Have any Canadians received emails regarding cancelled ADR's/FP's?

[caisland]

Got email from Disney. Offer different than expected.

It is 35% off package not just the room. Pop for 14 nights and package went from $4453 to $2890 including 10 day PH.

Still torn whether to go. Not sure we will be able to even leave Canada

 

[Disneylover99]

I think that's going to depend on the makeup of the party. Even if the room was $500, 35% off of 500 is a savings of $175 a night. Free dining, even if it's only the QS, is $55 per person, per night. For my family of 4, that's $220 per night. Now, our original reservation had a rack rate of something like 269 a night. To make up for the same discount as the free dining, we'd have needed to get 81.78% off the room.

Oh, I know the deal is definitely not as good as free dining with a family of four at a value or moderate. I’m just saying, if there is anytime to get 35% off your room, Christmas with the price of rack rates, will give you the most bang for your buck.

And Deluxe standards range in price that week from $705 AKL - $973 Poly per night. Those are just standard rooms. And most standard rooms range in the mid $800’s at BC, Boardwalk, Contemporary........so that 35% off is pretty much equivalent to free dining for a family of four when you’re in this price range.

 

[jump00]

We got our email the other day. So sad.......we had booked California Grill and Sanaa (AK). I haven’t pulled the plug yet on our 11 day trip to Universal (RPR) - end of August. I just CAN‘T...............

 

[Kaadk]

Got email from Disney. Offer different than expected.

It is 35% off package not just the room. Pop for 14 nights and package went from $4453 to $2890 including 10 day PH.

Still torn whether to go. Not sure we will be able to even leave Canada

Now that our package has been updated, I see that it's gone down quite a bit. That would be different from their usual 35% off offerings, as those are typically room only. And the mail we got didn't say the whole package, it sounded like it would just be off the room. I'm going to have to run the numbers though to see what it's actually working out to. I suspect the reason it went down so much has more to do with refunding our dining package upgrade to TS, than it does with a percentage off the whole package.

Oh, I know the deal is definitely not as good as free dining with a family of four at a value or moderate. I’m just saying, if there is anytime to get 35% off your room, Christmas with the price of rack rates, will give you the most bang for your buck.

And Deluxe standards range in price that week from $705 AKL - $973 Poly per night. Those are just standard rooms. And most standard rooms range in the mid $800’s at BC, Boardwalk, Contemporary........so that 35% off is pretty much equivalent to free dining for a family of four when you’re in this price range.

Agreed, 35% off is definitely better than nothing, but for some, that difference in budget can be make it or break it.

Edit: Ok, been doing the math. The original package total was 5255.39. That was for POFQ for 8 nights for 4 with an upgrade to the free dining from QS to the regular DP. Current package total is 3861.10. So the difference is 1394.29. Of that, 736.32 represents our upgrade to the DP, that we're just getting back. Subtracting that out of the difference, leaves us with a difference of 657.97. So, their 35% off offer is the equivalent of 657.97. That works out to be just perfect to be the amount off room only. 234.99 * 8 nights * 0.35% = 657.97. (Note: I don't have the actual room per night on hand, I thought it was higher than that, but working the math backwards got me to 234.99 per night, so I guess that must have been the room's rack rate at the time.)

657.97 is a long way off from the 1760 (55 per person per night) that the free dining represented. Now, in all actually, we don't really eat the full cost of the dining plan. That's why I've always tried to align our vacations with free dining offers. The DP just isn't worth it otherwise if you're paying full price. But, to be on track with the budget, we'd have to be able to eat for that 1394.29 difference, Over the 8 nights, that works out to 43.57 per person (including tax, but not including gratuity). Whereas we might not have ate the full 78.01 per person cost of the DP, we would have ate more than 43.57 per person. I figured between the 2 meals, and 2 snacks, to be closer to 55-60 each. 30ish for a TS dinner, 20ish for a QS lunch, and 5-10 for the 2 snacks.

So for us, it's not as much of an impact, maybe an extra $500 over what it would have cost us. But I've seen others really maximize those DPs, ordering the top of the line items everywhere, eating the most expensive snacks only, etc.. If those people are stretching to around 80 a day per person, (40 dinner, 25 lunch, 2 * 8 for snacks) than that could be like 1200 extra.

 

[Disneylover99]

So for us, it's not as much of an impact, maybe an extra $500 over what it would have cost us. But I've seen others really maximize those DPs, ordering the top of the line items everywhere, eating the most expensive snacks only, etc.. If those people are stretching to around 80 a day per person, (40 dinner, 25 lunch, 2 * 8 for snacks) than that could be like 1200 extra.

We find when we’re on the Dining plan, we tend to maximize it, but when we’re on a trip without it, we feel more free to just go with the flow. While we love free dining, we have a lot of fun just ordering appetizers or less expensive meals to share at restaurants when we’re not on the dining plan, and we’ve discovered the fun of stopping by bars and loungers for appetizers too.

 

[Kaadk]

We find when we’re on the Dining plan, we tend to maximize it, but when we’re on a trip without it, we feel more free to just go with the flow. While we love free dining, we have a lot of fun just ordering appetizers or less expensive meals to share at restaurants when we’re not on the dining plan, and we’ve discovered the fun of stopping by bars and loungers for appetizers too.

