Is free Dining a thing of the past?

mitchk

mitchk

Well-Known Member
I was checking out the promos they had out for last year, as well as this year, and it looks like they have not offered free QS for over a year now. I'm going in Nov. and was hoping to get free QS, but it looks like all they do now is a certain % off your room rate. So are we never gonna see free dining again? :(
 
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mitchk

mitchk

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
DManRightHere said:
I could have sworn I saw an offer last year for free dining and discount rooms for use in January-February 2013. I was hoping on receiving the same this year and going in January. Blah.
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Nope, I got free qs last sept. I believe they had it one more time, at least to the people in the U.S.
 
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mitchk

mitchk

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
ParentsOf4 said:
Historical discounts are here:

http://www.mousesavers.com/historical-information-on-walt-disney-world-resort-discounts/

Free dining was offered last fall.

Free dining is an expensive perk. From a business perspective, room discounts are preferable.
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Yes I understand that from a business perspective it saves them a lot of money, common sense. I just don't appreciate how Disney seems to turn their back on loyal customers, and try's to bring in people who have never been there before with all these perks, and I'm not talking about the U.K. When it's all said and done though, good business move Disney!
 
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sweetpee_1993

sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
draybook said:
Yeah, the Mrs. wants to do a cruise, since she plans on being pregnant next year.
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Aaaaaand, a seat is always set aside for me for dinner every night for an amazing meal experience. If I want to have a tabke service breakfast or lunch I can appear at the door of the restaurant on a whim, no ADR, and be seated. If I should want to book a fine dining experience but didn't manage to secure my reservation prior to boarding the ship, up to HALF the available reservations are held for booking onboard. I can still be spontaneous and eat like royalty!
 
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Mr.Skunkape

Mr.Skunkape

Well-Known Member
mitchk said:
Lol . I have paid for dining many, many times, but with the food the way it is .... I wouldn't pay.
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Makes things easy for your Nov.trip then either way you will not to spend any money on food if free dining is offered or not. Myself if I think food is so bad that I would not pay to eat it I also would not eat it if it was free.
 
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bluejasmine

bluejasmine

Active Member
We had FD for our trip week before Christnas.. I am hoping its not gone for good I am praying its released for our Sept trip.

I agree that taking away FD is not going to make the menus or food any better ( not that I find anything wrong with them) and it won't increase the discount on the rooms either.. I've never understood why ppl dislike FD so much BUT I'm not saying that to start a discussion or argument on it I really could care less just saying..
 
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bluejasmine

bluejasmine

Active Member
DManRightHere said:
I could have sworn I saw an offer last year for free dining and discount rooms for use in January-February 2013. I was hoping on receiving the same this year and going in January. Blah.
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There was a personal PIN that went out to a few ( some my clients) that gave them FD for that time of yr.. But it was never released to the GP

Ill say again that I understand WDW is a business first, Im a die hard fan, I always will be, but Im disappointed that they choose NOT to reward their loyal guests. Even DCL has a program that rewards return guests!

I also think waiting so long to release the late Summer/early fall discount is a bad move, while many, many will jump on it when it is released I know families who are waiting to see if FD is released (or wont go) and it doesn't give them much time to pay their trips off before their 45 day mark..
 
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mitchk

mitchk

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
bluejasmine said:
There was a personal PIN that went out to a few ( some my clients) that gave them FD for that time of yr.. But it was never released to the GP

Ill say again that I understand WDW is a business first, Im a die hard fan, I always will be, but Im disappointed that they choose NOT to reward their loyal guests. Even DCL has a program that rewards return guests!

I also think waiting so long to release the late Summer/early fall discount is a bad move, while many, many will jump on it when it is released I know families who are waiting to see if FD is released (or wont go) and it doesn't give them much time to pay their trips off before their 45 day mark..
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Right on!
 
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Violet

Violet

Well-Known Member
I'm not sure Disney cares about having loyal customers, who keep coming back. I think they think they just need to continue to be appealing to an endless revolving door of people, from around the U.S. and the world, who come once, drop a huge wad of cash, and leave. Even DVC is a one-time purchase from their viewpoint. JMHO.
 
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disneysince71

disneysince71

Well-Known Member
Violet said:
I'm not sure Disney cares about having loyal customers, who keep coming back. I think they think they just need to continue to be appealing to an endless revolving door of people, from around the U.S. and the world, who come once, drop a huge wad of cash, and leave. Even DVC is a one-time purchase from their viewpoint. JMHO.
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I respectfully disagree. I think the free dining was an answer to tumbling sales due to the economy and the recession. People are working again... The parks are booked for the rest of the year... they do not have to offer any additional discounts. It was a special and it is over. As far as DVC goes.. I have purchased 3 times. I am a huge fan and if we have it in our budget I will purchase again... But that is just me... Like I said.. Not trying to argue I just respectfully disagree... :)
 
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GoofGoof

GoofGoof

Premium Member
DManRightHere said:
I could have sworn I saw an offer last year for free dining and discount rooms for use in January-February 2013. I was hoping on receiving the same this year and going in January. Blah.
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I may be wrong, but free dining is not offered with room discounts. Its not an and its an or. In the past you had to book a package through Disney at rack rates along with a length of stay park ticket to get the free dining. To me it's just math. If the room discount saves you the same amount of money as not paying for dining it's a wash. They keep increasing the price of the DDP and decreasing the offerings to make free dining seem like a better deal.
 
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mitchk

mitchk

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
GoofGoof said:
I may be wrong, but free dining is not offered with room discounts. Its not an and its an or. In the past you had to book a package through Disney at rack rates along with a length of stay park ticket to get the free dining. To me it's just math. If the room discount saves you the same amount of money as not paying for dining it's a wash. They keep increasing the price of the DDP and decreasing the offerings to make free dining seem like a better deal.
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That depends on what resort you saty at, as far as the money goes. A value resort is only 15% off ... that is about $130 savings,........ not even close to the price of QS for 2 ;)
 
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GoofGoof

GoofGoof

Premium Member
mitchk said:
That depends on what resort you saty at, as far as the money goes. A value resort is only 15% off ... that is about $130 savings,........ not even close to the price of QS for 2 ;)
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Good point. The value of free DDP is much greater at a value resort vs a deluxe. It's also a better deal the more people you have in a room. QS DDP for 4 adults costs more per day than a room at a value. I thnk the room discounts can get higher too at the more expensive resorts.

It would cost me about $1,000 for the week to buy the basic DDP for a family of 4. If I wanted to stay at CR in a MK view room in May for a week I would have to pay $4,600 for my room if I paid rack rate (I know that sounds insane, but I pulled it from the Disney website). If my room discount exceeds 20% then it's a better deal than free dining. If its less, free dining saves me money. Of course if someone is dropping $4,600 on just their hotel room maybe they wouldn't care that much about how much money they can save;)
 
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