Some FREE DINING Info & Guidelines

[Grumpy Grandma]

You're welcome!

Guess what? We are going to California in June - so I'll be in your "neck of the woods"

Where in California? Planning any days at DL? If you have any questions feel free to contact me and I'll try to help.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Where in California? Planning any days at DL? If you have any questions feel free to contact me and I'll try to help.

We are planning on flying into San Francisco, renting a Suburban, then going to Yosimite and Sequoia National Parks (Or maybe Kings Canyon? Sequoia and Kings Canyon seem to be next each other, is one better than the other?), Day cruise to Channel Islands, LA/Universal, 3 days Disneyland/CA, Sea World and San Diego Zoo and then we will fly out of San Diego.

 

[Grumpy Grandma]

We are planning on flying into San Francisco, renting a Suburban, then going to Yosimite and Sequoia National Parks (Or maybe Kings Canyon? Sequoia and Kings Canyon seem to be next each other, is one better than the other?), Day cruise to Channel Islands, LA/Universal, 3 days Disneyland/CA, Sea World and San Diego Zoo and then we will fly out of San Diego.

Wow! That's quite a trip ... how many days altogether? I might just do Yosemite and not try to do the other parks if you are short on time. So much to see there .... hope we get some rain so the falls will be running big. I love Catalina ... have you made any plans there. When my kids were younger my son did some snorkeling and my husband and daughter did a glass bottom boat tour. I on the other hand enjoyed my peace and quiet on the beach. There's also horseback riding, atvs, etc. One day at Universal should be enough, seems much smaller than Florida and of course no IOA. Sea World is fun. The zoo will be a very full day. Last time we were there the first thing we did was the tram/bus tour which gave us a really good overview and then we knew where we wanted to walk and spend the most time. Loved the polar bears! At Disneyland if you can only do one nighttime show do WOC since they don't have that in FL. Get your fastpass for it as early as you can (that fastpass isn't tied into the others). Pirates and Splash are much better at DL. That's all I can think of off the top of my head for now. Have fun!!!

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Wow! That's quite a trip ... how many days altogether? I might just do Yosemite and not try to do the other parks if you are short on time. So much to see there .... hope we get some rain so the falls will be running big. I love Catalina ... have you made any plans there. When my kids were younger my son did some snorkeling and my husband and daughter did a glass bottom boat tour. I on the other hand enjoyed my peace and quiet on the beach. There's also horseback riding, atvs, etc. One day at Universal should be enough, seems much smaller than Florida and of course no IOA. Sea World is fun. The zoo will be a very full day. Last time we were there the first thing we did was the tram/bus tour which gave us a really good overview and then we knew where we wanted to walk and spend the most time. Loved the polar bears! At Disneyland if you can only do one nighttime show do WOC since they don't have that in FL. Get your fastpass for it as early as you can (that fastpass isn't tied into the others). Pirates and Splash are much better at DL. That's all I can think of off the top of my head for now. Have fun!!!

Hey, Linda, thanks for the info! We are planning for about 11 days. I have some questions about Yosemite and Catalina - I'll PM you through FB so we don't hijack this thread

Tiffany

 

[Grumpy Grandma]

Hey, Linda, thanks for the info! We are planning for about 11 days. I have some questions about Yosemite and Catalina - I'll PM you through FB so we don't hijack this thread

Tiffany

Sounds great! Give me your DL dates ...... who knows maybe I'll happen to be there and we'll meet up for a Dole Whip.

 

[KarlaG4Kids]

Hijack Away, I'm enjoying reading about your trip planning. Sounds like a WONDERFUL trip....can I go too!

 

[sbmock]

thanks for spelling this all out. so helpful!

 

[Cmarie123]

Thanks for all of your information!

 

[mshrm]

Thanks this was great, I read it all.

With the FD does make the parks busy when the wouldn't have been? Were goin to go in November in hopes of missing the crowds.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Thanks this was great, I read it all.

With the FD does make the parks busy when the wouldn't have been? Were goin to go in November in hopes of missing the crowds.

They offer free dining discounts to fill rooms in the resorts and get people to the parks during historically slow weeks, so it has to have some affect on the crowd numbers. At worst, it can make a slow crowd week a moderate crowd week. But, generally, you aren't going to see huge crowds during a free dining week. The only exception I have ever seen to this is the fact that they offered a free dining discount during the last week of March this year and that is typically a high crowd spring break week - I'm still scratching my head about that one, but some spring breakers go a rare, great discount for that week.

 

[g3pak]

Thanks this was great, I read it all.

With the FD does make the parks busy when the wouldn't have been? Were goin to go in November in hopes of missing the crowds.

Someone theorized- I don't remember who but it was a Disney expert like a blogger- that FD mainly pulls people from off-site hotels to on-site resorts, so it has almost no affect on crowd levels in the parks themselves. According to the blogger (maybe the guy over at easywdw, just don't remember) the huge fluctuations are seen at the off-site hotels, while on-site resorts hold pretty steady at 90%.

Ok, IMHO- I don't buy into that 100%. FD promotions affects what time of year we go. It also allows us to go annually rather than every other year. I am sure it does the same for other families. My guess (that's all it is) is that there is a bump in park attendance. If there was some way to compare WDW with and without FD during the same Sept (impossible), my guess is that, using touring plans numbers, without FD may have 1's and 2's with an occasional 3 while with FD you see 3's and 4's with a few 2's and 5's.

