Will you cancel if they don't offer free dining for Aug/Sept?

[LakeAriel]

I was one of the ones who was able to book free dining via the Bounce Back program. The CM made a point of saying Disney was shocked at the number of people who even knew about the Bounce Back program as they had purposely not promoted it that much. He said they were even more shocked at the number of people who came down there for just a one night stay in order to book the Bounce Back offer. He also said that the Bounce Back Program may have bitten Disney in the foot as they were already over their quota and free dining was supposed to be severely limited for 2007.

I had already planned to go down there for Dec, so wasn't one of the ones who made a special trip down there to book it, but if I had been and Disney later offered free dining to everyone I would definitely be upset and would let Disney know about it. It would mean those people took time off work, paid airfare, paid for a resort, and basically wasted their time and money. When we booked the Bounce Back program the CM made a point of saying the only way to get free dining for 2007 and was going to be through the UK Program or the Bounce Back Program. You know they'd be upset and there is no way anyone would trust Disney if the Bounce Back Program was offered again, which I think it will be. A few days after I returned home in Dec I received a postcard asking me to log onto a survey. The survey was mostly about how much I liked the Bounce Back Program.

Considering how many people Disney alienated with the 40% off code fiasco I seriously doubt they would want to alienate another group, no matter how small.

I agree 100%..I would be upset also, not that Disney cares always.. The other thing is, people are booking ADR's without even having reservations, with the expectation of free dining. All this will do if leave empty seats at restaurants thus reducing the chances of free dining next year. I was told by my CM you have to have a reservation before booking. People are indeed cutting off their noses to spite their face.

 

[earthfaries]

So I don't understand - why make reservations now? Why not wait until the deal comes out and then book? From what I have read, everyone making advanced reservations might mess up the chances of us even getting the free dining this year. They offered it two years ago to boost attendance, and now everyone is pre-booking hoping to get the free dining, and possibly causing Disney to not offer it!!! I was just waiting for the offer to book. By pre-booking, are you just holding a spot in the hotel you want? If they offer the deal, are you going to cancel the existing resv. then rebook, or can you change your existing resv. to the free dining plan deal? Just curious, I would hate to wait and there be no good rooms left!

 

[Palendat]

We are a large group of 19 and we booked early so that we could book our ADRs at 180+10. If free dining isn't in the cards this year, we will likely cancel and book 2 or 3 houses as a more cost effective way to stay this year. We always stay on site, but are willing to give off-site one chance!

 

[DisneyMom&Fan]

We will still go if FD isn't offered. It's our first WDW visit and it is a pre-cruise visit, so it would be nice, but not a deal breaker for us. Honestly, I couldn't care less if they offered free food, I'm just so darn excited to visit the World!

But I do hope they offer it for those who really are counting on it!

 

[Microcell]

I was one of the ones who was able to book free dining via the Bounce Back program. The CM made a point of saying Disney was shocked at the number of people who even knew about the Bounce Back program as they had purposely not promoted it that much. He said they were even more shocked at the number of people who came down there for just a one night stay in order to book the Bounce Back offer. He also said that the Bounce Back Program may have bitten Disney in the foot as they were already over their quota and free dining was supposed to be severely limited for 2007.

I had already planned to go down there for Dec, so wasn't one of the ones who made a special trip down there to book it, but if I had been and Disney later offered free dining to everyone I would definitely be upset and would let Disney know about it. It would mean those people took time off work, paid airfare, paid for a resort, and basically wasted their time and money. When we booked the Bounce Back program the CM made a point of saying the only way to get free dining for 2007 and was going to be through the UK Program or the Bounce Back Program. You know they'd be upset and there is no way anyone would trust Disney if the Bounce Back Program was offered again, which I think it will be. A few days after I returned home in Dec I received a postcard asking me to log onto a survey. The survey was mostly about how much I liked the Bounce Back Program.

Considering how many people Disney alienated with the 40% off code fiasco I seriously doubt they would want to alienate another group, no matter how small.

I seriously doubt they think that hard about who is mad at them. They are a large company, that is doing well, a couple hundred people who might be upset because they took a special trip is not going to bother them. How many people do you suppose are mad at Walmart and don't shop there. Do you think Walmart has even blinked? Nope, still corner the market, as does Disney!

Besides, the people who took that trip for one night did so because they wanted to be assured of free dining. Why would they even get upset if it is offered to the general public? They didn't want to gamble on it. I thought about going for the one night to get bounceback, but chose not to. If I had gone and they offered it, I would be upset with myself for believing the hype. Why on earth would it become Disney's fault. Because speculation by castmembers was incorrect? Many people and businesses have one intention then go another way. They will do what is best for business overall. If it suits the business to offer it, they will.

I just can't decide what they will do, because I don't know what the occupancy is like during this next Hurricaine Season. If it is high, I would assume no free dining. They won't need to offer it if the rooms are full. I do not think that they necessarily full. Boards like these, while having high memberships, do not make or break Disney. There are still many parents who will not pull their kids out of school. Last year we took part in free dining with the many people here who did, and the wait times at rides was typical September, 10 minutes or less on everything. Soarin was NO WAIT AT ALL the entire time we were there. The restaurants were full though!

