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

[KimBean]

Last year it was a 2 day park ticket with a PH or water parks and more. This year if the rumor is correct it is 4 day park ticket with a PH or PH+.

Okay sorry about that. I thought it was changed to 3 day last year. We always get length of stay so...

 

[KimBean]

Do what I do. Get up for work at 10 pm! By 4 I'm about halfway through my workday. I plan on refreshing and when it drops pull over and book.

Was about to say what do you do..... trucker den... lol!!!!

 

[KimBean]

Last year it was a 2 day park ticket with a PH or water parks and more. This year if the rumor is correct it is 4 day park ticket with a PH or PH+.

It was a 3 night minimum stay. That's where I misremembered.

 

[Haneyman]

no and a lot do online check in and never even physically go to the front desk. We have to as we are international and magic bands are held there. for most you get your bands in the mail, checkin online and you get a text with room number when ready.

I go by and get my welcome packet. I want everything that's coming to me!

 

[DisneyNic]

Do what I do. Get up for work at 10 pm! By 4 I'm about halfway through my workday. I plan on refreshing and when it drops pull over and book.

So you are refreshing a website while you are driving a truck?

 

[Attracted to Beasts]

I can never sleep when I'm excited! I wouldnt be able to sleep the night of the 23rd/morning of the 24th if I wanted to! Luckily I'm a SAHM so all I have to do Monday is take the kids to school and bring donuts and read to DS2s preschool class! It's his 4th birthday on the 25th so I get to come in and celebrate! The 24th should be a good day!

 

[KimBean]

I go by and get my welcome packet. I want everything that's coming to me!

What's in the welcome packet? I don't remember.

Also for those that don't go check in. When can you use your MB for entry and dining? Like what triggers it? I would love to skip that part.

 

[Causin_a_commotion]

My husband made the point that it would be really nutty for Disney to jump from 2 day PH to 4 day PH AND downgrade moderates from DDP to QS, all in one go. Either/or makes sense, but both in one year?? Thoughts? Maybe just one of those things will come true. I am thinking that the 4 day PH probably won't be the case. Black said 4 night minimum. Commercials for Disney deals always say like "for a 6 night/7 day trip" and then the fine print is like, ok you can just book 2 days.

 

[Attracted to Beasts]

What's in the welcome packet? I don't remember.

Also for those that don't go check in. When can you use your MB for entry and dining? Like what triggers it? I would love to skip that part.

I haven't checked in the last 2 years! It was great they just send you a text when the room is ready and you can go to your resort, drop off any carryons and go right the the park. Bands work right away. I do always stop off later though to pick up some freebies. CBR has pirate swords and eye patches for free so I get those for my boys and I also pick up some buttons (but you can get buttons anywhere)

 

[mousefan73]

so here are my thought on how things are for us.. Maybe good to share for anyone going back and forth on the issue

Basics.
4 disney "adults" 31Aug-07Sep
currently have an awesome TA special.
@3500.00 for BC RO with PH and one day Water Park "Extra"


Past 5 years we did FD at PoR.. last year we did a split FD at PoR and then 3 days RO at BC... so that got our heads in the direction of BC.. Especially this year due to F&W which we have never done, and also for my mom location wise nice as there is plenty to do outside the Resort that is a short walking distance for her to do on her own.. Boardwalk and Epcot.. We all love PoR but we are leaning more BC ( when the price is right and it is in this case).

So we booked again this TA special but no dining.. Each year with free dining we used our TS for the staples: Boma, Tusker, Chef Mickey, 2 for Hoop dee doo. etc... TS we spent on buffets,, meaning OOP at least 200 plus a huge tip amount on that level. even with FD our tips for that week were in the 200 or so dollars.

I am still waiting to see what FD is this year and if/when it comes do the math just to see.. right now I have above booked. No way we can afford rack for BC and get FD.. So if we do FD, then it's back to PoR...In a way a bummer as in our heads, we have the Epcot area, BC and SAB on our minds. Maybe a split again .who knows.. need to do the math.

