******Official 2017 Free Dining Plan Watch, Wait, and Dream

[sharonabe]

funny, I see that posted above now.

and it was also posted about 15 pages back around 2:30 in the morning, but thanks for keeping the late arrivals up-to-speed!

 

[Bimmy56]

Some more info for people who have an existing reservation they will need to change once FD drops. So, if you click on "Change Reservation", you get this page:
View attachment 231849

If you click on the "Change" under Vacation offer (red box), this may show up:
View attachment 231850

Which, started to freak me out!
But if you actually click on the "change" under room type (pink box), it brings you to the page to add an offer:
View attachment 231854

The FD offer will show up in the orange box if/when it becomes available.

For my reservation, it would allow me to change room type or resort, if available. But it would not allow me to change dates (not that I wanted to). It could be because I already have DME flight info in the reservation, or just the way the package is set-up. So if you need to change your dates, be prepared to possibly need to either book a whole new reservation or call in.

That is so helpful- thank you

I have one question - we have 2 reservations booked (myself and son's family) but we do not have the tickets booked. Should we put the tickets on the reservations now to be able modify to the free dining?

thank you so much!!!

 

[christmasmagic]

Hi! I have heard in the past that Disney Visa Cardholders get a code to book the FD package sooner. Does this include the Disney Visa Chase Debit card, or just the credit card?

 

[Confederate Scott]

That is so helpful- thank you

I have one question - we have 2 reservations booked (myself and son's family) but we do not have the tickets booked. Should we put the tickets on the reservations now to be able modify to the free dining?

thank you so much!!!

I don't think it matters if you do it now or when you modify your existing reservation and select any offer that might be available.

 

[menotyou21]

Same here. My kids will be 1st grade and 7th grade when we go in September. The days they miss shouldn't be a big deal and work can be made up. We like going in September because of the lower crowds and getting free dining.
Definitely not worried about the teachers judging me for it! There are worse things I could be doing than taking my kids on a fun vacay

This debate has always been a unique one. It is entirely a personal preference and has to be what is best for your family. Overall, I've found most teachers to be excited to see parents as involved as my wife and I are with our kids education. We have taken our kids out of school for vacation nearly every year. Oldest are now in 5th grade. We discuss with the teachers/principal and make an effort to plan around non testing periods. It's never seemed to cause any impact on their learning or "social standing" at school. We normally bring their teachers back a small Disney gift....IMO it makes it fun for everyone. When we went in 2014, we took 2 high school relatives with us. Their teachers were incredible, having sent the week's lesson plan with them. They did not get the 2 "rest days" like we did, as they spent nearly all of both days working on papers, etc.

 

[mowork48]

Some more info for people who have an existing reservation they will need to change once FD drops. So, if you click on "Change Reservation", you get this page:
View attachment 231849

If you click on the "Change" under Vacation offer (red box), this may show up:
View attachment 231850

Which, started to freak me out!
But if you actually click on the "change" under room type (pink box), it brings you to the page to add an offer:
View attachment 231854

The FD offer will show up in the orange box if/when it becomes available.

For my reservation, it would allow me to change room type or resort, if available. But it would not allow me to change dates (not that I wanted to). It could be because I already have DME flight info in the reservation, or just the way the package is set-up. So if you need to change your dates, be prepared to possibly need to either book a whole new reservation or call in.

We have a Pop room and regular dining and base ticket package booked..should I change the base ticket to park hopper before free dining becomes available so the tickets don't have to be changed too? I assume if we don't get free dining, we can always change back to base tickets. I am using a TA for the 1st time but she always says that she has everything under control. We planned on upgrading to TS from QS so she did suggested booking dining and then they would just credit back QS dining cost if we get free dining. So I don't understand why she didn't add park hoppers instead tickets. Just wondering if we should ask her to change that before free dining drops

 

[Sharongal74]

May I ask for some opinions on our dates?

We are currently booked at Pop for December 7 through December 13. My thinking was that it would be cheaper to fly on a Thursday and Wednesday vs. weekend dates, and hopefully less crowded. However, DD would be missing 5 days of school (1st grade), which I feel a little bad about.

