Upgrade Question for Free Dining

[Mom22girls56]

So with the leaked info on Fall free dining dates today, my head is spinning! We have 2 little mermaid rooms booked for Nov. 16-22. One room is for my family of 5 (1 is an infant) and the other room is for my parents and sister. We are willing to switch resorts in a heartbeat to get the biggest bang for our buck with FD. So if we upgrade to POR FQ or CB, then we will have to pay OOP for the upgrade, correct? Our trip now is already paid for and was $2195. For instance, with a CB or POR FQ room its $2695, so we would have to pay $500 now if we chose to upgrade to this to take advantage of free dining, correct? Are there any extra fees that I'm not aware of? And is this the best thing to do? Help me please!

 

[Spacedog1975]

If I remember properly, I think Art of Animation/Mermaid may in fact be excluded (or at least not have remaining rooms for free dining). I think changing might be your only solution if you want to take advantage.

 

[AJRitz]

So with the leaked info on Fall free dining dates today, my head is spinning! We have 2 little mermaid rooms booked for Nov. 16-22. One room is for my family of 5 (1 is an infant) and the other room is for my parents and sister. We are willing to switch resorts in a heartbeat to get the biggest bang for our buck with FD. So if we upgrade to POR FQ or CB, then we will have to pay OOP for the upgrade, correct? Our trip now is already paid for and was $2195. For instance, with a CB or POR FQ room its $2695, so we would have to pay $500 now if we chose to upgrade to this to take advantage of free dining, correct? Are there any extra fees that I'm not aware of? And is this the best thing to do? Help me please!

As long as the overall price is going up and not down, there's no change fee assessed (technically, they CAN assess a change fee, if you're within 45 days of arrival, but if you're upgrading they will virtually always waive it). You wouldn't have to pay immediately. The additional amount would simply be due by 45 days prior to travel.

 

[DisneyDude71]

If your room qualifies for free quick service dining you can always pay to upgrade to the regular dining plan. Thats what I did on mylast trip.

 

[LockShockBarrel]

Yeah you don't have to upgrade your room to upgrade your dining.

With free dining you are paying rack rate for the room, there's no discount on the room. They offer what they call free dining but if you do the math sometimes you can save more getting a room only discount and paying OOP for food or going when free dining isn't active with a room only discount and paying for the plan. You aren't getting any "more bang for your buck" by upgrading hotels because there's no added discount. Any money you'd save on what you're perceiving as the cost of the plan will be going towards the difference in the room. You can easily do the math in what upgrading the room would cost versus what upgrading only the dining would cost.

I stayed at Pop last September and upgraded to deluxe dining. Do your math, figure out what you really want.

 

[darnheather]

Yeah you don't have to upgrade your room to upgrade your dining.

Yes, but Little Mermaid rooms are never included in the free dining.

 

[LockShockBarrel]

So then if she's not getting FD with that room, she's still not getting any better "bang for her buck" by upgrading.

 

[Mom22girls56]

So then if she's not getting FD with that room, she's still not getting any better "bang for her buck" by upgrading.

Actually, yes I am. It won't cost as much to upgrade rooms as we had already planned to pay OOP for food and we'll definitely get more food with the FD than we would get paying OOP.