Assuming PoR has room (our dates are usually the best for availability here). I took a garden room minimum ( standard FD you can forget).

with FD we are at about 3900 ( PH plus we would have gotten anyways do we aren't forced )
That is for garden, if that is sold out price can go up 100-400 depending on room, which Royal being most expensive..So worse case let's guestmate 4200.. NOW and the big what if,,, if mods only get QS and we want then TS, I calculated i believe it was 23 person/day?? so add now @644 to 4200.. that is @4844 for the trip.

That is 1344 difference to my TA deal... the only benefit besides the food is that we have 8 extras for water park, with TA we only get one day, but we plan one day anyways only.

That is 192 per day for food.. Now if we went all out like with FD , we can easily spend that on buffetts per day. I had budgeted OOP about 120 for us per day.. breakfast in rooms, and only 2 or 3 TS per trip, rest QS we split as we really have 2 kids. We would buy only 2 resort mugs and share.

And we get a deluxe resort with a great pool.. In essence FD gives us a moderate with a few buffets more, or we do TA and get Deluxe resort..


In a way last year, we got buffett burn out,, year after year and the time spend on eating..so in way it's freeeing limiting ourselves...with F&W I plan to snack anyways.

Am I missing anything in my calculations??? I am 90% we are sticking with TA.. especially if new FD is QS only.

 

[Rusty2rules]

Since the news about the FD changes dropped I don't see as much excitement on this thread as before. I hope the part about the days you have to have on your ticket is wrong. That changes so much for so many people. I won't be staying up all night when it drops just not that excited anymore. I will just set my alarm. If the amount of days is correct on the tickets we won't be going for the FD. We want to stay on site because my DH likes to park the car and not drive again until we check out, but I also have to consider the prices on site compared to off site. We are not big SW fans so we won't be going when that opens. We are planning to traveling in Europe after this trip. Prices are about the same and we can stay longer and see places and things we have not seen before. Sorry if this upsets some of you, but Disney is getting a little boring. Seeing the same old same old is getting old. We went on the Frozen ride last year and were not that really impressed with it. I hope for everyones sake that they do better with the new lands.

I totally get it. I planned my vacation around the 3 nights/4 days like last year. But I haven't been to WDW in over 8 years so the excitement hasn't worn off for me. I'm bummed they're jacking the FD up to a 4n stay (if the rumor is correct). But I did all the math and talked to my son. With the numbers I come up with, if I extend the trip by a day, get the PH+ and the FD, compared to doing 3n/4d and paying for meals OOP, I can stay an extra day for less than $120. $120 for an extra day WDW plus tickets to the water parks? That's a no brainer for me. But it's just me and my son going. So I'm still pretty psyched. Without crunching numbers, I would imagine it's more than that for a family of 4. As far as traveling to Europe, honestly, with everything going on right now, I really have no desire to leave the country. But I totally get where you're coming from.

 

[tinkarooni]

Oops, sept 11-15

Okay so that looks like $557 a night, $2500 total just for the room. Using the summer room discount as a guide for a HOPEFUL fall discount it would be 20% off so $500. So $2000, 5 days for your husband without hopper is $370 with park hopper is $445 (didn't know which one you wanted.) then your food costs.

2445 + Food OOP

With free dining you have to pay $2500, plus tickets for both of you with park hopper $890.

$3390 with dining included.

So it's just the question of whether you can eat for less than $945.

Of course this is just all my speculation and I could have it wrong... and remember that is IF 20% discount would cover your dates etc.[/QUOTE]
OMG, thanks so much!

 

[Attracted to Beasts]

so here are my thought on how things are for us.. Maybe good to share for anyone going back and forth on the issue

Basics.
4 disney "adults" 31Aug-07Sep
currently have an awesome TA special.
@3500.00 for BC RO with PH and one day Water Park "Extra"


Past 5 years we did FD at PoR.. last year we did a split FD at PoR and then 3 days RO at BC... so that got our heads in the direction of BC.. Especially this year due to F&W which we have never done, and also for my mom location wise nice as there is plenty to do outside the Resort that is a short walking distance for her to do on her own.. Boardwalk and Epcot.. this loved and we all do PoR but we are leaning more BC ( when the price is right and it is in this case).

