Possible good news on Free Dining dates

[esdras]

I was just on the phone with a CM to ask about any other possible discounts on our current ressie - no luck - but I did mention that we were still holding out hope for Free Dining. When I mentioned that we were right on the edge for the dates (our ressie starts Aug. 25) she agreed, and I mentioned that I was a little nervous since the Bounceback Free Dining started on Aug. 30.

Her reply was this - that offer was for people who were staying onsite in September '07 who were willing to book for SEPTEMBER '08 - and that this was likely the reason for the dates assigned to the offer. Additionally, she mentioned that this was from a different division in the marketing department. I wasn't aware that there is more than one marketing group, but with the size of Disney, I guess that is a distinct possibility.

Anyway, although she mentioned that the Bounceback response was good, the Free Dining for the public has consistently been one of their best offers in terms of "filling" the resorts. Therefore, she stated that a GP Free Dining, if offered, isn't terribly dependent upon the Bounceback dates. In fact, she mentioned (and this sounded logical to me) that while the Bounceback was great for September, there is still the desire to fill rooms in August - especially the last two weeks of the month when most U.S. schools have started again.

So, what does this mean? Of course - and she said as much - there is absolutely no guarantee that the offer will come out. However, at this time there are NO significant public offerings for late August through September, one of the slower periods for Disney. If Free Dining is the promotion of choice again for '08, it is more likely that it will include late August as opposed to ONLY September - as currently, the only wide discounts for August are the UK Free Dining and a fairly limited room-only discount offered through a different Bounceback promotion.

About the only thing she would be willing to "put money on" is that there will be - as usual - a good public offer that will include the last two or three weeks of August, since those dates are always slow enough to warrant decent promotions. Free Dining is popular every year, so there's a good chance it could be that offer. The other one she mentioned was another Ticket Upgrade promotion, as those have done well this year. She did mention that the Ticket Upgrade would probably be like the one offered last fall (for winter Value Season stays) which included a room-discount as well. The current offer didn't have the room-discount since it was for mostly Regular Season dates that tend to be busier anyway.

So, I hope this info gives us some hope... it did for me.


(Caveat - yes, anything a CM says is pure speculation, but there are times when they give accurate pre-info - hopefully this is one of those times)

 

[ajk912]

Thank you for posting! We are going Aug 24-30 and I have the same concerns as you. We CAN'T change our dates- I do not want the kids to miss the first week or even the first day of school- luckily, school starts the day after Labor Day here. I am really hoping we get something. Thanks so much!

 

[JimboJones123]

I'd bet against a ticket upgrade promotion. They usually use those when the water parks are not so full like winter and spring months. Not during the hottest time of the year August.

 

[esdras]

I'd bet against a ticket upgrade promotion. They usually use those when the water parks are not so full like winter and spring months. Not during the hottest time of the year August.

Good point.

It would make sense to offer something that people might not book (DDP) and force them to pay rack-rate in the process, rather than give something people are likely to pay for anyway (Water Parks).

Perhaps that makes Free Dining the offer of choice for that Value Season - otherwise, it should be (at least) a decent Package and/or room discount promotion.

 

[Pixiedust34]

A ticket upgrade would do nothing for me. We don't park hop, and we aren't planning on visiting the water parks on our next trip.

Right now we're paying rack rate (no discount) for a Sept. package. I'm hoping for free dining. If free dining doesn't happen, I'll hope for a nice discount on the package/room. (But that free dining is what I really, really want. )

 

[aubriee]

I don't believe the CMs know any more than we do about future promotions. I just got off the phone from booking our Sept trip and the CM I was speaking to was very nice, but was really pushing the DDP. I told him I wanted a room and one day tickets only and was holding out and hoping for free dining again. He told me that for sure free dining was NOT going to be offered for the general public this year. He then said that since I had an AP that I could purchase the DDP without having to buy a one day ticket and really pushed that. When I again told him I thought I'd wait and see if free dining was going to be offered, he again insisted that it would "DEFINITELY NOT" be offered.

Funny thing was, that I called a couple of days ago and got a CM who was "absolutely positive" it was going to be offered in April. Logic says something should be offered for late August-September since it's such a slow time. Disney is smart enough to know that alot of people booked rooms in expectation of free dining and that alot will cancel if it's not offered. We probably would move our trip to a cooler time of the year if free dining is not offered this year..

 

[disneydreamin-gang]

Aubrie I thing the CM's get incentives on the packages they book. So if they book a more exensive package they get more money. Some will tell you anything to get the booking. JMO.

I too an hoping and praying for FD. It would save us about $1200. There's no package that could top that.

 

[Aliceacc]

Right now we're paying rack rate (no discount) for a Sept. package. I'm hoping for free dining. If free dining doesn't happen, I'll hope for a nice discount on the package/room. (But that free dining is what I really, really want. )

Why not at least AAA? That 15% off could be a nice chunk of change.

 

[utkscvol1]

That is encouraging news! Although every cm you talk to tells you something else. I would love to see free dining! We have never stayed @ one of the resorts and are going August 29 thru September 6. It would save us $992. If we can get the free dining the upgrade on a base ticket would be nice. We have park hoppers with the water parks. So that would save us too. But definetley want the free dining. All digits crossed for this one!

 

[esdras]

In regard to the poster who said that the CM they spoke to said there would be NO Free Dining, that is exactly why I mentioned in my OP to take this info as pure speculation, since info from CMs may or may not be accurate.

To the other poster who mentioned that late August and September are notoriously slow (or slower than other times) at Disney, that an offer of some sort is to be expected - I agree. It might not be Free Dining, but it seems to be more likely that ticket upgrades, as another poster rightly suggested offering Water Parks in August isn't really wise.

