******Official 2017 Free Dining Plan Watch, Wait, and Dream

[scrappinginontario]

I'm 12-21 of September so history says those dates should definitely be included.

I would not count of this. I booked the BB last year and the final date to book the BB offer was Sept 9/17. I've been booking BBs for 6 years now and the other 5 years always included the entire month of September but not last year.

I'm hoping your dates are included but 'definitely' is a pretty strong word when the BB dates changed so much last year for 2017!

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

Kind of off topic, and I didn't catch up on the pages I missed so not sure if it was mentioned yet, I recieved an email from Visa today. To summarize, Disney Visa cardholders get an additional 3% rewards dollars through end of summer on some purchases for a total of 4% (I have the regular card, the one with no annual fee). Didn't read through the details yet just wanted to give a heads up in case it goes into some of your spam folders.

 

[JackieO]

For those of you planning on staying at POP or other values, if you get free dining will you leave it as a QS plan? If you plan to upgrade to the DDP is it cost effective to do so or at that point would it be better to just book a mod (assuming one is available)? I want to do at least one character meal. I'll have to do the math but just wondering what others are thinking. We will have 3 Disney adults, one child and one infant.

When I was looking at all of this for our trip ) trip will be in Sep, did our planning back in Oct.) I found that it would be within $200 for our 10 day trip to upgrade to a mod rather than upgrade from QS. That seemed like a good deal to me because I have one son that is VERY hard for anyone to share a bed with, so the extra bed at POR is perfect. I know that prices have changed and our family numbers (3 adults, 1 13 year old) are probably different but I hope this helps.

 

[JackieO]

Kind of off topic, and I didn't catch up on the pages I missed so not sure if it was mentioned yet, I recieved an email from Visa today. To summarize, Disney Visa cardholders get an additional 3% rewards dollars through end of summer on some purchases for a total of 4% (I have the regular card, the one with no annual fee). Didn't read through the details yet just wanted to give a heads up in case it goes into some of your spam folders.

Thanks for the heads up!!

 

[menotyou21]

I said this in the MVMCP thread - how can they expect people to "know" what/where they want to eat before park hours/FP/special events are released/available?? Seems like it would be so much better to release hours 180 days out with special event schedules then ADR's maybe 90 days out and FP 60

I've "complained" about this to Disney for years. I've said on here how I couldn't get Minnie Dinner @ H&V nor could I get RoL Dinner Package (due to their calendar not being ready)....but over the years, this has been consistent. Clearly I agree with you, but we all love Disney so much, we keep coming back and having a wonderful time.....save for the few things that slightly annoy us.

 

[krisfan]

Without FD we will still go, we will still stay on-site and we will still get the DDP. I'm prepared for that expense, but hopeful that without FD, we would at least get a good room discount. These are our choices (we're going for 14 nights 2 adults, 4 kids aged 17, 14, 13, and 9):

1. CBR, 2 rooms, $2100 in gift cards, DDP = $16,842. FD cost = $12,558.87

We will only keep our CBR reservation if we can get both gift cards and free dining. Without that, we'll switch resorts:

2. Pop! 2 rooms, DDP = $13,184.34 Free dining with DDP upgrade cost = $9135.66

3. If we can't get that, ASMu, family suite, DDP = $13, 302. FD cost with DDP upgrade = $9254.34

4. If we can't get any of those, we would stay in another value resort - AoA then ASSp in order of preference.

ASSp = $8650.52 with free dining, $12,698 without
AoA = $12,481 without FD, $10,023 with free dining



So, I've done a lot of math, and we're pretty flexible in dates, I'm hoping we can land SOMETHING with FD. It's an expensive vacation for us that we've been saving for over 2 years - but our 17 year old will be a high school senior in the fall and we want one great family vacation before she goes off to college. We've only been a merged family for about 2.5 years, so we have a lot of time to make up for and this is our once in a lifetime last great hurrah family trip.

I think Chris and I are going to upgrade our tickets to APs when we're there, and get a TiW card for where appropriate. We'd like to go on another trip in the winter with just the two of us so we could get a lot of mileage saving on what we do buy OOP for the 6 of us, our alcohol with meals, and then he and I would not get the DDP when we go back. We don't eat that much anyway so we're more likely to eat at signature restaurants and then order a few apps and split an entree without dessert. DDP doesn't make sense for just us, but with a family of 6 it's a huge savings.


And actually, now that I've typed all of that out, I'm not sure CBR makes sense for us at all. I guess I need to sit down and look at it all again.

I hope u get a FD that will save lot for u r family..
If u don't get FD and thinking about AP.. I suggest get AP before trip and you may have better room discounts for AP.

 

[disney fan4]

I'm sorry I know this has been answered already but I can't find it. How much is it to upgrade from QS to regular dining plan for an adult?

