So if free dining is a thing of the past, my WDW vacations may be, too...

[SarahD]

We love to go in early December...warm temps, low crowds, decorated for Christmas - and free dining! Because of Thanksgiving being so late in 2013, I knew we'd be sharing the week with pop Warner, but not too worried. Usually free dining ends the Thursday before they arrive and I had planned to send my husband down a day early to check-in and we'd join him Friday night. But with the stay-play-dine, we won't see any discount at all, if I'm reading it right. And I know it's a big "if" that it's even the offer that will be out, but I have to try to plan ahead. It doesn't seem like you get the discount the whole time if you check in before it ends, like free dining. Nuts!

 

[Disneyfan3333]

With the current promo the room only discount hard-stopped on the last day of the promo, but with the P/S/D as long as you arrive before it ends, you get it for your whole stay - we ended up adding an extra day so we arrive before it ends, and even with the extra night saved about $500

 

[TheDisney411]

We love to go in early December...warm temps, low crowds, decorated for Christmas - and free dining! Because of Thanksgiving being so late in 2013, I knew we'd be sharing the week with pop Warner, but not too worried. Usually free dining ends the Thursday before they arrive and I had planned to send my husband down a day early to check-in and we'd join him Friday night. But with the stay-play-dine, we won't see any discount at all, if I'm reading it right. And I know it's a big "if" that it's even the offer that will be out, but I have to try to plan ahead. It doesn't seem like you get the discount the whole time if you check in before it ends, like free dining. Nuts!

There hasn't been any indication yet that free dining is a thing of the past. Free dining was created to fill rooms in the heart of hurricane season, and August/September is still the height of hurricane season, so at the very least, I would say they will still offer it for that timeframe. As for the other weeks that they have offered free dining, that fluctuates fr year to year anyway. Whether this new stay/play/dine stays around will depend on how it fills the resort rooms. Some people still think this offer IS a free dining discount. So, once everyone figures out this is a different discount, we'll see how it goes. SPD is a decent discount, but I don't think it will have the same marketability as free dining.

 

[CanadianGuy]

Free Dining PINs are still going out.. so the promotion in various forms is on-going.

And .. having been moderating here since 2007 or so.. I can tell you that you never can fully know what promotions are coming down the pike. And here's why.

S/P/D is an offer .. that saves you a little bit less than F/D typically speaking. It depends on the make up of your travel party and what kind of options you're seeking in your package.. but that's a general statement. It'll either fill the rooms up that Disney wants filled.. or it won't.. or somewhere in between.

HERE'S THE SECRET SAUCE:

If S/P/D doesn't do the job to get the rooms booked, then they will offer something else.. etc.

That's really what it all comes down to in the end... RESULTS.

Personally, I'm holding off booking, (even tho I have a F/D pin in my name) mainly because I'm just not 100% on dates and I hate calling and making changes and stuff getting screwed up. Because that's invariably what happens.

So.. I'm waiting.

 

[SarahD]

The s/p/d discount is a good one. Doesn't save us quite as much, but still a good discount. The part that kills it for me is that the free dining was good the whole time if you checked in during the valid dates. I'll just have to wait with everyone else and see what comes out. But I'll have to start planning some alternate vacation options just in case.

 

[everythingALICE]

I agree that I would rather see FD over SPD, but we're still saving a bunch of money off the non-discounted rate for our package ($741!).

We were originally going to stay in a LM room at AoA, but since no discounts are being applied to that room category we decided to bump up to a mod (POR). The price is comparable to what our original package would have been, so we're essentially staying at a mod for a value price...if that makes sense?

Sorry to get off topic - I agree with the previous posters though that FD isn't necessarily gone. I think that Disney will see how effective SPD is in bringing people (and money!) into the parks, and will base future promos on what helps their bottom line.