OFFICIAL 2020 Free Dining WATCH Thread - FREE DINING No Longer Available. First Post Updated with Details

[mikejuliestl]

following!

 

[lee_d]

following

 

[KELLY]

Following as well. We always book bounce back but we took the transatlantic disney cruise this September and did London for a few days do we missed out. Looking for the last two week in August we are going anyway since we already pd for airfare.

 

[TeamBlack]

Hoping for December FD

 

[ALEXandFAB]

Booked All Star Sports Nov. 18-26 and crossing my fingers for free dining (and pay OOP for upgrading to TS plan). We went around those dates in 2016 and were fortunate enough to get free dining then. Made a huge difference in our budget. And I swear all the food tasted 10x better because it was free

COME ONNNN FD PIXIE DUST

 

[Luna81]

This is our first time trying for free dining. Do I book now and try to modify? Or book when it comes out?

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

This is our first time trying for free dining. Do I book now and try to modify? Or book when it comes out?

Having a current reservation will not give you any advantage when/if the offer drops. If you’re going with or without the promotion and are set on certain dates, go ahead and book now to lock it in. But if your dates are flexible and/or you’re only going with FD, you might as well wait to book.

 

[Luna81]

Having a current reservation will not give you any advantage when/if the offer drops. If you’re going with or without the promotion and are set on certain dates, go ahead and book now to lock it in. But if your dates are flexible and/or you’re only going with FD, you might as well wait to book.

Thank you! We will be going either way. But I have some flexibility with the dates. So I will go ahead and at least wait a little while.

 

[stal]

If FD drops in January, what dates can we expect the discount to cover?

 

[crewsn]

Am I correct in remembering the second phase of release dates last year took place in late June or early July?

last years release dates were unusual, but worked to our advantage since we wanted a September trip vs our typical Decembe dates.

just trying to get a feel for potential this year in case it does come out. Fingers crossed it goes back to the typical all released at once in April to make a decision on trip date easier.

We are already booked with the bounce back for December. I am just hoping to move the dates up earlier if I can.

 

[Disneylover99]

Am I correct in remembering the second phase of release dates last year took place in late June or early July?

The second release of FD dates came out July 16th.

 

[SL6827]

I looked up some dummy bookings for the dates of December 9th-13th of next year just for interest of pricing for free dining. Man, with the mandated 4 day tickets with hopper, the rise in pricing of the hotels, this deal still came with a bit of sticker shock to me, and I was looking at Pop Century. I don't think I would book a moderate resort just to receive the same dining plan. But with the rise in the cost of the dining plan as well, it seems as though with the values, the free dining discount will always be a better deal than a room only discount, even with one person in the room. The moderates might be in the same boat as well?

 

[markpenske]

We currently have a room only reservation for September 27th. If free dining were to be announced could we switch our reservation? or do we need to have an existing package booked which includes tickets?
Also, last year there was no free dining for the All-star Movies? Was that a one time thing? or is Movies always excluded?

 

[brockash]

We currently have a room only reservation for September 27th. If free dining were to be announced could we switch our reservation? or do we need to have an existing package booked which includes tickets?
Also, last year there was no free dining for the All-star Movies? Was that a one time thing? or is Movies always excluded?

Movies has been excluded for many years now. You'll have to cancel whatever you have booked now and rebook with free dining which will also require a min. number of park tix.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I looked up some dummy bookings for the dates of December 9th-13th of next year just for interest of pricing for free dining. Man, with the mandated 4 day tickets with hopper, the rise in pricing of the hotels, this deal still came with a bit of sticker shock to me, and I was looking at Pop Century. I don't think I would book a moderate resort just to receive the same dining plan. But with the rise in the cost of the dining plan as well, it seems as though with the values, the free dining discount will always be a better deal than a room only discount, even with one person in the room. The moderates might be in the same boat as well?

Disney is no longer the ‘reasonably priced’ vacation that it used to be even a few years ago.

I compared our identical length trips from Sep 2016 to our Sep 2020, Both FD BB trips. There are just 2 of us in a standard room at Pop and the identical trips have increased by almost 35% in 4 years, almost $1200 more for the very same number of nights, ticket days, etc!!!

Disney prices have definitely gone up A LOT over the past few years!!!

 

[McKelly]

I looked up some dummy bookings for the dates of December 9th-13th of next year just for interest of pricing for free dining. Man, with the mandated 4 day tickets with hopper, the rise in pricing of the hotels, this deal still came with a bit of sticker shock to me, and I was looking at Pop Century. I don't think I would book a moderate resort just to receive the same dining plan. But with the rise in the cost of the dining plan as well, it seems as though with the values, the free dining discount will always be a better deal than a room only discount, even with one person in the room. The moderates might be in the same boat as well?

Pop Century really has seemed to jump in price with the new Skyliner. It's almost the same as a moderate for my dates. The All Stars are a bit cheaper.......for now..

 

[Disneylover99]

I looked up some dummy bookings for the dates of December 9th-13th of next year just for interest of pricing for free dining. Man, with the mandated 4 day tickets with hopper, the rise in pricing of the hotels, this deal still came with a bit of sticker shock to me, and I was looking at Pop Century. I don't think I would book a moderate resort just to receive the same dining plan. But with the rise in the cost of the dining plan as well, it seems as though with the values, the free dining discount will always be a better deal than a room only discount, even with one person in the room. The moderates might be in the same boat as well?

It’s definitely cheaper to take a room only discount for those dates at a moderate, as a party of one, assuming, of course that a 20% off room discount is offered.

But people also need to consider if they really want or need that park hopper. We always want and need it. Lol. But then we find we may not use it as often as we think. Sometimes we use it, just to use it, because we’ve paid for it.

On a four day trip, that park hopper costs roughly $21 per person, per day. That’s $84 per day for a family of four.

 

[scrappinginontario]

The park hopper does make a difference in the cost but I agree, I have priced out numerous scenarios (book 10-15 trips a year for us, family and friends) and I have never found a room discount to be a better savings at a value resort over free dining.

We didn’t used to buy the park hopper either but now that we have it we use it a lot. Our trips are also 10 days normally so the cost per day decreases.

 

[mom2rtk]

The park hopper does make a difference in the cost but I agree, I have priced out numerous scenarios (book 10-15 trips a year for us, family and friends) and I have never found a room discount to be a better savings at a value resort over free dining.

We didn’t used to buy the park hopper either but now that we have it we use it a lot. Our trips are also 10 days normally so the cost per day decreases.

Same here, probably because we typically stay at a value resort. And we do have to eat (at Disney prices) one way or another.

 

[Disneylover99]

The park hopper does make a difference in the cost but I agree, I have priced out numerous scenarios (book 10-15 trips a year for us, family and friends) and I have never found a room discount to be a better savings at a value resort over free dining.

A couple of years ago, I would have agreed with you 100%.

But so much more comes into play these days with fluctuating and inflated resort prices, the price difference between room categories, and date based tickets. Couple that with steeper room discounts at values as well as decently discounted tickets, and you may find your room only discount much greater then you anticipated.

Of course it’s always going to depend on your dates, length of stay and number of people in the room. But free dining is no longer the no brainer it once was, even at value resorts.

Sorry. I sound like I’m down on free dining. I’m really not. I still love it! And it’s still a great deal for many, it just may not be the right savings for some.