2016 Free Dining Watch ~ Part 2

[howedaniel]

I've always seen standard rooms available at both resorts when I've booked in the past.

Thanks for the info..that helps me with my pricing I'm doing

 

[mandis77]

Opinions on value resorts... Last year our family did FD at ASMusic (we did upgrade to DDP) This year I have been planning on Pop. I have 2 boys. They will have just turned 2 and 4 at the time of our trip. We had no problems last year with Music... Barely saw the place honestly. Did experience a very long line the night we came back from Epcot. Anyway, Pop is only $100 more total for our weeklong trip. Is it worth it for the bus service or any other reason? I have read blogs but would like to hear 1st hand experience. Getting excited! Yay! And thanks for the help.

Buses at POP were great. We never waited long for a bus at the resort and once you are on the bus, you are on your way. No driving around to other stops. I never felt like the buses were over crowded either.

 

[Disneylover99]

Opinions on value resorts... Last year our family did FD at ASMusic (we did upgrade to DDP) This year I have been planning on Pop. I have 2 boys. They will have just turned 2 and 4 at the time of our trip. We had no problems last year with Music... Barely saw the place honestly. Did experience a very long line the night we came back from Epcot. Anyway, Pop is only $100 more total for our weeklong trip. Is it worth it for the bus service or any other reason? I have read blogs but would like to hear 1st hand experience. Getting excited! Yay! And thanks for the help.

I think Pop is worth it and I've stayed at Music twice. Pop is my very favourite resort. We love the lake, the buses, the vibe, the theming, etc....

 

[Valstew]

Opinions on value resorts... Last year our family did FD at ASMusic (we did upgrade to DDP) This year I have been planning on Pop. I have 2 boys. They will have just turned 2 and 4 at the time of our trip. We had no problems last year with Music... Barely saw the place honestly. Did experience a very long line the night we came back from Epcot. Anyway, Pop is only $100 more total for our weeklong trip. Is it worth it for the bus service or any other reason? I have read blogs but would like to hear 1st hand experience. Getting excited! Yay! And thanks for the help.

We have never stayed at all stars but we loved staying at pop. My little was 2 at the time and he still talks about the Mickey phone and mr potato head.

 

[mandis77]

I never nap, but I just tried to nap. I fell asleep for 10 minutes and now I have a wicked headache. Ugh. I shouldn't have done it.

Same here. I tried to nap and just had Disney lingo and numbers swirling around in my head. Oh well - at least there's coffee!

 

[Disneylover99]

Same here. I tried to nap and just had Disney lingo and numbers swirling around in my head. Oh well - at least there's coffee!

Yes. My head was swimming with thoughts when I lay down. You're right. Time for coffee.

 

[Jacie]

We've stayed at All Star Movies, Music, Pop, and Art of Animation. Music was definitely our favorite. We only shared buses when it was a slower time of the day and never to Magic Kingdom. The buses didn't feel any more or less crowded than the others (Except AoA. Those buses were a nightmare.) We DID share at Pop though. We shared with CBR twice during our stay and I was really surprised because it's always "Pop doesn't share buses."

 

[wdw4rfam]

How do you book a phantom person??? We actually have a pass member that is planning on staying there with us but doesn't want to buy the 10 day tickets we are getting.

That's what I've done when there's free dining. I add a fifth person under a made up name and have to buy a park ticket for that " person". It guarantees us the Murphy bed, and then we have all those extra dining credits to make up for the money we spent on the ticket. Sounds silly to some, but I have an autistic child who won't sleep in a bed with his sister so I can't leave it to chance.

 

[twoolle]

We said we weren't going again for a few years when we went last year haha. So now im just trying to squeeze in one actual last visit before we return to our financially responsible adult decision making

I'd be happy going back to pop since we had a great stay, but DH says we need to try a different resort. I suppose he's right. Haha

This is our story too, we didn't want to come back this year but now I'm practically in tears I want to go so bad. But then my DH laughed when we were just trying to get the kids ready for church today that was hard enough! The planning is a hobby and then making all the puzzle pieces fit together once we get there is fun! We did POR last year and I kind of want to try CBR this year since it will be last time we can fit in a mod. I think my boys (ages 6, 5, and 1) will love the pirate pool. And I really like the zero entry pool at CBR. Do the values have that? We spend almost every afternoon at the pool while 1 or 2 kids sleep so it's a big deal for us.

HEB (only in Texas) does a 20% off $100 Disney gift cards promo about 2x per year. I bought a bunch in February to pay for my trip.

That's a great deal! SAMs Club sells them online, $143 for $150. I bought a bunch last year and paid for our trip online with them. Plus, I purchased them with our Amex and got points which we used for our overnight hotel driving down and back. Saved us over $300!