 

[memma05]

Without FD we will still go, we will still stay on-site and we will still get the DDP. I'm prepared for that expense, but hopeful that without FD, we would at least get a good room discount. These are our choices (we're going for 14 nights 2 adults, 4 kids aged 17, 14, 13, and 9):

1. CBR, 2 rooms, $2100 in gift cards, DDP = $16,842. FD cost = $12,558.87

We will only keep our CBR reservation if we can get both gift cards and free dining. Without that, we'll switch resorts:

2. Pop! 2 rooms, DDP = $13,184.34 Free dining with DDP upgrade cost = $9135.66

3. If we can't get that, ASMu, family suite, DDP = $13, 302. FD cost with DDP upgrade = $9254.34

4. If we can't get any of those, we would stay in another value resort - AoA then ASSp in order of preference.

ASSp = $8650.52 with free dining, $12,698 without
AoA = $12,481 without FD, $10,023 with free dining



So, I've done a lot of math, and we're pretty flexible in dates, I'm hoping we can land SOMETHING with FD. It's an expensive vacation for us that we've been saving for over 2 years - but our 17 year old will be a high school senior in the fall and we want one great family vacation before she goes off to college. We've only been a merged family for about 2.5 years, so we have a lot of time to make up for and this is our once in a lifetime last great hurrah family trip.

I think Chris and I are going to upgrade our tickets to APs when we're there, and get a TiW card for where appropriate. We'd like to go on another trip in the winter with just the two of us so we could get a lot of mileage saving on what we do buy OOP for the 6 of us, our alcohol with meals, and then he and I would not get the DDP when we go back. We don't eat that much anyway so we're more likely to eat at signature restaurants and then order a few apps and split an entree without dessert. DDP doesn't make sense for just us, but with a family of 6 it's a huge savings.


And actually, now that I've typed all of that out, I'm not sure CBR makes sense for us at all. I guess I need to sit down and look at it all again.

I agree with you! You would still save over $1000 staying at POP if you get FD even when you factor in the GC if they offer both at CBR. While I like CBR more then POP personally w/o the food court and restaurant not sure its work the $1000+ extra!

We are booked at CBR too for 11N/10D but are a family of 5 with 3 DD's under 9 so we don't really need two rooms but looking at your math I might be able to use POP as my backup if I cant get FD at CBR and keep the GC!

 

[Sarahboo]

I hope u get a FD that will save lot for u r family..
If u don't get FD and thinking about AP.. I suggest get AP before trip and you may have better room discounts for AP.

We don't want APs for everyone going, though, and packages can't be split. We just want APs for my husband and I.

 

[VillainFavs]

Kind of off topic, and I didn't catch up on the pages I missed so not sure if it was mentioned yet, I recieved an email from Visa today. To summarize, Disney Visa cardholders get an additional 3% rewards dollars through end of summer on some purchases for a total of 4% (I have the regular card, the one with no annual fee). Didn't read through the details yet just wanted to give a heads up in case it goes into some of your spam folders.

It's only on utility bills. So if you have your utilities paid with your Visa, you get the 4%. I think it includes insurance as well.

 

[scard192]

I would not count of this. I booked the BB last year and the final date to book the BB offer was Sept 9/17. I've been booking BBs for 6 years now and the other 5 years always included the entire month of September but not last year.

I'm hoping your dates are included but 'definitely' is a pretty strong word when the BB dates changed so much last year for 2017!

so true, based on the FD dates for 2011-2015 I was very confident that our check in date of 11/12/16 would be included and it was not.

 

[Sarahboo]

I agree with you! You would still save over $1000 staying at POP if you get FD even when you factor in the GC if they offer both at CBR. While I like CBR more then POP personally w/o the food court and restaurant not sure its work the $1000+ extra!

We are booked at CBR too for 11N/10D but are a family of 5 with 3 DD's under 9 so we don't really need two rooms but looking at your math I might be able to use POP as my backup if I cant get FD at CBR and keep the GC!

We'll be happy anywhere! The only on-site hotels I've stayed at are POFQ and ASMo. I'd prefer a Mod, but hey - no matter which resort we're at, we're at Disney, right? I'm not going to complain about whatever we might end up with. I feel so lucky and grateful to be going at all, and for the longest vacation I've ever had. No dishes or cleaning for 2 weeks? Yes please!

 

[krisfan]

We don't want APs for everyone going, though, and packages can't be split. We just want APs for my husband and I.

Yes.. one AP is fine to get annual pass holder discounts..

