WDW pulls free dining offer for 2025

[crazy4wdw]

https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2025...ey-world-quietly-ends-free-dining-plan-offer/

 

[Genie+]

I wonder if they’ll replace it with some other type of offer.

In Aug 2019 we booked free dining for December. Here it’s early May and offer already gone?

 

[SL6827]

Epic must not seem to be as big a threat now? Hmmmmmm.

 

[Isthisnormalatdisney]

They really should give notice or warning instead of rug pulling. At least on blog Disney they should be very clear that it is limited or something similar. Just slimy tactic to quietly remove it as families stilL going back and forth.

 

[SL6827]

They really should give notice or warning instead of rug pulling. At least on blog Disney they should be very clear that it is limited or something similar. Just slimy tactic to quietly remove it as families stilL going back and forth.

This is the new way going forward, I do believe. If one thinks there's any chance of thier family going and can afford to put down deposit(s) on trips with great discounts that Disney will release, they should as soon as they can.

 

[Isthisnormalatdisney]

This is the new way going forward, I do believe. If one thinks there's any chance of thier family going and can afford to put down deposit(s) on trips with great discounts that Disney will release, they should as soon as they can.

It appears so. Just sad to see Disney following the path of other companies.

 

[SL6827]

It appears so. Just sad to see Disney following the path of other companies.

Oh I didn't know other companies did this, but I believe you. Now, if one can afford too, book as many reservations as you can, ASAP, if your not sure of your dates. Then decide later which to keep.

 

[Isthisnormalatdisney]

Oh I didn't know other companies did this, but I believe you. Now, if one can afford too, book as many reservations as you can, ASAP, if you’re not sure of your dates. Then decide later which to keep.

Just the tactic of announcing specials then quietly pulling them without making any announcement. Just shady tactics to drum up interest. I get it’s a business but it’s off putting. Cruise lines are famous for all these gimmicks

 

[SL6827]

Just the tactic of announcing specials then quietly pulling them without making any announcement. Just shady tactics to drum up interest. I get it’s a business but it’s off putting. Cruise lines are famous for all these gimmicks

Ya, Disney didn't use to do this. But a lot has changed in just the past ten years.

 

[Isthisnormalatdisney]

Ya, Disney didn't use to do this. But a lot has changed in just the past ten years.

Oh boy ain’t that the truth.

 

[Isthisnormalatdisney]

Epic must not seem to be as big a threat now? Hmmmmmm.

Regarding this, it’s not a threat to people with young children who can’t go on most of the rides at epic. An infant can go on one singular thing at epic in pretty sure.

 

[lanejudy]

They really should give notice or warning instead of rug pulling. At least on blog Disney they should be very clear that it is limited or something similar. Just slimy tactic to quietly remove it as families stilL going back and forth.

Actually, all of WDW's resort offers are (and to my knowledge always have been) limited. There's usually a notation something like "The number of rooms allocated for this offer is limited." Sometimes only some resorts/room categories get "sold out" but other times like the 2025 free dining offer all rooms allotted to that discount were booked fairly quickly. The offer disappears once it's no longer available.

 

[Isthisnormalatdisney]

Actually, all of WDW's resort offers are (and to my knowledge always have been) limited. There's usually a notation something like "The number of rooms allocated for this offer is limited." Sometimes only some resorts/room categories get "sold out" but other times like the 2025 free dining offer all rooms allotted to that discount were booked fairly quickly. The offer disappears once it's no longer available.

this information was not posted on the blog Disney page. It’s also arbitrary how they did it, there were many dates that worked for it but instead they removed it for all dates without warning or any email being sent out. It’s just slimy. If they thought it was an issue or a money loser they shouldn’t have offered it. But to give such a broad offer for a long period time and then pull it for everything is just very gross and bad business behavior.

 

[Mle8308]

this information was not posted on the blog Disney page. It’s also arbitrary how they did it, there were many dates that worked for it but instead they removed it for all dates without warning or any email being sent out. It’s just slimy. If they thought it was an issue or a money loser they shouldn’t have offered it. But to give such a broad offer for a long period time and then pull it for everything is just very gross and bad business behavior.

If you actually look at the special offers page, it does state that all are limited in some way, shape, or form. Don't rely on the blog Disney page, there are many reports here of them giving our wrong information. Blog Disney is not where you go to find out about specifics of Disney special offers. This happens quite frequently for offers that do not have a set deadline. Once it's gone, it's gone! It's not bad business, it's actually quite the opposite. They had a target number to hit to be profitable, they hit it and closed the offer. They filled the number of rooms they needed to fill. End of offer!

