Talked with CS Manager/ May not have Free Dining this year!

[Disney Fans]

I talked with WDW and they said that they only would do free dining if they have a low booking and this year they have alot of booking so most likely will not do it!!!!

So she also said that if people have booked in hopes of free dining they need to cancel so that they could know true bookings VS ones that would only come with free dining? If they end up having alot of cancels then they may do free dining but most likely wouldn't give much notice only a few weeks. And they also might change the policy that if you are already booked you would have to cancel then rebook to get free dining also??

So I guess we will see. I just thought I would pass the info on to you all because as of now it doesn't look like we will get free dining this year if the bookings stay the same.

So if you one of those who have booked only in hopes of free dining you might want to call and ask about what I was told. If you get a honest CS rep I think they will tell you what I was told also.

 

[Disney Fans]

I talked with WDW and they said that they only would do free dining if they have a low booking and this year they have alot of booking so most likely will not do it!!!!

So she also said that if people have booked in hopes of free dining they need to cancel so that they could know true bookings VS ones that would only come with free dining? If they end up having alot of cancels then they may do free dining but most likely wouldn't give much notice only a few weeks. And they also might change the policy that if you are already booked you would have to cancel then rebook to get free dining also??

So I guess we will see. I just thought I would pass the info on to you all because as of now it doesn't look like we will get free dining this year if the bookings stay the same.

So if you one of those who have booked only in hopes of free dining you might want to call and ask about what I was told. If you get a honest CS rep I think they will tell you what I was told also.

 

[brooke1]

I still think we have free dining because of what was listed on the ********* and also someone talked about a adverstment, all this is listed on thread

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1389477

Brooke

 

[TDC Nala]

There is always a possibility that it won't be offered. Nobody will know for at least another month. There's no use panicking at what anybody told you, because lots of people are being told different things. At a guess, if it isn't offered by the end of April, it isn't going to be offered for this summer.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

Well with all the 40% discount e-mails and posts cards they sent out, I'm not that surprised. From my understanding the response to that promotion, did better than they figured.

 

[DISNEY FIX]

Well with all the 40% discount e-mails and posts cards they sent out, I'm not that surprised. From my understanding the response to that promotion, did better than they figured.

You can say that again.

 

[nezy]

HMMM! I booked last year and got the free dining-but had to cancel. so I reshceduled my credited vacation, but was told I would not get the free dining. Of course I was told that if Free Dining becomes available I would be given-I hoep they don't make me re-book if free dining is offered.

 

[mousebit]

I was afraid of this. Of course, it's just speculation at this point. Only time will tell. But, it makes sense from Disney's point of view.

We're going late May/early June (short trip without a code of course - I'm never lucky enough to get one of those...) But I was going to add another, longer trip in August if we could get free dining. Looks like chances are slim...I won't be doing much planning for that right now.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

Well with all the 40% discount e-mails and posts cards they sent out, I'm not that surprised. From my understanding the response to that promotion, did better than they figured.

You can say that again.

What disney was able to do is get some to upgrade to nicer resorts (i.e. go from value to moderate and moderate to deluxe) by releasing the discount. It worked for us we moved our honeymoon from POR to Poly. From reading this board the last few months it seemed many others did the same thing as well.

 

[WDWVillain]

I posted this a few weeks ago after I talked with a supervisor and she mentioned that there was not going to be free dining....

 

[Disney Fans]

I posted this a few weeks ago after I talked with a supervisor and she mentioned that there was not going to be free dining....

Were you told a story like mine or just no free dining no matter what?

 

[LakeAriel]

Everything is pure speculation at this point...

 

[WDWVillain]

Were you told a story like mine or just no free dining no matter what?

I was told there would be no free dining, but something where you pay 35 bucks a day for and you get some kind of unlimited type dining thing. not usre now what it was she said....I do remember I kept saying free dining.she said NO and if I eat more then 35 a day in food it would be worth it...which I do not...so I remember telling her it would be a waste of my time.

I also do not pay to much attention to the dining plans because I do not eat...just my breakfast and a burger or chix at night..so I is somthing I never pay to much attention to. but I hope for everybody else it is ..wrong!

 

[MinnieGirl33]

If I was someone who booked free DDP during the bounceback promo & then free DDP was offered to the general public I'd be pretty ticked.