One thing- if you are walking around your resort you may see a ton of people and think "it was this crowded back in June, the parks will be just as packed." Don't believe it. Remember, the resorts may be just as full but off-site looks pretty empty compared to busier times.

 

[susiemouse]

Wow, this is fantastic! Thank you for the breakdown, I have kept my own little notes but it is great to have an online reference. Does anyone know if there is a online calculator to figure out when you can start ADR's? Call me lazy, but it would be great to have a quick little tool to punch in rather than pulling out the calendar! lol!

 

[jcarwash]

Wow, this is fantastic! Thank you for the breakdown, I have kept my own little notes but it is great to have an online reference. Does anyone know if there is a online calculator to figure out when you can start ADR's? Call me lazy, but it would be great to have a quick little tool to punch in rather than pulling out the calendar! lol!

Here's the calculator I keep bookmarked:
http://www.pscalculator.net/pscalc.php

 

[whodatdare]

Hi! I keep hearing rumors (mousemisers.com) that they might do away with free dining after the September-October dates and go back to the 2005 plan. That would be heartbreaking. We are planning to go this year in November, the week after Thanksgiving ( we picked this week thinking it would be free dining). Anyone here want to predict if that will happen, or if I should be confident that we'll get the deal?

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Hi! I keep hearing rumors (mousemisers.com) that they might do away with free dining after the September-October dates and go back to the 2005 plan. That would be heartbreaking. We are planning to go this year in November, the week after Thanksgiving ( we picked this week thinking it would be free dining). Anyone here want to predict if that will happen, or if I should be confident that we'll get the deal?

What do you mean they might go back to the 2005 plan?

Anytime there is talk about discounts that Disney may or may not offer, it's always speculative. But, if you notice all of the historical dates on the first page, you will see that Disney offered more Free Dining dates in 2011 than in any other year. Will they offer that many dates this year? Who knows - only those marketing geniuses at Disney Mid-August through late September is always going to be the height of hurricance season - and the reason they started free dining in the first place - so I doubt they will do away with that. As for other parts of the year, I don't think we will see as many "blanketed" weeks covered for free dining as we have seen in the past, but there are always going to be certain slow weeks during the year, especially the school year, that they will need to fill the resorts and the parks, so I think they will keep offering free dining during those historically slow weeks. Disney is in the business of making money, a lot of money, and free dining has made them a fortune.

 

[TinyDancer]

What is the minimum of nights that can be booked in order to receive free dining?
I'm trying to see if it would be worth it to do a split stay.

 

[whodatdare]

What do you mean they might go back to the 2005 plan?

Anytime there is talk about discounts that Disney may or may not offer, it's always speculative. But, if you notice all of the historical dates on the first page, you will see that Disney offered more Free Dining dates in 2011 than in any other year. Will they offer that many dates this year? Who knows - only those marketing geniuses at Disney Mid-August through late September is always going to be the height of hurricance season - and the reason they started free dining in the first place - so I doubt they will do away with that. As for other parts of the year, I don't think we will see as many "blanketed" weeks covered for free dining as we have seen in the past, but there are always going to be certain slow weeks during the year, especially the school year, that they will need to fill the resorts and the parks, so I think they will keep offering free dining during those historically slow weeks. Disney is in the business of making money, a lot of money, and free dining has made them a fortune.

Sorry, meant that when they started the free dining it was only in that Late August-September. I hope they keep offering it, but mousemiser got me a little sad.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

What is the minimum of nights that can be booked in order to receive free dining?
I'm trying to see if it would be worth it to do a split stay.

The info is in the second paragraph on the first page, Free Dining promos have a 3 night minimum and a 14 day maximum.

The split stay info is also on the first page.

Hope that helps!

 

[apetelo]

That was great info! Answered all of my questions, but gave me another one
I do not currently have a Disney Visa. Should I get one/apply just so that I can get the promo code 3 days early. I don't want to lose our room at the Pop 10/23-10/30 if they run out of FD rooms. And, if so, do you know if our deposit should be payed to the travel agent with the Visa or it doesn't matter? I wasn't clear on that part.

Thank you so much!

 

[PrincessTiffany]

That was great info! Answered all of my questions, but gave me another one
I do not currently have a Disney Visa. Should I get one/apply just so that I can get the promo code 3 days early. I don't want to lose our room at the Pop 10/23-10/30 if they run out of FD rooms. And, if so, do you know if our deposit should be payed to the travel agent with the Visa or it doesn't matter? I wasn't clear on that part.

Thank you so much!

It's hard to say, up until last year they gave the Disney Visa holders "first dibs" on these free dining deals, and it's the reason we got one, but the last two big FD offers were released to the general public and Disney Visa holders did not get it first. So, I don't know if it's worth it anymore or not. As a DV holder myself, I would hope they would go back to giving the FD offers to their members first, but at this point, I just don't know if they will or not. Sorry, maybe some other DV holders will come in here with another view point.

If your trip is booked through a TA, and you have a Disney Visa and they offered a FD discount to DV holders first, your TA would have to put down another minimum $200.00 deposit with your Disney Visa Card number - you would not pay the TA directly. Also, you need to make sure that your TA is "up" on all the Disney promos and know what's going on when a big offer is due to be released. There are many people on here who have gotten very upset with TA's who didn't understand Disney or how free dining works.

Hope that info helps