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

[brownierose]

If this year's blackout dates are similar to last year's then that's a bummer for us because we would be traveling at the beginning of November. Keeping my fingers crossed though, just in case.

I'm in the same boat...early November travel dates unfortunately not flexible due to my parents already having vacations approved

 

[KimBean]

This is going be long because I think the back story makes it.

Best character greet for me would be when my first was 7. It was a super budget trip. I decided to quit my full time job in 2005 to homeschool. I didn't know a recession was around the corner. We could barely make it on dh's salary alone. Then his job started paying him 2/3. He stayed because there were no jobs and we were happy to have one. We planned a very budget trip. We pretty much had a condo for free from my in laws. I had bought tickets from our tax refund. We planned to eat at condo quite a bit. About a month before we were going my dh lost his job. He wanted to not go. I reasoned we have room and tickets we can eat at condo mainly if we need to. I won. We went.

First day there, it was year of a million dreams. When we walked in we got passes for all day fast passes. I don't remember what they were called. But I still have them. Blue on a lanyard and it was automatic fast pass all day on all FP rides. For whatever reason they were letting us in and then you had to wait at the land. We waited at Tomorrowland. Not many people around us and as soon as they open it Stitch is standing by Monsters Inc. my 7 year old just takes off running arms open wide bee lining it to him. (She is shy and very reserved) He gets down on one knee and opens his arms wide. She leaps into them and it was the biggest hug ever. Stitch was and is her fav.

It was one of the best days and trips. And wouldn't you know it, my DH got a call right outside Mexico at Epcot telling him he was hired!

It was our last trip as 3!

 

[brownierose]

there should be a RO in November and if you say at a Deluxe the RO is often a better deal.

Really?? RO at deluxe better than fd?

 

[DisTXMom]

We enjoyed GG breakfast very much! Side note: if you book a PPO breakfast there you can basically walk on to Soarin' after your meal with no wait before the rope drop crowds shows up.

Nice!!!

 

[mamamelody2]

We went last October/November. We were walking through SWLB and a couple of Jawas were just hanging out. My littlest guy (about 1 1/2 at the time) ran over to them as fast as he could, squeezing one of them tight for a hug. Both Jawas went crazy dancing and snuggling with my son. We were there for probably 10 minutes while they played with my kids. I finally said, "OK, we have to go meet Chewy" because we had a FP One Jawa grabbed up my youngest and pretended (I think he/she was pretending ) to take him away. After we met Chewy and Kylo Ren we went back up where the Jawas had been. Only one was there and he/she immediately grabbed up my son for more dancing. Out of nowhere Jawa #2 came SPRINTING to come play with him again. It was hilarious. We have some of the dancing on video. They were so funny. My son still talks about playing with the "wawas" at Disney World.

Awww. What an amazing "wawa" picture! Your son is obviously having the greatest time ever!

 

[Ahuck06]

Been gone for awhile, rumor still FD will only be quick service at mods???? Praying for an update we'll get regular dining plan

 

[DisTXMom]

This is going be long because I think the back story makes it.

Best character greet for me would be when my first was 7. It was a super budget trip. I decided to quit my full time job in 2005 to homeschool. I didn't know a recession was around the corner. We could barely make it on dh's salary alone. Then his job started paying him 2/3. He stayed because there were no jobs and we were happy to have one. We planned a very budget trip. We pretty much had a condo for free from my in laws. I had bought tickets from our tax refund. We planned to eat at condo quite a bit. About a month before we were going my dh lost his job. He wanted to not go. I reasoned we have room and tickets we can eat at condo mainly if we need to. I won. We went.

First day there, it was year of a million dreams. When we walked in we got passes for all day fast passes. I don't remember what they were called. But I still have them. Blue on a lanyard and it was automatic fast pass all day on all FP rides. For whatever reason they were letting us in and then you had to wait at the land. We waited at Tomorrowland. Not many people around us and as soon as they open it Stitch is standing by Monsters Inc. my 7 year old just takes off running arms open wide bee lining it to him. (She is shy and very reserved) He gets down on one knee and opens his arms wide. She leaps into them and it was the biggest hug ever. Stitch was and is her fav.

It was one of the best days and trips. And wouldn't you know it, my DH got a call right outside Mexico at Epcot telling him he was hired!

It was our last trip as 3!

This is so good, I want to "like" it a million times. Good stuff!!! Happy your family was blessed

Dis- All of your pixie dust stories are really getting to me you guys!!! We are going to be a bunch of weeping ninnies by the time FD gets here!!!

 

[mamamelody2]

Really?? RO at deluxe better than fd?

It can be. Say it's only 2 adults at a deluxe room running about $600 a night. RO discount of 30% is $180 a night. DDP is $70 a person so only $140. Obviously it depends on how many in the room, what the rack is, and what the RO offer is, but you can't assume FD is always the best deal.

 

[squirrel]

Y'all are freaking out this germophobe with all your talk about viruses and food poisoning. I do not cope well with throw up.....

That being said, my DD's chicken drumstick looked a little off to me at GG on our first night at Disney- sure enough she was throwing up that night. So, maybe GG again, but we will try breakfast

curious for those that think they had food poisoning, what the suspected food culprit was... my family can avoid chicken for a few days!!

And then there is me who only eats chicken at CS meals or pizza. As I don't eat ground beef, hotdogs or fish. Never had food poisoning at WDW.

