2016 Free Dining Watch ~ Part 2

[Momto8]

I think it's a good chance and that's exactly what happened last year. I certainly wouldn't give up just yet.

Thanks Black! That's good news! I appreciate your alerting us to upcoming deals from over the past few years!

 

[sullygirl14]

Trying to decide if;

1. Keep my inital Poly reservation , no FD
2. Go with my AKL with FD

The rubs is we LOVE POLY and the convienece of monorails, Ohana and Kona.

At AKL I am worried about spending all the time driving and parking. Plus then have to split stay over 1 day.

FD is temping me to put up with all the extra lost time staying at a non monorail resort.

Yeah I know, first world problems........

Our dates were Nov 14-20......

Would you be purchasing the dining plan at the Poly? It's a hard decision... AKL is beautiful!! We've never stayed, but have visited and it's on our list. We have never stayed at a monorail resort so I have nothing to compare it to (we are this time hopefully). We normally rent a car at the Disney's car care center so we can take the ME, and then just drive and park each time. My girls are crazy and love the tram rides in the park =)

 

[damskipi13]

First up, a reminder to everybody to clear your browser's cache/cookies/history. There is a possibility the reason person A is seeing a deal and person B doesn't is because of your cache. Disney is smart and technologically advanced. They can track you! Don't let them limit what you see with old information!

I agree 100%. I believe they never opened any. There is no way they could have. Truly at 4am I logged in and there was not FD promo, but when I hit refresh it was there. And then when we got the Disney Visa email at 7:44am we logged on immediately with the link included and even though I know the there may have been a little difference in # of rooms that were available, it was still the same resorts. Now, the only thing available are deluxe.
Personally, they should have just stopped the FD promo sometime the week prior to October 1 since the only thing available after 9/26 is deluxe resorts. The few ASMu suites or cabins that were available are long gone. They could have easily showed FD stopping on 9/26 and then opened it later if they needed to.

I know there is frustration out there because people aren't seeing the availability they want, but keep trying! I just did some random searches and I was able to find availability at mods after 9/26. I also found bunches of Pop availability, which I know people have been trying to get. Everybody should just keep trying! The Disney website shows thousands of bookings were made in the last 24 hours, so I think lots of stuff is opening up and then getting snapped up quickly. If people keep looking, I think most people can find something that will meet their needs. And The Dirty Steve's comment about the 72 hour holds is pretty intriguing. Definitely something people should keep in mind!

So, I have a question. All of my trip dates don't work with free dining. They would be good for days 3-10 but what do I do for days 1-3 that wouldn't be covered under the free dining? Can I buy 10 day tickets on the Rd package and book a room only for days 1-3 and activate the tickets when I arrive or am I just going to have to hang by the pool, hotel hop and do Disney Springs for the first three days? I can't justify buying 3 day tickets for the four of us. It is so expensive. My head is spinning right now.

yes, you buy 10 day tickets and pick them up 3 days early. you need to go to Guest Relations to activate the tickets. You will not be able to make FP+ 60 days in advance for the first 3 days of the trip.

You can buy longer tickets and activate early. Also, if I'm reading this correctly you arrive 2 nights before your FD would start, right? So you really wouldn't need to fill that much time. Arrive day 1 and get some dinner at Disney Springs, spend day 2 at the pool/hotels/DS, then hit the parks early on day 3. Or if you are getting WP&M you can spend that time doing those things because they are counted separately from your park days. You can even have both PH and WP&M, it's not that much additional money. That way you can still have PH for your park days.

Question abou the park hopper:
How did you get it for only 2 out of your 7 days? I thought I'd you select the park hopper option on the website it is good for the length of your stay. Meaning, in your case, it was a seven day PH.

Or did you choose to only get a 2-day ticket package. Therefore only 2-day PH

You can choose any ticket length, it just defaults to length of stay. For FD you need at least a 2-day ticket, though.

Woo hoo I did it!!!! My obsessive checking just scored me a standard room at CBR 8/27-9/1!!! I'm a little sad to give up my 3rd choice WL but Ill be saving $591 by switching standard WL to standard CBR and that's a lot of Margaritas!!! Keep checking!!!!!!

Congrats! I know you've been trying this whole time!

So question ASSp just opened up for my dates. With DDP it would be 2,079 for 7 nights with park hoppers. Right now we are booked at POFQ with a magical deal for $2553. Would it be worth the switch? Is it an okay resort? Would staying at POFQ be way better?

It depends on what your priorities are. I asked the same question a couple weeks ago and people recommended ASSp if I didn't need a lot of room/big beds and wouldn't be spending much time at the resort. They recommended POFQ if I was planning to chill at the pool/in my room or if I wanted TS nearby.

I keep hearing people say that they will put these rooms back into inventory and become availlable but I had a customer service person with disney say they go back into inventory under the regular rack rate not free dining?