Anyway, we'll know in three or four weeks if historical trends are followed.

 

[n2mm]

I would love to see the free ddp offered for August again like past years, but I'm not holding my breath on it. I'm moving forward with my plans, but would examine them if a miracle occurred and free ddp was offer for most of August.

 

[luvdisney00]

Why not at least AAA? That 15% off could be a nice chunk of change.

I'm not the poster who you wrote this to, but I too booked a pkg @ rack rate for Sept. I did go through AAA last year in July, and I'm afraid that if I go through AAA this year I'll miss out on free dining because they are slow. Maybe it's not true of all AAA agents, but the one I used last year didn't know much about discounts, and took days to get back to me. I'll watch for free dining and try to get it, and if it doesn't come out, or I can't get it, I'll probably rebook through AAA with the discount. For me, free dining would be a lot more than 15% off.

 

[spalady]

I will be in disney august 10-16 so I am hoping for FD then!!! but it doesn't seem likely.

 

[Pixiedust34]

I'm not the poster who you wrote this to, but I too booked a pkg @ rack rate for Sept. I did go through AAA last year in July, and I'm afraid that if I go through AAA this year I'll miss out on free dining because they are slow. Maybe it's not true of all AAA agents, but the one I used last year didn't know much about discounts, and took days to get back to me. I'll watch for free dining and try to get it, and if it doesn't come out, or I can't get it, I'll probably rebook through AAA with the discount. For me, free dining would be a lot more than 15% off.

That's true. I could book AAA through another agent, but you can't stack discounts and I'm holding out for free dining or a good code. I'm hoping for the free dining. We should know by sometime next month whether free dining will be offered or not. If it's not offered, I can try for AAA then or hope that a better code will be offered to the public or that a better code will magically appear with my name. I can't imagine getting *no* discount during the first week of September.

I'm still hoping that there will be free dining.

 

[dclfun]

I'm speculating too, but I can't imagine free dining including dates that weren't included for the BB promo. Historically the dates for a GP offer are more restrictive than the BB offer vs. giving more options, otherwise those with BB are more likely to cx and shift their dates to accomodate another timeframe. I guess we'll have to wait and see what marketting comes up with but after spending a few days with the new 08 dining offer I'm not thrilled with it at all- would rather pay OOP than have the same experience we just had ( "no, you can't have an appetizer vs. an entree,"no, we've removed many items from the snack option so you can't have that, " are you on the basic dining- then you can't have anything but a refill soda or tea", etc. Seems like more time was spent telling us what we couldn't have vs. what we could and then putting both an 18$ and 20% tip as an option was off-putting, plus we were rushed each time we had a TS meal ( "I need to process your card before you order" and "don't mean to rush you, but if you like you can sign right now and add your gratuity"). I think if I hadn't enjoyed the real free dining for three years then the differences wouldn't bother me. It certainly is a good monetary deal for families, but for those of you who had the old plan and are now going to have the new one, just a heads-up.---Kathy

 

[HALEYSMOMMOM]

I'm not the poster who you wrote this to, but I too booked a pkg @ rack rate for Sept. I did go through AAA last year in July, and I'm afraid that if I go through AAA this year I'll miss out on free dining because they are slow. Maybe it's not true of all AAA agents, but the one I used last year didn't know much about discounts, and took days to get back to me. I'll watch for free dining and try to get it, and if it doesn't come out, or I can't get it, I'll probably rebook through AAA with the discount. For me, free dining would be a lot more than 15% off.

So, your AAA agent has to book the free dining? When I get notified of the FD thru Disney Visa, I need to call AAA agent and they call Disney? Correct?

This makes me nervous, the AAA agent my dad is dealing with is a **** who knows nothing. There are 16 of us going and one small mistake makes for a huge mistake!

 

[danx2plus3more]

no you can call disney and book it yourself when its offered

 

[roxy83]

I am currently booked in the Family Suites for the 1st week in December. My family went during this week about 3 years ago and received free dining. It was amazing and the plan was very generous. We decided to book the basic dining package this time around and are hoping to not be disappointed by it. I know that the appetizers were eliminated and we will be paying oop for gratuity but it helps us to plan for the expense.

I was really surprised by the shift to not include gratuity this year. When we were there in August we had a few different conversations with CM's who told us that there are many nationalities that do not tip ever because it's not customary in their culture. Why would Disney then take this away knowing that many may not do it anyway. To be it is only hurting the CM's. We always left additional money for the server with the old plan so it's just taking $$ from their ee's and putting it back in their pockets. JMO.

 

[dclfun]

The gratuities and appetizers were excluded to make more profit. Also the snack options are now more limited. Where before you could get anything under $4.00 now it's limited to individual serving sizes. Seems as though the drink options in some places are limited as well. At one place it was mentioned we could have a smoothie and in others we were told we were limited to refill soda's/tea only. I really would prefer if we were told what we could have vs. having a server point out what we couldn't have and then reminding us both verbally that grats were not included plus having the options to circle the grats on our receipt with both 18% and 20% being the options. Of course you could write something in but it would feel rather embarrassing to do so unless you had horrible service. Also no substitions are allowed with the new plan. If you'd prefer an appetizer to having an entree, that's not possible. I know this thread was about the discount, so I won't comment anymore on the DDP itself other than to remind those who had free dining in the past that's it's not the same, although I'm sure is still a great value and hopefully there will be a promo for those who want it.---Kathy

 

[MrsPiglet]

I'm hoping for free dining September 20th - October 4th. But it won't cancel my trip if it doesn't come out, it would however be nice to have again!

We actually booked bounceback while we were there but canceled it later on thinking we would not be able to make it. I'm still kicking myself for that one.