New Bounceback: Free Dining 2019

[scrappinginontario]

Why would you have to modify your bounce back tickets before Oct. 15th? sorry I'm confused!

If you know you want to add days to your currently booked tickets, people are doing it now as it's based on the current pricing structure.

We are going in December so I am positive that the price of our tickets will be greater than what it is now. I wanted to add 1 day to my tickets. If I wait and do it Oct 16th or later all of my ticket days (in our case 8 days of tickets) will be based on the new ticket structure which I'm guessing would be a significant jump.

I changed our 7 day tickets into 8 day tickets for a cost of $20 US last week. I'll be shocked if it would not cost me significantly more if I waited to do this next Tues or later.

 

[Mary*Poppins]

If you know you want to add days to your currently booked tickets, people are doing it now as it's based on the current pricing structure.

We are going in December so I am positive that the price of our tickets will be greater than what it is now. I wanted to add 1 day to my tickets. If I wait and do it Oct 16th or later all of my ticket days (in our case 8 days of tickets) will be based on the new ticket structure which I'm guessing would be a significant jump.

I changed our 7 day tickets into 8 day tickets for a cost of $20 US last week. I'll be shocked if it would not cost me significantly more if I waited to do this next Tues or later.

Thanks for the info!!

 

[kandb]

We were there in August but didn't book a bounceback because the price for even Caribbean Beach was super high. Almost $5K for 8 days and the "free dining" only gives you counter service meals. Free dining these days is NO Bargain at all.

 

[scrappinginontario]

We were there in August but didn't book a bounceback because the price for even Caribbean Beach was super high. Almost $5K for 8 days and the "free dining" only gives you counter service meals. Free dining these days is NO Bargain at all.

This is an unfair comment as it is only based on your one scenario.

I will share my experience to show that Free Dining does work for some people. We are booked for 8 nights at Pop next fall. 2 Disney adults with an upgrade to the DDP.

I saved $840 with FD after booking room at rack rate, paying for PH and upgrading to DDP.

I just calculated what it would cost me given a 20% room discount and not purchasing the park hopper. I would save $384.

I'll take an $840 savings over a $384 savings any day! AND, this is with just 2 people on the room. The more people in the room the greater the savings with FD.

I don't doubt your scenario may not have been a savings based on your experience but you cannot paint the entire FD offer with one brush. Everyone's personal experience is different based on their family, resort of choice, travel dates and ticket preferences.

 

[kandb]

This is an unfair comment as it is only based on your one scenario.

I will share my experience to show that Free Dining does work for some people. We are booked for 8 nights at Pop next fall. 2 Disney adults with an upgrade to the DDP.

I saved $840 with FD after booking room at rack rate, paying for PH and upgrading to DDP.

I just calculated what it would cost me given a 20% room discount and not purchasing the park hopper. I would save $384.

I'll take an $840 savings over a $384 savings any day! AND, this is with just 2 people on the room. The more people in the room the greater the savings with FD.

I don't doubt your scenario may not have been a savings based on your experience but you cannot paint the entire FD offer with one brush. Everyone's personal experience is different based on their family, resort of choice, travel dates and ticket preferences.

That's fine for you but EVERYONE including myself is giving their opinion on "free" dining. If you like it, that's great but if someone doesn't believe it's worth it, they are allowed to voice that opinion. That is what opinions/message boards are all about.

 

[Disneylover99]

We were there in August but didn't book a bounceback because the price for even Caribbean Beach was super high. Almost $5K for 8 days and the "free dining" only gives you counter service meals. Free dining these days is NO Bargain at all.

There is less value at moderates now. If I book fd, I'm either looking at Pop or the cheapest Deluxe room I can find.

However, fd can still be a significant value for a family of four or five even if you can get 15-20% off a standard room at CBR and buy discounted tickets separately.

