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

[akayf]

The waiting is driving me nuts!!!! I just want it to be over!!!! If the rumored dates are correct, I feel fairly confident that we'll be able to take advantage of free dining. Our dates are firm-8/20-8/26. We booked a package wtih 6 day hoppers and the regular dining plan and are staying at POFQ but really wanted to stay at the Contemporary or Poly but it was out of our budget. Free dining puts deluxe within our max budget. Since we are a family of 4(2 adults, 2 kids) and already planned/budgeted for hoppers, if we want to stay at a deluxe, free dining is a great deal for us. Our TA knows how much money we are willing to spend on a package at a deluxe resort and has a ranked list of our room categories. I'm pretty sure DH will get his wish of staying on the monorail. He went multiple times with his family up until he was in college and they never stayed anywhere other than the Poly so he's a bit of Disney snob. He was very disappointed that with hoppers and 4 people on the dining plan, deluxe was originally out of our budget.

However, if the stars do not align and we don't get free dining, we are still going to Disney in August and no matter where we stay, it will be a great family vacation.

 

[MoxieBadger]

I made reservations for CBR but was considering changing to Pop also. We are going Sept 16th through 20th.

Is September weather horrible? I usually go in October! I'm scared that the weather will dry me. I truly dislike heat and humidity, but I could deal with it for Disney and free dining...

 

[Taylor F.]

Hi, sorry as others have said this thread is really hard to keep up with and questions will definitely get lost. No stupid questions either! When I have done the free dining dance, I would book a new reservation online then cancelled my first reservation either by calling when things calmed down or doing it online if I had the cancellation button.

Keep in mind you won't get the original $200 deposit refunded for 7-10 business days.

If you are able to modify your reservation, click on the change button. Personally, I would be too concerned about screwing up my original reservation and not finding something that I wanted. I'm not aware of any special number to use if you decide to call. Good luck!

Makes me a little nervous. I have Poly standard booked, but I can't cancel. There's zero availability left for Poly for my week.

 

[scard192]

For those who have done this before (newbie here), Is there any chance that we will know tonight for sure what the qualifications for FD are? Or, do we have to wait til it drops to know everything? I am assuming we gotta wait til it drops, but I have 6 different plans written down depending on a bunch of "what ifs". I feel like I could lose out on one of my back-ups because I am searching for my top choice... So, I may have to drop to choice 3,4, or 5. It would be nice to know what I am doing when it drops. I mean, its Disney for crying out loud... I could stay anywhere and still have a blast Feels like Christmas Eve right about now.

Disney is the only one that can make anything "official" and they won't be announcing anything.

I would expect an update from @black562 sometime this evening and he is spot on most every year as far as FD dates.

 

[markpenske]

what's "the word on the street" as for the number of tickets required to get the free dining? I know it when from 1 day to 2 days to 2 days with hopper option

 

[Susan Doeberl]

for anyone hoping for a RO discount for the Fall, these are the details from last year (not that it means they will be the same this year), copied from @black562
FB page, note the "save up to":

"A room discount offer is also is now available for stays between August 26 and November 5.

Save up to 25%: BoardWalk Villas, Old Key West, Saratoga Springs, Animal Kingdom Villas – Jambo House, Animal Kingdom Villas – Kidani Village, Beach Club Villas, Villas at Wilderness Lodge, Polynesian Villas & Bungalows – Studios Only.

Save up to 25%: Animal Kingdom Lodge – Standard Room/Pool View Rooms, BoardWalk Inn, Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Wilderness Lodge, Yacht Club, Animal Kingdom Lodge – Savanna View/Club Level Rooms, Contemporary, Beach Club, Polynesian Village.

Save up to 20%: Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness, Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs, Port Orleans French Quarter, Port Orleans Riverside.

Save up to 15%: All-Star Movies, All-Star Music, All-Star Sports, Art of Animation Resort – Family Suites Only, Pop Century, Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness.

Excludes: Mermaid rooms at Art of Animation, Bay Lake Tower, and Grand Floridian Villas"

I tried to delete this but it won't let me.

 

[mowork48]

WDW NEWS TODAY says nothing about Values. Now it could have been an oversight, but it only mentions mods and deluxe.

I believe it was only talking about changes in the plan for 2017. Value resorts did not have their plan changed.

 

[MoxieBadger]

Newbie here! I am planning my first ever trip to WDW!!! I apologize if any of my questions have already been answered in recent pages.

If I book FD tomorrow, how do modifications work? We want to fly non-stop from Louisville on Southwest, but Southwest has not yet released their flight schedules for December. They are supposed to be released in mid-May, but sometimes they release the schedules earlier than they had previously stated. We want to get at least 6 full days in the park. I want to check-in the weekend of 12/9 and checkout the weekend of 12/16. Should I go ahead and book for Friday 12/8 check-in and Sunday 12/17 checkout, then just drop days later? How late can I change check-out dates without losing FD? How late can I change check-in dates without losing FD? When I change check-in dates, is that like starting all over with a new ressie altogether?

I live right outside of Louisville, also love flying Southwest!!!

