TOP SECRET Ladies and gentlemens like the previous year MY FREE DINING NEWS

[madouceamie]

Thanks Danny!! I remember last year and you were spot on I did my first girls only trip last year during November and really appreciated the heads up. The phone lines that opening day were not fun however!!

My DH and I have been throwing around a quick trip since we have free flights on SWA due to our Rapid Rewards and my DS has Veterans day out of school. I was looking at 11/8-11/12 so we would need to do a room only the first night in order to make it work.

Just curious for those that have done a split stay (can't remember the answer to this) do you find out you're keeping the same room when you first check in or when you come back the next morning to re-check in? It would surely be nice to know ahead of time so we wouldn't completely unpack that one night - just curious

Thanks again Danny and everyone that has shared valuable tips!

Heather

We did the split room one year. When we checked in they stated that they could not promise that we would have the same room the next day. We had to go back to guest services and check out and re- check in. We were able to stay in the same room.

 

[DisneyLover75]

WOW this is great! Thank you! We have regular dining but cannot see the advantage of spending $33.98 per adult for 1 more quick service meal and a snack per day. For anyone that has upgrade from regulare dining to deluxe please let me know your thoughts. Maybe I am missing something.

Me! I'm upgrading to Deluxe. For one thing, I like to go to the restaurants and shows that require two table service credits.

The beauty of deluxe is that you get three meal credits, which can be used at TS or CS. So if I want three TS meals each day, I can. That is the big draw for me.

I don't get three meals per day, but for this upcoming trip, I have CRT booked a couple times (once for breakfast and once for dinner) and the Spirit Of Aloha Luau as well. Also, we're doing the Candlelight Processional, all of which require two TS credits.

I know you can use TS credits to pay for CS meals, but not vice versa. So I would have to scale back my ADR choices in a big way if I stuck with basic dining.

The other advantage is the extra snack. We like to have a drink and a bite to eat for our snack. Not having to pay OOP is a big plus for us.

That's my take on it.

 

[DWHoneymoon]

We are going to Disney World for our Honeymoon from October 15 - October 29. We're staying at Pop. We have a 10 day park hopper ticket attached to our reservations.

Is there anyway that this could be split up so that we can check out and back in on the 19th to get the free dining?? Or will it also mess up our magic your way tickets, etc....

We can't change our dates

 

[madouceamie]

Me! I'm upgrading to Deluxe. For one thing, I like to go to the restaurants and shows that require two table service credits.

The beauty of deluxe is that you get three meal credits, which can be used at TS or CS. So if I want three TS meals each day, I can. That is the big draw for me.

I don't get three meals per day, but for this upcoming trip, I have CRT booked a couple times (once for breakfast and once for dinner) and the Spirit Of Aloha Luau as well. Also, we're doing the Candlelight Processional, all of which require two TS credits.

I know you can use TS credits to pay for CS meals, but not vice versa. So I would have to scale back my ADR choices in a big way if I stuck with basic dining.

The other advantage is the extra snack. We like to have a drink and a bite to eat for our snack. Not having to pay OOP is a big plus for us.

That's my take on it.

Thank you so much! I knew I was not looking at this right! I am upgrading!!!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Thank you! Those darn two October black out weeks. I'm going to reschedule! Thankfully we had not bought our airline tickets yet.

 

[atksn]

I have to tweek my days by a couple of days to get FD, should I do that now, so on the 12th, I can just call and add the FD?

I did that last week. (was supposed to check in 11/3 and added 2 days to check in 11/1) It can't hurt anything to do it now.

 

[maprn05]

So I have a couple of questions about all this free dining and dates and such. Sorry, I'm a newbie! Our current reservation is from 10/7 to 10/13 but we are willing to change dates to check in on 10/4 as free dining will save us around $1100. (5 adults and 1 child staying 6 nights in the AoA Finding Nemo Suites) IF free dining is announced on Thursday, am I better off waiting until Thursday morning to change my reservations or do I need to change my reservations now and call Thursday and add the free dining offer? And what are the chances that Disney will have filled the number of rooms available for free dining before I can add the offer to my reservation? I guess my concern is also about room availabilty. If we change reservations now and can't get free dining, will there be rooms available to change back to our original dates? I know, go head and say it...."Worry wart"! Yes, I am! Insight and guidance into this would be greatly appreciated!