I never use the hand sanitizer. My niece grabbed some while we waited in line to see the fairies one trip and I was not impressed. I told her she was going to get sick now. She didn't believe me, but about 2 days later she wasn't feeling great and caught the sniffles. Never use that unless you can't wash with soap. It kills all the bacteria on your hands (which is great right-Nope!) even the good bacteria. Now as soon as you touch anything you have no good bacteria to fight the bad stuff you just put on you fingers and hand.

 

[mamamelody2]

Fave QS that I have actually eaten at:
Columbia Harbor House
Pecos Bills (love the toppings bar, especially the guacamole)
Flame Tree BBQ
Sunshine Seasons
POR food court

QS I am determined to try for the first time this coming trip:
Yak and Yeti
BOG (hoping for lunch but would do breakfast, or both!)
Yorkshire County Fish Shop

 

[mamamelody2]

Been gone for awhile, rumor still FD will only be quick service at mods???? Praying for an update we'll get regular dining plan

That's still the rumor. But it is just that...RUMOR.

 

[monorailrabbit]

It can be. Say it's only 2 adults at a deluxe room running about $600 a night. RO discount of 30% is $180 a night. DDP is $70 a person so only $140. Obviously it depends on how many in the room, what the rack is, and what the RO offer is, but you can't assume FD is always the best deal.

Love this but DH won't. He hates when I flip flop on things. If he knew I was considering RO now I'd get the look for sure, hahaha. Now I need to figure out how to calculate which is better!

 

[Leelah]

I love Garden Grill! I think it's the most under-rated character meal at DW. Also, with all the talk of food poisoning, not to be argumentative, but food poisoning (especially at a place like WDW) is rare, stomach bugs are not. Typically if it is food poisoning, multiple people are affected, not just one family,especially at DW where many people are eating at the same place. It's possible for some family members to get sick and others not due to immunity some may have from having had the bug in their past. Also, the symptoms of stomach viruses such as the norovirus are pretty much the same as food poisoning. I'm a Nurse Practitioner at busy practice (though currently a stay at home mom) so I know what I'm talking about. Just my 2 cents. There's also what many refer to as "disney diarrhea" which can also include vomiting, which comes from viruses due to the close proximity of soooo many people.

Speaking of sickness.. last time we went in 2015 my 3 youngest kids got so sick thankfully we were there 2 weeks each kid was out for 2-3 days with fevers and vomiting it was horrible my mom husband and I took turns staying at the hotel.. spent so much money at the hotel buying Tylenol and American gravol.. I came prepared for mild sickness not the plague here's hoping this trip we have better luck! Our last day all the kids felt better we parked hopped like crazy to make up for lost time.. poor hubby almost didn't get to try test track.. it was his first trip to Disney
Hoping everyone has good health while on vacation not fun being stuck inside the hotel room at disney!!

 

[FinnsMom7]

Ok guys and gals another day pretty much in the books please oh please let us get some more intel tomorrow - really rough day today at work and I need a pick me up

 

[Kelly014]

Aside from crystal palace what other character dining would be a worthwhile option?? Two adults no kids - just kids at heart

Love Ohana breakfast and and Akershus. I've also heard Tusker House has great food and interactions but I've never eaten there.

 

[vanjust14]

Here's one:

What is your least favorite TS?

Hands down...Garden Grill, which we got after a reservation change toward the end of our trip...and after following up after the likes of Tusker House, Narcoosse's, CRT, etc...very disappointing. Long wait even with ADR and bland mediocre food. Meeting Chip and Dale was nice but not worth it.

I'm a little late answering this but I have to say my least favorite so far was Cape May Cafe. I LOVE seafood but this just did not cut it. I'm going to chalk it up to just being used to amazing seafood here in New England. I will say though the Oreo bon bons they served were fabulous! I wonder if they still have those.

 

[sharonabe]

I don't think 48 hours is being put out there because of DVC. I think 48 hours - 72 hours was mentioned because it was one or the other and finding out exactly which one made no difference as either meant not being able to use gift cards to upgrade.

There are some who don't have the GCs and have asked about upgrading. I don't want anyone waiting until 48 hr to upgrade and find out they can't. It's not really either or. It's one time for DVC and one time for everyone else. Everyone on this board will be everyone else if they are upgrading from free dining.

 

[Icicles]

Argh-so not Free Dining related, but is trip related. I am a big NFL fan and have season tickets to the Rams. I knew our trip was going to be during football season, and realized, belatedly, it was going to extend over 2 sundays, so figured 2 games I would miss, but likely only one would be home. Of course my luck sucks-because both games are home, so I will be missing the season opener, as well as the game vs the Redskins, which I was looking forward to because the Rams coach just left the Redskins, and I have a friend from Washington who was excited to see them. I already sell some tickets (bought 8 season tiks and sell 4-6 per game to make up for the ones I used), so I guess I will be selling more those games. But I'm disappointed with myself! My big passions are Star Wars, Disney, and football, and now they are colliding! But obviously Disney is taking preference (and because we are going to HS one of those days I will even be wearing a SW shirt instead of a Rams shirt...)! Oh, woe is me!

I was literally having this exact conversation with DH in the last hour! We too are missing 2 home games for Disney! Neither of us are fans, but we have season tix to the Bills. Going to be selling more than expected this season too!

 

[Susan Doeberl]

Thank you. Were you the person another poster mentioned who called in or did you change it online?

I did it on line.

 

[Susan Doeberl]

Discussion for the evening:

2 snack credits a day. How are you going to spend them?

We use one in the morning to get a cinnamon roll for breakfast and get something in afternoon for snack.