Adding Free Dining to Already Booked Package?

[retlaw_yensid]

Is it possible? I would think Disney frowns on this, thinking that the whole point of the free dining deal was to bring in NEW bookings, not adjust older, already established bookings. But I'm curious, are there people here who have done it, and/or do it all the time? I'm assuming even after booking the initial package online, that adding the free dining promotion would then have to be done over the phone? And if it's done over the phone later, does it show up on the online booking screens? Are you given a hard time by the reservation line when you call and ask?

 

[Nemo14]

People do it all the time, or have their TA's do it for them.

 

[Monty]

You can call and ask. They'll add it if it's available, however it may or may not be available for the specific resort and/or room type you've already booked. If you can be flexible on resort/room type, they will add free dining.

 

[Leolioness4200]

I added the free dining to our "existing" reservation back in 2009. The reservation agent did not give me a hard time and even informed me of the savings!! Like Monty said though it may or may not be available for the specific resort and/or room type you've already booked but if you are flexible then they will add it

 

[wiigirl]

I have done it...

 

[DizneyPryncess]

I just did it for our November trip when free dining came out. I had to move from a 1 bedroom Wilderness Lodge Villa to a standard room at the Wilderness Lodge because it wasn't available at the Villa's. Then when the fall discounts came out, it was an even bigger savings, so we called & applied that instead (lost free dining). They were great about helping us make the switch.

 

[Lisalyn]

I just did it recently but had to switch resorts. We were are the new Arts of Animation Little Mermaid room. They came out with free dining but it wasn't valid for the Little Mermaid rooms so we moved to POP and upgraded to regular DD. Actually saving us some money in the long run. I'll miss out on the new rooms at AoA but I can try again next year!

 

[Victoria Victorious]

Anyone know if you can upgrade your free dining plan?

EX. Staying at a Value Resort only entitles you to the Quick Service plan when receiving the FREE Dining Plan. Can you pay a surcharge and upgrade to the Basic Dining Plan while still staying at a Value Resort?

 

[ExtinctJenn]

Anyone know if you can upgrade your free dining plan?

EX. Staying at a Value Resort only entitles you to the Quick Service plan when receiving the FREE Dining Plan. Can you pay a surcharge and upgrade to the Basic Dining Plan while still staying at a Value Resort?

Yep! You pay the difference between the two. So let's just say the difference between the QS plan and the TS plan is $50 per person. You'd pay $50 per person for your TS plan.

 

[real mad hatter]

In the UK when you book your package vacation to get free dining you have to book your park ticket at the same time with the same travel company.I have friends who purchased their 14 day tickets with a cheaper company then booked Virgin for their package vacation but couldn't get free dining.

 

[Joshua&CalebDad]

I booked our trip in August 2011 for November 2012. Since initially booking the trip my wife have received three seperate PINS that were applied to the package. And yes, everyone of them was an improvement. The last Pin was for Free Dining. We never had an issue with adding on a discount to an already booked vacation. In my opinion that is one of the benefits of bookining as far out in advance as you can, you have the ability to add discounts as they are released.

 

[DisneyAubs]

Anyone know if you can upgrade your free dining plan?

EX. Staying at a Value Resort only entitles you to the Quick Service plan when receiving the FREE Dining Plan. Can you pay a surcharge and upgrade to the Basic Dining Plan while still staying at a Value Resort?

You definitly can. If you are interested in any of the moderate resorts though, have the CM get you a price for them as well. Often by the time you upgrade your QS dining at a Value to the standard Dining Plan, it isn't very much more to just move on up to a moderate resort with the free standard dining.

 

[dreamfinder]

As long as your existing reservation still has openings under the discount, you should be able to do a like for like swap. But if there are none, you may need to look into a room type or resort change to take advantage.

 

[acrab3t]

When we booked our November 2011 package, free dining was not available. We had a 4 night stay at AKL with Deluxe Dining. We asked Disney if they would honor any discounts if they became available. They told us as long as we were paid in full they would be happy to refund the difference if a discount or free dining became available. Sure enough, a free dining promotion became available for our stay and resort. We called Disney and they refunded the difference back to our card. It was awesome!