Has anyone heard of this offer yet?

[cowanfamily]

I came across this offer on another board. I wasn't sure if it had any validity to it or not. Has anyone heard of this yet?

"Hi my friends, we have our trip already booked for september with the FD, but i know that a lot of fellow disers are waiting for this big new, (THIS IS INTERNAL INFORMATION) ok, this is the NEW FREE DINING OFFER, it will be available for all in AUGUST 3 .

these are the dates and the conditions of the new offer

Bookings Between August 3, 2011 - December 17, 2011
Travel Dates
October 2, 2011 - October 8, 2011
October 23, 2011 - November 5, 2011
November 13, 2011 - November 19, 2011
November 27, 2011 - December 3, 2011
December 11, 2011 - December 17,

Free Quick Service Dining for values and regular dining for moderates deluxe and villas

Minimum Stay: 3 Nights – Maximum Stay: 14 Nigths.


THE CODE FOR THIS PROMOTION WILL BE FCX FOR VALUES WITH QUICK SERVICE DINING AND FCY FOR MODERATES DELUXE AND VILLAS WITH REGULAR DINING.

I know that this will make a lot of people very very happy and for that reason I share this will all of you.

Have a magical vacation and be ready for August 3"

 

[Poofiesdream]

got my fingers and toes crossed!

 

[nor'easter]

I agree... nothing is really free. It may be packaged to resemble a giveaway, but it never is free.

The people using free dinning do not have a discounted room rate. A lot of the people who opt out of the free dinning take the room discount. You will be hard pressed to find someone who says "no, I will not accept the savings". Disney obvously feels there is more revenue in offering it, then not offering it. The proof is the fact that they continue to release additional dates extending the promotion.

Sales 101: If people believe they are getting a great deal they buy.

I would be curious to find out how many guests are paying rack rates without any form of discount. Also... are there any figures that show what it actually costs WDW to do a family of 4, 7 day vacation w/ resort, tickets and dinning?

We (family of 4) actually save more by taking a 30% room discount and paying for our meals. The one time we used free dining we ended up with several snacks that we didn't even use. But then we don't usually eat two huge meals per day. The dining plan may save money for those who have to use motorized scooters to get around.

I hate the free dining thing for all the reasons already stated. Also, during the promotion you need to book reservations weeks in advance to eat at a reasonable time.

 

[Hakunamatata]

The dining plan may save money for those who have to use motorized scooters to get around.

Tacky and low classed comment.

 

[nc_disneyfreak]

were not all loaded....

to those who classify the free dining plan, or the dining plan in general as "disney food stamps" are morons...not everyone who wants to take thier family to WDW has loads of money to do so....So when the free dining plan comes out, it enables those of us who may not be able to go, the last push to actually get there. I love the free dining promotion, as it allowed me to take my family of four to WDW in april 2010....so if you want to push your "status" on everyone with a low class and pathetic comment like that, save it for someone who cares...like the rest of your volvo drivin' starbucks drinkin' haughty friends...
just my opinion

 

[wilkeliza]

We used the Dinning Plan this time but paid for it. I think the big issue with the DP is people don't tip. They just hand over their card and think their job is done. We brought 500 in cash with us to use just for tips at our ADR places. We did eat Via Napi (the pizza place in EPCOT) the waitress was constantly mentioned that tip was not included and made sure to walk us through completely what was included and what would cost more. We kind of laughed it off as we are getting the backlash from all those people who didn't tip.

Our last trip was our first with the dinning plan which we purchased (our trip had no discounts) and we will purchase again. The boyfriend and I are from NYC and so there isn't much spontaneous dinning here, if you want good dinning at least, so ADRs don't affect our vacation anyways. We are foodies so sometimes we look forward to our ADRs more than we look forward to the parks that day.

Also nothing about the dinning plan makes you make ADRs it is just an option. You can still show up somewhere and ask if you can get a table. We only did 6 ADRs and the rest were spontaneous dinning.

 

[boufa]

Many people on this forum feel that it is their Disney and the rest of us are all in the way of their enjoyment. Mommy never taught them to share. So I will take my Disney food stamps and enjoy my trip. I saved $150 over the kids play free promotion, even with buying the book.

I am smart enough to understand that not everyone is the same. I understand that dining, if free dining is not for everyone. I don't feel the need to prove it by insulting the people who chose to like something I don't.

Now let me smack some logic down on you dining plan haters. Ready, the resort mercury, and the gift shop stuff has gone down in quality of the lest few years.... and there is significantly less variation between locations right? Is there a merchendise plan I dont know about that we can blame for that exactly the same cost cutting move? With or without the dining plan, the money saving changes would still have occurred.

