Free dining

Sun, 05/10/2009 - 00:34

bali

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UnbalancedLibra wrote:

We are giving great consideration regarding going back to WDW for my birthday
This will be during the free dining promotion. Has anyone ever gone to WDW during free dining? What's it like? Are you only allowed so many meals per day (I know you get the equivalent to the basic dining plan) How do they keep track?

I went during free dining back in 2006 (I think...it was whatever year they did the first free dining promo). It's exactly the same as the dining plan--they track meals the same way. You have X number of points, and you can use them whenever you want throughout your stay. You can also trade in two points for a signature dining experience, same as you can with the regular dining plan. We ended up using most of our table service credits to do signature dining!

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Sun, 05/10/2009 - 00:41

UnbalancedLibra

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bali wrote:

I went during free dining back in 2006 (I think...it was whatever year they did the first free dining promo). It's exactly the same as the dining plan--they track meals the same way. You have X number of points, and you can use them whenever you want throughout your stay. You can also trade in two points for a signature dining experience, same as you can with the regular dining plan. We ended up using most of our table service credits to do signature dining!

Okay, that makes sense! So...ARE you going this Sept/Oct.?

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Sun, 05/10/2009 - 03:06

bali

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Good question! We're still trying to figure out finances and what not. There's a question of vacation time as well (as I recently began a new job). Fingers are still crossed, and I'm pretty close to going ahead and booking a trip that we can just cancel if need be. The bummer is that I'd want to buy my MNSSHP tickets, too, and you can't cancel those once you've bought 'em!

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Sun, 05/10/2009 - 13:59

UnbalancedLibra

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bali wrote:

Good question! We're still trying to figure out finances and what not. There's a question of vacation time as well (as I recently began a new job). Fingers are still crossed, and I'm pretty close to going ahead and booking a trip that we can just cancel if need be. The bummer is that I'd want to buy my MNSSHP tickets, too, and you can't cancel those once you've bought 'em!

I hate all the things that hang in the balance and prevent trips from just being booked without worry! We want to go again this year too but there are things to consider as well, money, Olivia being out of school at the beginning of the year, CJ getting time off of work...

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Sun, 05/10/2009 - 15:33

Annie

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I hate that, too! Nothing worse than uncertainty. Especially over a disney trip--you can't even get excited!

Sun, 05/10/2009 - 15:34

UnbalancedLibra

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Annie wrote:

I hate that, too! Nothing worse than uncertainty. Especially over a disney trip--you can't even get excited!

Ha! I know that all too well

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Mon, 05/11/2009 - 16:33

Imagineer

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I got the free DP the same exact week as Bali did back in '06. In fact we saw each other by Aladdin's Magic Carpets.

Like she said, it's the same as if you'd paid for it, though there've been changes made to the DP since then. It used to include gratuities for example, and now it doesn't.

Unfortuanately, if we want to do the DP now, we pay out of pocket as the promo is only available to those buying a package, and as DVC members we no longer buy packages.

I do like the different options that have recently come available for the DP.

Now that I think about it, I may have run into Bali in '05...

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Mon, 05/11/2009 - 16:36

dsoup

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Imagineer wrote:

I got the free DP the same exact week as Bali did back in '06. In fact we saw each other by Aladdin's Magic Carpets.

Like she said, it's the same as if you'd paid for it, though there've been changes made to the DP since then. It used to include gratuities for example, and now it doesn't.

Unfortuanately, if we want to do the DP now, we pay out of pocket as the promo is only available to those buying a package, and as DVC members we no longer buy packages.

I do like the different options that have recently come available for the DP.

Now that I think about it, I may have run into Bali in '05...

APs interfere with packages too, although sometimes it's still worth doing even with the wasted ticket. I can't imagine it ever works out for DVC members. They should have some DP discounts for DVC members. That would be a very reasonable perk.

Mon, 05/11/2009 - 16:50

Imagineer

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dsoup wrote:

Imagineer wrote:
I got the free DP the same exact week as Bali did back in '06. In fact we saw each other by Aladdin's Magic Carpets.

Like she said, it's the same as if you'd paid for it, though there've been changes made to the DP since then. It used to include gratuities for example, and now it doesn't.

Unfortuanately, if we want to do the DP now, we pay out of pocket as the promo is only available to those buying a package, and as DVC members we no longer buy packages.

I do like the different options that have recently come available for the DP.

Now that I think about it, I may have run into Bali in '05...

APs interfere with packages too, although sometimes it's still worth doing even with the wasted ticket. I can't imagine it ever works out for DVC members. They should have some DP discounts for DVC members. That would be a very reasonable perk.

Yes, I agree that I'd give up using a still valid AP in some cases to get another type of discount. Especially if you do the math and find that that AP has already more than paid for itself.

But I don't see how I could justify booking a package and paying out of pocket as a DVC member, just to get free dining. The only way it'd be worth it is if I rented out a ton of points that year for a lot of cash and am not picky about where I stay.

I don't see that happening, but never say never.

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Mon, 05/11/2009 - 20:46

cdub

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I suppose you could just make sure that you booked enough trips to use up all your points and then some, so you could use the free dining on the "and then some" trip!

Tue, 05/12/2009 - 17:02

bali

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Imagineer wrote:

I got the free DP the same exact week as Bali did back in '06. In fact we saw each other by Aladdin's Magic Carpets.

Now that I think about it, I may have run into Bali in '05...

Hmm...no recollection whatsoever what year that was! I know I had a dole whip though, and that's the most important part!

Wow--so much has happened since then! You're married, Ginger has her baby, I met my future husband and moved across the country...

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Tue, 05/12/2009 - 18:09

teacherdrama

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I was there in 2006 also actually for free dining. It was my mom and stepdad's 20th anniversary so my sister and I brought them as a gift. It was also the week before I met Caitie
Caitie and I used the free dining when we went in '07 also -- it's exactly the same as regular dining plan (only back then EVERYTHING was included).

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Tue, 05/12/2009 - 19:25

SpaceAce

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teacherdrama wrote:

I was there in 2006 also actually for free dining. It was my mom and stepdad's 20th anniversary so my sister and I brought them as a gift. It was also the week before I met Caitie
Caitie and I used the free dining when we went in '07 also -- it's exactly the same as regular dining plan (only back then EVERYTHING was included).

Even appetizers!!!

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Sun, 09/27/2009 - 12:08

Mike&Donna

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Kind of going back in the old posts again...and this one brought up a question...

Does Disney do the free dining every year now? Is it usually in the Sept/Oct time frame?

Because I havent thought about a return visit for awhile, I usually dont pay attention to things like this...but now that we are considering an anniversary trip, it poses the question of when do we go...

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Sun, 09/27/2009 - 20:11

cdub

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Mike&Donna wrote:

Kind of going back in the old posts again...and this one brought up a question...

Does Disney do the free dining every year now? Is it usually in the Sept/Oct time frame?

Because I havent thought about a return visit for awhile, I usually dont pay attention to things like this...but now that we are considering an anniversary trip, it poses the question of when do we go...

They have been for several years now in an attempt to bring up revenue in their slow time I think. They never say for sure they're going to do it, but with the economy as it is I'd expect to see it for a while to come. I think they did it for a longer period this year than ever before, but I'm not sure on that.

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