I start doing ADR"s 3/25 for 9/22. I think if they are overbooked at the restaurants for September they will know by the end of March, beginning of April and if we all plan a bunch of ADR's (like multiple ADR's at different restaurants or the same restaurant every night to get our choices) I think that might backfire for free dining. Plan your ADR's accordingly! We probably have the numbers to goof up the restaurants, especially with the multiples I read about.

 

[RDCAnthony]

I will NOT cancel! I would love free dining, but I also got the "code" so free dining would save me $600 which would be awesome, but I would not cancel a trip over $600 and break my ds and nephews hearts.

$ 600.00 Total Right? Not $ 600.00 More?

You can only use one discount at a time. Free Dining would save me $ 700.00 The "Code" saved me $ 660.00
Either way I am pretty happy

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

$ 600.00 Total Right? Not $ 600.00 More?

You can only use one discount at a time. Free Dining would save me $ 700.00 The "Code" saved me $ 600.00
Either way I am pretty happy

My code saved me $400 my dining cost me $1007 for a family of 5, so if free dining came out it would save me $600 more then my code did. I am aware that I can only have one code.

 

[photo_chick]

I agree 100%..I would be upset also, not that Disney cares always.. The other thing is, people are booking ADR's without even having reservations, with the expectation of free dining. All this will do if leave empty seats at restaurants thus reducing the chances of free dining next year. I was told by my CM you have to have a reservation before booking. People are indeed cutting off their noses to spite their face.

You can make ADR's if you are staying off site. How would they know you did not have your reservations before booking ADR's or if you had off site reservations?

 

[LakeAriel]

You can make ADR's if you are staying off site. How would they know you did not have your reservations before booking ADR's or if you had off site reservations?

They would take you at face value, they ask where you are staying.

 

[tzuhouse]

We are going, no matter what. It's interesting though that I've seen so much speculation that a ton of people have made reservations, thus reducing the chance of free dining. I wound up changing my dates slightly, which threw me into my 180 window, late. I gave it a shot and got everything at the times I wanted, including CRT at 8:10am. Usually that is completely booked at 180 days out, but a couple of days later, it was still available, so it doesn't look like many ADRs are being made, even if they have the rooms.

 

[123SA]

We will go without free dining. I did get the code. If free dining comes out, I may not switch it, I don't think I'll save that much more.

We were in Disney in December but I didn't know about the bounce back offer. I was seriously upset when I got back -- we had already planned to go this Sept.

 

[beachgrl001]

We will definately go either way. I couldn't get the stupid stinkin code So I am waiting to see if free dining is offered. If not then we will stay offsite in a pool home. Last year I found the DIS -AFTER I booked a house offsite(same dates as free dining!) When i read about the Free dining on the DIS I was. Everytime we we eating in the world(pretty much every night) I would look at the people at the table next to us and say "THEY HAVE FREE FOOD, LUCKY DUCKS!" My family was like huh? So this time I hope to catch it! It would be our first time staying onsite other wise we will rent the pool home again since there are six of us and its more cost effective that way.

come on FREE DINING FREE DINING FREE DINING

 

[LadyTrampScamp&Angel]

No, we won't cancel although we're still trying to decide between June and August. I got the 40% off email for August so I'm happy with that.

 

[cmwade77]

We are going no matter what, we have the DDP, if they offer it for free, then than much more $$$ for merchandise!

 

[schmoopypoo]

we're going either way too...i think it's worth it just paying for it, so if it's free, then even better!!!

 

[InnerStrength06]

I will NOT cancel our trip and did not book it in hopes of free dining anyhow. I received no fancy codes, just a little savings from AAA, and already plan on paying for the DP. I am still hoping for some type of savings to come out, and if so, hopefully it can be applied to our existing ressies - if not, we are still going and are going to have a blast!

 

[HayGan]

No, I will not cancel!!! I have SW credits that I have to use by Nov (can't let them go to waste )

Disney has traditionally offered the late summer/early fall deals starting in April. Since the booking time frame for the 40% ends on March 15th, I really think they will evaluate their vacancy situation then and go with a predetermined discount program based on those results. These campaigns are set up months in advance and I wouldn't be surprised to see something very soon.

As far as the hurricane season, they are already predicting a big year for hurricanes. It is a La Nina year which means more than less hurricanes.

 

[SamIAm21]

There's also a report on allearsnet.com that there will be Princess and Pirate parties in August. So, maybe Disney is banking on brininging people in with a hard ticket party event (which is additional money) rather than giving away free food, where they may possibly be losing some money??

Sorry if this was mentioned above...didn't get a chance to read the whole thread.

 

[3boyzmom]

Nope ... not cancelling. I already had a trip booked (package with DDP) before "the code" ... got the email and applied it to our ressie. I ended up saving more with the discount than I will with free dining.

 

[SnackyStacky]

Disney has traditionally offered the late summer/early fall deals starting in April.

I've seen this posted before regarding the "Will they offer free dining this year?" debate. And I don't think that's quite accurate. The earliest timeframe they've released the fall discounts were in early June. But it's actually usually more like July.

http://www.mousesavers.com/historicalwdwdiscounts.html#codechart

I think the folks anticipating free dining have a bit longer to wait. Just an FYI.