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

[Jchoma]

Do you have to log in or something to see any deals for Disney visa?

No, if you go to https://disneyrewards.com/ and look at limited time offers, it would be there.

Hmm I have screen shots of a conversation where I asked about adding a day to our reservation -I was told won't lose GC, but won't get a GC for the dates added after Mar. 20

Smart idea to take screen shots! I'm guessing my CM meant completely changing the dates of our trip to a new week, not adding days. That's my best guess.

 

[4leobeans]

Last year, the RO discount came out the same day as FD....won't be too long to determine what's the best deal!

 

[ThistleMae]

Possibly not true. Not sure if you'd call it 'combining' deals but currently Canadians can get room only discount + discounted Canadian tickets on the same reservation. I have 2 of these booked for different friends right now.

The OP is referring to the FD offer, you can't combine the FD offer with the room discount.

 

[GMU MOM]

Hi everyone

I keep seeing things about FD not necessarily saving $. I don't quite understand how that is possible. Do room rates go up?

I'm looking at 5 nights at WL in December...2 adults and 2 kids with dining plan and park hoppers....It comes out to about $5300. How could FD not save $? If I take the dining plan off the price drops $1,000. Is this not how it all actually works out if FD is offered?

We are a family of 4 Disney adults and free dining has always been the best deal for us because we either stay moderate and get the DDP or stay value and upgrade to the DDP. However, if the rumor is true that mods only get the QSDP, then the savings are not as great as they used to be. Also, we rarely park hop so the added expense of the park hoppers to qualify for FD cuts into the savings as well.

 

[Chris Anglin]

Country girl myself! I depend on my phone and computer at work and I only work 2 days a week. But, I wouldn't live in town if you gave me a house for free!

Right there with ya! I lived in town for a year and a half when I went through my divorce and I was miserable. Now I'm 20 minutes from town on 600 acres!

 

[sharonabe]

I dont even consider the CBR gcs as a savings cuz I still have to pay oop for my trip thirty days prior.Makes it easier to compare apples to apples.

I get that, but it still factors in. If people aren't going to use them while at Disney, then they're sitting on hundreds of dollars that can only be used at a Disney place of business. However, if those hundreds of dollars are used to pay for meals while there, then they definitely have to be figured into all equations. If you have to move resorts and lose the GCs, then it figures into the equation. We're not a big souvenir family, so if we don't use the GCs on dining or express transportation at Disney, we probably would never use them, so they are definitely in our equations.

 

[Stacie Rinehimer]

I know you said you are worried and planned pricey buffets b/c you want to make sure the 1 and 2 year old have something to eat...BUT...
at their age, they would be happy splitting a kid meal or even just a snack-sized treat...I wouldn't book buffets just b/c it "saves" you money, b/c the $10-12 tip you'll pay on just ONE adult buffet meal (as a guaranteed 18% tip meal on a very pricey starting price) would buy you 2 kid meals at CS...

I'd get the TS's you like and steer away from buffets and use your price/tip savings to buy the littles food around the parks...

You are right! We booked the ones we booked because we like their choices. Cape may cafe- my husband is huge crab leg fan. ohana we have never done dinner. Breakfast and show Yes. We didn't enjoy tusker breakfast but picked dinner for the ROL package and people compared it to BOMA which we loved. WWC is booked but I may change. Leaving parks all those days for meals kind of gives me anxiety. This is why I am glad I posted. Y'all are thinking of things I haven't

 

[Jchoma]

No, if you go to https://disneyrewards.com/ and look at limited time offers, it would be there.

I'm so sorry, this isn't correct. I just called Visa to confirm, and cardholders will be notified via email if FD drops early for them. The offer won't appear on their site until it's offered to the general public.

 

[ThistleMae]

The chat site is up and running for when the boards go down Sunday night....for those who want to use it, you should get ready and download it!

 

[Stacie Rinehimer]

I get that, but it still factors in. If people aren't going to use them while at Disney, then they're sitting on hundreds of dollars that can only be used at a Disney place of business. However, if those hundreds of dollars are used to pay for meals while there, then they definitely have to be figured into all equations. If you have to move resorts and lose the GCs, then it figures into the equation. We're not a big souvenir family, so if we don't use the GCs on dining or express transportation at Disney, we probably would never use them, so they are definitely in our equations.

This is true $900 is a lot to spend on souvenirs. We have never spent close to that! Maybe IF I can snag the QSDP at CBR can I always wait to decide if I want to upgrade? My plans change frequently when I discover something new I want to try. $900 in GC with QSDP and the cost of upgrade if a lot of food. Right? Dessert isn't necessary, we only ever got it because it was part of the plan.

