Tell me about "Free Dining"

[tinkinthehouse]

Please.....hopefully someone will explain all about the free dining.
Thanks

 

[jemgumby]

It's a promotion Disney has been running for about the past 3 years or so where if you buy a package including rooms and at least a 1 day ticket you will get the dining plan for free. It is a great deal! It is typically offered during August and September since it is the slower times of year for Disney. However, people on the board have been reporting receiving a pin code for the free dining during dates in November and December of this year. Who knows you might get one! Check your email and snail mail!

 

[weesignlanguage]

If you are refering to the Free Dining offer that people are taking part in right now then here is how it goes:

You sign up when WDW advertises to the general public about the
Free Dining deal. To find out when it is out, stay tuned here and to the WDW website. If you are a Disney Visa card holder, then those people got to sign up for the Free dining before the general public by like a couple of days. I didn't have my DV yet so I'm not sure on the details. I signed up on the wdw website and had NO problem b/c I did it at the beginning of when it was offered in April.

When you book a Free Dining trip (at least this year it was like this...next year is not certain) you get the regular dining plan for FREE!! You have to book a room at a WDW resort and buy a minimum of a 1 day base tix for each person to get the FD for each person. This means that for every night of stay at a Disney Resort you will get 1 table service, 1 counter service and 1 snack to eat. So if you stay 9 days then you 9 table services, 9 counters and 9 snacks to use as you wish over your 9 day stay. This is what EACH guest receives. You can upgrade to the deluxe by paying the difference between the cost of the regular and the deluxe. I don't know the exact cost but it's around $30.00 for adults and $10.00 for kids. So you basically get the Deluxe for the normal cost of the regular plan. The Deluxe bumps you up to 3 meals per day (you can use them for counter or table), 2 snacks per day and a resort refillable mug.

Now, Disney just introduced a tier of dining plan under the Regular dining called the quick service plan. I don't know much about this plan b/c I am NOT a quick service kinda gal. However, there has been speculation (and that is all it is at this point) as to if and when WDW offers Free Dining for next Aug-Sept. (that is typically when the Free Dining is good for) then it MAY be the quick(counter) service plan that they give for free and you will have to pay the difference between this and the regular to get the reg. dining plan that was in the past given for free. Hope this isn't too confusing!

I will say this...the current bounceback at WDW right now (most of the people at WDW are Free Diners) is for Free Dining for next year. The dates are somewhere in the end of August till the first week or so of October. If you go to the codes/rates board you can more details on those dates. Anyways, the bounceback is offering the REGULAR dining plan like in the past for the Free Dining for 2009. This gives me some thinking that maybe WDW will stick w/ offering the regular dining plan as it has in the past if and when it offers FD again this spring.

We are going to WDW for FD (bumped up to Deluxe Dining) next Friday and we are DEFINITELY bouncing back!! Whoo hoo!!

Hope this explanation wasn't too crazy...I'm sure it is clear as mud, huh??