So are the rest of us totally out of luck?!

[asc]

it still just makes no sense to me to allow 1 day out of BL and 9 in with FD....unless that is what they want people to do?

 

[bicker]

They don't look at it so narrowly. Generally, service providers look at pricing from the standpoint of the overall impact.

 

[SplashMtnCrew]

I'm in the boat with the rest of you. We will be in Orlando on 10/15 for DS's martial arts competition (this has nothing to do with the Disney blackout dates, trust me) and we planned to go to wdw while there. Our dates are for Oct. 16-21/22. I was so disappointed this morning. Told DH about it and he said that if we don't get some sort of discount, be it FD, a pin or room only discount, we won't go. I haven't called to see if either I or DH have a pin attached to our names yet, but now I guess I should.

I went to the wdw site this morning and started putting in dates and then when I left the site the famous exit survey came up, and I told them exactly why I didn't book a room. I don't know if it will do any good, but it couldn't hurt. Good Luck everyone!

 

[Tink]

We are gpong 10/14-18 and no free dining for us. I am pretty pissed. I planned to be at Disney AFTER Colombus day thinking I would have a better chance of missing blackouts. I am not even sure why that area is blacked out. It's not Jersey week or the parade taping. I am thinking there is some dippy golf thing going on.

 

[producergirl]

I hate to say it, but I'm glad I'm not alone!

I don't know what to do...my dates are planned around the kids missing the least number of days of school and DH & I missing the least amount work. I can change ressie to come 3 days earlier and get FD but that's more school missed & more vacation days used, plus losing dining ressies I've had for months (I'd have to drop the dates currently at the end of my week) PLUS we'd end up being there over Columbus Day, which I was trying to avoid


If I do switch my dates, I would only be saving about $240 since I'm currently booked on a 30% PIN, but that $240 makes a difference. We need to save every penny to make this possible. Come on Disney, cut us ALL a break!

 

[Enter User Name]

I got nothing too. I am going to go Oct15-26. I could do a split stay and pay $440 extra to get "free dining" for 4 days. I need to get tickets in order to qualify. So I would need a 8 day and a 2 day admission which of course bumps the price up.

 

[rt2dz]

I get it. I truly do. And, boy, it sucks. I was thinking of maybe sneaking in a Thanksgiving trip, but with the higher season rates, with it being a big black out period, I refuse. Pay more for higher crowds? I don't think so! HOWEVER, it's a business; they can do whatever they want. It's clearly printed up front. Disney isn't changing the rules just for you. Why give something for a discount when you can sell it for full price?

Think of it like selling a house. Your neighbor has the same floor plan and is asking the same amount. But, they are in a bigger hurry to sell or having a hard time selling it, so they knock $30K off the price. You aren't going to knock $30K off the asking price if you're getting offers at asking price. You aren't going to give in to one buyer who is saying "It's not fair!" when you have another giving you the asking price. Just an analogy people.

it still just makes no sense to me to allow 1 day out of BL and 9 in with FD....unless that is what they want people to do?

There is a way around that, you know. Two reservations. Book one day for the first night that is in the blackout and book the rest with the discount. Then link your reservations to try and keep the same room (which does happen 97% of the time). Just remember to mention it again at check-in. The only downfall is that you have to pay to deposits and go through the act of checking-out and checking-in even if you don't switch rooms.

 

[Nafinegar]

Yep.

They don't need to offer discounts to fill rooms when the rooms are already filled with a major conference that will take up a lot of rooms on its own.

I totally can understand that. What I don't completely get is why there were some PINS out there that offered the 20/30/40 for that week??? I'm not complaining about those pins since I was the proud recipient and promptly booked a 2 bdrm Villa at OKW though

I wonder if Disney wanted to fill up some rooms early on, but doesn't need to now?

 

[chefmb]

I'm in the same boat. Just booked airfare last night because those prices are going up. I've been told by a CM that I have the pin Dec. 7-12 too, but not valid to book until July 13th. Then I just read about the extended FD to the public with those black out dates, and I'm really doubting I'll get FD. I'm so sad. This is a bonus trip--going with my aunt and my dad is going to come along too. It all came about last week and became a reality when I was told I'd get the FD, but now I'm really bummed because I won't believe it until it happens. Now I don't know if I should book the room so that I at least have the reservation. We want to stay at POP.

 

[lucyem]

Do they ever unblock dates?

I replied earlier about how booked the BC was for our stay Oct 15-21, when I was checking for each day of our trip nothing was available at the BC. Well this afternoon I checked again and suddenly every level has availability. I wonder how many people are suddenly changing dates to get free dining? If enough shift around will they unblock some of those dates?

 

[rt2dz]

I got nothing too. I am going to go Oct15-26. I could do a split stay and pay $440 extra to get "free dining" for 4 days. I need to get tickets in order to qualify. So I would need a 8 day and a 2 day admission which of course bumps the price up.