So we booked again this TA special but no dining.. Each year with free dining we used our TS for the staples: Boma, Tusker, Chef Mickey, 2 for Hoop dee doo. etc... TS we spent on buffets,, meaning OOP at least 200 plus a huge tip amount on that level. even with FD are tips for that long week were in the 200 or dollars.

I am still waiting to see what FD is this year and if/when it comes do the math just to see.. right now I have above booked. No way we can afford rack for BC and get FD.. So if we do FD, then it's back to PoR...In a way a bummer as in our heads, we have the Epcot area, BC and SAB on our minds. Maybe a split again .who knows.. but when I do the math. I get this.

Assuming PoR has room (our dates are usually the best for availability here). I took a garden room minimum ( standard FD you can forget).

with FD we are at about 3900 ( PH plus we would have gotten anyways do we aren't forced )
That is for garden, if that is sold out price can go up 100-400 depending on room, which Royal being most expensive..So worse case let's guestmate 4200.. NOW and the big what if,,, if mods only get QS and we want then TS, I calculated i believe it was 23 person/day?? so add now @644 to 4200.. that is @4844 for the trip.

That is 1344 difference to my TA deal... the only benefit besides the food is that we have 8 extras for water park, with TA we only get one day, but we plan one day anyways only.

That is 192 per day for food.. Now if we went all out like with FD , we can easily spend that on buffetts per day. I had budgeted OOP about 120 for us per day.. breakfast in rooms, and only 2 or 3 TS per trip, rest QS we split as we really have 2 kids. We would buy only 2 resort mugs and share.

And we get a deluxe resort with a great pool.. In essence FD gives us a moderate with a few buffets more, or we do TA and get Deluxe resort..


In a way last year, we got burned on on the buffetts..so in way it's freeeing...with F&W I plan to snack anyways.

Am I missing anything in my calculations??? I am 90% we are sticking with TA.. especially if new FD is QS only.

Your calculations seem on point. I believe I was quoted the same exclusive offer and I am thinking about using that as my back up. I currently have FD BB at WL for $3500 2 adults, 2 kids 8/24-8/29 (5n/6d). If I need to move my dates around I'm looking at nothing available at WL but $4300 for BC with FD! The exclusive was about $2900 for BC with no food. That leaves me about $1400 for food to break even. If we go all out and eat the way we would with FD-2 snacks a day, 4mugs, 1 ts and 1 qs a day my calculations puts us at 1200 for food..saving us about $200 going with the exclusive......I've never used a TA before so it makes me nervous!

 

[KimBean]

I haven't checked in the last 2 years! It was great they just send you a text when the room is ready and you can go to your resort, drop off any carryons and go right the the park. Bands work right away. I do always stop off later though to pick up some freebies. CBR has pirate swords and eye patches for free so I get those for my boys and I also pick up some buttons (but you can get buttons anywhere)

So do you have to wait fo you from to be ready to use your bands? Example last time we checked in at noon. We went on to MK room wasn't ready until about 3:30.

 

[mousefan73]

I haven't checked in the last 2 years! It was great they just send you a text when the room is ready and you can go to your resort, drop off any carryons and go right the the park. Bands work right away. I do always stop off later though to pick up some freebies. CBR has pirate swords and eye patches for free so I get those for my boys and I also pick up some buttons (but you can get buttons anywhere)

The question I have is how do you set up your PIN then? To make purschases and Dining you need that PIN

 

[Attracted to Beasts]

So do you have to wait fo you from to be ready to use your bands? Example last time we checked in at noon. We went on to MK room wasn't ready until about 3:30.

Nope-we usually land at 9:30 and are walking into the MK by 11:30! The bands just magically work!