 

[mommyof3princess27]

So I have a couple of questions about all this free dining and dates and such. Sorry, I'm a newbie! Our current reservation is from 10/7 to 10/13 but we are willing to change dates to check in on 10/4 as free dining will save us around $1100. (5 adults and 1 child staying 6 nights in the AoA Finding Nemo Suites) IF free dining is announced on Thursday, am I better off waiting until Thursday morning to change my reservations or do I need to change my reservations now and call Thursday and add the free dining offer? And what are the chances that Disney will have filled the number of rooms available for free dining before I can add the offer to my reservation? I guess my concern is also about room availabilty. If we change reservations now and can't get free dining, will there be rooms available to change back to our original dates? I know, go head and say it...."Worry wart"! Yes, I am! Insight and guidance into this would be greatly appreciated!

Here is an idea, could you make your ressie the full time from the 4th to the 13th then cancel days as needed.... if fding is out, call them to add it then say Id like to take a few days off. if it doesnt come out, call them and say Id like to take a few days off of the front. i WOULD change it now though

 

[kydisneyfans]

Can we book a night for Oct 4th but actually show up the morning of the 5th 2 day and still qualify for free dining?

Also, can someone confirm that you need only a 2 day base ticket if you are staying 9 nights? Does the 2 day ticket expire 14 days later or can it be used anytime?

 

[mommyof3princess27]

Can we book a night for Oct 4th but actually show up the morning of the 5th 2 day and still qualify for free dining?

Also, can someone confirm that you need only a 2 day base ticket if you are staying 9 nights? Does the 2 day ticket expire 14 days later or can it be used anytime?

no u actually have to check in on the 4th I believe that you actually have to be there on that day

 

[atksn]

im having a difficult time working this and i have no idea why perhaps not enough coffee this am. ive noticed many people think its a better deal to grab a mod with basic dining opposed to staying in a value with quick and upgrading. we currently are with the LM rooms and wanting to upgrade to basic... would it be better for a fam of 4 to upgrade to por?

thanks so much for the heads up as well this is just the news we've been waiting for

We are in same boat. Booked LM room, and as I said in PP, changed dates from 11/3-10 to 11/1-10 in anticipation of FD based on the PIN offers being indicative of general public offer.

I ran some preliminary #s, and here is what I am coming up with:
(We are currently booked 9 nights in a LM room w/ DD & 9 day base ticket)

Switching to family suite @ AoA(and then paying to upgrade from QD to DD)= ADD $928
Switching to 2 connecting rooms @ POP (again pay to upgrade plan)= SAVE $273
Switching to ASMu Family Suite (again pay to upgrade dining) = ADD $430
Switching to CBR PIRATE ROOM= SAVE $146
Switching to POFQ or POR= SAVE $450
Switching to CSR= SAVE $399

We are super excited to stay at AoA, and specifically the LM rooms, but I can not justifying paying MORE for ONE value room than I would pay for 2 connecting rooms, or a mod (Especially since we are also doing a cruise directly from our WDW trip!)

 

[maprn05]

Here is an idea, could you make your ressie the full time from the 4th to the 13th then cancel days as needed.... if fding is out, call them to add it then say Id like to take a few days off. if it doesnt come out, call them and say Id like to take a few days off of the front. i WOULD change it now though

I thought about doing that too but I was unsure if they would have to cancel my current reservation and make a new one if we added the free dining and dropped a couple of days. If we aren't able to get in on the free dining, we would rather just check in on the 7th and stay through the 13th.

 

[Brave]

OK I'm feeling like a newbie here, but I can't seem to remember how many nights you have to book in order to qualify for free dining. Is it a 4 or 5 night stay?


Thanks!

Free dining promos have a 3 night minimum booking and a 14 night maximum.

