The new free dining ?

[sshaw0715]

Is the current deal of one counter service meal the new free dining discount? I have been ver apprehensive about getting my hopes up for full free dining this year. Disney's numbers just seem to good to offer it. Thoughts?

 

[nooneshome]

I think the FD they offered last fall will be back. They took a little off the old offer by making park hoppers part of the package. This offer is strange that it is for the summer months, bookings must be down.

 

[isaboo]

That's what I am thinking too.

 

[DisneyBabies]

My TA thinks it may be a test. Disney is getting tired of giving discounts (especially FD, since so many people go for it), so this may be a way for them to ease off of the discounts a lot of us count on, but still have us feel like we are getting something. Right now, it's only being offered at value resorts for a quick service meal but my TA thinks if this goes well, they may try it at moderates next and give a table service meal.

It's all speculation, but it makes a bit of sense.

 

[aaarcher86]

My TA thinks it may be a test. Disney is getting tired of giving discounts (especially FD, since so many people go for it), so this may be a way for them to ease off of the discounts a lot of us count on, but still have us feel like we are getting something. Right now, it's only being offered at value resorts for a quick service meal but my TA thinks if this goes well, they may try it at moderates next and give a table service meal.

It's all speculation, but it makes a bit of sense.

That was my thinking. Offer it during a time they know will be busy anyway and see how many people bite.

 

[sshaw0715]

That's what I was thinking too. That we may see some form of this in the fall as the new free dining. I just wonder if it will include having to stay deluxe to get table service meals? This year is going to be an interesting one to watch as far as discounts go. The year that the new lands open discounts I'm afraid will be over period.

 

[DisneyBabies]

That's what I was thinking too. That we may see some form of this in the fall as the new free dining. I just wonder if it will include having to stay deluxe to get table service meals? This year is going to be an interesting one to watch as far as discounts go. The year that the new lands open discounts I'm afraid will be over period.

The bolded: I agree ... to an extent. It may take at least a few years for the "newness" of the new lands to wear off, but there are some people who simply can not afford to go to Disney without the discounts. And with Disney raising prices every year, they are pricing out more families all the time. There will come a point where the numbers fall low enough that Disney may have to bring back bigger discounts if they want to boost those attendance numbers back up.

I think they can reduce the discounts at this point and probably get rid of them completely for a few years, but it's not going to be permanent.

 

[dancin Disney style]

My TA thinks it may be a test. Disney is getting tired of giving discounts (especially FD, since so many people go for it), so this may be a way for them to ease off of the discounts a lot of us count on, but still have us feel like we are getting something. Right now, it's only being offered at value resorts for a quick service meal but my TA thinks if this goes well, they may try it at moderates next and give a table service meal.

It's all speculation, but it makes a bit of sense.

This was exactly my impression of this offer. They are trying to see just how little they can offer and still get people to bite.

 

[Juliet25]

It's not that bad of a discount depending on the time you travel and the number of guests. If they offered it at a mod during a time I could travel with kids (ie, the summer months or fall break), I would go for it. The price of five counter service meals add up quick.

 

[Pkltm]

Based on pour last visit, crowds were high even in slow season, I wouldn't be surprised if "free" dining decreased or went to this new deal.

 

[dmunsil]

Disney will always give the least discount they need to fill the rooms. If the economy is picking up, the discounts will get less generous; that's pretty normal. That said, this is actually a pretty good discount. Bookings of value rooms might be slightly below expectations, or perhaps they figure a lot of people will upgrade to a more expensive dining plan.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

That was my thinking. Offer it during a time they know will be busy anyway and see how many people bite.

Thing is, that wouldn't make any sense. Why wouldn't people take advantage of a discount when the discounts are pretty weak (during the summer)? What would it prove? That people are willing to use a discount when available? It certainly wouldn't prove that people would come to WDW during September for this discount.

 

[IbeAbitGOOFY]

Discounts are offered as a means to control inventory. Right now, Disney is seeing a need to decrease their inventory in the Values during the summer. Are they testing the waters for eliminating FD in the future...very possible. They can do this "test" now because they need to drive down the vacancy rate during the summer. If it's successful, then we may see similar offers in the future thereby changing the way folks think of FD in the future.

 

[aaarcher86]

Thing is, that wouldn't make any sense. Why wouldn't people take advantage of a discount when the discounts are pretty weak (during the summer)? What would it prove? That people are willing to use a discount when available? It certainly wouldn't prove that people would come to WDW during September for this discount.

Isn't there also a room discount during that time? It'd let them gauge popularity over the room discount. If they can't get any bookers it wouldn't make sense to use it as a draw during the slow times.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Isn't there also a room discount during that time? It'd let them gauge popularity over the room discount. If they can't get any bookers it wouldn't make sense to use it as a draw during the slow times.

