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

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Since it's quiet today, I can ask my sort of OT question. If you had free dining, would you rather upgrade to deluxe for 1000 and enjoy yachtsman, narcoosee's and la cellier or spend 1500 and upgrade to club level. I have a FD BB booked and this is internal debate. I really love club but it is over 200 more a night. Deluxe is a better value because I will eat well and my family loves food. We also love CL. My kids love going for snacks and cans of soda. I enjoy the beer and all coffee. However, 1500 buys a lot of beer and soda! Thoughts?

I wouldn't do either. But for me, it's because I'm always looking for the best deal from fd. Either I stick to standard value and stay at Pop or I do regular TS in a standard moderate. If I wanted CL at Deluxe, I wouldn't want fd. I'd look for a room discount.
 
Does anyone have reviews of the diamond horseshoe? I just noticed that it will be open when we will be there. Liberty Tree is one of my planned ADRs. Maybe I will switch it and just eat there.

We have neve tried it, because the reviews have been really poor. I would stick with LTT.
 
Does anyone have reviews of the diamond horseshoe? I just noticed that it will be open when we will be there. Liberty Tree is one of my planned ADRs. Maybe I will switch it and just eat there.

It is behind LTT and they share a kitchen. Same food serving style (family) and similar fare. LTT is pilgrim themed decor and DH is wild west themed decor.
 
I would do deluxe...with all that food, your kids shouldn't be hungry for the club level snacks! And with the extra $500, you can buy snacks and cans of soda for your room.

That's what my husband says about the money BUT if they were the same price he would choose club.
 

So as most of the "regular posters" know I am currently booked with a FD BB at WL for 8/24-8/29. However, DH is still waiting to hear about a new job that will relocate us from NY to either MD or VA. (We should find out this month) If we end up in VA I will have to change our plans because DS will miss the first 2 days of 1st grade. (NY and MD start school after Labor Day). I'm really starting to freak out because the current promotion goes until 8/31. I feel like there's no way FD will be offered 8/21-8/26 (possible new dates) unless they do a visa deal like last year (I have the visa). Has anyone had success with moving a BB offer around? I'm so afraid Disney is going to say no! I would really hate to give up my deal but there's no way I can have DS miss the first days of school at a new school!
 
Crunching some numbers to see what my tolerance is if fd drops.

For a 4 day ph ticket, is there a massive difference purchasing directly with Disney compared to purchasing from an (approved) agent? I want to factor in that difference when deciding. I did a quick look and couldn't find anything significantly better. A few dollars here and there, but not enough to compensate for the peace of mind and ease of buying directly through MDE.
Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place?

My travel dates are Sept 29 - Oct 7 so it is value season. 3 adults (DD will be 12).
 
Since it's quiet today, I can ask my sort of OT question. If you had free dining, would you rather upgrade to deluxe for 1000 and enjoy yachtsman, narcoosee's and la cellier or spend 1500 and upgrade to club level. I have a FD BB booked and this is internal debate. I really love club but it is over 200 more a night. Deluxe is a better value because I will eat well and my family loves food. We also love CL. My kids love going for snacks and cans of soda. I enjoy the beer and all coffee. However, 1500 buys a lot of beer and soda! Thoughts?
I think it depends in how much time you're planning to spend at the resort. CL sure feel luxurious, we have loved it, but I've decided that it really is a splurge and not practical at all. We certainly don't get "our money's worth" in snacks and soda. So for value I would have to vote deluxe, for foolishly lavishing (which is a value all its own) I'd vote CL. You could certainly load up your mini fridge with cans of soda and beer but you wouldn't be able to push that special button in the elevator :rotfl:(which my kids LOVED)
 
Does anyone have reviews of the diamond horseshoe? I just noticed that it will be open when we will be there. Liberty Tree is one of my planned ADRs. Maybe I will switch it and just eat there.
I'm debating the same thing! I really like liberty tree but am always up to trying something new! Haven't ate at diamond horseshoe since I was a kid so I don't really remember what it's like!
 
I have only ever stayed at DVC villas, so I've never experienced club level. What is there to it besides the food and drinks?
 
Crunching some numbers to see what my tolerance is if fd drops.

For a 4 day ph ticket, is there a massive difference purchasing directly with Disney compared to purchasing from an (approved) agent? I want to factor in that difference when deciding. I did a quick look and couldn't find anything significantly better. A few dollars here and there, but not enough to compensate for the peace of mind and ease of buying directly through MDE.
Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place?

My travel dates are Sept 29 - Oct 7 so it is value season. 3 adults (DD will be 12).

I would figure without mich effort/bargain hunting you could save 40-50 per person on park tickets (undrcover tourist is $40ish in savings right now) so I would probably factor in $150 of possible savings, knowing you may be able to find better deals elsewhere if you dig. If you wouldn't get the park hopper without it being required for free dining I would factor that in as well.
 
