Thinking about cancelling

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I still think they will offer it again, unless the resorts are already all booked up, which I doubt.

If Free Dining will be offered again I think it will be for October, November and December 2011, which are the months that weren't announced during the previous Free Dining offer. Personally I can't see why WDW would need to add more dates for Free Dining during the months which were already announced, because if they wanted to they could have picked more dates during those months when the offer was still available.

 

[maxiesmom]

I think it is sad that so many people have become accustomed to discounts that they hold it against Disney if they don't get one. We all like to save money, but I don't think they owe it to us to have resort or dining discounts, and your post sounds like you do.

Out of more than a dozen trips to WDW I have only had Free Dining twice. Usually I can do a trip that costs less by getting a room discount and just watching what I am spending on food. If food is a big part of the fun for you, then I can see how ia trip would get very expensive very fast.

As others have said, Disney is known for being slow to release fall discounts of any kind. If you want Free Dining you may have to be patient.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I think it is sad that so many people have become accustomed to discounts that they hold it against Disney if they don't get one. We all like to save money, but I don't think they owe it to us to have resort or dining discounts, and your post sounds like you do.

Out of more than a dozen trips to WDW I have only had Free Dining twice. Usually I can do a trip that costs less by getting a room discount and just watching what I am spending on food. If food is a big part of the fun for you, then I can see how ia trip would get very expensive very fast.

As others have said, Disney is known for being slow to release fall discounts of any kind. If you want Free Dining you may have to be patient.

While I agree with everything you said, the other problem is that some guests are use to the previous room only discounts and Free Dining offers which WDW has had in the past. So while it might sound selfish of people who expect to have some kind of a discount, WDW had set the bar high when it comes them always giving them out and I think both are equally at fault here.

 

[carly chloe]

They already offered free dining after Aug. 19. We got it!

 

[carly chloe]

After booking over 2 months ago, and hoping for free dining, (knowing that it was offered back in December)...then seeing the promotions (or lack there of) that were offered today, we are considering cancelling our August trip.
We were there last year, and had the best time, while we are not trying to duplicate last year, we were hoping for some of that same magic.
Free Dining allowed us to dine in places we probably would not have, and to us, that was part of the magic.
Sad that Disney has chose not to give the deals many of us have come accustomed to, however if this is the way of the future...maybe its time to spend out travel dollars somewhere else
Maybe I'm just bitter, however...Disney, is this the best you can do???

Anyone else feel this way?

Why didn't you book when they were offering it back in December?

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

How did that work out for you?

I ask because we usually budget $40 per day ... per person!

It worked out GREAT!

Now I have to clarify - we drove down and thus brought some groceries with us. Ate poptarts etc for breakfast and brought all our own sodas.

There are 3 of us 2 adults and dd age 11 - she only drinks water - we'd get it from the CS locations for free (cups).

Since we ate breakfast in the room we had a max amount of $50/ day. We aimed for $20 / meal - with a lot of entrees around $10 it was very doable. Any 'leftover' money we used for snacks or just saved. We ate dinner at our resort (ASMusic) most nights - the large pizza was around $15 and it easily fed all of us so we'd spend $5 on a dessert at night too.

We actually came out under budget for the trip and it was so easy to do. The only thing we really had to remember was to grab sodas (cans) for each meal - kept a cooler in the car - that we were going to be in a park. Just tucked those in the backpack and off we went.

 

[Colleen27]

I'd hold off. Something better will likely come along for the end of Aug and into the fall, because that is a slow season. What you're seeing now are discounts for peak season... Not that long ago there generally weren't ANY codes offered through June, July, and the beginning of August, so I wouldn't take a scaling back on incentived for the summer rush as any indication of things to come for the back-to-school/hurricane season lull.

 

[Bete]

I guess I don't understand the logic of booking w/out FD if you're only going to go if FD (or any discount for that matter) is offered. If the rooms are booked, there is less incentive for WDW to offer the discounts you want.

I understand that they will apply the discounts to existing bookings but that is only if there is availability for the discount at that resort when you call back to add the discount. If there is availability, then you could just book it right then even if you didn't already have a reservation so the original reservation doesn't make sense.

If you're going either way, I get it. But if you're booking and going to cancel if you don't get the discounts you want, that's counterproductive.

Disney gages many of their offers based on a percentage of room capacity already booked. How else can they judge whether an incentive is needed?

I understand the logic of making sure you have the place you exactly want and the room level, etc. but now with on-line booking that's not the problem it use to be with getting in to the call center to book. You are just hurting yourself, as well as, others who would like a deal, too.

 

[nooneshome]

I would bet good money that free dining (in some form) will still be offered of late Aug-Sept. Last year it wasn't released to the general public till May 3, so there is still a lot of time. I wouldn't fret about it for one second until the second week of May rolls around.

ITA - The economy is still in the tank and gas prices aren't going down so bookings have to be low. Keep the faith FD is a coming.