DD is 15. She says she will be up with me.
I should add that she's homeschooled and ahead of schedule for this school year, so Monday off (or a reduced day) is going to be in order.

Homeschool mom of 4 here also! Except my oldest is only in Kindie.

GRRRRR!!!! So, we called back and changed our dates since you guys all suggested we should, since the change to drop our first 2 days basically made a new reservation, and I wanted that all done before tonight's craziness. However, we were booked in a Royal Guest Room with a pool view. To change our dates, she said we had to lose our room type, and now we are stuck in a garden view. We really wanted pool view because that put us in Oak Manor, which I've read online is the only one with an elevator. We have 2 strollers and will have 2 sleeping girls at night so that was a must for us! So I'm bummed that we lost our room, the CM said it was an issueof inventory, not dates but I don't know what that means. We had the room, so the room should be part of the inventory, right?? I'm confused.

On a positive note, though, she said to call back tomorrow in the afternoon because lots of things could've changed by then, which was a hint that tomorrow is actually the big day. But then she said we could have her extension and call her directly because she will be there from 7a-11p tomorrow, LOTS of overtime! So that's a pretty good sign!

Is this POR? We stayed there last year and I thought all the mansion buildings had elevators since they are 3 floors? Only the alligator bayou section doesn't as it has only 2 floors. You can request ground floor as your top priority and they really try to help, even if it's not what you want when you get there. HTH

 

[howedaniel]

We've stayed at All Star Movies, Music, Pop, and Art of Animation. Music was definitely our favorite. We only shared buses when it was a slower time of the day and never to Magic Kingdom. The buses didn't feel any more or less crowded than the others (Except AoA. Those buses were a nightmare.) We DID share at Pop though. We shared with CBR twice during our stay and I was really surprised because it's always "Pop doesn't share buses."

Oh no! POP and CBR can share buses? I am torn between these two resorts as we are travelling christmas week and so I know it is going to be super busy...I was swaying towards POP because it has it's own buses and doesn't have multiple stops like CBR :-/

 

[anneboleyn]

We've stayed at All Star Movies, Music, Pop, and Art of Animation. Music was definitely our favorite. We only shared buses when it was a slower time of the day and never to Magic Kingdom. The buses didn't feel any more or less crowded than the others (Except AoA. Those buses were a nightmare.) We DID share at Pop though. We shared with CBR twice during our stay and I was really surprised because it's always "Pop doesn't share buses."

I totally agree with your statement about the Pop buses. It was the worst bus experience we ever had at Disney World. They were so crowded and my DD and niece (who were 6 at the time) cried every time we were on the buses because their feet hurt and they had to stand. And then other passengers would try to shove them out of the way. It was HORRIBLE. I will never stay at Pop again because of this. I originally booked it because people saying they didn't share buses, but they shared with AoA every time.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Here's my thoughts on how the Room Discounts may lay out. This is an exercise of my mind and the level of detail I enjoy digging into. Remember there may be some resorts that flip into different percentages and those date ranges may Be off a bit. But lets just see how close this shakes out shall we?

A room discount offer should be available April 23, for stays between August 25 and November 5.

Up to 30% - Animal Kingdom Lodge (Standard/Pool View), Boardwalk Inn, Grand Floridian, Polynesian Village Resort, Wilderness Lodge, Yacht Club, Boardwalk Villas, Old Key West, Saratoga Springs.

Up to 20% - Animal Kingdom Lodge (Savannah/Club Level), Beach Club, Contemporary, Animal Kingdom Villas (Jambo and Kidani), Beach Club Villas, Villas at Wilderness Lodge, All Star Music, All Star Sports, Pop Century, Art of Animation Family Suites, Port Orleans French Quarter (8/26-10/1 only).

Up to 25% - Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs, Cabins at Ft. Wilderness, Port Orleans Riverside (25% from 8/26-10/1, and 20% from 10/1-11/5.)

Up to 15% - All Star Movies, Campsites at Ft. Wilderness

Excludes: Mermaid rooms at Art of Animation, Bay Lake Tower, Polynesian Villas, and Grand Floridian Villas.

Do you think room discounts for November 5th and later will eventually be released?

 

[mandis77]

Oh no! POP and CBR can share buses? I am torn between these two resorts as we are travelling christmas week and so I know it is going to be super busy...I was swaying towards POP because it has it's own buses and doesn't have multiple stops like CBR :-/

I've stayed at POP and CBR and never shared buses with each other. What time of year was it? Just curious as we plan on staying at POP again this fall.