 

[lanejudy]

this information was not posted on the blog Disney page

I'll assume you mean the DisneyParksBlog.com though there are many blogs which covered the Free Dining offer, some with more or less details. You are right that the post on DisneyParksBlog.com did not give full details -- but it did specifically state "Visit DisneyWorld.com/Offers for more details starting March 27, 2025, on each of these special deals. " It's kind of like seeing something advertised on TV (or online or a magazine, etc.) and then going into the store 3 weeks later to find the item isn't on sale any more. The sale ended or the item sold out. First come first served.

 

[Isthisnormalatdisney]

If you actually look at the special offers page, it does state that all are limited in some way, shape, or form. Don't rely on the blog Disney page, there are many reports here of them giving our wrong information. Blog Disney is not where you go to find out about specifics of Disney special offers. This happens quite frequently for offers that do not have a set deadline. Once it's gone, it's gone! It's not bad business, it's actually quite the opposite. They had a target number to hit to be profitable, they hit it and closed the offer. They filled the number of rooms they needed to fill. End of offer!

I don’t check the actual page, I didn’t even know they had one from the blog Disney. I just assumed based on the writing that it was good for the whole year since nothing in the article said differently. Blog Disney is where I found out about the article and only place I found out about it, plus the blog Disney didn’t include a hyperlink to the page.

It is bad business because now I bet there are numerous people who won’t go at all and are disgusted by the act. Disney is clearly hurting more these days.

 

[Isthisnormalatdisney]

I'll assume you mean the DisneyParksBlog.com though there are many blogs which covered the Free Dining offer, some with more or less details. You are right that the post on DisneyParksBlog.com did not give full details -- but it did specifically state "Visit DisneyWorld.com/Offers for more details starting March 27, 2025, on each of these special deals. " It's kind of like seeing something advertised on TV (or online or a magazine, etc.) and then going into the store 3 weeks later to find the item isn't on sale any more. The sale ended or the item sold out. First come first served.

Yep that one the official Disney one. On TV they would state “while supplies last” or give some type of time frame. That’s all they needed to do. Not require everyone to go in some scavenger hunt to find all this additional information.

This situation the item is still avilable. They are still offering the dining plans and they still have the hotel rooms which is why it’s grimly. If they ran out of hotel rooms I get it obviously since there’s a limit but this is different. They need to be more truthful instead of just misleading people

 

[Mle8308]

I don’t check the actual page, I didn’t even know they had one from the blog Disney. I just assumed based on the writing that it was good for the whole year since nothing in the article said differently. Blog Disney is where I found out about the article and only place I found out about it, plus the blog Disney didn’t include a hyperlink to the page.

It is bad business because now I bet there are numerous people who won’t go at all and are disgusted by the act. Disney is clearly hurting more these days.

What do they say about the word "assume"??? And just because it doesn't contain a hyperlink (which I believe it did, it may be inactive now since the offer is gone), doesn't mean there isn't additional information. It actually told readers to go to the offer page to get more details. If I were interested in the offer, I would read and follow directions! I really don't think people are disgusted by this and if Disney were going to lose business, they would not have pulled it. They are a lot smarter about this stuff than we are, they have a very well paid and experienced yield management team who knows what to offer and when, as well as knowing when to pull it to maximize profit. And as a stockholder, I appreciate that. It's good business, not bad.

 

[lanejudy]

Yep that one the official Disney one. On TV they would state “while supplies last” or give some type of time frame. That’s all they needed to do. Not require everyone to go in some scavenger hunt to find all this additional information.

This situation the item is still avilable. They are still offering the dining plans and they still have the hotel rooms which is why it’s grimly. If they ran out of hotel rooms I get it obviously since there’s a limit but this is different. They need to be more truthful instead of just misleading people

Rooms are available but not under that "sale." There are other offers still available. WDW offers change throughout the year, several times; it's unusual that any given promotion is available for booking more than a few weeks. Though I agree the 2025 free dining offer sold out more quickly than usual.

It probably comes down to is the Blog an advertisement? or a "news" item? I've always been of the impression that such things don't give full information. The Blog post is still out there and it does include a link to the WDW website along with the notation I shared above about "more details."

 

[focusondisney]

I just assumed based on the writing that it was good for the whole year since nothing in the article said differently.

In the many, many years WDW has offered free dining, it has never been available to be booked throughout the whole year. It has absolutely always had limited timeframes for booking. Yes, they may have previously announced the end date for booking & they didn’t this time. But there has never been a time you had the whole year to book. In fact, I don’t remember any discount offer that has ever been available for the whole year. That was a big misassumption on your part. Every single promotion always says “rooms at this price are limited.” The whole resort inventory is never available in any promotion.