 

[mlandgrebe]

We've been to Disney 7 times - the first 6 with the regular dining plan (usually free but not always). I thought going without the dining plan and having to eat just CS would be terrible but I was wrong!

We snuck in a Feb trip this year (we have AP passes) and did it on the cheap with AP room discount and no dining plan. I budgeted $50 / day for food for the 3 of us (dd is 11). To make things easier I looked into the CS places for each park and made lists of places we'd like to eat. Even off beat ones like POFQ for lunch - they serve really good po'boys!

To my surprise we all enjoyed the experience. I especially liked not having to make it to ADRs. We always scheduled character meals for breakfast to get them done early in the day - breakfast in the room (or even on the go - poptarts work fine in the car) was so much easier. We did miss our favorite character meals but CS on the cheap wasn't bad at all. I tried to talk DD and DH out of FD in Sept (we booked our Sept trip in December) but that didn't fly.

So IMO think about doing your trip but maybe try it w/o the dining plan - you might be pleasantly surprised like we were.

I think this is good advice!

My DH and I have been to the parks dozens of times and have never used the dining plan. We have found that we split meals from CS and have plenty to eat (and extra cash in our pockets). We eat at places that have topping bars so we split a nice hamburger with either fries or carrots and a drink.

I wouldn't let having to pay for food cause me to cancel a trip. I wouldn't expect a business that sells food as part of their revenue to feed me for free. As a result of these promotions, costs have to be cut in food quality or prices at the gate have to be increased. If it is really an issue for you, pack some sandwich fixings, chips and snacks in your luggage. As you eat them, you'll have more room for souvenirs.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I think it is sad that so many people have become accustomed to discounts that they hold it against Disney if they don't get one. We all like to save money, but I don't think they owe it to us to have resort or dining discounts, and your post sounds like you do.

Out of more than a dozen trips to WDW I have only had Free Dining twice. Usually I can do a trip that costs less by getting a room discount and just watching what I am spending on food. If food is a big part of the fun for you, then I can see how ia trip would get very expensive very fast.

As others have said, Disney is known for being slow to release fall discounts of any kind. If you want Free Dining you may have to be patient.

I see your point but I think one of the things that gets many of us is the way in which Disney does their discounts. For my dates, it was frustrating in that free dining (which for my family of two adult parents and two adult priced kids is our best discount) was offered just before our June dates began but not again until August. The only way to get the discount was with a pin code. Being that I am a disboarder, I knew firsthand that a discount that would basically have me eating for 14 days for around $500 was out there but it was a toss up if I'd get it.

As mentioned by a pp, many of us hesitate to book airfare when we don't know what deal will be offered by Disney. Then the deal is offered but so late we can't get good aifare.

I know firsthand Disney owes me NOTHING. And yeah, I guess its sad I have gotten dependant on discounts. However given the way Disney has gone up and up over the years, discounts are a necessity for me and my family. My room discount I originally had saved me around $500. Free dining saved me far more. In a few years when its just dh and I, room discounts will be our better bet. And food is not the big part of the trip, but we do have to eat and with two teenagers its gotten way harder to stick to the budget we once did for paying OOP. That and the fact the food at Disney is much more expensive than it used to be and also we go during holiday pricing times so buffets for our family are nearing $200 for dinner which is why we don't do those anymore if paying OOP.

I think its not a sense of "poor me" or "Disney owes me a discount". Its just frustrating. Most of us on this board love Disney, we want to go, we know others get the pins and when we don't, yeah, its going to be a hard pill to swallow. Also the fact most other tourist destinations are offering huge discounts, its hard not to wonder why Disney is saying they will do away with discounts? I guess if its a crime to love Disney and want to go but also to be in a situation where you need a good discount to make it happen, well then yes a lot of us are guilty.

I also see people (and this is not directed to anyone on this thread) who love to say how those of us wanting, needing, hoping, and frustrated for free dining or AP discounts, that we need to just buck up and stop whining. Then I see those same posters on other threads whining about something that affects them with their trips. Basically many of us on these boards have past experiences or vast knowledge that has us expecting quite a bit from Disney so its not like this one issue of needing but not yet having Free Dining is the only issue out there right now people are complaining about!

 

[disneygal58]

I would LOVE to recieve Free Dining for our October 28th trip, as I have never recieved Free Dining. It has been 5 years since our last trip and we purchased the dining plan at that time. It was a treat to get to experience restaurants nightly that we would have otherwise splurged on for perhaps one or two meals of the trip.
Prior to that trip we visited at least once a year (every 11 months to take advantage of Annual Passes), budgeted carefully for food and had a great time. I wouldn't let the lack of Free Dining spoil my adventure or prevent me from going. As a former single mom, I KNOW the importance of budget and planning and value. As the mother of two now college graduates, I appreciate the trips that we got to share and the sacrifices that we made to create them.

Enjoy - no matter what,
Dawn