We are flexible for December leading up to Christmas, so we can change for FD if needed. I was recently thinking about Dec. 14 or 15 through Dec. 20 or 21 as another option, because then DD would only miss 3 or 4 days (and leading right up to break, so they won't be heavy work days). Drawbacks include slightly more expensive room, probably more expensive flights, and I assume more crowded at WDW? Would the crowds be drastically different from 12/7-12/13 vs. 12/14-12/20? Which set would you choose?

We haven't been there near Christmas for awhile but the later dates got more crowded when we were there and I think we stayed til the 19th. We have pulled our kids out every time we have went. For as many as 7 school days. All different grades. They have had to do some home work while on the trip but they have not had any problems catching up. For me I would go earlier.

 

[Confederate Scott]

We have a Pop room and regular dining and base ticket package booked..should I change the base ticket to park hopper before free dining becomes available so the tickets don't have to be changed too? I assume if we don't get free dining, we can always change back to base tickets. I am using a TA for the 1st time but she always says that she has everything under control. We planned on upgrading to TS from QS so she did suggested booking dining and then they would just credit back QS dining cost if we get free dining. So I don't understand why she didn't add park hoppers instead tickets. Just wondering if we should ask her to change that before free dining drops

Unless you plan to keep the park hopper IF you don't get free dining I don't think you need to change it now. IF free dining becomes available and there is availability this would be taken care of when you modify your existing reservation.

 

[mowork48]

Unless you plan to keep the park hopper IF you don't get free didn't I don't think you need to change it now. IF free dining becomes available and there is availability this would be taken care of when you modify your existing reservation.

Thx..I am like everyone else..just nervous..this is a big trip for us. We are choosing WDW as a way to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary...taking our 2 children, spouses, and 2 grandchildren ages 6&8 who have never been before. So, like everyone else, FD would be a great financial help as we plan on doing character dining.

 

[agassizsmile]

I'm sorry to be a pain but can anyone tell me what hotels will fit five and are historically included with FD? Finding out that we may only get QSFD at CBR even with the GC has made me decide to recheck my numbers. TIA

im debating if we should stay at cbr also with just QS DP.The gift cards are nice but I dont want to be in construction zone.Why are you having doubts may I ask?we stayed at POR last year very nice but wanted something new.

 

[PopGirl26]

I'm sorry to be a pain but can anyone tell me what hotels will fit five and are historically included with FD? Finding out that we may only get QSFD at CBR even with the GC has made me decide to recheck my numbers. TIA

The last I heard, there were no more GCs being offered at CBR (except people who booked before March 20). Even for those people, if they modified to add Free Dining, wouldn't they then lose the GC? Forgive me if I'm mistaken.

 

[nkereina]

I read on another thread mention of a PH+Waterparks ticket requirement for free dining. Is that the current rumor? Or is it just a park hopper requirement that we're hearing of?

 

[tchull]

For those of you who booked FD last year, were you successful in modifying a current reservation to add the promotion or did you have to end up making a new reservation? Thanks!

 

[Cbtexan04]

I read on another thread mention of a PH+Waterparks ticket requirement for free dining. Is that the current rumor? Or is it just a park hopper requirement that we're hearing of?

I too would like to know this! It very well might affect whether we upgrade to annual passes or not!

 

[Obi Shaun Kanobi]

Some more info for people who have an existing reservation they will need to change once FD drops. So, if you click on "Change Reservation", you get this page:
View attachment 231849

If you click on the "Change" under Vacation offer (red box), this may show up:
View attachment 231850

Which, started to freak me out!
But if you actually click on the "change" under room type (pink box), it brings you to the page to add an offer:
View attachment 231854

The FD offer will show up in the orange box if/when it becomes available.

For my reservation, it would allow me to change room type or resort, if available. But it would not allow me to change dates (not that I wanted to). It could be because I already have DME flight info in the reservation, or just the way the package is set-up. So if you need to change your dates, be prepared to possibly need to either book a whole new reservation or call in.

Ok, i have a reservation at POR... If the rumors are true and it is NOT included, under the "change" button can I also change resorts to a hotel that IS included? Or, would I need to make a new reservation that day?

 

[stayathomehero]

What is all the hype about the gray stuff?

Because Lumiere's been singing about it for 25 years.

Plus it's good.

 

[squirrel]

I read on another thread mention of a PH+Waterparks ticket requirement for free dining. Is that the current rumor? Or is it just a park hopper requirement that we're hearing of?

