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

[Sailormoon2]

We typically only do kids' meals, both QS and TS.

SWEET!! I am a tiny adult, with a tiny appetite, so I will definitely try ordering kids meals at TS, I never bother because I am so used to being refused it here at home. LOL!

 

[ustasmom]

SWEET!! I am a tiny adult, with a tiny appetite, so I will definitely try ordering kids meals at TS, I never bother because I am so used to being refused it here at home. LOL!

Kid filet mignon at Be Our Guest. Very good. We just found a kid salmon dinner at the ABC Commissary for $8.99 less 20% with my AP. The portion size is more manageable especially with the pace and the heat.

 

[scrappinginontario]

@babydoll65 , where do you find the number $37/night to upgrade?

The numbers I can find are:

Quick Service Dining Plan
-- $46.34 per person per night ages 10 and up (taxes included)
-- $20.18 per person per night age 3 to 9 (taxes included)

Disney Dining Plan
-- $67.33 per night per adult or junior (ages 10-17) (taxes included)
-- $24.22 per night per child ages 3-9 (taxes included)

The differences are:
$20.97 per person per night ages 10 and up (taxes included)
$ 4.04 per person per night age 3 to 9 (taxes included)

This would also make a big difference to you @vanjust14 as your amount would be much less than you were previously told.

(My prices are from AllEars as I cannot find the specific breakdown on the Disney site but find this site to be very reliable with their information)

What have others calculated? Please correct me if my information is incorrect.

 

[camper06]

This was the bounceback offer that was in our room last October. Does anybody know if these will be the same dates for Free Dining for the fall? There were no dates offered for October or November, which is when we usually go. I am hoping they will have more dates to offer when/if Free Dining comes out!

 

[babydoll65]

@babydoll65 , where do you find the number $37/night to upgrade?

The numbers I can find are:

Quick Service Dining Plan
-- $46.34 per person per night ages 10 and up (taxes included)
-- $20.18 per person per night age 3 to 9 (taxes included)

Disney Dining Plan
-- $67.33 per night per adult or junior (ages 10-17) (taxes included)
-- $24.22 per night per child ages 3-9 (taxes included)

The differences are:
$20.97 per person per night ages 10 and up (taxes included)
$ 4.04 per person per night age 3 to 9 (taxes included)

This would also make a big difference to you @vanjust14 as your amount would be much less than you were previously told.

(My prices are from AllEars as I cannot find the specific breakdown on the Disney site but find this site to be very reliable with their information)

What have others calculated? Please correct me if my information is incorrect.

Sorry, I just got done answering someone that was upgrading from standard to deluxe dining plan. If going from qs to standard it's about 20$ per adult per night.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

View attachment 228175

This was the bounceback offer that was in our room last October. Does anybody know if these will be the same dates for Free Dining for the fall? There were no dates offered for October or November, which is when we usually go. I am hoping they will have more dates to offer when/if Free Dining comes out!

The dates are rarely exactly the same - no way to know.

 

[vikkil70]

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 have stayed at Pop our last two trips with FD. The first time our boys were 5 & 6 so we upgraded to the DDP we did have a few character meals and there were many TS places we wanted to try. We felt it definitely was a value for us to upgrade. The next time we went we just stayed with the QS. Our boys were a little older and did not want to do character meals and we liked the freedom of the QS plan, not having ADRs almost everyday. We only wanted to do one or two TS meals so we payed for those OOP. This time if FD is released we will again keep the QS. We have seen several QS places at Disney Springs that take the DP that seem like a good value. My boys are now 11 & 12 and since we are again only doing 1 or 2 TS meals it is easier to pay for those OOP. For our family it just works out better to not have to worry about being in a certain place at a certain time for an ADR, we will have enough of that for FP+ lol, also with both boys being disney "adults" they both don't always eat like an adult. If you plan on doing several TS meals and especially character meals it can be a better value to pay for the upgrade and stay at a value, but as others have said you have to run the math and see what works best for you.

 

[vanjust14]

Either we go all the way up or we do two meals out of pocket. We already have reservations at Boathouse and dinner at Ohana's. So I'm letting them each pick one more place and then I'll chose the differences. I think since we are all 38 and older, only one character meal would be necessary. I'm leaning towards Tusker House.

We also did one character meal and it was Tusker House. My husband and I both enjoyed it! Our favorite meal of the trip was Narcoossee's.

 

[Felicis]

Ihmmm, so we already have park tickets. Does that impact free dining if it comes up? Or does that just mean we already have them so that is ok? We have park hoppers. Just means we wouldn't be able to get a package.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

@babydoll65 , where do you find the number $37/night to upgrade?

The numbers I can find are:

Quick Service Dining Plan
-- $46.34 per person per night ages 10 and up (taxes included)
-- $20.18 per person per night age 3 to 9 (taxes included)

Disney Dining Plan
-- $67.33 per night per adult or junior (ages 10-17) (taxes included)
-- $24.22 per night per child ages 3-9 (taxes included)

The differences are:
$20.97 per person per night ages 10 and up (taxes included)
$ 4.04 per person per night age 3 to 9 (taxes included)

This would also make a big difference to you @vanjust14 as your amount would be much less than you were previously told.