So as most of the "regular posters" know I am currently booked with a FD BB at WL for 8/24-8/29. However, DH is still waiting to hear about a new job that will relocate us from NY to either MD or VA. (We should find out this month) If we end up in VA I will have to change our plans because DS will miss the first 2 days of 1st grade. (NY and MD start school after Labor Day). I'm really starting to freak out because the current promotion goes until 8/31. I feel like there's no way FD will be offered 8/21-8/26 (possible new dates) unless they do a visa deal like last year (I have the visa). Has anyone had success with moving a BB offer around? I'm so afraid Disney is going to say no! I would really hate to give up my deal but there's no way I can have DS miss the first days of school at a new school!
if FD does drop before you know about your DH plans, could you just book a FD package for the 2nd set of dates (if they qualify)? You would have to put down another $200 deposit but then you would have both sets of dates covered and can cancel one package as soon as you know for sure
 
I think it depends in how much time you're planning to spend at the resort. CL sure feel luxurious, we have loved it, but I've decided that it really is a splurge and not practical at all. We certainly don't get "our money's worth" in snacks and soda. So for value I would have to vote deluxe, for foolishly lavishing (which is a value all its own) I'd vote CL. You could certainly load up your mini fridge with cans of soda and beer but you wouldn't be able to push that special button in the elevator :rotfl:(which my kids LOVED)

Hahaha about the elevator! My kids feel the same way, I kind of enjoy it myself I would love to splurge but am having a really hard time convincing myself. My kids love having a lounge. They think it's the greatest thing ever. I was ok spending 1000 on it, but 1500, I just can't justify. We do spend time at the resort. My family likes to relax and we've never done all day at the park. This will be our first year hopping and I don't even know how much we'll use it.
 
Hahaha about the elevator! My kids feel the same way, I kind of enjoy it myself I would love to splurge but am having a really hard time convincing myself. My kids love having a lounge. They think it's the greatest thing ever. I was ok spending 1000 on it, but 1500, I just can't justify. We do spend time at the resort. My family likes to relax and we've never done all day at the park. This will be our first year hopping and I don't even know how much we'll use it.
Tough call. Maybe you want to fill that fridge, hop, and eat at all those deluxe TS. It will be a bit of a different trip. Then you'll know for next time. It's Disney so you know you won't be sad any way you do it.
 
Since it's quiet today, I can ask my sort of OT question. If you had free dining, would you rather upgrade to deluxe for 1000 and enjoy yachtsman, narcoosee's and la cellier or spend 1500 and upgrade to club level. I have a FD BB booked and this is internal debate. I really love club but it is over 200 more a night. Deluxe is a better value because I will eat well and my family loves food. We also love CL. My kids love going for snacks and cans of soda. I enjoy the beer and all coffee. However, 1500 buys a lot of beer and soda! Thoughts?
Club level is cool but doing the deluxe plan which we always do now is much nicer, we would end up trying to get back to the resort at certain times for essentially finger foods, drinks and desserts, they are good but spending more time at the parks and the cool themes of the restaurants is what we've come to like better, also it is kind of nice on the deluxe plan you can pretty much sit back and relax and not worry about being short credits and eat wherever.
 
So as most of the "regular posters" know I am currently booked with a FD BB at WL for 8/24-8/29. However, DH is still waiting to hear about a new job that will relocate us from NY to either MD or VA. (We should find out this month) If we end up in VA I will have to change our plans because DS will miss the first 2 days of 1st grade. (NY and MD start school after Labor Day). I'm really starting to freak out because the current promotion goes until 8/31. I feel like there's no way FD will be offered 8/21-8/26 (possible new dates) unless they do a visa deal like last year (I have the visa). Has anyone had success with moving a BB offer around? I'm so afraid Disney is going to say no! I would really hate to give up my deal but there's no way I can have DS miss the first days of school at a new school!
I have had success changing a room only bb, but not a fd bb. But I've read on various threads that others have had success, so that's hopeful. I would maybe call now and see if it's even possible to make a change for your resort/dates. I know availability can change at any time, but if it's an outright no answer after trying different dates and/or different resorts, at least you'll know that it's unlikely to make a change.
 
Tough call. Maybe you want to fill that fridge, hop, and eat at all those deluxe TS. It will be a bit of a different trip. Then you'll know for next time. It's Disney so you know you won't be sad any way you do it.

That's a really good point. We've never done deluxe dining. I'm having a hard time planning all those adrs. This will be perfect for comparison purposes. We didn't really eat much food at the lounge, just breakfast for ods, we mostly used it for the beverages. This will be a trial for my next trip.
 
A couple of off topic questions for the experts here. :offtopic: If two day park hoppers are required for FD, can I buy those and then apply them to an annual pass? (Even a weekday select)

Yes you can apply the required tickets toward an AP. I've never done it, so I'm not sure how you do it or if you can do it before you get there. Over on the Theme Park Strategy board, there is a ticket sticky that would probably answer the logistics of how it's done.

I can confirm this can be done because we upgraded our 2 day ticket with PH to a weekday select pass last September on a FD BB. We upgraded our tickets at Guest Relations at Disney Springs and it took less than 15 minutes for 4 people to upgrade. We upgraded the day of our arrival and used our shiny new AP holder passes that evening :) We plan to renew our AP holder passes by doing the same thing we did last year when we go back this September with our FD BB. Hope this helps!
 
Yes you can apply the required tickets toward an AP. I've never done it, so I'm not sure how you do it or if you can do it before you get there. Over on the Theme Park Strategy board, there is a ticket sticky that would probably answer the logistics of how it's done.
I can confirm this can be done because we upgraded our 2 day ticket with PH to a weekday select pass last September on a FD BB. We upgraded our tickets at Guest Relations at Disney Springs and it took less than 15 minutes for 4 people to upgrade. We upgraded the day of our arrival and used our shiny new AP holder passes that evening :) We plan to renew our AP holder passes by doing the same thing we did last year when we go back this September with our FD BB. Hope this helps!

This is awesome guys. Thanks for letting me know. This changes everything. :goofy:
 
Does anyone know if you can have 2 people logged into the one MDE account at the same time trying to book things?
So DH on his phone and me on the laptop, both logged into my MDE looking at options when/if FD drops?
 
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