Some Questions about Free Dining

[kayemgi]

Hi there! I don't spend a lot of time over in this board, so I apologize if this information can be found somewhere and I missed it. I tried browsing through the many Free Dining threads, but there are so many, and so many posts within each of them! I thought I might be better off just creating a new thread for my specific questions. TIA!!

My questions relate to the (not yet confirmed, I think?) FD dates for October 18-November 2.

1. If I'm already booked (I am) am I just out of luck? We are booked for Nov. 1-Nov. 6 at ASMo, with 5-day park tickets.

2. If I'm not just out of luck and I can apply FD (if the rumor is true) to my already existing reservation, is it truly free? I priced out the Quick Service Dining Plan (and the Regular Dining Plan) and decided it wasn't worth it for us. However, if it's really and truly free, then of course we should take advantage...right?

Thanks for your help and sorry if I'm just dense! If you've never used it before Free Dining is very confusing!

 

[mickeynut1]

Hi there! I don't spend a lot of time over in this board, so I apologize if this information can be found somewhere and I missed it. I tried browsing through the many Free Dining threads, but there are so many, and so many posts within each of them! I thought I might be better off just creating a new thread for my specific questions. TIA!!

My questions relate to the (not yet confirmed, I think?) FD dates for October 18-November 2.

1. If I'm already booked (I am) am I just out of luck? We are booked for Nov. 1-Nov. 6 at ASMo, with 5-day park tickets.

2. If I'm not just out of luck and I can apply FD (if the rumor is true) to my already existing reservation, is it truly free? I priced out the Quick Service Dining Plan (and the Regular Dining Plan) and decided it wasn't worth it for us. However, if it's really and truly free, then of course we should take advantage...right?

Thanks for your help and sorry if I'm just dense! If you've never used it before Free Dining is very confusing!

1. If FD is released, you can have the discount applied to your existing reservation provided the resort/room type you have booked is available under the FD promo. Sometimes you have to be flexible with your resort/room type as having a reservation already in place does not guarantee a discount can be applied.

2. FD requires you to pay rack rate for your room. Some people don't think FD is really free, but if you are booked with no discount at all and FD is the only option, then it most certainly IS free. With that said, if you are already booked with some sort of discount, you cannot add FD as you can't stack discounts. If this is the case, you would need to do the math to see which discount is the bigger savings between what you have and FD.

 

[mommyof3princess27]

If your dates are included call first thing when the phones open and ask that they add the free dining promo... if there are rooms open you can be added. you will get the qs plan free and can always upgrade to the reg plan BUT I have sometimes found that its cheaper to upgrade to a moderate resort for a few hundred less to get the reg dining plan free then to pay the upgrade fee to reg dining at a value

 

[kayemgi]

1. If FD is released, you can have the discount applied to your existing reservation provided the resort/room type you have booked is available under the FD promo. Sometimes you have to be flexible with your resort/room type as having a reservation already in place does not guarantee a discount can be applied.

2. FD requires you to pay rack rate for your room. Some people don't think FD is really free, but if you are booked with no discount at all and FD is the only option, then it most certainly IS free. With that said, if you are already booked with some sort of discount, you cannot add FD as you can't stack discounts. If this is the case, you would need to do the math to see which discount is the bigger savings between what you have and FD.

We decided we were going no matter what and so just booked, no discounts. We also didn't make any special room requests. So if FD comes out, I guess it would be a good idea to try and get it applied to our package! Thanks so much for the information.

One last question, in light of the above. How/when do they let the general public know that the promo has begun? Do I just keep an eye out here on the DIS? Or will they send me an email since I'm already booked?

 

[mommyof3princess27]

Just keep an eye out on the site and the DIS and as soon as the phone lines open CALL!!! They will be extremely busy!

 

[mickeynut1]

We decided we were going no matter what and so just booked, no discounts. We also didn't make any special room requests. So if FD comes out, I guess it would be a good idea to try and get it applied to our package! Thanks so much for the information.

One last question, in light of the above. How/when do they let the general public know that the promo has begun? Do I just keep an eye out here on the DIS? Or will they send me an email since I'm already booked?

Rumor has it that FD will be released to the general public on August 1 (this isn't definite, but has come from a reliable source ). As the pp said, keep any eye out here as you will not receive any notice as far as an email or anything like that. You also need to call to check availability/have FD applied as Disney will not automatically apply it to your existing reservation. With all of that said, since you aren't currently booked with any other discount, you can have FD applied to your reservation as long as there's availability.

 

[kayemgi]

Thank you both! One more...I swear this is the last question... When I call, do I just use the regular Guest Services number, which I have as 407-939-6244?

 

[mommyof3princess27]

you call the reg booking number 407) 939-7675

 

[mickeynut1]

Thank you both! One more...I swear this is the last question... When I call, do I just use the regular Guest Services number, which I have as 407-939-6244?

You're welcome....and don't worry about asking too many questions.....that's what these boards are for . As the pp said, call the regular reservation number .

 

[kayemgi]

Thanks again to both of you, I really appreciate it!! If this manages to work out for us, we'll probably save about $200 on food that we were just planning on spending. My DH will be overjoyed!

 

[mommyof3princess27]

Thanks again to both of you, I really appreciate it!! If this manages to work out for us, we'll probably save about $200 on food that we were just planning on spending. My DH will be overjoyed!

I recently priced out a trip using free dining at value for my friends. they wanted to upgrade to reg dining it was like $2100 and just upgrading to a moderate to get the reg dining free was $1800 so they saved a bit Happy to help!

 

[letsgoreds]

We have never taken advantage of 'free dining', even when it has been offered. There has always been a room-only discount that was a better savings for our family. Just make sure you price it out first.

 

[kayemgi]

We have never taken advantage of 'free dining', even when it has been offered. There has always been a room-only discount that was a better savings for our family. Just make sure you price it out first.

Would that affect my already booked package though? I'm not really sure how "room-only" works, I've never done it. We'd have to be able to save $40/night (33% off) in order for it to equal the FD savings, for us. I feel like that's a lot and unlikely, but maybe not!

 

[scard192]

Thank you both! One more...I swear this is the last question... When I call, do I just use the regular Guest Services number, which I have as 407-939-6244?

if you have a Disney Visa or debit card you should be able to call 3 days earlier than the General Public. if the rumored dates hold, DV card holders will be able to call on July 29th!