 

[KozFam]

We are a family of 4 Disney adults and free dining has always been the best deal for us because we either stay moderate and get the DDP or stay value and upgrade to the DDP. However, if the rumor is true that mods only get the QSDP, then the savings are not as great as they used to be. Also, we rarely park hop so the added expense of the park hoppers to qualify for FD cuts into the savings as well.

Same thing here. What used to be a much bigger savings is now down to *maybe* a $450 savings. Granted, I appreciate saving $450, but Free Dining certainly has lost "value" over time (which I'm sure is exactly what Disney is doing on purpose to phase it out).

 

[Stacie Rinehimer]

The chat site is up and running for when the boards go down Sunday night....for those who want to use it, you should get ready and download it!

I have it downloaded but how do I find the group?

 

[tilir]

This is true $900 is a lot to spend on souvenirs. We have never spent close to that! Maybe IF I can snag the QSDP at CBR can I always wait to decide if I want to upgrade? My plans change frequently when I discover something new I want to try. $900 in GC with QSDP and the cost of upgrade if a lot of food. Right? Dessert isn't necessary, we only ever got it because it was part of the plan.

I look at the GC's this way, if I don't use them on my vacation this time I can always use them to help pay for a future trip. Since we all know Disney fanatics will travel back again sometime in the future. Either way I win free way to help pay for a future trip or less I spend oop. I have decided since we are staying at CBR Dec 18-28 with 2 rooms if the FD is only QS I am ok with it (don't prefer it though) and will decide when offer drops as whether or not to upgrade or not. But to each his own for what works best.

 

[Cheri Of All Trades]

We are the best, just a bunch of nice people. I have an Achilles tendon thing going on....wearing the "boot" to the parks. Welcome to the Madness!

Thank you! I hope your Achilles and the walking boot aren't too much of a bother in the summer while you're in WDW.

 

[Elsaalltheway]

I think you're mixing up your initials which will be confusing to all. DDP is the regular dining plan with 1 TS, 1 QS, 2 snacks and DxDDP or DxDP is the deluxe plan with 3 TS/QS meals and 2 snacks

I probably was, and I think, I along with the others, were confused on some other points. LOL. carry on, nothing to see here.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Sorry I only have about 30 minutes this morning and it appears no one on this morning knows what was said 4 pages back - me included!! Last night while I was trying to shut off my addiction to the DIS and go to sleep someone posted that Dad said that FD blackout dates worked exactly as RO blackout dates. He stated this was how it worked last year as well. I don't believe this to be true so I'm just confirming - we are ignoring this and moving on right?

Yup! Ignore....Dad is wrong

 

[Stacie Rinehimer]

I look at the GC's this way, if I don't use them on my vacation this time I can always use them to help pay for a future trip. Since we all know Disney fanatics will travel back again sometime in the future. Either way I win free way to help pay for a future trip or less I spend oop. I have decided since we are staying at CBR Dec 18-28 with 2 rooms if the FD is only QS I am ok with it (don't prefer it though) and will decide when offer drops as whether or not to upgrade or not. But to each his own for what works best.

Oh my gosh, YES !! This trip isn't even planned 100% and I am thinking of the next one when our girls are older toy story world - 50th anniversary

 

[kels420]

The chat site is up and running for when the boards go down Sunday night....for those who want to use it, you should get ready and download it!

Group name?

 

[Halbleib1]

Leave it alone until FD drops. What if you can't get FD at CBR at all? Do you still want the PH? Will you move to another resort? Just wait.



The difference is Free Dining. Historically, you could never combine any other discount with free dining. The GCs at CBR are the wild card that I think are getting people's hopes up of combining other discounts, but I don't see that happening.

Combining other discounts has been around. Your Canadian one is a good example. Military discounts can also be stacked. It just depends on the discount. BUT free dining has ALWAYS required rack rate room and full-priced tickets.

I received free dining and a room discount for our Dec. 2008 trip. I got the offer through an email pin code though. I have never seen it again, every other free dining package I have booked was at rack rate for the room. We had just returned home from a Sept. trip when I got the offer. I had a bounce-back package booked for the following year as well. I don't know if that had something to do with it or not or if they were just trying to fill rooms.

 

[stitchfan75]

I have decisions to make. A few months ago I received a PIN code for 30% RO, it's good until July and travel by 8/31. The day before yesterday dh mentioned want ting to do a parent only trip to F&W using FD. I'm thinking it's not going to be worth it and we should use the 30% off PIN or the RO discount that comes out with FD instead. We won't be going to character meals w/o the kids so I'm not seeing the value in paying rack rate when we probably won't eat that much food.
We know we want to go to Ohana dinner (or the Luau), Morimotos, The Polite Pig, and maybe a TS in Epcot. The only character we may hit would be Tusker House breakfast, but even that...we may just go to Boma instead. Ugh I don't know what to do.
So most likely staying at POP 8/31-9/4!