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

[hippsmom]

We were going with or without any discounts and was able to book 2 rooms at CBR with fd the morning it dropped. I do think my date had more availability (12/17 - 12/23). But unfortunately POR was excluded from my dates. Looking forward to staying at a new resort.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

The wife and I did consider changing resorts this year if FD was offered where we were interested in trying. It wasn't so we are still happy with FD from our bounce back. I am not going to blame those that booked early because I didn't get to try a new resort with FD. If going to Disney is that important then plan on paying rack with no Discount and you come out ahead.

 

[Amanda Hall]

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.

Im guessing this is a combination of limited availability for certain resorts / rooms and the ever gaining popularity of FD. For example, maybe last year there were 15 of the room type you wanted available and when you called only 3 were booked so they were easily able to modify your reservation with the discount. This year, maybe only 5 of those type were available and all these crazy folks were calling and modifying reservations at 4:00 a.m. . So, I think it may have been possible to add it on, unfortunately the reservation game for FD / promos has become Hunger Games intense.

 

[Mrlogboy]

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.

As some other posts have said here and othe places. They have had no issue in the past so they offered a lot of FD deals, even when the places were
Busy, but the change now is more people around the world and USA have better economy so more can trace to Disney.
So you are 100% right FD is to fill rooms. Since there is no real "Down Time" anymore and people are Complaining about too large crowd and long lines that is the real reason for smaller FD.
Heck I was going to try and get owe this year but will defer it for another time

 

[Huff]

It's indisputable that the food quality has taken a nosedive since the DDP and FD have come along.

Im not sure the cause is FD or the DDP. Quality has gone down at restaurants not on the DP just the same. I think its like anything else. Less product for more $'s since demand keeps rising regardless.

 

[Kimberly9701]

Honestly, I've never thought it was a good idea to book in advance. You could've booked a new reservation yesterday and then just cancelled your original one. It may not mean the exact room or even resort you want, but then you have to decide what's more important, the room or the free dining. For us it was free dining, but we were only able to get our third choice when it came to a room.

This puzzles me so much.. Is free dining better than the resort that you want?
For me, choosing a resort is my first step in the process..and the most difficult part! I can't imagine having to make a quick decision about it.

OR, do you just know that you like all of the options..bc in that case then I totally get it.

 

[HopperFan]

It's all been covered above ... the more rooms that ARE pre-booked the less number of rooms that will be offered for FD. If your hotel/category are important and you will go regardless, book it ahead .... if Free Dining is your priority, then wait.

That said I've been told numerous times that it's not a matter of applying the discount and I get many are probably told that or interpret that just because they got to keep their resort and category. It's a completely new discount code applied to a reservation and if there are no rooms available for FD in your resort/category it can't happen. You reserved one of my 100 oranges, I put 12 other oranges on sale, you are number 13 to call me, I can't give you the sale price.

With the number of rooms being offered getting lower and lower, less and less will be able to take advantage of it. Disney still offers it because it's a good PR move, but with the hotels running close to capacity most of the time, they will simply reduce the number of rooms available.

 

[Shanti]

Is this post real? Like are these serious issues?

Of course it's real. This is a Disney vacation forum. What do you expect people to post about here?

 

[Kimberly9701]

We booked ahead of time because we are going regardless. I knew we wanted specific dates because it is a birthday celebration and I knew we wanted a specific resort (birthday girl's dream resort). I also added a dining plan because we like the dining plan. My hope was if FD dropped I could apply the discount. Yesterday morning, 30 min after FD was released, I was able to modify my existing reservation to get FD but only if I moved to club level. My total was $200 and change less by modifying it so I did and got the additional perk of staying CL. But if it hadn't been financially beneficial for me to do so, I would've stayed with my original reservation and hoped for a room discount down the line. It's all a matter of what is most important to you and what you're willing to pay for.

Wait, what? You were able to add FD AND upgrade to CL for $200 less?

If you don't mind me asking, where are you staying and what time of year?
That's the best deal I've heard all day! And I'm a total skeptic when it comes to FD..I did a RO last time and hopefully, maybe, will get one again for this year.
Congrats!!!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) I am so confused.
2) If you have a ressie, you can switch it to Free Dining when FD is announced.
. . . The glitch is if there are FD deals at the resort you picked.
. . . The other glitch is if there are enough FD rooms offered during the time you are staying for you to get one
3) I know MANY people who book their room, then switch to FD when it comes available.

NOTE: As Ogre (I mean Iger) said three years ago, he wants to wean people off discounts. The number of resorts offering Free Dining has been significantly reduced. And, those resorts with FD have reduced the number of rooms available to FD. So, it is very possible those people here who couldn't change their ressie to FD didn't have a ressie at a resort with the offer, or there were so few rooms offered, they could not get to speak with someone fast enough to make the switch.

 

[Nancyg56]

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.

If that is the BB you have.I was offered a RO BB so that is what I booked. FD is not always offered.

 

[Nancyg56]

That's where my dilemma comes in. We like the Contemporary and realize that promos aren't always able to be used there simply because they never have a problem filling the hotel. I could have changed my room to a concierge suite at CR for about $13,000 - don't think so. In our case it's about the room and location. I always book in advance to get the resort and room I want and have always been able to add either RO or FD. It looks like those days are past. Just gotta suck it up I guess. We're still going to Disney so it can't be all bad.