Not necessarily. I'm not endorsing this or stating it as fact... I've heard it told (no experience personally) that if you have a package for the second part of your trip and linked reservations to a room only reservation, that people have booked tickets for what they need for all of the trip on the package. They then talk with the resort manager to get their tickets prior to check-in on the package. After all, it is completely paid for at this point. I've just heard more than one person report this. Don't know for sure though. I'd check over on the theme parks board for more reliable info. You'd just have to pay for your dining OOP those two days.

Or you could get the full tickets you want for the first part of the tickets you want in full for the first part of the trip and then get one-day tickets for the second (Is that still possible or has Disney closed this loophole?) and save them for a future trip. They won't expire and are upgradeable.

 

[swi]

our original reservations were for oct 5-10...with 40% discount ...changed the week to nov 7-12 because i was worried about columbus day and now I find out it is jersey week!!!! i dont know what that will be like...now I am worried and of course just made the plane reservations and now my new dates are blacked out for free dining....what a bummer

 

[momof3lovebugs]

Well personally I am happy that free dining isn't during the time I booked our vacation since I purposefully planned it during a time I was hoping to avoid crowds. Now I am wondering what we don't know, as Oct. should've been a no brainer but now it has me going hmmmm?
Oh well, the plane tickets are paid for, no turning back now! I am hoping for the best adn think that still, even if free dining opens up and draws a few more folk, it still won't be near the madness of summer or Christmas, right??

 

[mbzelt]

our original reservations were for oct 5-10...with 40% discount ...changed the week to nov 7-12 because i was worried about columbus day and now I find out it is jersey week!!!! i dont know what that will be like...now I am worried and of course just made the plane reservations and now my new dates are blacked out for free dining....what a bummer

I thought Jersey week was the first week of Nov. Veterans day is the second week, though.

 

[BigTikiDaddy]

I'm in the same situation here....we are going from Oct 15-24, dates we set for ourselves since last year, (we want to be there for our 10th anniversary on the 21st) and have no desire to change it. We already booked our ADRs, and factored into our budget paying for the dining plan, rather then get it for free (we just REALLY hoped for the discount). We can't move things around now anyways, we secured CRT and bought our tickets for the MNSSHP. I also echo other thoughts fearing the crowd levels since it falls in the blackout dates. Oh well, what can ya do??

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm in the same situation here....we are going from Oct 15-24, dates we set for ourselves since last year, (we want to be there for our 10th anniversary on the 21st) and have no desire to change it. We already booked our ADRs, and factored into our budget paying for the dining plan, rather then get it for free (we just REALLY hoped for the discount). We can't move things around now anyways, we secured CRT and bought our tickets for the MNSSHP. I also echo other thoughts fearing the crowd levels since it falls in the blackout dates. Oh well, what can ya do??

I was one of the lucky ones who's dates did hit the new Free Dining. I feel for you guys who got missed.

I don't think that translates into insane crowds those weeks though. Keep in mind Disney originally said they wouldn't extend the discounts this fall at all. I think they just made a more targeted plan and offered it for the weeks where resort bookings weren't quite as high. And remember, resort occupancy does not necessarily translate in to park attendance. Many had booked a Disney resort expecting free dining, causing occupancy rates to be even higher. Some of those will change dates to hit the FD weeks.

Heck, you guys will probably have lower traffic than those of us in the free dining window.

I hope you have a magical trip!

 

[phyllis1966]

I thought Jersey week was the first week of Nov. Veterans day is the second week, though.

Jersey Week this year is 11/1 - 11/7, but public schools will supposedly be open on Election Day, so maybe fewer families will take their kids out to visit WDW, since they'll be missing 3 days rather than the usual 2 days. Who knows, though?

 

[Curlysue]

These dates coincide with British Schools Half Term and is an extremely popular time for us Brits to come over, having been myself 5 times in October and found the parks are full of Brits..

 

[DISNEY1975]

If Disney doesn't want anyone on free dining from Oct. 17th - 25th (totally made up dates since I didn't bother to go look at the real ones) they would make the black out from Oct. 7th to the 25th. That way even if you checked in on Oct. 6th you couldn't still be on free dining.

If they just needed less but not a whole lot less people for the 17th to 20th but really didn't want anyone after the 21st. Then they might set the blacouts from Oct 14th - Oct 25th. which would still cut down on the number of free diners on the 17th-20th but there would still be a few left over.

I think if Disney didnt want to offer free dining ex:10/17 - 10/25, then they would just block off those dates, no exceptions...regardless of checkin, not valid for duration etc... I dont think they would block of extra days in advance trying to catch people who may "scam" the system.

 

[MAGGIED]

Let me see if I understand this.... if you get free dining you have to pay rack rate for the room and tickets correct? So for me I have a room book at the Yacht Club with 42% off... which would be a better deal for the four of us than free dining I think... am I missing something?