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

[DisneyMom5]

so quick question..we booked with 2 rooms with FD Pin for POR AB in May for Oct. Do they know which rooms we will be in as of now? or is there a specific time ahead that they assign rooms? Just wondering how that works. I never understood the FD room thing. Do they put you in whatever room in AB they want or because we were before the Visa and GP offers they will put us in the closer proximity rooms and so on and so forth for incoming FD families?

They don't assign SPECIFIC rooms until a few days before. It has nothing to do with when you booked or what deal you have.
They look at people's request, and play a giant game of tetris fitting people into rooms. That's why you don't always get your request, or you might get a random upgrade.

when people say "they set aside certain rooms for FD" they mean PERCENTAGE of rooms.

Disney might say "For Visa fd, let's set aside 10 percent of standard rooms at Pop Century, 5% of preferred. Then add another 10 percent for the GP offer. Then we'll see what we have for bookings, and release another 5 percent if necessary."

 

[cinderanna]

Thanks to everyone posting in this thread. I just got the green light from DH that he can get off work, but I have to wait until Thursday to call. I have gotten alot of helpful information from everyone

 

[skelly916]

I know last year included dates for the beginning of 2012. Anyone hear anything for 2013?

 

[DisneyMom5]

I know last year included dates for the beginning of 2012. Anyone hear anything for 2013?

According to mousesavers historical sale data, Jan. - March 2012 free dining general public sale wasn't offered until Aug. 3. Hope that helps!

 

[kerplop]

Okay I know that it's $16.55 a night per person to go from QSDP to the regular DP. But is that including tax? Anyone know if it is or not and if not what tax is?

 

[buffalogirl]

Okay I know that it's $16.55 a night per person to go from QSDP to the regular DP. But is that including tax? Anyone know if it is or not and if not what tax is?

$16.55 is the total including tax

 

[kerplop]

$16.55 is the total including tax

Thank you!

 

[buffalogirl]

Thank you!

You're welcome

I like the ticker in your signature telling how many days until your next trip. Could you please tell me where you got it?

 

[cybrkitn]

To address your concern, I wouldn't worry about CBR. It seems to be the resort they are always trying to fill (it is the largest) and I would guess the majority of the 2500 rooms are available with FD.

Thanks, that puts my mind at ease.

 

[saskdw]

Thanks, that puts my mind at ease.

Yeah, it will literally be the last resort to sell out of the FD rooms. I personally love CBR, our favorite WDW trip we have taken we stayed there. However, 2500 rooms is a lot to fill and the other 3 Mods have been more recently updated (queen beds) so they seem to have the most trouble filling this resort. Which works out great if its the resort you want to stay at!

 

[Chevyscool]

Just switched from LM rooms at AoA to POP, even with DxDDP we still saved hundreds with FD!! Yay, LOVE saving $$$...although the way I look at it Disney will likely get that money back because it'll turn into our "fun" spending money while on vacation! Bummed about NOT getting to stay at AoA, but can't justify spending all that extra $$$ because at the end of the day, although it's new and looks like so much fun, it's still a value resort. There's always another opportunity to stay there in the future. Besides we love POP and this trip is one where we won't be at the resort much anyhow.

 

[TheDisneyGang6]

I believe it's 7am Eastern time.

This also isn't as big a panic as some people are making it out to be. We've gone the last 2 Decembers on FD and there were still lots of rooms available right up until the end of October. There really is no point to getting up in the middle of the night to call. We are still deciding if we are going to WDW this December or somewhere else. It will probably be August before we decide and we will have no problem getting the room we want with FD at that time.

Well, that's not always true. We have been doing free dining trips for a number of years and we have had to change resorts on our existing reservation because a resort has sold out of free dining rooms in the first few days. I know in 2007 All-Star Movies standard rooms sold out on the first day of a promo and we had to switch to Pop preferred. And then in 2009 when we wanted Pop, it sold out within the first few days and we switched to All-Star Music. A person on the reservations line told me that Pop and All-Star Movies and Port Orleans Riverside will sell out of free dining rooms before some of the other resorts.

I think if you want a specific resort it is wise to call as soon as possible. If you don't have a preference for resort and don't mind having to change, then it's probably not as big a deal or hurry.