(My prices are from AllEars as I cannot find the specific breakdown on the Disney site but find this site to be very reliable with their information)

What have others calculated? Please correct me if my information is incorrect.

You are using the prices from before the recent increase.
Now QS is
$48.19 for adults, $20.87 for kids

TS is
$69.35 for adults, $24.95 for kids

Deluxe is
$106.68 for adults, $38.75 for kids

 

[vanjust14]

@babydoll65 , where do you find the number $37/night to upgrade?

The numbers I can find are:

Quick Service Dining Plan
-- $46.34 per person per night ages 10 and up (taxes included)
-- $20.18 per person per night age 3 to 9 (taxes included)

Disney Dining Plan
-- $67.33 per night per adult or junior (ages 10-17) (taxes included)
-- $24.22 per night per child ages 3-9 (taxes included)

The differences are:
$20.97 per person per night ages 10 and up (taxes included)
$ 4.04 per person per night age 3 to 9 (taxes included)

This would also make a big difference to you @vanjust14 as your amount would be much less than you were previously told.

(My prices are from AllEars as I cannot find the specific breakdown on the Disney site but find this site to be very reliable with their information)

What have others calculated? Please correct me if my information is incorrect.

Thank you....I thought my math was wrong but I'm coming up with numbers closer to yours than babydoll65. I have $21.16 per adult per day and $4.07 per child per day.

I wasn't planning on hoppers either so I need to factor in that cost as well if that is indeed a requirement of FD.
Without seeing what is available for FD, I am leaning toward staying at Pop.

 

[akayf]

So we booked POFQ for 8/20-8/26. Paying rack rate, have hoppers, and regular dining plan. We are well aware that POFQ is never included in the free dining promos. We are going to Disney this August with or without a discount so we decided to book the best room within our budget. We can move our vacation by a few days but I want to be home before Labor day weekend starts.

We booked with a TA. I am guessing I should have a conversation with her about what we are willing to do if free dining becomes available. Since we have 2 adults and 2 kids and lots of character meals planned, free dining is the best deal for us(and nothing was available that was worth us moving for the % of room deal that was just released) Our first choice is to move to a deluxe, preferably on the monorail. We are willing to spend up to $500 more dollars that what we already are spending to be on the monorail. If we paid rack rate for a deluxe, it was close to $2000 more if I remember correctly(it's been awhile since I ran the numbers) Next would be to move to another moderate and spend less money. So should I contact the TA with my preferences now in priority order so she can try to get us free dining if it does become available for our dates?

 

[djc9699]

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.

I am going Dec 14-28 with or without FD. We are staying at POP because we love it. If we get FD I will upgrade to the DDP because during that time of year we (just me and my DD14) will likely stay in the park all day and will need a table meal to rest and to ensure we have a place to sit and eat. We will buy the plan if we don't get free dining because my daughter loves to eat and loves to eat well. She will get steak at every meal if allowed. I am not much of a steak person, but I like to try new things so we will eat at more expensive places on the meal plan. I will not move to a Moderate because we like that at POP everything is within walking distance and POP does not share a bus with other resorts. We have stayed at Wilderness Lodge because it is a smaller Deluxe, but I cannot justify the cost for just the two of us and we will barely be in the room. I don't care for the Moderates (stayed at POR before) because of the size of the properties, so regardless if it is the same price or not we will stay at POP. POP is our favorite.

 

[ustasmom]

Ihmmm, so we already have park tickets. Does that impact free dining if it comes up? Or does that just mean we already have them so that is ok? We have park hoppers. Just means we wouldn't be able to get a package.

You will have to purchase whatever they deem for the offer, most likely minimum 2 day PH passes. You don't have to use those tickets for the trip. They can sit in MDE until you want to do something with them. I have AP but I will buy the 2 day PH ($1250) for FD. I'll turn them into AP some time in the future.

 

[amytaylor2]

Ihmmm, so we already have park tickets. Does that impact free dining if it comes up? Or does that just mean we already have them so that is ok? We have park hoppers. Just means we wouldn't be able to get a package.

You have to book a package to get FD.

 

[KimBean]

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!

I agree with you there are no guarantees but her check in in before the 17th so does at least have the bounce back on her side.

 

[Elsaalltheway]

We also did one character meal and it was Tusker House. My husband and I both enjoyed it! Our favorite meal of the trip was Narcoossee's.

I'm sure narcossee's would be wonderful, but I'm trying to still keep it a bit cheap. LOL.

 

[KimBean]

In your case it would be cheaper to go to a moderate than upgrade the dining plan. Would cost 125$ per night for you to upgrade the dining plan at pop

Just curious how you came up with $125. I also have 3 disney adults and 1 child and I am not getting that number.

 

[KimBean]

It's 37$ per adult per night

I thought it was $21 for adult and $4 for kids?? You guys are talking about upgrade from QS to DDP right?

 

[VillainFavs]

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!

Anyone paying OOP can order anything they want! That applies at both QS and TS locations.

The only places they'll be required to pay the adult price are buffets, character meals, and all-you-can-eat places like 'Ohana dinner.