 

[disneydreamer1980]

@Sarahboo

Your family sounds like mine! When we arrive our kids will be 17, 13, 9, 7 and 2. We're not a merged family, but I understand wanting to do one last family trip before DD heads to college, same here. It's very expensive with such a big family, and there's not a lot of choices of lodging for large families. It's about $9400 for us to stay at FW cabin for 10 nights with DDP paid for and 8 day tickets, will save about $2800 with FD, but then we're going to add 2 or 3 nights if we can get it. We'll also be visiting Universal for 2 days, so thats another $1200 or so,just for tickets. This will be our last trip not having to pay for our baby , and next trip our 17 yo will be an adult, so it will be MUCH more expensive.

 

[Sarahboo]

Yes.. one AP is fine to get annual pass holder discounts..

right, I understand that, but I was under the impression that we couldn't separate our package to just upgrade 2 tickets. We either have to upgrade all tickets or no tickets (and then we can upgrade individual ones once we get there at guest services).

Please do tell me if there's a way to do it otherwise! That would be ideal for me anyway to upgrade before we go.

 

[monkeybug]

It sounds like you need to do some math. We are also eligible for the military discounts, and they are a better discount that FD.

First, though, do you have the military discount on the room at Poly? Make sure you call and ask for that. There may not be any rooms available, but I'm betting there are. The 40% off at the Poly and the Salute tickets should be way less than the FD offer would be as you have to pay rack rate for the room.

Oh, trust me, I've done the math! Lol! The only math I enjoy doing is Disney math.
I know that the Salute tickets and room discount is a better deal IF I have to buy everyone staying in the room a Disney ticket (which I now knowI would). It would be approximately $4,600 for us to go with free dining, and about $4,200 with the Salute tickets. But once upon a time Disney had a deal where I could buy one ticket and still get the dining and room deal (It was some sort of stay x amount of days get x amount of days free thing that included dining) and I wanted to see if that was the case with this because that would be about $4,000.

 

[Sarahboo]

@Sarahboo

Your family sounds like mine! When we arrive our kids will be 17, 13, 9, 7 and 2. We're not a merged family, but I understand wanting to do one last family trip before DD heads to college, same here. It's very expensive with such a big family, and there's not a lot of choices of lodging for large families. It's about $9400 for us to stay at FW cabin for 10 nights with DDP paid for and 8 day tickets, will save about $2800 with FD, but then we're going to add 2 or 3 nights if we can get it. We'll also be visiting Universal for 2 days, so thats another $1200 or so,just for tickets. This will be our last trip not having to pay for our baby , and next trip our 17 yo will be an adult, so it will be MUCH more expensive.

Yes! We're going to Universal for 3 days too (2 at IoA and US, and one at Volcano Bay), so that's $1880 in tickets there plus OOP for all food, etc. We were laughing that this trip is more than our downpayment on our first house. But we'll never take all 4 kids on a vacation again in all likelihood, so we've been saving to go all out.

 

[traciruns]

How about checking to see if you're actually saving money with buying the plan or if you'd be better off paying OOP for food itself, not the plan? We'd love to have FD, but if that's not available at a mod, we're going to go with a special August deal on deluxe resorts and pay for food OOP. I really don't want to go back to a value with two teenage boys--they take up too much room!

Oh, and I plan to buy GCs at Target for the 5% discount and/or use my Disney Visa for discounts in some of the restaurants.

Sorry if this has been answered and I missed it, but I have a question regarding paying OOP. Two of my kids are Disney adults (10 and 12) but one definitely doesn't eat like one. If we would go OOP if FD isn't offered, can kids older than 9 order kids' meals? I know that buffets would be based on age but how about regular TS and QS? Thanks!

 

[Elsaalltheway]

For those of you planning on staying at POP or other values, if you get free dining will you leave it as a QS plan? If you plan to upgrade to the DDP is it cost effective to do so or at that point would it be better to just book a mod (assuming one is available)? I want to do at least one character meal. I'll have to do the math but just wondering what others are thinking. We will have 3 Disney adults, one child and one infant.

We are staying at Pop, and considering upgrading, not for value, but for the experience. My brother did it and he said eh, wasn't really worth it, for him, but I'm taking two newbies and I want them to have the best experience.

 

[krisfan]

right, I understand that, but I was under the impression that we couldn't separate our package to just upgrade 2 tickets. We either have to upgrade all tickets or no tickets (and then we can upgrade individual ones once we get there at guest services).

Please do tell me if there's a way to do it otherwise! That would be ideal for me anyway to upgrade before we go.

U can definitely have someone with AP and some or not. Better check with disneyonce

 

[vanjust14]

We are staying at Pop, and considering upgrading, not for value, but for the experience. My brother did it and he said eh, wasn't really worth it, for him, but I'm taking two newbies and I want them to have the best experience.

I definitely get the experience thing. When we went for our honeymoon, we got the DDP and it was so nice to have that break and sit down to some nice meals. We really enjoyed it. I can see how you would want to show the newbies that part of Disney. This time we will have 3 kids in tow and one of them will be under two, so I'm not so sure sit down is the way to go, haha!