 

[Brave]

WOW this is great! Thank you! We have regular dining but cannot see the advantage of spending $33.98 per adult for 1 more quick service meal and a snack per day. For anyone that has upgrade from regulare dining to deluxe please let me know your thoughts. Maybe I am missing something.

I don't think you are missing anything. The Deluxe Dining Plan is very, very expensive. Unless you are doing most of the 2 credit signature meals it's not even worth it. We did it the deluxe plan when it first came out, and it wasn't as expensive then and we did not think it was worth the money or the time it takes to eat all of those TS meals.

 

[mommyof3princess27]

I thought about doing that too but I was unsure if they would have to cancel my current reservation and make a new one if we added the free dining and dropped a couple of days. If we aren't able to get in on the free dining, we would rather just check in on the 7th and stay through the 13th.

no you can do that, they wont have any trouble

 

[Brave]

We are going to Disney World for our Honeymoon from October 15 - October 29. We're staying at Pop. We have a 10 day park hopper ticket attached to our reservations.

Is there anyway that this could be split up so that we can check out and back in on the 19th to get the free dining?? Or will it also mess up our magic your way tickets, etc....

We can't change our dates

No. To do a split stay for a free dining offer, it's only a monetary savings if you are doing the first stay with 1 to 3 nights as room only (picking up your package tickets early at DownTown Disney or one of the parks customer service desks) and then doing free dining for the rest of your remaining stay. That scenario would not work for your dates or length of stay.

 

[Brave]

So I have a couple of questions about all this free dining and dates and such. Sorry, I'm a newbie! Our current reservation is from 10/7 to 10/13 but we are willing to change dates to check in on 10/4 as free dining will save us around $1100. (5 adults and 1 child staying 6 nights in the AoA Finding Nemo Suites) IF free dining is announced on Thursday, am I better off waiting until Thursday morning to change my reservations or do I need to change my reservations now and call Thursday and add the free dining offer? And what are the chances that Disney will have filled the number of rooms available for free dining before I can add the offer to my reservation? I guess my concern is also about room availabilty. If we change reservations now and can't get free dining, will there be rooms available to change back to our original dates? I know, go head and say it...."Worry wart"! Yes, I am! Insight and guidance into this would be greatly appreciated!

If you are planning on calling first thing Thursday morning anyway to add the FD code, then just wait until then to modify the entire reservation. Even though those suites are new, they are still very expensive and the standard value rooms are still going to book up the quickest when a free dining offer is released. It's not really that stressful, but the hold time could be long on Thursday - be on the phone early.

 

[DisneyMom5]

We are going to Disney World for our Honeymoon from October 15 - October 29. We're staying at Pop. We have a 10 day park hopper ticket attached to our reservations.

Is there anyway that this could be split up so that we can check out and back in on the 19th to get the free dining?? Or will it also mess up our magic your way tickets, etc....

We can't change our dates

if you did room only the first 4 days, and picked up your tickets three days early (which is what I think they said you could do).
15th - room only, no tickets, pay for food out of pocket.
16th - room only, day 1 tickets (good for 14 days after first use)
17th - room only, day 2 tickets
18th - room only, day 3 tickets
19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th - pkg, free dining, day 4-10 of tickets. (Should be able to have up to 14 nights of free dining.)

Tickets would HAVE to be attached to your second reservation (or at least a minimum number of days of tickets would have to be, but your better value is the 10 day.)

Is that what you were thinking? I think that could work well!

 

[Brave]

Can we book a night for Oct 4th but actually show up the morning of the 5th 2 day and still qualify for free dining?

Also, can someone confirm that you need only a 2 day base ticket if you are staying 9 nights? Does the 2 day ticket expire 14 days later or can it be used anytime?

You have to check in on the 4th.

The current free dining promos have required a 2 day base ticket. Those tickets can be saved for later use or to be upgraded to AP. Tickets expire after 14 days once they have been activated in the park turnstiles. If you do not activiate the tickets then they will not expire and can be used at a later date.

 

[millie]

Do you feel confident that your TA will just go ahead and get the free dining for you if and when it comes out? My check in date is within the required dates - my TA never gets back to me so I am feeling anxious. Have booked all prior trips myself and hate having to count on someone else.