2016 Free Dining Watch ~ Part 2

[vanjust14]

My DH and I call CSR the secret Deluxe moderate. It really is a nice place. I think it gets a bad wrap for being so spread out and the walking, but if you figure out the bus stops you'll find that you can grab a bus to the front pretty easily.

The other thing is that you may see the convention folks in their business attire, which is a little strange while you are on vacation. Mostly though we've noticed that you don't see them much during the day.

The Dig Site Pool is beautiful and we love it there.

Thank you! The pool does look really cool I am worried about the size of the resort, considering I booked a standard room and I will have an infant with me, but the pics look really nice online so I am excited to try it out.

 

[Murfee17]

DH let me sleep in but I'm still going on only about 4 hours - I'm running on a free dining high so I'll be alright until that ends.

It will end. I think my coworkers think I am on something with the highs and lows I have shown today.

 

[Wood Nymph]

My DH and I are going on DVC points to the Boardwalk Villas for our anniversary from December 10-16. It is a just the two of us trip, lots of fine dining and World Showcase, which is wonderful, but I was going to be missing our usual partners in crime, our 10 and 6 year old grandchildren. We would also miss the Wilderness Lodge. We know it's under construction but honestly, that wouldn't bother us.

Sooooo.... I saw these FD threads and.....I booked the Wilderness Lodge for December 16-19th with free dining---Courtyard View, bunk beds---because the grands are joining us there!

You booked two great trips. We love the Epcot resorts because of the dining and world showcase. We also love the WL for the boat to MK and the walk to FW. Have a great trip.

If I canceled my original reservation and booked a new resort this morning will I need to call and adjust my DME info or will that automatically be updated?

If you have a new reservation number than you will have to call Magical Express and have them switch to the new one. It will not be automatically updated.

how do you get the DV room allocations?

We have the Disney Visa card listed in our MDE profile. We use it for resort charges and dining reservations. Somehow the system must know that we have that card beause we can see the Disney Visa offer in our list of special offers.

Did have to upgrade my room at WL from Woods view to Courtyard view to get either of the offers, but still saved money.

The woods view rooms will be looking directly at construction, so it might be a good thing to have a courtyard view room.

Are the DV free dining dates the same as GP?

Free dining begins August 14th instead of August 23rd for Disney Visa cardholders. The rest of the dates are the same.

 

[sweetyk83]

Keep checking. Availability changed for me within 30 minutes. I don't know where you live, but can you upgrade your tickets at a nearby base or ID station? I would call SOG and ask if they can help you. $800 is a huge difference.

Military tickets make it a weird deal. They're non refundable which means I can't go get a refund from our ITT or SOG.

The way the person with ticketing/guest relations explained it is that because it's a discounted ticket not purchased from Disney I would have to go to the park and they would give me whatever the current value of the ticket is. Then I'd have to repurchase park hoppers.

If I had purchased park hopper military discounted tickets I would have likely been okay but we were trying to save money by buying base tickets. That turned out well.

I'm just taking it as a lesson learned and next time we go I'll be sure to buy park hoppers ahead of time or just wait to buy tickets till after they release free dining. Assuming they do a military discount or free dining when we go back.

 

[dbennett3899]

For what its worth I'm about to release one of my clients 9/24-10/1 FD from Saratoga Springs Resort.

 

[Taran430]

I kept waking up every hour and checking the special offers and this board on my phone. At around 4:15 am I checked the specials and noticed that it was more than 9. I shot up so fast and got on the computer. I tried to get on the board then and it was down! Do you think this was done on purpose. I know some have mentioned that this happened last year. What time did the offer go live?

4:03 so literally 3 minutes after Dis went down

 

[vanjust14]

We have stayed at CSR i believe 9 times and LOVE it! After the room reforms at CBR last year, we decided to give it a try, and we loved it as well. Mine is not the most popular opinion, but we like both CBR and CSR better than POR. When my youngest daughter (9) found out today that is was CSR that we got, she was very happy and told me not to even try for CBR, because she"just missed it" lol. It IS large, but as has been mentioned, the layout makes it easy to navigate and nothing seems too far away. That being said, we have never stayed in the Ranchos section, always either Casitas or Cabanas. There are pros to both of these locations, depending on what is most important to you. If you have some specific questions, please feel free to ask! But we think CSR is great, and truly it and CBR are our favorites!

Thank you for your reply! I stayed at POR recently (without the kiddos), and while I did like it, I was not as impressed as I thought I would be after hearing everyone rave about it. I have a 9 year old as well! I think he is going to love the pool! I booked a standard room, any suggestions on a request? My main concern is that I will have an 8 month old with me.

 

[SSRMan]

If you are still trying to get through on the phone call 407 939-4357 and go through the que for a new dining reservation, when they pick up tell them you were trying to get to resort reservations and you get put through in about 2 minutes.