Agreed, but it does not prove anything about the willingness of people to book during September without the significant savings that come with Free Dining. For some families, free dining is the one thing that makes WDW possible. And there are really good reasons that September has such low crowds, even with these deals.

I don't pretend to know what they are thinking.

 

[aaarcher86]

Agreed, but it does not prove anything about the willingness of people to book during September without the significant savings that come with Free Dining. For some families, free dining is the one thing that makes WDW possible. And there are really good reasons that September has such low crowds, even with these deals.

I don't pretend to know what they are thinking.

Yeah, I get that. They won't know that until they try to remove it.

But between excluding POR, then making ticket additions mandatory, I think they're definitely testing the waters.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Yeah, I get that. They won't know that until they try to remove it.

But between excluding POR, then making ticket additions mandatory, I think they're definitely testing the waters.

I see a time when the Free Dining window is drastically reduced - there is no reason for it to cover some of the dates that it does in the Fall. But the weeks immediately after Labor Day would become a ghost town again without free dining, IMO.

 

[sshaw0715]

I would be ok with 1 table service meal per night per person for moderate resorts if it included most or all of the moderate resorts. With more and more limits being put on free dining it doesn't work for us anymore.

 

[bluezy]

Thing is, that wouldn't make any sense. Why wouldn't people take advantage of a discount when the discounts are pretty weak (during the summer)? What would it prove? That people are willing to use a discount when available? It certainly wouldn't prove that people would come to WDW during September for this discount.

I agree -- the Summer Meal promo/discount being offered during the *summer*, really can't be compared to Free Dining in the fall. They're 2 different things. There is not usually a Free Dining offer during the summer so there's no way to compare apples to apples on this discount. Due to school schedules, we always travel to Disney at the end of June. We book 2 rooms at a Value resort or a suite at AoA. We're lucky if we get a 15% discount on the room. That's it. (We did luck out and get a PIN for Free QSDP a few years ago, but that wasn't a general public offer). Because we're a family of 6 (all Disney adults), this Summer Meal discount is a much better deal for us than any room discount would be. Without even putting any thought in to it, this deal will save us about $600. With judicial use of the meal credits, we will most likely save about $700.

I did find it interesting that we've been booked in a Nemo suite at AoA the last 3 trips. When discounts came out for those trips, we've always had to switch to a LK (or Cars) suite to get the discount. This time, we didn't have to switch. It was available at Nemo...and going to the website and putting in dummy dates, it looks like it's *still* available at Nemo. Maybe since they've started charging $10/night more for the Nemo suites they're *all* included in the discounts rather than just a handful of Nemo rooms. Or maybe they haven't even managed to sell out the Nemo suites yet.

And one other observation... This is the earliest I remember a discount coming out for summer travel dates. We've always had to wait until March or April for the general public discount to come out. I've read that bookings for summer are down due to many of the Brazilian tour companies not booking trips this summer. The theory is that since the Olympics are being held there this summer, more people are staying home and traveling to Olympic events rather than Disney World. Not sure if that's true or not, but it makes sense. And it could explain why Disney is trying to increase bookings at the Value resorts earlier than normal.

 

[sshaw0715]

I agree -- the Summer Meal promo/discount being offered during the *summer*, really can't be compared to Free Dining in the fall. They're 2 different things. There is not usually a Free Dining offer during the summer so there's no way to compare apples to apples on this discount. Due to school schedules, we always travel to Disney at the end of June. We book 2 rooms at a Value resort or a suite at AoA. We're lucky if we get a 15% discount on the room. That's it. (We did luck out and get a PIN for Free QSDP a few years ago, but that wasn't a general public offer). Because we're a family of 6 (all Disney adults), this Summer Meal discount is a much better deal for us than any room discount would be. Without even putting any thought in to it, this deal will save us about $600. With judicial use of the meal credits, we will most likely save about $700.

I did find it interesting that we've been booked in a Nemo suite at AoA the last 3 trips. When discounts came out for those trips, we've always had to switch to a LK (or Cars) suite to get the discount. This time, we didn't have to switch. It was available at Nemo...and going to the website and putting in dummy dates, it looks like it's *still* available at Nemo. Maybe since they've started charging $10/night more for the Nemo suites they're *all* included in the discounts rather than just a handful of Nemo rooms. Or maybe they haven't even managed to sell out the Nemo suites yet.

And one other observation... This is the earliest I remember a discount coming out for summer travel dates. We've always had to wait until March or April for the general public discount to come out. I've read that bookings for summer are down due to many of the Brazilian tour companies not booking trips this summer. The theory is that since the Olympics are being held there this summer, more people are staying home and traveling to Olympic events rather than Disney World. Not sure if that's true or not, but it makes sense. And it could explain why Disney is trying to increase bookings at the Value resorts earlier than normal.

Interesting I had not thought of that.