Free dining in the fall?

[anorman]

Last 2 years there were different dated for Canadian residents. I am usually able to get free dining mid august.

I really hope that's the case this year since we arrive from Canada August 19th.

 

[crazy4wdw]

All but a few days of October were blacked out from the free dining promotion last year.

October 1st was the only day included in the 2016 free dining offer.

 

[jlundeen]

By tying the free dining offer to park ticket options, aren't they pretty much removing annual pass holders from taking advantage of it? Or was there a separate offer, other than room discount that are offered to everyone?

 

[siskaren]

By tying the free dining offer to park ticket options, aren't they pretty much removing annual pass holders from taking advantage of it? Or was there a separate offer, other than room discount that are offered to everyone?

No, an annual passholder can use the ticket they have to get with the package towards their renewal.

 

[Bete]

Right now there is an offer out there for summer for value resort where you get one quick service meal free per day. It doesn't include anything else. Be careful about whatever offer comes out; it could be different this year and not as good.

 

[Honeybee83]

Right now there is an offer out there for summer for value resort where you get one quick service meal free per day. It doesn't include anything else. Be careful about whatever offer comes out; it could be different this year and not as good.

I had noticed that too and thought the same thing. Disney is trying to squeeze the pennies out of its guests right now. Kind of perplexing given that attendance is low. I guess if they can make the money they want off of fewer guests, they're happy.

 

[Honeybee83]

Do you have to pay anything up front with a bounce back offer? We've never done one. Also, do they tend to be a better value than what is offered to GP? Example: more dates offered for free dining or a higher discount off of rooms for example?

 

[crazy4wdw]

Do you have to pay anything up front with a bounce back offer? We've never done one. Also, do they tend to be a better value than what is offered to GP? Example: more dates offered for free dining or a higher discount off of rooms for example?

You have to pay one night's deposit plus tax. Cancellation for a full refund of the deposit is usually set at six days prior to arrival.

 

[Roxyfire]

Do you have to pay anything up front with a bounce back offer? We've never done one. Also, do they tend to be a better value than what is offered to GP? Example: more dates offered for free dining or a higher discount off of rooms for example?

Just like booking any other vacation, for a package it's $200 and balance due 30 days from travel. For room only it's as listed above. Adding tickets turns it into a package, as usual, and will apply the 30 day payoff rule.

 

[Moramoon]

I had gotten free dining last fall. I had booked prior to the offer coming out. Some things to note, it was available online before the phone lines actually opened (if I remember right it was 4 in the morning, but don't quote me on that). Something else I also remembered is how long people waited on the phones to get the offer. If possible I'd suggest when it's made available to make the second reservation and cancel the first. You will receive a refund for the cancelled reservation back to your selected payment method, I believe it took about a week to get ours).

 

[tlmadden73]

They probably will do it again .. but may continue to limit it to even longer stays and forcing you to get park hoppers .. and of course limit the days even more.
I wouldn't be surprised if they limit it to ONLY Moderate and Deluxe resorts and just give the QS dining plan to Value resort guests.

Odds are the don't really need to do Free Dining anymore to draw people to WDW and just keep the promotion going are going to slowly trickle it away to avoid the PR backlash of just stopping it altogether.

 

[crazy4wdw]

With the Epcot Food & Wine Festival start date being moved up to Labor Day weekend this year, there may be fewer rooms offered for free dining this fall.

 

[ellbell]

The website now has a change reservation option. Instead of cancelling an existing reservation and rebooking couldn't you just change the reservation and add the promotion. As a Canadian cancelling the reservation puts me at risk for losing money in the exchange process as the rates fluctuate constantly.

 

[Honeybee83]

The website now has a change reservation option. Instead of cancelling an existing reservation and rebooking couldn't you just change the reservation and add the promotion. As a Canadian cancelling the reservation puts me at risk for losing money in the exchange process as the rates fluctuate constantly.

I don't see why that couldn't work. I do remember hearing a couple years back that it was glitchy during free dining and kept popping up with a browser error. Other than that it should work.

 

[Roxyfire]

The website now has a change reservation option. Instead of cancelling an existing reservation and rebooking couldn't you just change the reservation and add the promotion. As a Canadian cancelling the reservation puts me at risk for losing money in the exchange process as the rates fluctuate constantly.

Yes, as long as it doesn't error out on you, it will work fine. Another thing people should be aware about is that they will likely have to book at a higher view rate than standard. If you're looking for a King bed or pirate rooms (for some reason) then this would be easy but if not, then you're likely not going to find much.

 

[Elsaalltheway]

I did a bounce back from my last stay. I was going from Sept 7-14th and I just called this last weekend to add two more days to the front and they were able to update to the 5th to 14th and still kept the free dining from last year, even though the offer had closed. I got AWESOME customer service from that cast member. I've been able to add people and hopefully wont have to take anybody away, but next year I'm going to try in aug because I've heard that numbers are down and it will not have the crowds from the F&W or NSSHP.

 

[Funfire240]

Just remember - just because you have a reservation doesn't mean you are guaranteed to have free dining applied to your reservation. That resort, specific dates and room category have to be available in the promotion. The more people that book ahead, the less chance for promotions. For example, if everyone books All Star Sports standard hoping for free dining, it will show that rooms are booked and there is no need for a discount for those types of rooms so it won't be offered and you will have to change resorts, room category and/or dates for the promotion if offered.

 

[Pkltm]

If I remember correctly the bounce back dates were very limited for Free Dining in the fall. If they mirror that there will be many people with expectations that will be disappointed. I may stand corrected but weren't they for check ins between Aug 11- Sep 9, and Dec 8-20. I remember thinking that it would be the first year we were unable to use free dining due to the dates. The company I work for blackouts Dec, and DH is blacked out for most of Aug and early Sep. Decided to rent points instead!

 

[penguin29]

Is there an official Free Dining watch for fall 2017? I would love to be in the know!

 

[jlundeen]

If I remember correctly the bounce back dates were very limited for Free Dining in the fall. If they mirror that there will be many people with expectations that will be disappointed. I may stand corrected but weren't they for check ins between Aug 11- Sep 9, and Dec 8-20. I remember thinking that it would be the first year we were unable to use free dining due to the dates. The company I work for blackouts Dec, and DH is blacked out for most of Aug and early Sep. Decided to rent points instead!

The offer was for these dates:
8/23/16-12/21/16 discounted package (“Free Dining”) for general public, with requirement of PH and/or WP passes and minimum stay of 4 or 5 nights (I think, I could be wrong on that)

And blacked out 10/2/16-11/14/16, 11/22/16-11/25/16 and 11/29/16-12/9/16

So, essentially, end of August, all September, third week of November, and first part of December.