2016 Free Dining Watch ~ Part 2

[CaliTex]

My DH and I are going on DVC points to the Boardwalk Villas for our anniversary from December 10-16. It is a just the two of us trip, lots of fine dining and World Showcase, which is wonderful, but I was going to be missing our usual partners in crime, our 10 and 6 year old grandchildren. We would also miss the Wilderness Lodge. We know it's under construction but honestly, that wouldn't bother us.

Sooooo.... I saw these FD threads and.....I booked the Wilderness Lodge for December 16-19th with free dining---Courtyard View, bunk beds---because the grands are joining us there!

Boat ride, Crystal Palace, Be Our Guest and Magic Kingdom, here we come!!!

I hope everyone else gets what they are wanting! And I am no expert, but the last several years we booked FD at POR for December. Booked in July for the Fall FD offering.

 

[SGMCO]

We had Coronado booked this morning with free dining since there were no rooms at Pop. We really wanted All Star Movies for my 5 year old son who loves 101 Dalmatians. I priced the back to school deal and what do you know it was $275 cheaper with the same dining package and preferred room. I didn't have to pay for park hoppers we don't use or the expensive preferred room for moderate. So I'm very surprised right now since we have done free dining 5 years in a row.

I priced out this with my FD at a MOD with Reg. DP and cost over $900 more. So FD is still a better deal for us

 

[Kingdome8]

Oh come on now. Don't make tears start flowing here and fur start flying. It's been orderly up to now.

Sorry was on with rep for 2 hours. Couldn't find anything anywhere. Except deluxe. Which is out of my range. I have 5 people.
They had a family suite at all star music. But would be like 5 grand just to get free dining. I have CBR now and would be cheaper just to buy it. Maybe if u have four u will be good. Good luck.

 

[Nancyg56]

It's not just about the savings. Do they not understand how magical it is on vacation to not look at prices when ordering or not budgeting for character meals! Maybe their millionaires!!! Hahahaha Less guests taking it from us who appreciate it!! I'm still happy dancing!!

But depending on the group dynamics, it can be a great savings. I get annoyed when folks make these broad statements without having any idea the number of people, the room and the discount the family may be comparing the FD to.

 

[margievis]

no luck... guess I'll have to keep checking back... after 2 1/2 hours on hold and nearly 2 hours trying to get through

 

[DisBuckMan]

For Be Our Guest do can we still go there for lunch or breakfast if we don't have an ADR?

Your odds are very, very slim of getting in without an ADR, and you'll waste park time waiting around to see.

 

[The Dirty Steve]

@black562 i just had an interesting tidbit passed to me...the original 4/21 DV was bailed on.

 

[eyeblaura]

For Be Our Guest do can we still go there for lunch or breakfast if we don't have an ADR?

No it is my understanding it is all ADR now

 

[pde3b]

Thanks to everyone for all the info. Has proven very helpful. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get what we wanted with FD, which was a standard room at CBR. The two options I have to choose from right now are a pirate room at CBR or a royal guest room at POR. We are leaning toward the POR, even though CBR seems to have better theming for kids. We have a 4 and 6 year old. Thoughts?

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

My DDs tickets were showing adult too but all the pricing was correct. I plan to give it a few days, see if it fixes itself, if not then I'll call when the frenzy is over!

Exactly! Thanks!!

 

[ELSA711]

I was able to get my Thanksgiving week at 7am this morning (I forgot last night)
I couldn't get the check in date I wanted but will keep trying.

 

[Nancyg56]

Can I cancel FD if I can't eat anwhere???
I mean there is absolutely nothing available
Shall I wait a week or two to see if people change there ressies around?

I would not cancel yet. There will be plenty of options once folks release the extras they have or begin tweaking their plans. I know that I book the PPO restaurants I think my family will want, but I cannot drag them out that early to every park, so once I get a handle on how we plan to tour in the park, I either keep the ADR, or I release it. Be patient, you will find meals.

 

[ELSA711]

Thanks to everyone for all the info. Has proven very helpful. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get what we wanted with FD, which was a standard room at CBR. The two options I have to choose from right now are a pirate room at CBR or a royal guest room at POR. We are leaning toward the POR, even though CBR seems to have better theming for kids. We have a 4 and 6 year old. Thoughts?

I love both resorts, if your children are boys - CBR, girls - POR. One of each - still I would go with CBR. My girls like to be pirates

 

[ml sumner]

Anyone else having a child's ticket (3-9 years) show as a "10 and older ticket" in MDE? I know MDE always has wonky stuff, but curious if this is happening for anyone else. My reservation confirmation email shows the correct information.

Yes my son's is showing this way and he is listed as 5 years old!

 

[vicarrieous]

@black562 i just had an interesting tidbit passed to me...the original 4/21 DV was bailed on.

Interesting. Any reason given why?

 

[vrajewski10513]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand now the website is down.

 

[carmelhp]

Did you include flights? You have to pay for that upfront as well.

No, after seeing others like yourself saying it was still $200, I went back over it and saw that there was a separate ticket order. Deleting that brought the "due today" back down to $200. Whew! One other thing I noticed after finally getting the package reserved is the final payment day is 30 days out instead of 45 days out. My last year confirmation starting Dec 20 says balance due Nov 5. My Dec 17 confirmation this year says balance due Nov 17. One other thing, when I was booking, one of the All-Stars for standard room and included QS plan was $3000 more than the Coronado Springs standard room and included regular DDP I was booking. Error?

 

[Kmariee83]

Last year for free dining we weren't able to get through until later in the day and the only thing let were DVC resorts. We booked it with hopes of other resorts opening up. About a month after FD was released, we checked to see if any resort was available and CB, POR and AoA family suits opened up for our week and we were able to get a room we wanted. So if you weren't able to get a room you wanted, keep checking for the next couple of weeks. Something might open up!

 

[Confederate Scott]

@black562 i just had an interesting tidbit passed to me...the original 4/21 DV was bailed on.

Very interesting. I wonder why they scrapped it.

 

[eyeblaura]

If I canceled my original reservation and booked a new resort this morning will I need to call and adjust my DME info or will that automatically be updated?