 

[pd1138]

We booked the FD bounce back for next August and for our family it does work out to be the better discount. That is just for our family though. Will not work for everyone. Two adults and four kids, (three of them being pretty big and adventurous eaters), so we may be the family for the plan. This past August we did the room discount and my plan was to be very careful how we ate. We packed snacks and what snacks we did purchase we shared. I read a lot about how people did better without the dining plan, saving money, saving food, so I took note of the tips. We brought groceries, we were careful what we ordered, and we shared the few counter meals we did purchase. I ended up with a little mutiny by day 3 of vacation and everyone except me complained about being hungry!! So for 2019 we booked the FD. My DS keeps saying he rather have the dining then a discount at the same or nicer resort. He said he wants to eat on the next trip!! . I told him he should be happy we are returning!
I’m still on the hunt for a room discount, for our family the FD may not be a rock bottom bargain, but it can still save us more money then other discounts.
Now I’m off to call Disney, need to add an 8th day to that 7 day park hopper we booked with tha bounceback! Better to do it now rather then later. So glad for the tips on this board!!!

 

[Nancyg56]

That's fine for you but EVERYONE including myself is giving their opinion on "free" dining. If you like it, that's great but if someone doesn't believe it's worth it, they are allowed to voice that opinion. That is what opinions/message boards are all about.

I think that the declarative statements are why people object. Discounts are not meant to work for everyone, however they can be very cost effective for specific groups. I saved in excess of $4300 on our December trip with he FD offer, and it was an apples to apples trip. We were already going to buy hoppers for length of stay, and we were going to purchase the DDP, so nothing extra there.

I have called and run numbers with CM's for every single offer since, and no matter how we configure rooms, I cannot get any RO discount to give my family the trip I have now for the money I paid.

I believe that when people ask for help it pays to ask questions to help them find the best discount offer for their family dynamic. I am hoping for a good RO for next year becuase I thnk it will be me an a 13 YO, so FD will not work out as well as a good RO discount. Now if my crew of 5 is traveling, that RO is just not going to cut the mustard, adn I will look for a FD, which will be a better bargain.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I think that the declarative statements are why people object. Discounts are not meant to work for everyone, however they can be very cost effective for specific groups. I saved in excess of $4300 on our December trip with he FD offer, and it was an apples to apples trip. We were already going to buy hoppers for length of stay, and we were going to purchase the DDP, so nothing extra there.

I have called and run numbers with CM's for every single offer since, and no matter how we configure rooms, I cannot get any RO discount to give my family the trip I have now for the money I paid.

I believe that when people ask for help it pays to ask questions to help them find the best discount offer for their family dynamic. I am hoping for a good RO for next year becuase I thnk it will be me an a 13 YO, so FD will not work out as well as a good RO discount. Now if my crew of 5 is traveling, that RO is just not going to cut the mustard, adn I will look for a FD, which will be a better bargain.

What category of resort do you like to stay in?

Next summer my (then) 10yo and I are staying at Pop and the FD offer is still a better value for us than any RO discount I've priced out. If you prefer moderate or deluxe then the RO discount may be a savings but if you're choosing value you may still want to run the numbers if you can snag a FD offer.

 

[Nancyg56]

What category of resort do you like to stay in?

Next summer my (then) 10yo and I are staying at Pop and the FD offer is still a better value for us than any RO discount I've priced out. If you prefer moderate or deluxe then the RO discount may be a savings but if you're choosing value you may still want to run the numbers if you can snag a FD offer.

I would love a deluxe if I can get a good rate. If I travel with just two of us the RO will be better than FD, however I think if I have the other two girls FD will be better.

I always run each component of a trip so that when I check discounts I know what my actual savings will be no matter the direction I choose. My young friend has never stayed onsite and my DH wants her to have that experience, so depending on my overall budget for the latter part of 2019, and the offers available I am hoping to be able to manage this.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

The fd at POR is still better than the discount for us.

 

[rotlex]

The fd at POR is still better than the discount for us.

Us as well. For a family of 4 at a mod free dining pretty much wins hands down.

Hell, lunch alone cost more than even 30% off any mod is going to save you.

 

[Brownsfan]

When I was at BC in Sept I booked a bounce back offer for 2 rooms at CBR for 4 adults, 2 Disney adults and 1 child for 7 nights December 21-28, 2019 with 7 day park hoppers. Just priced out trip with new ticket increases and my savings now total $2827.24. FWIW there would be no room only discount available at this time of year. So happy to spend Christmas Day at Disney with grandkids.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I just repriced the BB we booked at Pop for Sep 2019 and the price barely changed. What a wonderful surprise that was! Our 8 night trip staying at Pop Century, standard room with 7 day PH tickets and upgrading to DDP (1 adult, 1 10yo) only increased by $4.74!! Pleasantly surprised that for sure!