They dangle the carrot, I part with money for my next vacation while I am on vacation then... ha-ha-ha... turns out you didn't really need to do that & WDW just earned interest on your money for how many months???

Credibility would go out the window for me.

 

[Luv2Roam]

Agree it seems to be pure speculation. For no free dining, there sure seem to be those who have it already.
I would not be surprised if we did not see as much of it offered as 2006. Judging by what was read here and the extra dining hours and locations opened, etc, it seemed free DDP was oversold last year. (Adding the impact of regular diners and non free DDP.)

 

[LakeAriel]

If I was someone who booked free DDP during the bounceback promo & then free DDP was offered to the general public I'd be pretty ticked.

They dangle the carrot, I part with money for my next vacation while I am on vacation then... ha-ha-ha... turns out you didn't really need to do that & WDW just earned interest on your money for how many months???

Credibility would go out the window for me.

I agree!

 

[gypsydoodlebug]

I just called to make some ADRs for a trip in late September and when I asked if it would be offered, I was not "not that we've heard" in those exact words.

 

[rcraw45425]

I had a CM say pretty much the same thing to me a few days back. I had called to see about changing my package code to a room only, I was sweating having to make that payment in a few weeks and not having a defininte confirmation on DH's schedule. The first CM I got was sooooo rude, told me I could not, under any circulstances do it. I said well, I may just have to cancel the whole thing in taht case and she says very quickly "want me to cancel it now?" I'm like no, I'll call back on the due date if I see I have to cancel. Then, after her rudeness, I became scared that she ahd cancelled me anyway and called back and got a wonderful lady. She said I was still booked and we started talking . We talked about DP, I said I was on the fence about it, how late could I add it etc. then I mentioned the possibility of it being free and she said that based on the number of reservations already on teh books it was doubtful. Said their numbers look very good without the added incentive. I'm still debating adding it to our May trip.

 

[srgibbs]

They may not do free dining but I would think there will be some sort of fall incentive. That is still a slower time of year and cannot imagine them not offering something. I think it depends who you talk to. I had one CM tell me it would not happen and another say it probably would come out in April. We are planning to go the beginning of August but holding out on booking until we see what comes out.

 

[mking624]

If I was someone who booked free DDP during the bounceback promo & then free DDP was offered to the general public I'd be pretty ticked.

They dangle the carrot, I part with money for my next vacation while I am on vacation then... ha-ha-ha... turns out you didn't really need to do that & WDW just earned interest on your money for how many months???

Credibility would go out the window for me.

It's marketing strategy.

Let's say you did book during the bounceback promo (therefore when I say "you" keep in mind it's hypothetical).
You get first dibs on it. I'd say that's a nice deal, especially when you ARE guaranteed the free dining and the rest of us are merely hoping it will happen. You don't have to worry about whether or not it will be offered to you, because you already have it. The rest of us sit and wonder about the "ifs and whens." If bookings are really good are some CMs are reporting, it's doubtful free dining will be offered. No matter to you, because you already have it. If bookings were not actually that good as other CMs are reporting, there is a possibility that free dining will be offered. I don't recall Disney officially guaranteeing that those who participated in the bounceback offer would be the only ones with free dining. Therefore when you booked, you took a chance that free dining would also be offered to the general public...with you getting a first chance to have it, and therefore securing your first choice in resort/room while everyone else hopes they can get what they want if the bounceback people haven't already booked it.
Someone who books another vacation doesn't seem like the type of person who wasn't planning on returning, but this just got them to book sooner. Free dining happened to be the incentive. If free dining was not offered as a bounceback promo but was offered in general later on, chances are those people would have booked it anyway since the free dining is what got them to book it in the first place. So what's the difference? There is none, really, other than the vacation was booked sooner rather than later. If it's a matter of "well I wouldn't have spent all the money right away then"...well, unfortunately that's a risk a person takes with any promotion. And if spending the money so soon is a concern, that's really not Disney's fault.

The only way I could see credibility going out the window is if Disney absolutely 100% guaranteed in print (not by a CM just saying so, because we all know how misinformed CMs can be) that the free dining would ONLY be offered as a bounceback promo and never offered to the general public this year...and then they completely changed that (although it is their right to change promotions as they see fit...none of us are unaware of that). Since this has not been guaranteed, then really people are only going by their assumptions of something which isn't really a fair way to judge credibility.