 

[Fractal514]

You do realize that your paying rack rates when you get free dining right? Also lee your right, the dining plan is a joke. It has killed spontaneous dining.

This is simply untrue. The dining plan itself isn't the problem, it's Disney handing it out like candy on Halloween that is the problem. I get that some families need the savings in order to be able to afford to go, but I also think that it pushes many more families into the TS restaurants than would normally be there.

Boo to this, give folks room discounts or free park tickets with room booking, but stop handing out free food.

 

[Lee]

Now let me smack some logic down on you dining plan haters. Ready, the resort mercury, and the gift shop stuff has gone down in quality of the lest few years.... and there is significantly less variation between locations right? Is there a merchendise plan I dont know about that we can blame for that exactly the same cost cutting move? With or without the dining plan, the money saving changes would still have occurred.

No. Not true.
The merchandise has inded undergone a change for the worse. This is due to the fact that the company pencil-pushers decided that every merch. location needed to meet a mandated profit goal. The locations that offered varied and unique merchandise did not make as much profit as the locations that sold more general/generic WDW product.
Hence the merchandise change in order to boost profit at the expense of originality and variety.

The restaurants at WDW were never in the same situation.
They were always busy, and always highly profitable.
It wasn't until the various dining plans had been in effect for a lengthy period that the company started to notice that they were losing money on food. In order to balance out their desire to profit from food sales and still be able to offer huge discounts, their only option was to reduce their overhead cost...so they reduced the quality and portion size of the meals.
There was a direct cause and effect.

In addition, they raised the cost of meals in most table service restaurants to artificially enhance the value that guests on the dining plans felt that they were getting.

So, the end result is that those on the dining plan are saving a little bit of money, by getting a deal on higher priced yet lower quality food. Those of us not on the plan are simply paying more and getting less.

get that some families need the savings in order to be able to afford to go, but I also think that it pushes many more families into the TS restaurants than would normally be there.

And pushes families into restaurants where before they wouldn't have gone. That's why you can now order a hamburger at even the most upscale park restaurants.

Final point...tipping. Many on the dining plan simply do not understand that they should still be tipping the wait staff the same amount as if they were actually paying for the meal. If a meal would have been $50 without the discount, you should still be tipping based on that $50 figure.

 

[wendysue]

I say Amen to the fact that Free Dining takes off $2000. on a family of 5's 10 night stay......Love to see it.

It's going to be great to modify and have the refund posted to our 2012 reservation.

Did I miss something? How would you apply it to a 2012 trip?

 

[Scuttle]

This is simply untrue. The dining plan itself isn't the problem, it's Disney handing it out like candy on Halloween that is the problem. I get that some families need the savings in order to be able to afford to go, but I also think that it pushes many more families into the TS restaurants than would normally be there.

Boo to this, give folks room discounts or free park tickets with room booking, but stop handing out free food.

What part of my statement do you believe to be not true? Because everything I said is absolutely true.

 

[redsfan4life]

to those who classify the free dining plan, or the dining plan in general as "disney food stamps" are morons...not everyone who wants to take thier family to WDW has loads of money to do so....So when the free dining plan comes out, it enables those of us who may not be able to go, the last push to actually get there. I love the free dining promotion, as it allowed me to take my family of four to WDW in april 2010....so if you want to push your "status" on everyone with a low class and pathetic comment like that, save it for someone who cares...like the rest of your volvo drivin' starbucks drinkin' haughty friends...
just my opinion

Thank you you beat me to posting this . I am one of those that needs to use free dining to be able to bring my family. I am not lucky enough to be able to visit a few times a year like some on here and am lucky to be able to visit every 2 years. Also for people thinking people taking advantage of free dining are oversized Emv users'I am 5'10 120 lbs and use it .

 

[Scuttle]

Final point...tipping. Many on the dining plan simply do not understand that they should still be tipping the wait staff the same amount as if they were actually paying for the meal. If a meal would have been $50 without the discount, you should still be tipping based on that $50 figure.

I have worked the hospitality and restaurant industry for over ten years. This is one of the truest statements I've ever read on these boards. When you get a discount you are still suppose to tip on the total amount non discounted. Not sure if this should apply to the dining plan since your paying rack rates though.

 

[DougK]

I thought the discounts were supposed to go away?

