YOU Don't Get Free Dining, And YOU Don't Get Free Dining!

[maltdizzy]

I'm glad we don't even want free dining. It's a circus every year and only seems to get worse

I'll be honest...and this is not a criticism of anyone here (or elsewhere) who loves FD. I wish it didn't overlap my planned week (this doesn't always happen, but this year it does). That many more DDPs out there seem to affect everything...not just ADR's, but food service, food quality, QS lists, snack lines, etc. I'm happy that they trim it down more and more. I don't wish anyone else to get miss out on deals they love...but I would be thrilled is FD went away (or back to after Labor Day)

 

[Octoberbaby]

We were already planning on going in October, regardless of if free dining was available or not. On a whim, I last minute checked availability for Dec to be able to go during Christmas as well. Not so long story short , I had our reservation booked within five minutes on-line.

I have no idea why we haven't joined the vacation club yet. My husband thinks that I am a fruitcake.

 

[Roobear77]

We were already planning on going in October, regardless of if free dining was available or not. On a whim, I last minute checked availability for Dec to be able to go during Christmas as well. Not so long story short , I had our reservation booked within five minutes on-line.

This was me yesterday. Have a trip planned for March and October, and getting APs. Oh, look FD was released. Hmm lets take a look. Availability at a value for 5 days in December? Only $200 to upgrade to DDP from QS? Honey, we're going to WDW in December!

 

[AngiTN]

We were already planning on going in October, regardless of if free dining was available or not. On a whim, I last minute checked availability for Dec to be able to go during Christmas as well. Not so long story short , I had our reservation booked within five minutes on-line.

I have no idea why we haven't joined the vacation club yet. My husband thinks that I am a fruitcake.

If you are like DH and I, we don't need the Villa type rooms. We are happy in the regular resort rooms for now so DVC isn't a cost savings to us. Though we did take the tour last summer, just to be sure. If you haven't done that, give it a shot. We got extra FP for our time and trouble. Not sure what they are offering now

 

[disney world dreamer]

i was going regardless of FD so some on here were advising me to book ahead of time and then modify but then we ended up waiting and boy am i glad i did.
i booked for the date3s we originally wanted and at the resort we originally wanted with no issue.
i will never book ahead of time if i'm hoping for a promo even if i am going regardless.

 

[runnerchick]

So who out there got shut out from getting any type of discount from yesterday's frenzy of deals? Did anyone else feel like they were being penalized for having a previous reservation already booked, then not being able to get the FD or RO deal because of it? Oops sorry, you planned ahead by getting a room at the resort you wanted (garden wing at CR in my case), there is no "availability" for you. It's kinda like Directv giving all of their good deals to new customers only, while the loyal long time customers get squat. Why advertise great deals that not everyone can qualify for just because you already had a reservation? "No availability" to me means "We've already got your money. No reason to give you a break on anything". Well Disney, I spent 6 hours on hold yesterday to be finally told that we can't do anything for you.

Every year since FD has been offered I have been able to add the promo to my already-booked reservation with no problems with "availability". Now they've taken that away. And yes, I know all about pre-booking in anticipation of a FD deal. I have never looked at it that way. I'm a planner and like to get stuff done in advance. The FD is just a bonus if you can get it. I think by making it so difficult to get is the first step in eliminating FD for good.


Yes I'm venting

The CR garden wing rooms sell out VERY EARLY! Your best bet is to make your reservation over a year in advance and apply the bounceback free dining to your existing reservation while at WDW.

 

[Magnetgirl25]

Yes, after spending countless hours trying to get through and two hours on hold I too was shut out from the promo. We had already booked through CBR and were hoping for the free dining plan, however not counting on it. I am hoping that maybe we will still get something but not holding my breath. I will say this is the first time with reservations that we were unable to add the promo to our package. Which is a little disappointing, however we were going to go during this time regardless of what promo we secured or did not secure. Disney is making it harder and harder to get the free dining promo. I will say the woman on the phone was fantastic and spent roughly a half an hour trying to get us free diningh even if it meant moving to another resort. However, with the promo we have she couldn't do it without making us spend more money. So, in the end I opted to keep our promo and keep looking for a better one to pop up. Still anxious for Disney regardless!!!

 

[Hikergirl]

I'm not sure why you feel penalized. The point of the promos, FD included is to fill rooms. You made a reservation, it is possible to cancel and make a different one but if you are in the resort and room type you want and aren't willing too change in order to take advantage of the promos that is on you, its not Disney penalizing you.

 

[glm777]

I had booked 3 rooms at POP for Nov 15th several months ago. To try to get the FD promo, I made 207 calls to Disney (dial, busy, hang up,dial again) then waited 98 minutes on hold once connected - all to be told there was no availability at POP for the free dining. We had the option to switch to an All Stars resort but we prefer POP over the All Stars so that wasn't an option for us. I was willing to try a moderate resort but no luck with the few I was interested in (French Quarter and Port Orleans). Am I disappointed that we didn't get FD- of course. It would have been a $600 dollar savings. But since we had already booked the dining plan when we booked the room - we haven't really lost anything. To me it was more important to stay at POP than to stay somewhere else and get FD. That's just us.

