Free Dining-2011

[Mom2Lil]

My husband and I decided to go for it and take a trip to Disney this fall. A friend suggested that we wait to go until the free dining takes place. I can't find any information on it though. Will it be happening this year or is it not usually announced until closer to the dates?

Also, are the parks terribly busy at that time of year?

 

[steelerfan87]

I am fairly sure to have taken advantage of the free dining offer for this fall you had to have been booked by Dec 20.

My family and I were also wanting to book for this but my job situation is sort of up in the air right now so I couldn't risk booking by the deadline when I didn't know what the future held.

I think there is a new offer that just came out for the fall for up to 40% off your room. Deadline for this is sometime in late Feb.

 

[steelerfan87]

Also to answer your 2nd question. The parks in Sept are great. Not very crowded at all. Weather is the biggest issue with the peak of hurricane season.

 

[Missytara]

My husband and I decided to go for it and take a trip to Disney this fall. A friend suggested that we wait to go until the free dining takes place. I can't find any information on it though. Will it be happening this year or is it not usually announced until closer to the dates?

Also, are the parks terribly busy at that time of year?

Yes, the booking ended December 20th. No indication if another package or an extension will take place. You can check the Discount and Codes board for updates.

Also, I go the week after Thanksgiving every year and it was much busier this year, especially in the table service restaurants. I made my ADR's at 180 days out and about a week later than extended free dining to that week. A friend of mine decided to take the offer about two weeks later for the same week and could barely get any of their favorite restaurants. I am glad I did it in anticipation.

 

[Eeyore's-tail-tack]

Disney used to announce Free Dining I believe the first week in April. If you sign up with various Disney sites you may be offered a discount by email. Last week I had been pricing a trip for the fall of 2011. I received a pin that will save me 30 to 35% off a stay at a value or a moderate resort. The dates go all the way until I believe Christmas Eve. Of course not all dates are included, but many are.

 

[earthiejen]

I am hoping for a pin in my email. I got one last year this time for free dining. Who knows if I will get one this year but have been playing around with possible dates and pricing it out.
We went in September and it was so hot but it wasn't too bad. One day was awful at DHS but the other days crowds were manageable.

 

[amandaw]

Disney used to announce Free Dining I believe the first week in April. If you sign up with various Disney sites you may be offered a discount by email. Last week I had been pricing a trip for the fall of 2011. I received a pin that will save me 30 to 35% off a stay at a value or a moderate resort. The dates go all the way until I believe Christmas Eve. Of course not all dates are included, but many are.

I'm a bit new to staying on WDW property & looking for discounts. Is it possible that Disney would announce, sometime this spring, some free dining for nov or dec of this year? I know that, obviously, you don't know for sure, but am just wondering if this is how they tend to do it for nov/dec promotions. Also, what are these pins that I keep reading about & where should I sign up to, hopefully, get one? If I were to book a vacation package & then Disney puts out a promotion, can I call back & get the promotion applied to my package (assuming I meet the correct dates, etc)?

 

[WDWfanatic2]

They had been offering free dining for this fall when I booked our trip. I booked for Sept. 2011 in Nov. 2010. I went onto the site because a friend wanted to travel with us and they are no longer offering the free dining. They might bring it back though because we went in Sept. 2010 and I had booked it in July with free dining. When in Sept. are you going? We went last year from Sept. 3- Sept. 10 and no one was there. We were able to go on Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain within an hour. It seems to be slower then because it is after the summer rush and also it is before the Halloween party and International Food and Wine festival at Epcot.

 

[loreejohnson]

I was wondering if anyone knows if you can usually find any sort of promos for January. We are starting to plan a trip for January 2012. I have only planned 1 other trip to Disney and that was in 2004. The only way I got through that was help from the boards. SO any info anyone can help me with like meal pans,promos, etc. I would really appreciate it. Thanks so much in advance.

 

[NOTHINGLKAHOOSIERGRL]

My husband and I decided to go for it and take a trip to Disney this fall. A friend suggested that we wait to go until the free dining takes place. I can't find any information on it though. Will it be happening this year or is it not usually announced until closer to the dates?

Also, are the parks terribly busy at that time of year?

