Pop Warner FD Blackout dates...help me understand

UPbeekeeper

UPbeekeeper

Well-Known Member
From what I can see, Pop Warner week is 12/06 - 12/13 this year. I was planning on booking a vacation either the 1st or 2nd week of December with the hopes of a FD offer. I wasn't aware until today that even if FD is offered, it is blacked out for Pop Warner week.

My original plan was to book a package arriving 12/01 and leaving 12/09, staying at CSR, but I really want to take advantage of the FD if it is offered. My question for the experts here is, is the blackout period usually 1 or 2 weeks and thinking of FD only, would this be a fairly safe time to book? Due to my own son's football schedule, 12/01 is the very earliest day we could go. Looking at crowd calendars, I'd probably want to avoid being there past the midpoint of the third week in December. I'm really getting confused and a bit frustrated trying to figure this out.

I certainly realize that there is never a guarantee of FD but it may be a deal breaker for us to go this year or wait until next Fall.

Any advice from folks who have actually been there during the first few weeks in December and how it relates to FD offers and Pop Warner?
 
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Disvillain63

Disvillain63

Well-Known Member
We have found that FD doesn't benefit us as much as the Room Only Discounts. We save more with Room Only discounts. To help with dining, I start purchasing Disney gift cards before we go...a bit each month. For us, I would plan about $100/day for food, so I'd aim for about $1000 in gift cards for food for the time period you suggested. Some days we might use more than other days. We've just found that paying rack rate for the room (which is what you do on FD) is not a cost savings, since there is way too much food for us to consume and more than we'd usually purchase if we weren't on FD. Look at the menus and plan what you might order and figure your savings by using FD, then compute what you would save with a Room Only discount.
 
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PigletIsMyCat

PigletIsMyCat

Well-Known Member
i agree. unless you're going to always order the more expensive things on the menu and eat a ton of desserts, room-only discounts save more. what @Disvillain63 says is what i did (for my trip and my brother's upcoming honeymoon) - we went through the menus, added up what we were likely to order, and compared. and for the two of us for 7 days, the standard dining plan cost us almost $100 MORE than paying out of pocket.
 
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UPbeekeeper

UPbeekeeper

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So........is there anyone who knows if the FD blackout is historically just the week of Pop Warner or the week prior AND the week of the event (2 weeks)? I can find all kinds of listings as to dates of historical offers, but no references to the black out dates. Can anyone provide me with any insight on this topic?

Thanks!!
 
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DonnaBell

DonnaBell

Member
UPbeekeeper said:
From what I can see, Pop Warner week is 12/06 - 12/13 this year. I was planning on booking a vacation either the 1st or 2nd week of December with the hopes of a FD offer. I wasn't aware until today that even if FD is offered, it is blacked out for Pop Warner week.

My original plan was to book a package arriving 12/01 and leaving 12/09, staying at CSR, but I really want to take advantage of the FD if it is offered. My question for the experts here is, is the blackout period usually 1 or 2 weeks and thinking of FD only, would this be a fairly safe time to book? Due to my own son's football schedule, 12/01 is the very earliest day we could go. Looking at crowd calendars, I'd probably want to avoid being there past the midpoint of the third week in December. I'm really getting confused and a bit frustrated trying to figure this out.

I certainly realize that there is never a guarantee of FD but it may be a deal breaker for us to go this year or wait until next Fall.

Any advice from folks who have actually been there during the first few weeks in December and how it relates to FD offers and Pop Warner?
Click to expand...

2 years ago we planned to take our grandboys to see the World dressed in its Christmas best. Our original plan was to arrive on Dec. 1. When FD was announced and the ending date was Nov. 29, I changed our plans to arrive on Nov. 29. Even though we were only booked for 1 day of FD, it was continued for each day of our vacation.
 
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popcenturylover

popcenturylover

Well-Known Member
We were at the World December 1-8 this past December & got free dining only because my daughter had gotten a pin. I believe the free dining blackout was over Thanksgiving all the way through POP Warner week which was December 6-13. (I think, because they start arriving a couple of days prior)
 
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