I will just jump in here to add to what others have continually pointed out. The more rooms booked in teh hopes that FD will be offered, the less likely FD will be offered. There is no reason for Disney to do so. Book the room if you are going anyway, no matter the discount that is offered or not offered. If you will only go if you are offered a discount, do nto bother booking the room. You are not "applying" the discount, you need to make a new reservation.

I don't think it'll be around much longer anyway

Don't bet on that. I have been hearing for years that FD will nto be offered, and it is. I think that Disney has a win win with these discount offers. Folks book rooms hoping to "apply" discounts, and then wind up going no matter what.

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.

I do the same. I book a BB to ensure I have what I want when I want it. If a better offer pops up I will call to apply it. I refuse to book hoping for a discount.

Im not sure the cause is FD or the DDP. Quality has gone down at restaurants not on the DP just the same. I think its like anything else. Less product for more $'s since demand keeps rising regardless.

I do not think either is the culprit. I think it is a budget cutting mindset that started with consolidating the ordering process across WDW to bring overall costs down. I belive it was going to occur no matter a DDP, FD or RO discounts.

 

[jknc]

If Disney truly loved you, the way you love Disney, free dining would not be so limited.
But alas, true love is hard to find.

We were on the free dining promo one year and vowed to never do it again. Not only did we feel we were being held captive by our ADR's but I also gained 17 lbs that week.

 

[Nancyg56]

If Disney truly loved you, the way you love Disney, free dining would not be so limited.
But alas, true love is hard to find.

I do not understand this kind of comment. FD is a sale that is in place to fill empy rooms, much like a sale at your local hardware store is offered to sell snow blowers that are left left unsold after a winte with no snow. When people all book up rooms hoping to already have their rooms locked in, why on Earth is there a need to offer a sale? The room is filled. This is why many times you will find rooms available not too long after teh promotion is offered and the frenzy dies down. People who could not "apply" an offer that was not available for thier dates at their resort drop the room.

As much as we want to try to pretend that Disney is a magical place that is all Pixie Dust and Fairies, it is a business.

 

[Disneylover99]

Right now the rooms allotted for FD are pretty much booked solid, but if you look at rooms without any promotion, there is still plenty of availability at many resorts. I'm sure Disney put fewer rooms into the FD pool this year, but if the rooms at rack rate don't fill up, I'm sure they'll throw more rooms into the FD pool. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[Mom2Stitch]

I remember being able to book a room ahead of time and still being able to get the FD deal when I called. I have done that several times....IN THE PAST. Maybe I was lucky and the resort and room and dates I booked was just not that popular. Maybe there were more rooms. I have no way of knowing either of those. What I do know is that nothing is constant at Disney, more now than ever. Lots more people spending lots more money there. The fact that there are any discounts at all is surprising to me.

I was one of the crazies who stayed up and grabbed the deal as soon as it dropped. I did not book ahead, if I could get FD we would go for sure. Turns out CSR and/or my dates are not all that popular and/or that's where they released a lot more rooms-as of last night still it was still available. But I did what I could to make sure that I had done all I could to get what I wanted, so I'm not sorry I lost some sleep.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

This puzzles me so much.. Is free dining better than the resort that you want?
For me, choosing a resort is my first step in the process..and the most difficult part! I can't imagine having to make a quick decision about it.

OR, do you just know that you like all of the options..bc in that case then I totally get it.

I've just always been happy with wherever I've stayed. And free dining is over a $2,000 discount for us, so we're going to make that our priority.

 

[Nancyg56]

I've just always been happy with wherever I've stayed. And free dining is over a $2,000 discount for us, so we're going to make that our priority.

I make do as well. This trip is the one I really wanted the BC. I had my bb in place so one more room with fd works out well for us.

 

[BusyP76]

Wait, what? You were able to add FD AND upgrade to CL for $200 less?

If you don't mind me asking, where are you staying and what time of year?
That's the best deal I've heard all day! And I'm a total skeptic when it comes to FD..I did a RO last time and hopefully, maybe, will get one again for this year.
Congrats!!!

Thanks! I have no clue how that happened! Mind you, I'm in no way saving the kind of money other people are saving by staying at a mod or value. I guess because originally I was paying rack at a deluxe and full price for the dining plan? When I switched to club level to get FD, the price difference between my standard room and a club level garden room must have been less than the cost of the dining plan. My new reservation is $272 LESS than my original one! Yes, please, I will stay CL and get free dining! Lol....we are at the Poly in September.

 

[BusyP76]

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.

Omg yes!! This is perfect! I didn't do a bounce back because we decided at the last minute (187 days out is last minute to those of us who are ADR focused lol) to surprise our kids with a trip. But I knew it was way more important for us to get the room and resort we wanted than to get FD. We like the dining plans so we budgeted that in already. The fact that we got it for free was just icing. It's kind of audacious for total strangers to hold your vacation plans accountable for their lack of discounts. Are they also going to hold you accountable for going to WDW in general because ride times were too long?