I would love to be able to do that. The idea of spending a whole day wandering World Showcase and just grabbing a little of everything in each of the countries is a dream of mine. Unfortunately, it's not the same for the rest of the family, so I get outvoted.

 

[Disneylover99]

I would love to be able to do that. The idea of spending a whole day wandering World Showcase and just grabbing a little of everything in each of the countries is a dream of mine. Unfortunately, it's not the same for the rest of the family, so I get outvoted.

Maybe it is, but they just don’t know it yet! Lol.

Our first trip without fd, the kids were young, but honestly they didn’t miss the character meals. We just ate what we want, when we wanted it.

So try to have a new kind of fun without the free dining.

 

[OkanaganAmanda]

I am still waiting to find out. I am in BC and am booked for FD for the late August window (not a Covid rebooking FD). I have received all the cancellation emails but haven't heard a peep from Disney or from my Dreams agent about the 35% discount. Still waiting to hear back on how all of that works! We had crunched the #'s and taking free dining saved us about $500 more, than had we booked at the Summer Sun n Fun room discount AND booked the Canadian discounted tickets, so of course we booked FD. We are doing 7 nights at POP, family of 2 adults and 2 kids. Crossing my fingers for a bit of a deal (35% off the whole package would pretty much equate what my package would have been, had we booked the Canadian tickets and the room discount). And even more so, hoping they might be able to apply it to a future booking, since we have no idea if we'll even be able to leave the country and get travel insurance by then! I am giving it about a 5% chance of going, but just having *a chance* is fun to daydream about.

 

[gskywalker]

FYI, I spoke to guest services today about the 35% discount. They said they have received notice that we will be able to cancel the ticket portion and just keep the 35% off the room portion when modifications are allowed. Not sure whether we will use it other than for 2 or 3 nights on the bookends of our DVC stay but thought other people would want to know. With the tickets included it was a for sure no go, but with the tickets taken off it may be useful at least(we have annual passes).

 

[dis_guy]

Maybe it is, but they just don’t know it yet! Lol.

Our first trip without fd, the kids were young, but honestly they didn’t miss the character meals. We just ate what we want, when we wanted it.

So try to have a new kind of fun without the free dining.

We used to be free dining fans too. That all changed when we booked a truly last minute trip to WDW during a really bad spell of winter weather we had in March of 2013. We booked it on Friday, flew out on the red-eye on Saturday night, arriving on Sunday morning. No dining reservations, no plan of any kind, just a hotel reservation. Best trip ever. There's a lot to be said about being spontaneous. CBP questioned the nature of our very last minute trip but when I described our weather at home (we cleared customs in Houston), all the agent said was, "I sure don't blame you".

 

[Disneylover99]

I am still waiting to find out. I am in BC and am booked for FD for the late August window (not a Covid rebooking FD). I have received all the cancellation emails but haven't heard a peep from Disney or from my Dreams agent about the 35% discount. Still waiting to hear back on how all of that works! We had crunched the #'s and taking free dining saved us about $500 more, than had we booked at the Summer Sun n Fun room discount AND booked the Canadian discounted tickets, so of course we booked FD. We are doing 7 nights at POP, family of 2 adults and 2 kids. Crossing my fingers for a bit of a deal (35% off the whole package would pretty much equate what my package would have been, had we booked the Canadian tickets and the room discount). And even more so, hoping they might be able to apply it to a future booking, since we have no idea if we'll even be able to leave the country and get travel insurance by then! I am giving it about a 5% chance of going, but just having *a chance* is fun to daydream about.

It’s 35% off your room at rack rate. The 35% off does not include your tickets.
If you have paid the difference to upgrade the dining plan, you’ll also get that money back too.

 

[samsteele]

Called and cancelled my WDW package this morning for early Sept. Used google hangouts app for free voip and called right at 8am. Done and dusted in under 10 mins. I asked if any chance she could rebook my free dining offer for next Sept 2021 and of course can't do as not taking any reservations for 2021. But relieved I'm done with it and not thinking about it anymore. $200 deposit should be back on my US $ visa in 2 weeks. Sad. But better to rip the bandaid off rather than prolong it. Had also hoped for some guest recovery ie some type of 'use next year offer/digital coupon' if I waited for a few more weeks but that was unlikely. For all who've decided to take the recovery20 35% off rack rate, I hope you have a good and safe vacation. Goodness knows everyone deserves it.

 

[gskywalker]

We have a DVC stay at the end of August. I expect to have to cancel because the borders will still be closed or quarantine conditions, etc. but we will wait and see. Going to use the 35% off for the 2 nights before our DVC stay. Then we have another DVC stay in November, no idea what will happen for that one yet. If it wasn't for the DVC point unknown I would wait until 2021.

 

[Jo-Anne]

I got a generic email and see on line my free dining gone, still says 4 day park hopper (thought they had cancelled the hopper option-one Park per day?) and just updated price With 35 percent off room for our December visit. I was truly thinking they would delay Tearing down those late in the year vacationS as a lot may change six months from now. I’ll hold onto this vacation until the Fall so if they do open up many more options and if restrictions reduced we may just fly down, but really disappointed that free dining taken away without any “guest recovery” as others have said.