 

[Disneylover99]

For those who have done this before (newbie here), Is there any chance that we will know tonight for sure what the qualifications for FD are? Or, do we have to wait til it drops to know everything? I am assuming we gotta wait til it drops, but I have 6 different plans written down depending on a bunch of "what ifs". I feel like I could lose out on one of my back-ups because I am searching for my top choice... So, I may have to drop to choice 3,4, or 5. It would be nice to know what I am doing when it drops. I mean, its Disney for crying out loud... I could stay anywhere and still have a blast Feels like Christmas Eve right about now.

I don't think we'll know anything else until this drops. There really isn't anything new to know at this point.

 

[SCBENGAL]

Question: We have never visited the park November/December time. If we go during FD the week of November 25 or December 8, is it really necessary to worry about signing up for Fast Pass 60 days out?

YES!!!

 

[meagarunt22]

Is September weather horrible? I usually go in October! I'm scared that the weather will dry me. I truly dislike heat and humidity, but I could deal with it for Disney and free dining...

Yes! If you know you hate being hot, which doesn't bother me TOO much to cancel a Disney vacation over, then it truly sucks and cuts into the magic. I jumped in all the splash pads and took those magic cloth things that cool down when you get wet and that helped a lot. My husband was just miserable though and my daughter complained about the heat the whole time. Everyone whining kind of puts a damper on the whole thing...but you know how you handle the heat and humidity so you can judge from my experiences in September. Definitely get those cooling towels though.

 

[Kiki_pa]

Makes me a little nervous. I have Poly standard booked, but I can't cancel. There's zero availability left for Poly for my week.

I'm in the same boat with Poly. I really hope that they have some FD available for the standard rooms.

 

[Susan Doeberl]

I have run our numbers and talked to DH. I have been hearing 2 different ticket requirements. It is either 2 or 4 days with park hopper depending on what web site you go to. If it is the 2 day ticket we will go for the FD at mod with our reservation at CBR. If it is 4 day we will go with our CBR reservation and just pay OOP for our food. I run our numbers every which way without the FD and we will pay too much to get the CS dining plan. I can't stress enough to check your prices on food. I was really shocked to see what our savings were. We will save about $50.00 dollars a day for 4 adults (3 adult and 1 ten year old). Over 5 days that is $250.00 dollars. Part of that will go for my grandson to gets some goodies at the stores.

 

[hodad]

I'm flying tonight, arriving on the east coast at 1:20am. It sure would be great if I could book this while I'm waiting at baggage claim.

 

[meagarunt22]

We can't go to Disney for FD this year! We had a house for sale in New Mexico for 2 years and it was FINALLY selling. We were going to use the money from closing for our first ever Christmas time vacation. Even my hubby is dying to go and he usually doesn't care about Disney at all. He loves free dining though. This weekend the buyers backed out...8 days from closing and we are out all the money we put into repairs and improvements. Not to mention no money from closing for Disney.

I can't make myself stop watching this thread though. I'll be watching to see what you all get. Good luck!

 

[bluezy]

what's "the word on the street" as for the number of tickets required to get the free dining? I know it when from 1 day to 2 days to 2 days with hopper option

I'm seeing 3 days with park hopper or park hopper plus.

 

[markpenske]

we've created a schematic flow sheet with a series of scenarios/availibility/questions/answers/arrows/.... Starts at the top of the sheet with the scenario "QS at mods" with 2 arrows (yes & no)...and continues down until we get our preferred choice. Is that crazy?

 

[AnnetteS]

If you check your account online, normally it is 7-10 business days at most.....

Yes , and i just noticed that the deposit from my reservation by phone came back a week sooner than the online one. I cancelled them at the same time
If people live outside the US sometimes cancellation still cost money.due to exchange rate.

 

[Susan Doeberl]

Yes! If you know you hate being hot, which doesn't bother me TOO much to cancel a Disney vacation over, then it truly sucks and cuts into the magic. I jumped in all the splash pads and took those magic cloth things that cool down when you get wet and that helped a lot. My husband was just miserable though and my daughter complained about the heat the whole time. Everyone whining kind of puts a damper on the whole thing...but you know how you handle the heat and humidity so you can judge from my experiences in September. Definitely get those cooling towels though.

The best way to get through the heat is to start real early go back to hotel around 12:00 or 1:00. Go to pool and have a great time. Take quick nap and back out to park around 4:00 to 4:30. I live in Florida and between 1:00 to 3:00 it is real hot melting hot in September. I know some of you are there all day, but the break during the hottest part of the day is worth leaving and enjoying your resort.

 

[Kelly014]

2880 rooms at POP, you might end up having to book preferred but good chance you will be able to get a room there tomorrow.

I have been following FD for at least 5 years and honestly don't recall anyone posting that they could not get an FD room at some Value resort.

Two years ago we did FD and I booked right before (like a day or two) the offer expired and booked at Pop. There was CBR availability the week before that but it ran out before we decided whether we were going or not so we went with Pop, and I know there was other value availability as well. I know things are a little different this year with inventory being limited at mods due to construction, but I agree that value availability will last for a while!