******Official 2017 Free Dining Plan Watch, Wait, and Dream

[KimBean]

It would be soon. In a couple of days. I would rather do october 1. Then I can book my dining on April 5 I believe.

Oh wow. That is soon.

 

[MickeyPlanning]

day 1:
B- Chef Mickeys
D- CRT
day 2:
B- Garden Grill
D- Coral Reef
day 3: (Son's b-day)
B- Crystal Palace
D: BOG
day 4:
D: T-Rex (meeting family who live there- so their pick)
day 5:
B- Hollywood and Vine
D: Mama Melrose- Fantasmic Package

With the deluxe plan you have 3 table service credits for each night of stay, so you have 12 total. By my count you are only using 10. I'd add a signature in place of Coral Reef - perhaps Flying Fish or Yachtsman since they are close to Epcot and you can walk over - and add a breakfast/lunch reservation for day 4 - perhaps the buffet breakfast at Tusker House or lunch at Yak & Yeti (assuming you'll be at Animal Kingdom that day)? Another option would be a signature in the MK area if you can't get a Be Our Guest reservation -- Narcoossee's or California Grill would work.

Thanks! We are doing Spirit of Aloha the day we arrive before Day 1 of parks. I forgot to put that. Day 4 is a day off from parks. Rest for the kids and Grandma and spend time with some family. We will use the two credits for lunch and breakfast that day, I'm just not sure how this far ahead. Thanks for the Epcot day suggestion. I'll check them out.

 

[sjs314]

There is an Express transportation system now and it goes from inside a park to inside another park. It is AWESOME!!!! If you hop, this saves SO MUCH TIME!!!!

We plan on taking advantage of this service

 

[Ahuck06]

Thanks! We are doing Spirit of Aloha the day we arrive before Day 1 of parks. I forgot to put that. Day 4 is a day off from parks. Rest for the kids and Grandma and spend time with some family. We will use the two credits for lunch and breakfast that day, I'm just not sure how this far ahead. Thanks for the Epcot day suggestion. I'll check them out.

Atmosphere was neat at corral reef but was not impressed with the food itself. Especially considering there's literally a "world" of other options around Epcot

 

[Kshell40]

Any leaked anticipated dates as of yet?

 

[Ahuck06]

Any leaked anticipated dates as of yet?

As of now April 17th seems to be the rumor

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

Thanks! We are doing Spirit of Aloha the day we arrive before Day 1 of parks. I forgot to put that. Day 4 is a day off from parks. Rest for the kids and Grandma and spend time with some family. We will use the two credits for lunch and breakfast that day, I'm just not sure how this far ahead. Thanks for the Epcot day suggestion. I'll check them out.

Sounds good. Does that mean you have 5 nights and 15 credits, so 3 extra? Where are you staying?

 

[Disneygurl84]

Oh wow. That is soon.

Unfortunately it is. And I just don't know when I should book. I'm hoping October 1 is at least covered in free dining

 

[MickeyPlanning]

Sounds good. Does that mean you have 5 nights and 15 credits, so 3 extra? Where are you staying?

We are staying at Contemporary. 6 nights- 18 credits

So SOA- 2
Chef Mickeys- 1
QS lunch- 1
CRT-2
Garden Grill- 1
QS lunch- 1
Coral Reef (for now)- 1
Crystal Palcce- 1
QS lunch- 1
BOG- 1
breakfast? -1
lunch ?- 1
TRex- 1
Hollywood and Vine- 1
QS lunch- 1
Mama Melrose- 1

As of now that uses all 18. If this is correct?? I am very new to this.

I can't make ADR's yet though so just trying to get an idea. Going to look into other options for Coral Reef and back up choices for BOG.

 

[dwalterpsu]

We are staying at Contemporary. 6 nights- 18 credits

So SOA- 2
Chef Mickeys- 1
QS lunch- 1
CRT-2
Garden Grill- 1
QS lunch- 1
Coral Reef (for now)- 1
Crystal Palcce- 1
QS lunch- 1
BOG- 1
breakfast? -1
lunch ?- 1
TRex- 1
Hollywood and Vine- 1
QS lunch- 1
Mama Melrose- 1

As of now that uses all 18. If this is correct?? I am very new to this.

I can't make ADR's yet though so just trying to get an idea. Going to look into other options for Coral Reef and back up choices for BOG.

Sorry if this was already asked, but are you doing the deluxe dining plan?

 

[Moocabn2258]

We used it last month. It was great. Buses leave every 10 minutes for one of the parks. In HS, you catch the bus next to RnRC. In MK, it is right around the corner from Buzz Lightyear. It is to the left of Spaceship Earth in Epcot and near Wild Africa Trek sign in AK. You get to see behind the scenes of the parks. My son fell ill at BoG and I just needed to get him out of MK. I figured that my best option would be to grab a bus to EP and get on our resort bus there. They sent a bus and brought us right to our building in SSR.

That sounds nice!

Slightly off topic -
How did you like SSR? We were originally booked 2 rooms at CBR but due to construction, they kindly moved us to a 2 Bdr Villa at SSR. However, I'm still not sure how I feel about the resort. We've never stayed there. We're taking my parents and brothers, one of which is 11 and doesn't remember Disney. I had wanted to stay at a more immersive themed resort, though a 2 Bdr Villa is super enticing.

If/when free dining is announced, we're considering splurging and moving to another resort - maybe WL or AKL (though these would be a bit of a stretch even with FD). Can't decide if it is worth it to move or just stay at SSR? Thoughts?

 

[disneydreamer1980]

That sounds nice!

Slightly off topic -
How did you like SSR? We were originally booked 2 rooms at CBR but due to construction, they kindly moved us to a 2 Bdr Villa at SSR. However, I'm still not sure how I feel about the resort. We've never stayed there. We're taking my parents and brothers, one of which is 11 and doesn't remember Disney. I had wanted to stay at a more immersive themed resort, though a 2 Bdr Villa is super enticing.