Do you think there may be a possibility that Disney may release more rooms for free dining? Hoping this will happen since we need several rooms and not everyone could get FD for our dates 9/24-10/1. In fact, we had to come in one day earlier to get FD but could only get 4 rooms and we still need 3 or 4 more rooms. I think I remember this happening last year or maybe it was the year before, but it seemed like it was several days or a couple of weeks later that they released more rooms.

The general belief is there will be more rooms added. I've been checking randomly and I am seeing inventory others aren't seeing, so it's probably coming and going quickly. Keep an eye out!

 

[goldnvalli]

Question abou the park hopper:
How did you get it for only 2 out of your 7 days? I thought I'd you select the park hopper option on the website it is good for the length of your stay. Meaning, in your case, it was a seven day PH.

Or did you choose to only get a 2-day ticket package. Therefore only 2-day PH

When booking the reservation I just changed it from 7 days to 2 days. I reserved online.

 

[dznygrl70]

I got Coronado Springs also at 3:30 am MT time which was 5:30 East coast, and right after I got my package checked back and nothing but Junior Suite. When did Disney Shut Down people who pre-booked hoping to add FD?

I booked prior to price hikes during dates I assumed to have fd and got it. We would have gone anyway and stayed at the same place. Just allows is to spend more on party tickets. My agent did it all. Didn't lose any sleep. Woke up to an email saying it was done. Our agency is amazing!

 

[vanjust14]

I currently have wl standard reserved for 8/26-9/2 with fd. My sister reserved yc. I don't know which to stay at. Will decide soon.

Yacht Club gets my vote

 

[cshell624]

P

MNSSHP???

Party tickets usually go on sale in May so maybe something will come out next week. Fingers crossed.

 

[shap39]

First up, a reminder to everybody to clear your browser's cache/cookies/history. There is a possibility the reason person A is seeing a deal and person B doesn't is because of your cache. Disney is smart and technologically advanced. They can track you! Don't let them limit what you see with old information!



I know there is frustration out there because people aren't seeing the availability they want, but keep trying! I just did some random searches and I was able to find availability at mods after 9/26. I also found bunches of Pop availability, which I know people have been trying to get. Everybody should just keep trying! The Disney website shows thousands of bookings were made in the last 24 hours, so I think lots of stuff is opening up and then getting snapped up quickly. If people keep looking, I think most people can find something that will meet their needs. And The Dirty Steve's comment about the 72 hour holds is pretty intriguing. Definitely something people should keep in mind!





You can buy longer tickets and activate early. Also, if I'm reading this correctly you arrive 2 nights before your FD would start, right? So you really wouldn't need to fill that much time. Arrive day 1 and get some dinner at Disney Springs, spend day 2 at the pool/hotels/DS, then hit the parks early on day 3. Or if you are getting WP&M you can spend that time doing those things because they are counted separately from your park days. You can even have both PH and WP&M, it's not that much additional money. That way you can still have PH for your park days.



You can choose any ticket length, it just defaults to length of stay. For FD you need at least a 2-day ticket, though.



Congrats! I know you've been trying this whole time!



It depends on what your priorities are. I asked the same question a couple weeks ago and people recommended ASSp if I didn't need a lot of room/big beds and wouldn't be spending much time at the resort. They recommended POFQ if I was planning to chill at the pool/in my room or if I wanted TS nearby.





The general belief is there will be more rooms added. I've been checking randomly and I am seeing inventory others aren't seeing, so it's probably coming and going quickly. Keep an eye out!

I'm trying to go 9/28 no free dinning for me

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

I keep hearing people say that they will put these rooms

I keep hearing people say that they will put these rooms back into inventory and become availlable but I had a customer service person with disney say they go back into inventory under the regular rack rate not free dining?

Anytime I am speaking with a CM about potentially booking a trip, I always keep in mind that it is their job to SELL me a vacation. I always assume they are using language that is designed to convince me to book a trip now, with them, on this phone call.

Every time I called in prior to FD release to see if anything opened up for DV cardholders I was told to book now then modify when FD promo is announced. I made it clear to them each time that I would wait for announcement of FD to book but they still tried to change my mind.

I'm not faulting any of these CM in any way for doing this. I know that many of these calls are monitored by their supervisors for quality assurance, but also to see which CM are motivated to sell Disney's product.

Just pointing out that the only one looking out for you, IS YOU.

 

[SGMCO]

I booked prior to price hikes during dates I assumed to have fd and got it. We would have gone anyway and stayed at the same place. Just allows is to spend more on party tickets. My agent did it all. Didn't lose any sleep. Woke up to an email saying it was done. Our agency is amazing!

you are just very lucky, I've heard others couldn't get it even though that booked early.

 

[piglet1979]

I thought I had heard that somewhere. I'm going to hope for that BB offer for this September--want to take DS, but with a busy college schedule it's hard for him to miss class. Those dates would be perfect for next year, fingers crossed.