 

[Tina O'Toole]

I just want to say congrats to everyone who was able to snag free dining. Unfortunately, our dates (11/12-11/19) were not included, and we were not flexible. I am thankful to those who helped point me in the direction of potential savings. I was able to work with an unnamed agent to get a great deal, and while it is not as big of savings as free dining, it is still a savings of $900 for our family of 5. Thank you for this great community. I was silently watching the boards with you until after midnight, and up at 4:30 to check the dates. This is a truly great group, and I am excited to chat with all of you about the rest of the planning now.

 

[ThisMommyLovesMickey]

I need guidance and advice Disney friends!! I was able to book my free dining package however I did not get my original choice. My plan was a standard or preferred room at CBR with the Murphy bed (I really think the Murphy beds are cool lol) however all was available was the pirate rooms. It was slim pickings so I just booked the pirate room! After looking at the room discounts I prices a preferred room package with dining plan and it was $187 more total which is the room I really want. I've been wanting to try CBR for a while and I'm also feeling like I may as well stay at a value since the pirate room beds are small anyway and far from the pool and lobby (which are the main reasons for wanting CBR)! So my choices are stay put, pay $187 more for a package with the room I want or just give up and go with the cheapest option and stay at a value again??! All three options give me the same dining plan and same amount of tickets. Which would you choose??

 

[kellyjeanie]

It will end. I think my coworkers think I am on something with the highs and lows I have shown today.

I work from home so thankfully the only co-workers that will see me are my DH (who also works from home) and my 4-year-old.

 

[wdw4rfam]

Black do you have a facebook page? I booked my vacation while frantically telling my daughter to search for you or The dirty steve on facebook trying to figure out how to get word to everyone and came up with nothing.

Orlando by joe on Facebook.

 

[monorailrabbit]

I need guidance and advice Disney friends!! I was able to book my free dining package however I did not get my original choice. My plan was a standard or preferred room at CBR with the Murphy bed (I really think the Murphy beds are cool lol) however all was available was the pirate rooms. It was slim pickings so I just booked the pirate room! After looking at the room discounts I prices a preferred room package with dining plan and it was $187 more total which is the room I really want. I've been wanting to try CBR for a while and I'm also feeling like I may as well stay at a value since the pirate room beds are small anyway and far from the pool and lobby (which are the main reasons for wanting CBR)! So my choices are stay put, pay $187 more for a package with the room I want or just give up and go with the cheapest option and stay at a value again??! All three options give me the same dining plan and same amount of tickets. Which would you choose??

Personally I would go with what you really want if it's available, unless you are totally OK with the value. We super wanted CBR, but were ok with our 2nd choice which was POP, however I did dig all morning and finally (with the help of this board!) got our first choice for a bit more - no regrets!

 

[wdw4rfam]

I have not received an email for my second change, but it is showing up on MDE



We are staying here for the first time ever! I never thought we would be fortunate enough to be able to do a mod! Thanks free dinning! We switched and STILL saved $100!!

Be careful. Once I tried a moderate, there was no turning back. It's so quiet and peaceful and even when they are booked 100%, it's still quiet. The covered bus stops with fans and benches are great in the heat. The problem for me is we are trying a deluxe for the first time this year, and I'm hoping I don't do the same and get hooked.

 

[DisneyArie]

What are your dates?

sep 10-17

 

[Becky Mouse]

Anyone else having a child's ticket (3-9 years) show as a "10 and older ticket" in MDE? I know MDE always has wonky stuff, but curious if this is happening for anyone else. My reservation confirmation email shows the correct information.

Yes, I noticed this exact thing for my kids who are both under 10. I want to call to ask for an adjoining room with my in-laws anyway, so I'm going to ask about that. Buuuut, I'm going to wait for the wait times to die down first!

 

[daisyduck73]

The woods view rooms will be looking directly at construction, so it might be a good thing to have a courtyard view room.

Oh, I don't think I realized that. DH loves the woods view, so now I feel even better about changing to courtyard view because he won't have to look at the construction. Thanks!

 

[lmgideon]

After three hours of "busy lines" and two hours of holding I was just told that the only resorts available for FD as of now are AKL and Cabins at FW. Luckily when I was unable to get through I made a second online reservation at my same hotel to take advantage of the FD. We are now having them transfer everything over to the new reservation. Whew!

 

[scard192]

I just want to say congrats to everyone who was able to snag free dining. Unfortunately, our dates (11/12-11/19) were not included, and we were not flexible. I am thankful to those who helped point me in the direction of potential savings. I was able to work with an unnamed agent to get a great deal, and while it is not as big of savings as free dining, it is still a savings of $900 for our family of 5. Thank you for this great community. I was silently watching the boards with you until after midnight, and up at 4:30 to check the dates. This is a truly great group, and I am excited to chat with all of you about the rest of the planning now.

glad your were able to find a way to make the trip happen for your family; a few days ago you sounded like you felt it was hopeless.

 

[wdw4rfam]

Some of us are going to be the literal "non-cool" kids, going first week of September....HOT HOT HOT

Me September 1-11. The worst thing is I've done it so many times and know what I'm getting into. The lower crowds are nice, but melting on the way TO the bus stops at 8:00am....not so much. We will be club poncho!!! I think we had them on everyday last September trip.