 

[TheDisneyGang6]

According to mousesavers historical sale data, Jan. - March 2012 free dining general public sale wasn't offered until Aug. 3. Hope that helps!

That's also when the October - December dates were released last year, so I don't think they are going to release any January - March free dining dates in the next 3 weeks. I would say those free dining dates will be released in September, after the booking window for the current free dining dates expries. Just guessing though . . .

 

[DisneyMom5]

That's also when the October - December dates were released last year, so I don't think they are going to release any January - March free dining dates in the next 3 weeks. I would say those free dining dates will be released in September, after the booking window for the current free dining dates expries. Just guessing though . . .

Wow. You're right about the date for last year, and I hope you're wrong about when the sale will break this year for winter.

 

[Paging Mr. Morrow]

does anyone know what time on thursday we can book the free dining online? i wont be able to call thursday morning so i hope i dont miss out if i have to wait for it to be online!

 

[nervous1sttimer]

I have been watching all the FD threads like a hawk, and I have not seen anyone yet who has booked an FD package at AKL. Does this mean it will be easy for me to book one when I call Thursday, or does it mean there is nothing available? Or are people waiting for the room discounts??

 

[saskdw]

Well, that's not always true. We have been doing free dining trips for a number of years and we have had to change resorts on our existing reservation because a resort has sold out of free dining rooms in the first few days. I know in 2007 All-Star Movies standard rooms sold out on the first day of a promo and we had to switch to Pop preferred. And then in 2009 when we wanted Pop, it sold out within the first few days and we switched to All-Star Music. A person on the reservations line told me that Pop and All-Star Movies and Port Orleans Riverside will sell out of free dining rooms before some of the other resorts.

I think if you want a specific resort it is wise to call as soon as possible. If you don't have a preference for resort and don't mind having to change, then it's probably not as big a deal or hurry.

The last two Decembers we have gone to WDW from the 14th-28th with FD. We booked sometime in August both trips. Just out of boredom and curiosity I continue to play around with the online booking for months after booking. I can tell you with 100% certainty that in the middle of October I could still book pretty much any room I wanted either year. It was about that time though that certain room categories start to fill up and by the middle of November it pretty much booked solid. You are right though that POP and POFQ do seem to be the ones that fill up first.

When I book a trip its booked. I don't change resorts, dates, rooms, etc. I don't book a room hoping for a discount and then have to phone to change dates and resorts to make it fit. I'm not in to that hassle. I go on the website when I'm ready and the price is right and book the trip. In October I could book what ever trip I wanted for December under the FD promo that came out in August last year and July the year before.

Anyone who is ready to book, by all means you should book your trip. I'm just merely pointing out for those who to listen that getting up at 6am and being on hold for 2 hours to book a trip like alot of people did last year isn't necesarry. I booked our trip about 2 weeks after the GP FD promo came out. No problem, all online, took 5 mins, had choice of whatever resort I wanted. No worries.

The only exception to this might be POP and POFQ. If I had my heart set on one of those 2 I would try to book the first day, but it wouldn't be at 6am. Those two resorts will sell out quicker, but POP took about 3 weeks to sell out last year and POFQ about 6-8 weeks after the promo was released. Keep in mind I am talking about December, I didn't follow the October/Nov stuff, it is possible those dates sell out alot quicker.

 

[skelly916]

Wow. You're right about the date for last year, and I hope you're wrong about when the sale will break this year for winter.

I hope you're wrong too!!

 

[saskdw]

I have been watching all the FD threads like a hawk, and I have not seen anyone yet who has booked an FD package at AKL. Does this mean it will be easy for me to book one when I call Thursday, or does it mean there is nothing available? Or are people waiting for the room discounts??

When I access the AKL using my FD PIN online booking there is pretty much every type of room available, so I would assume you should be ok when the GP goes live Thursday. The Deluxe resorts don't generally fill up that quick with FD, its Usually the Value/Mod resorts that people gobble up first.

 

[TheDisneyGang6]

does anyone know what time on thursday we can book the free dining online? i wont be able to call thursday morning so i hope i dont miss out if i have to wait for it to be online!

There isn't usually a set time to book on line. Sometimes the free dining info will be on there in the morning, sometimes it's in the afternoon. The first couple of years that they had free dining, it sometimes took a couple of days for the free dining info to show and be booked on online.