 

[Kellett]

We've stayed at All Star Movies, Music, Pop, and Art of Animation. Music was definitely our favorite. We only shared buses when it was a slower time of the day and never to Magic Kingdom. The buses didn't feel any more or less crowded than the others (Except AoA. Those buses were a nightmare.) We DID share at Pop though. We shared with CBR twice during our stay and I was really surprised because it's always "Pop doesn't share buses."

Hi we are staying at aoa can you tell me about the buses and your nightmare? I'm trying to convince my husband to drive instead of using the buses and I need points for my argument. TIA!!

 

[ThisMommyLovesMickey]

We said we weren't going again for a few years when we went last year haha. So now im just trying to squeeze in one actual last visit before we return to our financially responsible adult decision making

I'd be happy going back to pop since we had a great stay, but DH says we need to try a different resort. I suppose he's right. Haha

Haha! We went for Christmas and said we weren't going this year and going to buckle down and start on other adult responsibilities. Now we have a Disneyland trip planned for August and Disney World for October

 

[Disney Ron]

This is our story too, we didn't want to come back this year but now I'm practically in tears I want to go so bad. But then my DH laughed when we were just trying to get the kids ready for church today that was hard enough! The planning is a hobby and then making all the puzzle pieces fit together once we get there is fun! We did POR last year and I kind of want to try CBR this year since it will be last time we can fit in a mod. I think my boys (ages 6, 5, and 1) will love the pirate pool. And I really like the zero entry pool at CBR. Do the values have that? We spend almost every afternoon at the pool while 1 or 2 kids sleep so it's a big deal for us.





That's a great deal! SAMs Club sells them online, $143 for $150. I bought a bunch last year and paid for our trip online with them. Plus, I purchased them with our Amex and got points which we used for our overnight hotel driving down and back. Saved us over $300!



Homeschool mom of 4 here also! Except my oldest is only in Kindie.



Is this POR? We stayed there last year and I thought all the mansion buildings had elevators since they are 3 floors? Only the alligator bayou section doesn't as it has only 2 floors. You can request ground floor as your top priority and they really try to help, even if it's not what you want when you get there.

The Nemo pool at AofA has zero entry and is a great pool.

 

[Disneylover99]

Oh no! POP and CBR can share buses? I am torn between these two resorts as we are travelling christmas week and so I know it is going to be super busy...I was swaying towards POP because it has it's own buses and doesn't have multiple stops like CBR :-/

We've stayed at Pop over the past two Christmas weeks. Our bus service has never been better. We've had five stays there over the past two years. We've never shared with anyone. Sharing between CBR and Pop is definitely not the norm. It's very rare.

 

[Disneylover99]

Hi we are staying at aoa can you tell me about the buses and your nightmare? I'm trying to convince my husband to drive instead of using the buses and I need points for my argument. TIA!!

Buses at AofA were amazing when we stayed there. Going back to the resort from the parks, we would jump on an AofA bus or Pop bus (whichever was there first or had a shorter line) since it was an easy walk between the two resorts.

 

[aaarcher86]

Hi! I'm a long time lurker here but I am going to break out of my lurking bubble to ask a question from you, more seasoned travelers!

I'm dithering between shooting for dates starting Oct. 1st and dates starting Nov. 15th. My 6yoDD loves to swim but she is always freezing; will we be able to swim more than a little bit if we go in November? My daughter is my opposite and I would do almost anything to avoid being in Florida during Satan's Armpit season so I would very much like November to work out!

Pools are heated to 82 degrees at all times of the year so it'll just depend on your personal comfort outside the pools, really. October will definitely be warmer though.

https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/Florida/average-florida-temperatures-by-month.php

One more question here. We are now thinking about a 8 night stay instead of 7. I see that you can not drop any days if you get the FD without canceling the package. What if after I book the 7 nights with free dinning I want to add a day would I get the free dinning for that day also without having to cancel and rebook? It would be added on at the beginning of the trip if we do. Thanks for any information you can give me.

It doesn't necessarily mean you have to cancel, if it's available as a new booking Disney will modify it for you. If you book 7 nights and want to add an 8th night the 8th night has be available with the discount from the original inventory. It's not automatically going to allow you to add on.

OK. I honestly don't know. Phone lines open at 7am but will the sale start online at midnight or like 4am?

I've heard so much conflicting information and this is our first trip to WDW

It's been there at 12:30a, 4:30a, 6a, and later in the day. There's no way to know.

 

[howedaniel]

We've stayed at Pop over the past two Christmas weeks. Our bus service has never been better. We've had five stays there over the past two years. We've never shared with anyone. Sharing between CBR and Pop is definitely not the norm. It's very rare.

Thanks so much for the info, I have been worrying a little about the bus service so it helps to know that you have had more than one good experience