Yes, this was a great debate over here. Some believe that you need either the Park Hopper or a Park Hopper +.

Nobody knows for sure until they announce it. The cost difference isn't much on a 10 day ticket, less than $16 per adult. You could take a day off your tickets and still save money if you are required to get the Park Hopper+. Remember also if you get the Park Hopper + you get the same number of entries to the + options. So if you buy a 4 day Park Hopper + ticket you could do 8 days of parks (4 main parks and 4 of the Water Parks).

 

[lok1sgrl]

Looking to find how many days of theme park passes were required for the 2016 package, I searched Google using the terms "disney world 2016 free dining theme park passes", but what was interesting was the second item that came up in the search result:

Free Dining Plan with Vacation Package | Walt Disney World Resort ...
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/resort-stay-dine-package/
Explore a room and ticket package offer that includes a dining plan at select Disney Resort hotels, most nights from August 21 through December 23, 2017.
​

When I clicked on the link it came up "Special Offer Not Available", but the Google description of the page, which must have come from Disney, reads "Explore a room and ticket package offer that includes a dining plan at select Disney Resort hotels, most nights from August 21 through December 23, 2017" [emphasis on 2017 added]. If Google has linked to a placeholder page that Disney will make live next week with the offer, then the rumored December 23 end date for the offer appears correct though the start date of August 21 on the page listed by Google is later than the current rumor (though maybe Disney Visa holders and certain other groups or nationalities may get the Aug 13 start date, based on the rumored start date).

I don't know exactly what I found means in terms of what the final offer will be, but it is an interesting piece of info for those of us waiting for the release of a possible free dining package.

From a web development pov, my day job, the description you see listed in Google -- even though when you click on it you're taken to a page with Goofy and an "offer not available" message -- are the meta details Disney has assigned to this page/offer for search indexing purposes. If you don't assign any given web page meta details (title, link, summary), Google (or whatever search engine you use) will simply pull the first text from the page and most of the time, that's pretty useless when you want something to be at the top of a search engine listing.

They have everything ready for the page and will flip the switch when it is is time. I'd say, but no way to verify that as I have no affiliation with Disney or any employees, that the data in the summary there is accurate for the group the offer is meant for.

 

[agassizsmile]

I saw this mentioned in another forum - if you type "disney world "free dining" 2017 site:.go.com" into google, you will see some info although when you click on it, it is not an available link

google shows this

Free Dining Plan with Vacation Package | Walt Disney World Resort ...
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/resort-stay-dine-package/

Explore a room and ticket package offer that includes a dining plan at select Disney Resort hotels, most nights from August 21 through December 23, 2017.

when you type disney world "room discount" 2017 site:.go.com

Save Up to 25% on Resort Hotel Rooms | Walt Disney World Resort ...
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/vacation-room/
With this offer, you can save up to 25% on rooms at select Disney Resort hotels in Florida. Offer valid for stays most nights from 8/1/17 through 10/7/17.


funny, I see that posted above now.

Interesting how no hint of which dp will be offered.Like others said befire maybe Disney is testing the reaction before deciding.I really hope they see how disappointed we are if only QS is offered at Mods and how many are considering off site, etc.Especially with so many mods under construction and limited TS restaurants at some resorts like CBR

From a web development pov, my day job, the description you see listed in Google -- even though when you click on it you're taken to a page with Goofy and an "offer not available" message -- are the meta details Disney has assigned to this page/offer for search indexing purposes. If you don't assign any given web page meta details (title, link, summary), Google (or whatever search engine you use) will simply pull the first text from the page and most of the time, that's pretty useless when you want something to be at the top of a search engine listing.

They have everything ready for the page and will flip the switch when it is is time. I'd say, but no way to verify that as I have no affiliation with Disney or any employees, that the data in the summary there is accurate for the group the offer is meant for.

Thank you thank you !I wish they had listed type of dining plan oh well!Do u think it might update later?

 

[Icicles]

The last I heard, there were no more GCs being offered at CBR (except people who booked before March 20). Even for those people, if they modified to add Free Dining, wouldn't they then lose the GC? Forgive me if I'm mistaken.

I literally just finished an online chat about this... because you are modifying an existing reservation and not cancelling or creating a new reservation, GC are kept. GC are not considered a promotiin