 

[BAS1]

I was able to get free dining at Coronado Springs for the week of Nov 18th. I was up at 4 am when this website went down and the promo dropped on the Disney website. The point of free dining is to fill rooms that weren't already booked. It isn't to give a discount to people that were willing to pay full price and booked before the discount. Personally, I'm glad that there were some limits on free dining. Hopefully, the restaurants won't be quite as crazy as during past free dining periods.
I also feel that many people were prebooking their room (or multiple rooms) with the thought that they could just add free dining later. That hurts everybody's chances of getting any kind of a discount.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

French Quarter is totally excluded and POR is very limited this year. Apparently so is POP. It used to be that there would be plentiful promotion rooms at almost all resorts, but they don't need to do that anymore apparently.

Prebooking isn't a bad deal if you are going anyway whether you get free dining or not. You can decide to keep the resort if it is important to you, or you can change to one that is eligible for the discount if you think the discount is more important. But it won't get you ahead in line to get a promotion; you have to be just as fast as everyone else who wants the promo.

 

[LilyWhitehouse]

We're not eligible for free dining because we booked a magical package, but with a family of only 3 at a deluxe resort, the room discount is way better than FD. I'm kind of annoyed that they're offering FD while we're here because I assume the restaurants will be packed and last minute ressies will be unavailable.

 

[Squirlz]

I don't WANT Free Dining..Ca't eat that much and I'd rather have the room discount. Also hate how it dumbed-down the menus and the food.

 

[ameliahyde]

We used the free dining discount in 2013, 2014, and 2015. During those years, I noticed a steady decrease in the participating resorts, well there was a large increase in the number of people wanting the discount and the number of people on property during the times we stayed. In 2015, I had quite a bit more difficulty getting restaurant reservations, it seemed like everything was absolutely packed to the gills! I did not have that experience in 2013, and also noticed it less in 2014. I guess the bottom line is that I became less and less interested in participating in the discount, however I completely understand that it can be a great deal for certain family is and well worth it. It was definitely a good deal for us when we went, but I found that the restaurant congestion, and the overall busyness of the participating resorts to be undesirable.

We will not be going down to Disney this fall. We just returned from a land and sea trip yesterday. It was the first time I stayed at the pop, and we loved it! I would not hesitate to return. For those stating that they decided to keep the resort they like over the discount, I totally can get it. While the dining discount is fabulous, I no longer see it as a must-have. I hope everybody is able to get the discounts that they want to secure a wonderful vacation.

 

[DisBuckMan]

I don't WANT Free Dining..Ca't eat that much and I'd rather have the room discount. Also hate how it dumbed-down the menus and the food.

It's indisputable that the food quality has taken a nosedive since the DDP and FD have come along. We used to love the TS food at Disney. Now, we eat more and more QS simply because (a) the time it takes to do a TS, and (b) the food at most places isn't worth waiting on like it used to be.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I was in the same boat, I booked the resort I wanted when I wanted (DD birthday) and hoped for FD. When I got on the phone, I could have had it, but we didn't want to change resorts or dates. Apparently 9/29-10/4 is in the dead zone of promotions (noticed others with those dates being locked out as well) but it wasn't worth it for us to change and we didn't qualify for a RO discount either! Go figure! We had planned this quick trip for food & wine so we were most definitely going, but yeah, FD would have made it all the more magical. My DD doesn't even know I am planning to surprise her with a cake & champagne, so excited about this trip!!

Maybe next year...

I had trouble finding availability within those dates as well.

 

[Linleedo]

So who out there got shut out from getting any type of discount from yesterday's frenzy of deals? Did anyone else feel like they were being penalized for having a previous reservation already booked, then not being able to get the FD or RO deal because of it? Oops sorry, you planned ahead by getting a room at the resort you wanted (garden wing at CR in my case), there is no "availability" for you. It's kinda like Directv giving all of their good deals to new customers only, while the loyal long time customers get squat. Why advertise great deals that not everyone can qualify for just because you already had a reservation? "No availability" to me means "We've already got your money. No reason to give you a break on anything". Well Disney, I spent 6 hours on hold yesterday to be finally told that we can't do anything for you.

Every year since FD has been offered I have been able to add the promo to my already-booked reservation with no problems with "availability". Now they've taken that away. And yes, I know all about pre-booking in anticipation of a FD deal. I have never looked at it that way. I'm a planner and like to get stuff done in advance. The FD is just a bonus if you can get it. I think by making it so difficult to get is the first step in eliminating FD for good.


Yes I'm venting

I am venting with you. We also planned ahead and booked a room with dining plan and tickets. All the other 5 or 6 times that we done this over the past 10 years, we were able to either get the roll out discount for the room only or the free dining. This year, nothing! They were happy to send us to the Polynesian, or other Club levels in other resorts ( for a higher price)! It's so crazy. Very disappointing.

 

[Kelly25]

a few years back i booked a CR wing room. we got upgraded to the tower because they overbook the wing rooms all the time. maybe you will see some pixiedust when you check in like we did!!

 

[DisBuckMan]

I'm not going to delay booking my vacation so you can have free dining. 180 plus 10 is good. You getting a discount is none of my concern.

We book bounce back to avoid the pain.

Amen to that. When someone else starts paying for my vacation, then and only then will they be allowed to dictate when I book mine.

Let's see...I'll book in February to get where I want, when I want it (YES),

OR

I'll give you and thousands of others the opportunity to compete with me over a small number of rooms at 3am and the opportunity to get exactly what I want may not even be offered. Uhhhhh...no thanks. i've got better things to do.

 

[guinea pig]

"Why advertise great deals that not everyone can qualify for just because you already had a reservation? "No availability" to me means "We've already got your money. No reason to give you a break on anything"


That's the whole point of this and any promotion...To fill previously unbooked rooms....