Why is Disney offering free dining for a year?!

[Colleen27]

I don't much care about the whys. All that matters to me is that free dining overlapping Flower & Garden tipped my girls-only mini-trip from a "maybe, let's see how business is going" to "go ahead, have fun".

I suspect it is a combination of several things that have already been mentioned - more competition from Universal now that HP has opened, the bad press among DISers and other die-hards about the current state of Fantasyland, and the continuing bad economy fueling a frugality trend.

 

[jerseygirl81]

Can you book a year in advance for free dining? When would the deposit be due? tia

You can book free dining for next year for the dates offered and you make the deposit of $200 I believe when you make the ressie. Linda

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Myself and my BFF agree that we believe it's because they've set the ticket prices so high that they are still making just enough to cover the cost of food from the pre-determined contract with the restaurants. The resort fees went up too.

They have to do something to entice people to come down. My co-worker caught the Disney bug from me talking about our last trip and our upcoming trip, but since she learned of the ticket increase, won't be able to afford the trip without a monster discount as a single mom with 3 kids, who would all fall in the adult category.