Planning for free dining next year

[Carebee21]

Hi. We're planning a trip for Sept 2010. If we plan for the middle of Sept we should be good for when free dining is traditionally offered, correct?

And secondly, I noticed that when they extended the free dining this year, it looks like values only got the quick service meal plan instead of the regular. I know no one knows for sure, but do you think that they will do that next year for the regular free dining period? And if they do, are you allowed to pay to upgrade from free quick service dining to the regular plan? And if so, what is the cost of that?

I'm trying to budget out this trip and be as cheap as possible, but just trying to figure out if I would be better at a value or a moderate.

 

[sueuk]

The free DDP is already being offered for next year in the UK. Like this year, for us the Values do not get the offer, the Moderates get QS DDP and the Deluxes get regular DDP. I know the offers are different in the USA.

 

[Master Yoda]

Mid September will put you in the middle of what is traditionally free dining.

It is really anyone's guess what they will do next year regarding the tiered plan. From my end I did not see the same response with the tiered plan as I did with the traditional free dining promotion but my client base is probably .0000001% of Disney's volume so it is hardly an indicator of the success of the tiered dining promotion.

As always you can always pay the difference to upgrade what ever dining plan they offer.

If you need any help booking feel free to contact me.

 

[Phonedave]

Free dining is already being offered on a bounce-back from mid Aug to somtime near the end of September

While nothing is written in stone, most of the time a bounce-back offer will go GA after a while.

-dave

 

[Carebee21]

Free dining is already being offered on a bounce-back from mid Aug to somtime near the end of September

While nothing is written in stone, most of the time a bounce-back offer will go GA after a while.

-dave

Is the bounce back offer the regular free dining for values?

 

[blackthidot]

Yep, I posted the add for it a few weeks back...Values are included.

 

[Phonedave]

Is the bounce back offer the regular free dining for values?

The one I had was only for Deluxe.

But then I was staying in a Deluxe, so that may be why it was only offered for deluxe resorts.

I was in WL, and they were offering AKL, WL, and I think somwhere else.

-dave

 

[Lucky]

The flyers provide examples of savings, and the examples tend to be deluxe for flyers distributed in deluxe resorts, but the offers are more widely applicable. Just call and ask for details.

 

[DisneyGigi]

And secondly, I noticed that when they extended the free dining this year, it looks like values only got the quick service meal plan instead of the regular. I know no one knows for sure, but do you think that they will do that next year for the regular free dining period?

The people that received the pin code offer before the dining extension was offered to the visa card holders or general public actually included the full dining plan for value as well. So maybe there will be a repeat of that next year. I am curious if there is a bounceback offer in our room if it will include the full plan since that is what got with the pin.

 

[DisneyRunner]

With ADRs going to 180 days, do you think people will book a package and make ADRs with the hopes of a general public offering for free dining in August/September?

 

[Master Yoda]

With ADRs going to 180 days, do you think people will book a package and make ADRs with the hopes of a general public offering for free dining in August/September?

Absolutely.

 

[CleveRocks]

With ADRs going to 180 days, do you think people will book a package and make ADRs with the hopes of a general public offering for free dining in August/September?

The irony is that if everyone did this, Disney would never offer free dining.

A promo like free dining is offered because they don't have enough rooms sold, so they offer a sweet deal to sell more rooms. Once the occupancy rate reaches a certain mark, they stop offering the promo for that room category/resort/date.

So, if a resort was already completely sold out for August through October, when Disney announces a free dining promo there won't be any rooms available for that promo at that resort, meaning that people who already have a room at that resort won't be able to "change" or "convert" the reservation to a free dining reservation because it's not available ... it's not available because Disney already sold all of the rooms, so there's no reason to offer them with free stuff.

 

[wolf2961]

The irony is that if everyone did this, Disney would never offer free dining.

A promo like free dining is offered because they don't have enough rooms sold, so they offer a sweet deal to sell more rooms. Once the occupancy rate reaches a certain mark, they stop offering the promo for that room category/resort/date.

So, if a resort was already completely sold out for August through October, when Disney announces a free dining promo there won't be any rooms available for that promo at that resort, meaning that people who already have a room at that resort won't be able to "change" or "convert" the reservation to a free dining reservation because it's not available ... it's not available because Disney already sold all of the rooms, so there's no reason to offer them with free stuff.

Completely correct. There are always a limited # of rooms available at each resort for free dining. A strong booking in advance would make free dining unneccessary. Deposits are refundable, so no worries there (travel insurance is not). If you think you are going, then there is no reason to not book, other than the risk of disappointment should you need to cancel.