 

[Attracted to Beasts]

The question I have is how do you set up your PIN then? To make purschases and Dining you need that PIN

You set up your pin before you go. If you've gone recently it's the same as last time. I haven't had to use a new pin in the last 3 years....they remember it

 

[KimBean]

so here are my thought on how things are for us.. Maybe good to share for anyone going back and forth on the issue

Basics.
4 disney "adults" 31Aug-07Sep
currently have an awesome TA special.
@3500.00 for BC RO with PH and one day Water Park "Extra"


Past 5 years we did FD at PoR.. last year we did a split FD at PoR and then 3 days RO at BC... so that got our heads in the direction of BC.. Especially this year due to F&W which we have never done, and also for my mom location wise nice as there is plenty to do outside the Resort that is a short walking distance for her to do on her own.. Boardwalk and Epcot.. We all love PoR but we are leaning more BC ( when the price is right and it is in this case).

So we booked again this TA special but no dining.. Each year with free dining we used our TS for the staples: Boma, Tusker, Chef Mickey, 2 for Hoop dee doo. etc... TS we spent on buffets,, meaning OOP at least 200 plus a huge tip amount on that level. even with FD our tips for that week were in the 200 or so dollars.

I am still waiting to see what FD is this year and if/when it comes do the math just to see.. right now I have above booked. No way we can afford rack for BC and get FD.. So if we do FD, then it's back to PoR...In a way a bummer as in our heads, we have the Epcot area, BC and SAB on our minds. Maybe a split again .who knows.. need to do the math.

Assuming PoR has room (our dates are usually the best for availability here). I took a garden room minimum ( standard FD you can forget).

with FD we are at about 3900 ( PH plus we would have gotten anyways do we aren't forced )
That is for garden, if that is sold out price can go up 100-400 depending on room, which Royal being most expensive..So worse case let's guestmate 4200.. NOW and the big what if,,, if mods only get QS and we want then TS, I calculated i believe it was 23 person/day?? so add now @644 to 4200.. that is @4844 for the trip.

That is 1344 difference to my TA deal... the only benefit besides the food is that we have 8 extras for water park, with TA we only get one day, but we plan one day anyways only.

That is 192 per day for food.. Now if we went all out like with FD , we can easily spend that on buffetts per day. I had budgeted OOP about 120 for us per day.. breakfast in rooms, and only 2 or 3 TS per trip, rest QS we split as we really have 2 kids. We would buy only 2 resort mugs and share.

And we get a deluxe resort with a great pool.. In essence FD gives us a moderate with a few buffets more, or we do TA and get Deluxe resort..


In a way last year, we got buffett burn out,, year after year and the time spend on eating..so in way it's freeeing limiting ourselves...with F&W I plan to snack anyways.

Am I missing anything in my calculations??? I am 90% we are sticking with TA.. especially if new FD is QS only.

In your $3500 quote how many days of tickets are in that? Just comparing prices.

 

[mousefan73]

Your calculations seem on point. I believe I was quoted the same exclusive offer and I am thinking about using that as my back up. I currently have FD BB at WL for $3500 2 adults, 2 kids 8/24-8/29 (5n/6d). If I need to move my dates around I'm looking at nothing available at WL but $4300 for BC with FD! The exclusive was about $2900 for BC with no food. That leaves me about $1400 for food to break even. If we go all out and eat the way we would with FD-2 snacks a day, 4mugs, 1 ts and 1 qs a day my calculations puts us at 1200 for food..saving us about $200 going with the exclusive......I've never used a TA before so it makes me nervous!

there is nothing to be nervous about... the TA booked you link to your MDE, you need to change the address for the Magic Bands or they get sent to that agency. Payment goes via them, I always got the disney email confirmation fowarded to me from the TA... I never use the TA for anything else, like booking ADRS, or other stuff. I handle that on my own. She was also good in getting us the FD last year. We were oringally booked BC the whole trip and when FD came out she split (booked FD and reduced RO dates for the second part).

 

[Disneylover99]

Since the news about the FD changes dropped I don't see as much excitement on this thread as before.

I'm actually more excited about the rumoured dates. I didn't think the Saturday before Christmas was going to be included. If the rumours are true and it is included, I will happily book QS fd at Pop and stay til January.