Sarahboo]

I'm prepared for no double-dipping of the GC and FD too. If we can't, we'll switch resorts because FD pencils out better for us and I'd rather not stay at a resort with massive construction if there's no financial incentive. Either way, I win. FD at WDW? Yes please!