Free dining plans question

[Cooperhl]

We planned a trip to Disney for the week of December 13th 2020. It's our very first trip and we are doing 6 days. We booked back in November and staying in pop century. After doing research I've noticed that we might be there during the free dining promo if they offer as they have in the past. We have regular park tickets (no park hopper). If they would offer it during our stay would we receive free dining without having to rebook? I'm a complete disney novice and having a hard time finding clear answers.

 

[lanejudy]

Special offers or discounts are not automatically applied to existing reservations. You might be able to change it online or call and ask if it can be done -- and potentially be willing to change room categories or resorts because there are limited rooms assigned to the offers. One thing you would need to do is upgrade to hoppers (assuming a future free dining offer continues with the recent requirements); if ticket prices increase between now and then, you would pay the increase as well.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[siren0119]

As was mentioned, Disney will not automatically apply any future discounts to your existing package. it's up to you (or your travel agent) to track any promotions and then call to see if your package can be changed to the promotion package.

A few things to keep in mind:
- for free dining packages, you will lose any room discounts you may have had. You will also need to change your tickets to park hoppers. (the way free dining works, you have to have parkhoppers and pay full rack rate for the room, in exchange for free dining).
- the resort you are in, and/or the room category you have, may not be eligible for the promotion. It is worth checking the prices to see if changing resort/room type could work in your favor. This is why....
- they generally won't just change your package, they will book a new package (under the promotion) and cancel your old package. You will NOT lose any dining or fastpasses you may have booked if that is the case.

Good luck!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We planned a trip to Disney for the week of December 13th 2020. It's our very first trip and we are doing 6 days. We booked back in November and staying in pop century. After doing research I've noticed that we might be there during the free dining promo if they offer as they have in the past. We have regular park tickets (no park hopper). If they would offer it during our stay would we receive free dining without having to rebook? I'm a complete disney novice and having a hard time finding clear answers.

As others have said, they promo will not be automatically applied to your reservation. On the day the promo is released (if it's released), I would recommend going into your reservation and try to modify it online. Your resort and room category may or may not be available in the promo inventory, so, if you have flexibility in where you are willing to stay, your odds will go up in snagging the promo. If you are unable to modify online, you will need to call in, but be prepared for long hold times on the day the promo drops. If you currently have a package, you should be able to modify without a cancel and re-book. I just modified a package this morning to take advantage of the AP discount that was released and I did not have to cancel - they simply applied the discount to my existing reservation. Unless they change the criteria, you will have to upgrade to hoppers.

 

[disneybliss2]

We have had discount offers applied to existing reservations several times. As others have mentioned, you have to be diligent to watch for the discount and call to have it applied yourself though. The good news is that the discount won't impact your fast passes or dining. As someone else advised, you may have to see if the room type you're staying in and number of days of stay will qualify you for the potential discount. The discount may be worth modifying your resort or adding time to your stay though, if changes were needed to be made to meet the discount qualifications. I hope you get your discount!

 

[mamamelody2]

Some people have a "modify" or "change" button for their reservation and some people don't. If you do, try to modify it to get the free dining if offered. You will have to upgrade to park hoppers. I was able to do this last year no problem. If you can't do it online but there is availability for your dates, I suggest just doing a new reservation. Wait times to call are ridiculous and typically phone lines open after online booking has been available for a bit. Then you can cancel the first one. I would wait a couple days because IT can be overloaded and weird when people are swarming for free dining.

Also, realize that likely tickets and room rate will go up between now and then and you'll probably have to pay the new rate to get free dining.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

Just FYI, the free dining saves us more money than the current room discount. Free dining saves us $78 a day for 5 adults, or $390 a day, where the room discounts, even at the deluxe resorts, work out to less than $150 a day. And a lot of rooms are excluded from the offer--for instance, we are staying at Boardwalk, and the only room available for the discount was a water view room, standard and garden view were excluded.