Unfortunately since the free dining has come along the food quality has definately taken a dive. In order to cover the cost of the free dining it seems that they have been using cheaper ingrediants, have less menu options and there has been an increasing similarity of menus between restaurants which is taking away the magic of dining. It is not quite the tour of the taste buds it once was. I do still enjoy eating at many restaurants, but it is just not what it was.

This is SO TRUE and such a shame.

 

[boufa]

What part of my statement do you believe to be not true? Because everything I said is absolutely true.

No, he was arguing with me. I still think 2 things, 1 the fee dining, or any dining for that matter is not the root of all Disney evil (i thought that was meg and the broken yeti). Disney would have pushed more profit from meals either way. They make a boatload more money from the free dining discount than the room only discount. As for table service, personally I would not take ts dining even for free. I had the chance to upgrade my room to a moderate but did not want the ts dining.

In most cases at a moderate the saving could go either way, free food or room only. At a deluxe it almost never makes sense to do free dining. At a value it almost always is a better deal, meaning that the vast majority of the food welfare as you call it is going to value resorts aka... Qs dining.

I apologize if my way of living and touring the parks offends some of you. You'll live.


Guess what? I am also one if "those people" who take the resort loop from the ttc to the mk just because I enjoy the ride. I don't mean to take a seat from you and your $400 a night smart spending of your money.

 

[nc_disneyfreak]

well said reds fan...

Thank you you beat me to posting this . I am one of those that needs to use free dining to be able to bring my family. I am not lucky enough to be able to visit a few times a year like some on here and am lucky to be able to visit every 2 years. Also for people thinking people taking advantage of free dining are oversized Emv users'I am 5'10 120 lbs and use it .

well said....its funny that some people use this site to be complete ( insert obsenity here ) WDW is somewhere to make magic happen, and give a gift to your kids that will in turn, get them to take thier kids as well....all things disney should make people come together, be able to experience things that they would not get to experience in their daily lives....ride the busses, the rides, eat the food, swim etc....to think that some folks would bring status into play is crazy.....ill take my food stamps thank you....

 

[Fractal514]

Let me clarify a few things...

I think that the Dining Plan as sold by Disney is not, in any way, a part of the problem. I think it is just a different way of thinking about how to pay for your food, up front rather than a la carte.

I also think that Free Dining offers ARE a part of the problem. When something is given away for free, it is inherently cheapened. Also, I think that folks DO eat in more sit down restaurants and in ones that they would not have eaten in had they been paying out of pocket.

Furthermore, I am a DVC member, but I have also been someone scrimping and saving to make a trip happen. I think discounts are great, and I personally feel room rate discounts are the best. I don't want Disney to be a "rich people only" place, but I do think giving away Free Dining is the wrong method for leveling the field.

As someone who likes the dining plan, I might also be biased, because I'm pretty sure they keep taking things away from the dining plan to make it easier for them to justify giving it away.

 

[Dads 2 Boys]

Hopefully that will weed out some of those on "disney food stamps" :lookaroun and I'll actually be able to get a table. sorry if i ruffled some feathers with that.

Wow....be a little more of an #$%&*^. This may quite possibly be the most obnoxious comment I've ever seen here. Who the bleep are you to classify everyone on the DDP in this manner?

To complain about how in your opinion the DDP affects the menus and food quality are one thing but to say something this ignorant.........

 

[JimboJones123]

I think that a lot of people arguing that people who normally wouldn't eat in a specific place if not for free dining have had their argument very deminished by the fact that value resorts no longer offer free TS, but only at an upcharge.

This has made the system much more balanced. it works good for us because 2-3 TS a meals a trip are more than enough for us. We stay value and would rather pay for them out of pocket anyways.

Something that has REALLY bothered me is the severe price hikes to make the paid for DDP still advertise the 30% discount.

In fact, most of the all you can eat meals have gone up in their dinner prices $12-20 in the past 6-7 years since the DDP began. THAT IS CRAZY. And sad for the people that are willing to pay out of pocket.

 

[mickey2008.1]

Got our free dining back in march. So whats the big deal? I guess it did'nt fill the resorts then, so keep it going for last minute travelers. Then explain why all Fantasmic packages were filled when it was announced that it was 7 days a week? only the same day it was announced here. I call BS.

 

[Fractal514]

Got our free dining back in march. So whats the big deal? I guess it did'nt fill the resorts then, so keep it going for last minute travelers. Then explain why all Fantasmic packages were filled when it was announced that it was 7 days a week? only the same day it was announced here. I call BS.

I must be missing something. I read that as 1 + 2 = Thursday