Free Dining at Walt Disney World offer

Did they do the Visa stipulation last year?

I think so. That tends to come before the offer is available to the general public (which it looks like they're planning to do early next week).

Yep. Visa Cardholders got first crack at the free dining last year. Then I believe they opened October-December up for free dining for Cardholders only.

I won't turn this post into a discourse as to how fair/unfair this is for DVC members. The free dining is only for those who book packages and doesn't apply to those using DVC points.

But I understand a little something about marketing. This promo is to get people down there who wouldn't normally go and it's no coincidence it's during a slow season.

I guess I'll just have to make my ADRs as soon as I'm eligible so I can have the luxury of paying to eat in a restaurant while seated next to a family eating for free, and for whom Disney is just another vacation.

It's a bummer for Annual Passholders, too. We can book the package and get the one-day base tickets if we want to, but there's a whole lot of math and strategy that goes into making that a good deal--especially since we can't take advantage of any Passholder discounts on the room rates. Plus, at that point, you're locked into the package and dining plan, which I find to be a bit restrictive.

I got an email from Disney tonight saying they are extending the booking window on this til July 26th.


Book through July 26, 2009:
Walt Disney World Resort Free Dining Plan Offer

Through July 26, 2009, your Clients can purchase a 5-night, 6-day non-discounted Walt Disney Travel Company package for stays most nights Aug. 22 â" Oct. 3, 2009, at select Walt Disney World Resort hotels and get the Disney Dining Plan FREE.

The math has never quite worked out for us for these because of the way we eat and the AP discount we're giving up on the rooms. It's very close, but usually we just go ahead and do the AP discount and pay for our food. The drag is of course that it's then hard to get a table anywhere because everyone else has free dining.

You can still get free dining if you're a passholder; you just have to pay for the one day base ticket for each person in the party, correct?

If you have an AP you can get AP plus dine and then you dont need to buy tickets at all. If you want the free dining then you have to get the one day ticket. I wish they would change this.

That's always a problem, buying a useless one day ticket, plus paying full price for the room, but getting free dining usually works out to about the same as getting my AP discount and paying for my dining. Plus then I don't have the limitations of the Dining plan.