 

[12disneybee]

Free Dining Bounceback Offer 2019

Only available for guests traveling now through October 31, 2018.

You must book by 10pm (Eastern) on the day you check out. You can book by calling extension 8844 from your room or calling 407-939-1923. Your TA can also book it for you.

Anyone staying onsite qualifies even if you don't see the flyer in your room or you are staying at the campgrounds.

The bounceback is good for trips where you must CHECK IN on one of the following 2019 dates:

May 28 - June 4
June 28 - Sept 7
Dec 6 - Dec 24

Minimum 4 night stay required. You will pay full price for the room.

Minimum 4 day park tickets and they must have the hopper option.

Values & Moderates will get free QS dining plan.

Deluxe & Villas will get free regular dining plan.

You can pay the difference to upgrade the plan.

Excluded resorts (these are the resorts that you can't book for next year. You can still book the bounceback if you are staying at one of these resorts this year.) :
Art of Animation Little Mermaid rooms
All Star Movies
Port Orleans French Quarter
Polynesian Bungalows
Grand Floridian Villas
Bay Lake Tower
All 3 bedroom Villas
Fort Wilderness Campsites
Copper Creek Villas & Cabins

$200 deposit required when you book. Deposit is refundable but you cannot book it later if you decide you want to. Best practice is to book it while you are there if you think there's any chance you might be interested.

very upset that this is NOT advertised anywhere, not in the room, not on the TV, not during check in, not at check out, NO Where!!! How are people supposed to know? Kind of sad we missed out because we are going next December

 

[rotlex]

very upset that this is NOT advertised anywhere, not in the room, not on the TV, not during check in, not at check out, NO Where!!! How are people supposed to know? Kind of sad we missed out because we are going next December

I honestly think sometimes they want it that way. We have booked a bounce back offer every single year for at least the past decade. Rarely have we ever seen anything in the room about it. For that matter, the hotel staff generally doesn't know about it either. Thankfully places like the DIS and word of mouth work pretty well!

 

[SarahC97]

very upset that this is NOT advertised anywhere, not in the room, not on the TV, not during check in, not at check out, NO Where!!! How are people supposed to know? Kind of sad we missed out because we are going next December

They really don't advertise it at all. I wouldn't have known about it if I hadn't read about it on these boards. But as the PP said, I think it's by design. I'm sorry you missed it.

 

[leahgoogle]

The fd at POR is still better than the discount for us.

FD is also the best discount at POR for our family of five which includes a very hungry teenage boy!

 

[scrappinginontario]

very upset that this is NOT advertised anywhere, not in the room, not on the TV, not during check in, not at check out, NO Where!!! How are people supposed to know? Kind of sad we missed out because we are going next December

In the past I used to find it easily visible in the room when we checked in. I can still remember some sort of large round 'advertising' on our table at Pop back around 2005 advertising a discount of some sort if we came back within a specified period of time. At that time I could not afford to 'BounceBack' so just read it with envy.

As the years went by the standalone BB offer advertised in the room became part of the pamphlets in the room and recently it seems those pamphlets either seem to be missing from the rooms or, do not contain information about the current BB.

When we were there in Aug I went through every single page of the documents in our room plus those given to me at check in and could not locate BB info. (Others were finding it at their resorts.)

Anyway, I called x8844 from our room and booked a FD BB for September 2019.

As @rotlex and @SarahC97 said, I think it is by design that it is getting harder and harder to locate. It's still there, just requires calling to find out the details. I am now in the habit of calling x8844 every single visit to find out what the current BB offer is and booking it if it works for our family.

 

[rotlex]

Anyway, I called x8844 from our room and booked a FD BB for September 2019.

As @rotlex and @SarahC97 said, I think it is by design that it is getting harder and harder to locate. It's still there, just requires calling to find out the details. I am now in the habit of calling x8844 every single visit to find out what the current BB offer is and booking it if it works for our family.

This is exactly what we do every year. I even keep the external bounce back number, 407-939-1922, in my phone contacts in case I want to call from outside the room, or on the drive home!