We were excited about the dates. My kids are in 3rd and 4th grade and coming back after the last trip was hard for the kids to make up the work. No more during more quite times

 

[black562]

Well if you want a little bit more.

Some may have received them, but there are at least two sets of PIN codes going. One is up to 30% off lodging May 30-Aug 25. The other is for Stay-Play-Dine May 1–26 and May 30–June 28, 2016.

Also, the consensus regarding MNSSHP pricing is around a 10% raise from last year's price.

Not really much to speak of...

 

[littlelamb70]

I know I'm late to the party but we just booked ASMu for 12/10-12/16!! We weren't even going to try for FD and already had a reservation booked for 11/2-11/8 that I made a few weeks ago, but I caught the FD bug hanging out here with you guys! It was definitely a challenge tho because we are traveling with my BIL, SIL and their clan (of 5) so they needed a family suite and as I'm sure some of you know, they are freaking hard to find! But WE DID IT!! We had to change dates around a few times, but our persistence paid off and I'm totally STOKED and I just had to come share my success with you all!!

 

[BookGirl305]

Another rookie question for you-
I keep seeing people saying they couldn't get dates at Pop and it made me feel really guilty about getting my deal as a solo. But, I went on the website and tried to book the free dining one day over from my own (Wed 8/24- Sun 8/29, mine is 8/23-8/28) and no problem getting the original M-F, my booked Tu- Sat, or the trial Wed- Sun. Is the problem not an availability of rooms but simply not over the stretch of dates that people are wanting? It is very likely that there are plenty of dates shorter than a week or on the less popular days of the week. I had no problem booking three different versions of a 4 nt/5 day (two with free dining) but I suspect if one is trying to do a Sat-Sun 9 day trip, that might be the problem- kind of like wanting to see a movie on opening Friday night for the matinee price. Doesn't match up.

 

[cshell624]

Well if you want a little bit more.

Some may have received them, but there are at least two sets of PIN codes going. One is up to 30% off lodging May 30-Aug 25. The other is for Stay-Play-Dine May 1–26 and May 30–June 28, 2016.

Also, the consensus regarding MNSSCP pricing is around a 10% raise from last year's price.

Not really much to speak of...

Just the Christmas party tickets?

 

[Murfee17]

Well if you want a little bit more.

Some may have received them, but there are at least two sets of PIN codes going. One is up to 30% off lodging May 30-Aug 25. The other is for Stay-Play-Dine May 1–26 and May 30–June 28, 2016.

Also, the consensus regarding MNSSCP pricing is around a 10% raise from last year's price.

Not really much to speak of...

I'll take 10%. That will be better than what I thought. Thanks

 

[black562]

Just the Christmas party tickets?

That should've said Halloween Party. I hate acronyms.

 

[G719]

WWYD- so after being disappointed that the Poly didn't offer free dining, we booked Old Key West in a Deluxe Studio for the first 5 nights and a Poly Club level lagoon view for 6 nights. After playing around and more searching, I was able to find availability at the Grand Floridian Outer building Garden View for 8 nights and then 3 nights at the Poly Club Level. This whole switch cost us $72 LESS to stay at the Grand Floridian/Poly stay. It's only because the Polynesian club level is so expensive. but I did get the 25% off that room rate and free dining at the GF. I've never stayed at either... any thoughts on the GF outer building garden view and the lagoon club level? Has anyone stayed at either? It's our 15th wedding anniversary which is the only reason we are being a lot more extravagant than usual. We have stayed at WL once, but normally we're moderate level people =)

I haven't stayed at either but would love to! I'd go with the GF/Poly combo just because both are more convenient to the MK.

 

[littlelamb70]

Another rookie question for you-
I keep seeing people saying they couldn't get dates at Pop and it made me feel really guilty about getting my deal as a solo. But, I went on the website and tried to book the free dining one day over from my own (Wed 8/24- Sun 8/29, mine is 8/23-8/28) and no problem getting the original M-F, my booked Tu- Sat, or the trial Wed- Sun. Is the problem not an availability of rooms but simply not over the stretch of dates that people are wanting? It is very likely that there are plenty of dates shorter than a week or on the less popular days of the week. I had no problem booking three different versions of a 4 nt/5 day (two with free dining) but I suspect if one is trying to do a Sat-Sun 9 day trip, that might be the problem- kind of like wanting to see a movie on opening Friday night for the matinee price. Doesn't match up.

You might be right. One set of dates we were trying for was 10/1-10/7, couldn't find anything...standard, family suite, NADA. I shortened it by one day, so 10/1-10/6 and found both a standard and family suite no problem! We ended up going with different dates but I definitely see what you're saying and think you're on to something

 

[twoolle]

Totally us too!

Same for us!