My husband and 3 boys are going in Nov of this year and we had just called disney the other day and the lady that my husband was speaking with thought they would be offering the free dining then. It would be 1 sit down and 1 quick service meal, but she said that if you wanted to do just quick service meals you could just tell them thats what you would like to do. We are going to do just quick service this time around I don't like having to rush to get to dinner. And I want to be able to eat when we are ready to eat too.

 

[rcoaster809]

I really hope to take advantage of free dining in November. I never did the dining plan before. Are there any ideas on when it will be announced?

 

[MommaE]

I am looking to book our first Disney trip in September of 2012.. I am new to this! A friend told me to look out for the free dining in the fall, when should they post special offers like these? (I know it's a long while from now) Should I wait until they post the special to book, or should I book and then when the offer arrises, am I able to add the free dining to my booking? Totally clueless, sorry if this is a stupid question but thanks in advance!

 

[Missytara]

I am looking to book our first Disney trip in September of 2012.. I am new to this! A friend told me to look out for the free dining in the fall, when should they post special offers like these? (I know it's a long while from now) Should I wait until they post the special to book, or should I book and then when the offer arrises, am I able to add the free dining to my booking? Totally clueless, sorry if this is a stupid question but thanks in advance!

You can book 499 days in advance with a room-only ressie and they will charge you the rack rate for each room with a one night's deposit. When the rates come out in August for 2012, your room rate will be adjusted as needed for your week and you can add to make it a package.

Howver, be advised, promotions are used to fill rooms. That means that sometimes the resort you have already booked may NOT have a promotion, because they are already booked. This frequently happens, for instance at POR, which is the affordable moderate resort for 5 people (FW also fits five people, but is more expensive). So in order to get a promotion in that resort, rooms have to be available. If not, you may have to decide on another resort to get that promotion.

In addition, some promotions work better than others. For instance, I travel by myself and pay double occupancy. Free dining would do nothing for me, but a room discount does wonders.

You have to find what works best for you.

 

[Missytara]

I really hope to take advantage of free dining in November. I never did the dining plan before. Are there any ideas on when it will be announced?

As noted in the previous posts, last two times free dining was announced for later in the year, it was in the April time frame.

 

[Mermaid4me]

I just got off the phone with Disney to book my trip in Sept. I did get a room discount at POR. However I was really hoping for Free Dining. It is me, DH and DS16, DS13, DS8. So for us, Free Dining saves us $980. I asked the CM about Free Dining in Sept. and she said "Don't hold your breath" because it has already been offered. I always book my trips in late winter for the fall and had no idea that Free Dining had already been offered. The in the next breath she said "You never know, so keep checking". I am so keeping my fingers crossed!!!!

 

[themollendorns]

Historically speaking they will announce another round of free dining packages in July. The website mousesavers.com keeps track of when they announce discounts and what the discounts are, and as you can see the past few years they have announced free dining for the current year in July. Hope that helps!! We were also holding out for free dining but now I think we are going to rent DVC points and save a ton of money that way. Good luck!!

http://www.mousesavers.com/historicalwdwdiscounts.html#codetrends

 

[lllGurulll]

I am hoping they might do the kids stay play and eat free thing again at the beginning of March like they did last year. Not holding my breath, but it would be nice to add that on to my existing ressie.

 

[KatelynnsAuntie]

I found these dates for free dining this year:

2011: Jan 1 - 5 • Jan 9 - 13 • Jan 21 - Feb 3 • Feb 11 - 17 • Feb 25 - Mar 3 • May 27 - Jun 2 • Aug 19 - Sept 29

 

[ksloane]

I just got off the phone with Disney to book my trip in Sept. I did get a room discount at POR. However I was really hoping for Free Dining. It is me, DH and DS16, DS13, DS8. So for us, Free Dining saves us $980. I asked the CM about Free Dining in Sept. and she said "Don't hold your breath" because it has already been offered. I always book my trips in late winter for the fall and had no idea that Free Dining had already been offered. The in the next breath she said "You never know, so keep checking". I am so keeping my fingers crossed!!!!

You should consider using a travel agent. After my first trip with mine, she emails me the instant Disney releases any promotions to see if I'm intersted. This is the only way I knew about free dining at the end of May/beginning of June that was available back in the fall, and I jumped on it super quick.

 

[Bethislucy]

I hope they do free dining too. I saw when it was offered for 2011 but the dates cut off before our trip. Any discount would be nice but holding out hope for free dining it would save us the most $$$