If/when free dining is announced, we're considering splurging and moving to another resort - maybe WL or ,KL (though these would be a bit of a stretch even with FD). Can't decide if it is worth it to move or just stay at SSR? Thoughts?

I've stayed there several times, and it's nice. If you like disney springs, it's very close. It's on a golf course as well, if you golf. The rooms are nice, but theming is kind of "plain" compared to some others. It's not a "fun" resort in my opinion, like AKL and WL, but it's disney, any place is great.

 

[Sharongal74]

Saturday - arrive (driving/flying TBD); 7:45pm 1900 PF
Sunday - MK; 8:40am Crystal Palace, 12:40pm BOG
Monday - HS; 8:10am 1900 PF, 4:45pm H&V Fantasmic; 6:30pm Beaches & Cream (only going for ice cream, will try to adjust time)
Tuesday - 8:05am 'Ohana, MNSSHP
Wednesday - EP; 9:45am Akershus
Thursday - MK; 8:30am BOG, 6:10pm BOG
Friday - AK; 8:05am Tusker House
Saturday - 8:05am Kona Cafe, check out

ETA: Note, our daughters will be newly 3 and 4.5 at the time of our trip. Beauty & the Beast is a HUGE hit with them right now, hence all of the BOG stuff.

I would probably try to get a later Ohana. Unless you are driving or on the monorail that would be a really early bus ride.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

We are staying at Contemporary. 6 nights- 18 credits

So SOA- 2
Chef Mickeys- 1
QS lunch- 1
CRT-2
Garden Grill- 1
QS lunch- 1
Coral Reef (for now)- 1
Crystal Palcce- 1
QS lunch- 1
BOG- 1
breakfast? -1
lunch ?- 1
TRex- 1
Hollywood and Vine- 1
QS lunch- 1
Mama Melrose- 1

As of now that uses all 18. If this is correct?? I am very new to this.

I can't make ADR's yet though so just trying to get an idea. Going to look into other options for Coral Reef and back up choices for BOG.

Yes, all 18. Only comment I have is that using a table service credit to purchase quick service meals isn't good value at all.

 

[MickeyPlanning]

Sorry if this was already asked, but are you doing the deluxe dining plan?

Yes we are. Hoping to get free dining plan and then pay to upgrade.

 

[KimBean]

Unfortunately it is. And I just don't know when I should book. I'm hoping October 1 is at least covered in free dining

Historically the last 3 years did include 10/1. But they included all of Sept. if it were me I would start 9/30. Nothing is guaranteed but is as good a guess as any. In 2013 oct 1-3 was FD. 2014 oct 1-2 was FD and last year was just Oct 1. If the trend continues might end 9/30 this year.

 

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

We are staying at Contemporary. 6 nights- 18 credits

So SOA- 2
Chef Mickeys- 1
QS lunch- 1
CRT-2
Garden Grill- 1
QS lunch- 1
Coral Reef (for now)- 1
Crystal Palcce- 1
QS lunch- 1
BOG- 1
breakfast? -1
lunch ?- 1
TRex- 1
Hollywood and Vine- 1
QS lunch- 1
Mama Melrose- 1

As of now that uses all 18. If this is correct?? I am very new to this.

I can't make ADR's yet though so just trying to get an idea. Going to look into other options for Coral Reef and back up choices for BOG.

Just curious but will you be using Deluxe Dining Plan? We had Deluxe on our last trip and it is A LOT of food.
We used a daily template of:
-1credit TS breakfast (pre-park opening if you can get it)
-1 or 2 snacks for lunch
-2 credit TS dinner (signature)

and we still had to be careful to make sure we had an appetite when dinner time rolled around. There are some great options for using snack credits if you look for them. One example is the pulled pork cheddar fries at Flame Tree BBQ in AK.

I realize every family is different and I'm not trying to change your mind. I just noticed that all of the breakfasts you listed are buffets (great choices by the way, you get to meet characters at each one of them!) I would consider myself an ummm "ambitious" eater and I still had trouble using up all of our Deluxe credits. By day #10 (departure day) of our trip we had 3 TS credits and something like 20 snack credits for our family of 4 that we couldn't use. Its definitely a challenge to use all TS credits on Deluxe plan if not doing 2-credit signature meals.

 

[MickeyPlanning]

Yes, all 18. Only comment I have is that using a table service credit to purchase quick service meals isn't good value at all.

Yeah I know. I have gone back and forth. I just didn't want to spend so much park time eating. My kids are early birds so we will try to get breakfast res. first thing. Plus this is my moms first time back in 20 years and she doesn't want three sit- down meals, but wants to do a lot of the character meals. I looked at menus and priced it with reg. dining and with deluxe based on what we would order and places we really want to try. It looks to save us about $300 to upgrade than to get the regular and pay for the other things we would want to do OOP. I figured that makes it worth it, even if doing QS lunch isn't the best value on the plan. I was just getting the plan that would be cheapest overall based on res. we hope to get. I am also hoping to get free dining and then pay to upgrade to deluxe.

 

[keishashadow]

I don't think it will follow UK because they get a bigger value plus other things with their stays. Their options are totally different and their time stay is different too. It really is comparing apples to oranges. When people usually travel from the UK they stay longer then a week, like we do here in the US.

Yes, most i know come for at least 2 weeks.

The $200 GC has been major difference as I understand it, along with the ticket requirement

Curious to see what the minimum length of stay will be for US

Otherwise, the offerings as to what resort gets CS & Deluxe has been consistent as I understand it along with similar dates offered.

 

[Kelly Sullivan]

So excited!!! LOOKing forward to updates