PIN questions -- Bare with me, I am clueless.

[Max & Sam's Mom]

Hi all,
In the midst of planning our first trip for 09/09/10 - 09/23/10. We originally had booked off site, but since then I am second guessing and thinking about booking at a Disney Resort. I was reading on here about PINs and checked my email and found I had one from May 20th that I didn't even know what it was for! So few questions:
- Do these PINs expire? I mean that was over 2 weeks ago, can I still use it??
- If I did book using this PIN, can I still get the free dining offer since we are going in September, or does using a PIN mean you can't get the free dining? Can you combine offers?
- I also saw an offer on the Disney site for kids 3-9 can stay and eat free, so I'm wondering about that as well. We have a 3 year old.

Thanks! I am so confused, never thought planning a vacation could become a part time job! LOL

 

[Mrs D]

Hi all,
In the midst of planning our first trip for 09/09/10 - 09/23/10. We originally had booked off site, but since then I am second guessing and thinking about booking at a Disney Resort. I was reading on here about PINs and checked my email and found I had one from May 20th that I didn't even know what it was for! So few questions:
- Do these PINs expire? I mean that was over 2 weeks ago, can I still use it??
- If I did book using this PIN, can I still get the free dining offer since we are going in September, or does using a PIN mean you can't get the free dining? Can you combine offers?
- I also saw an offer on the Disney site for kids 3-9 can stay and eat free, so I'm wondering about that as well. We have a 3 year old.

Thanks! I am so confused, never thought planning a vacation could become a part time job! LOL

LOL! to the DIS and the world of overplanners!

How exciting that your realized what a PIN is and had one without even knowing it! Think of all those people out there who never take advantage of those savings.

First I will say many people enjoy staying offsite and even prefer it - I have never stayed offsite so I can't comment. Maybe someday after I've stayed at every Disney resort I'll try offsite.

You should be able to find answers to most of your questions in the email you received with the PIN code.
1. PINs do expire, but usually not within 2 weeks. But look at the email and you should see in the fine print when you have to book by.
2. PINS can be for room only, or for a package. If your is a percentage off a room reservation you may not combine it with a free dining package.
3. The kids stay & play free (it's park tickets not food) can be a good deal -BUT it's your *part time job* to do the math.

Here's what I would do. I would price out your trip on the Disney website first using the free dining offer, then I'd redo it using the kids stay & play offer, last I would look at the regular full price "rack" room rates (here's a link to rack rates from mousesavers.com) and discount it by the percentage shown in the PIN email (don't forget to add back the 13% hotel tax).
Compare those numbers with what your paying offsite (and if you have a rental car) to see which is better for your family.

Bottom line is, just because free dining is being offered it doesn't mean it will be the best situation for your family. Only you know if you would benefit from a dining plan or not. *Also keep in mind that if you would be using the 'regular' (Disney Dining Plus) plan with 1 table serve meal each day, you will need to make reservations for those restaurants NOW! You might want to check the availability of restaurants you're interested in before making the switch.

Feel free to come back and ask more questions.

And let us know what you decide. I'm always interested in knowing what the final decision is!

Have fun planning!

 

[Melodious]

I have stayed off-site in a friend's timeshare once, and found it wasn't for me. So I would suggest using the pin to stay onsite.

As Mrs. D said, the suitability of a discount varies by the people going. It depends on the number of people in your party and ages, what resort you want, and what your eating habits are. Free dining cannot be combined with a pin code so you'll really have to add it up to figure out which is best for your trip. And again, keep in mind that the dining plan may not be for you anyway. Maybe you dont' want to do that many table service meals, maybe you can't now get reservations at the restaurants you want, etc.

On that note, if you are thinking about staying onsite, you should call as soon as possible because all offers have limited availability and you may need to be flexible on which resort.

 

[Max & Sam's Mom]

Yeah, we are thinking about a value resort, which would give us the quick dining plan, which is 2 snacks, the mug and 2 quick dining meals, we have a 3 year old and a 7 month old going with us, so no table service meals for us this trip! LOL

I am still looking at ideas. Sucks that you can't use the pin with free dining, I should have known that was too good to be true! LOL

 

[Disneymama5816]

Unfortunately, you cannot combine both a discount on the room and free dining. During the time you are looking to go, free dining is offered. As a TA, I always check both options because you just never know how things price out sometimes. It looks like free dining might be a better option for you vs the monster discount since you are thinking about the Value Resorts. That being said, you can also upgrade your dining package to the regular dining for an additional $300 total. This is something to think about considering you are staying for such a long time. That would basically be the cost of 5 table service meals. Just a thought. Good Luck with your planning and welcome to the Dis!!!

 

[Max & Sam's Mom]

Just booked 2 weeks at Pop Century with the Free Quick Service Dining Plan. I am excited!!!

 

[Mrs D]

Just booked 2 weeks at Pop Century with the Free Quick Service Dining Plan. I am excited!!!

Congrats! We loved Pop and I'm sure you're family will too.

 

[Melodious]

Just booked 2 weeks at Pop Century with the Free Quick Service Dining Plan. I am excited!!!

Congratulations!! I really think you'll like staying onsite and being immersed in disney

 

[dclfun]

You will love Pop! I'm so glad you chose to stay onsite. With two little ones the convenience is so worth it, plus if you had chosen to stay off-site, you'd be looking at $14.00 per day for parking vs.free parking as a resort guest. There's a really cute pop-jet water play area that's great for toddlers, a jungle-gym area, and a beautiful lake to walk around that gives a nice sense of peace and tranquility at Pop. You now get the Extra Magic hours which will probably work well considering you might be going back to the resort for down-time/napping, a swim during the hotter part of day, etc. The evenings and early mornings are cooler and less crowded. I'm a bigger fan of the QSDP than the basic dining plan- you won't be tied into a long meal every day and can spend more of your time touring the parks. Of course you could always book a special meal or two OOP. I always look at the gratuities as a rather large expense, plus with the QSDP you will have the extra snack per person/per day and the mugs which are now $13.50 per person if you had to buy them. There are so many advantages to staying onsite that you'll probably never look back. Have a great trip- two weeks- I'm jealous!---Kathy

 

[MFLetou]

BARE with you--naked Disney trip planning?