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

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We love Universal and could probably spend a month there during HHN it's so much fun. We enjoy the restaurants also...love Cowfish, Toothsome, Margaritaville and Mythos. We are also big Potter fans so it's all good:flower1:
We stayed at Cabana Bay last fall. The room was really nice, way bigger than the value rooms at Disney. The pool and lazy river were really, really nice. We are not big Universal fans, but did attend HHN, which we decided is just too crowded to continue to attend. Harry Potter was just awesome, especially at night, we felt like we were in the movie. But the food choices were just okay, nothing all that spectacular. We did enjoy a Cinnabon every night, that was one of the best treats I've had anywhere! The restaurants at the resorts in Disney are much more spectacular. The pricing at Cabana Bay was so much cheaper than Disney, but....it's not Disney.
 
Yes, I use Explorer mostly but have to switch to Chrome for most browsing. Haven't had a problem with Chrome yet but maybe I better download FireFox just in case.

Oh my!!! :eek:
Staying off-site can always be cheaper than staying on property. Many places don't have a resort fee or a self-parking fee, and the average nightly rate can be cheaper.
It definitely is a bit cheaper, but when I had to factor in car rentals and all that, it did add up. Besides after my first onsite stay, I was hooked for life - I don't think I can do an offsite anymore unless I do a non-Disney trip, which I've done a couple of times.
 
So say Disney gives dv members the earlier dates. Do we call Disney for that? Or chase? Thanks!
 
It's hump day! that means we are even closer people!!! Now if only my allergies would go away

I went ahead and booked a 7th night, Dbf doesn't know it yet but once he is there he doesn't want to leave so I will wait to tell him. Decided to stick with a Friday to Friday - Epcot is our fav so I plan to just check in and spend the day there taking our time - maybe a trip to boardwalk to break up the day - Sat am in AK and HS at night then really get into the major hopping and planning. I just pray it isn't as crowded as it was last year, although we are going 4 days earlier in December than we did.
 
Why does a quote and reply from a previous post keep showing up on my replies????? Sorry about that!

If you started a reply and changed your mind, it stays in your "reply" box even if you skip through pages. And then if you hit "reply" again it will have a quote from the first post you hit reply for as well as the new one you've done. And you often don't see the first quote because it's further up the dialog box so you don't notice it.
I've been caught out on that a few times!
 
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It definitely is a bit cheaper, but when I had to factor in car rentals and all that, it did add up. Besides after my first onsite stay, I was hooked for life - I don't think I can do an offsite anymore unless I do a non-Disney trip, which I've done a couple of times.
My first trip to Disney, we stayed offsite. The next 3 times were onsite. And actually, the last trip, we flew for the first time. I weighed the cost of parking, car rental, traffic, etc... Nothing beats the cost and convenience of letting Disney handle it all. Now, I'm not saying that it would be cost effective for a larger family. It was just 3 of us. I'm definitely hooked on flying and Disney's transportation.
 
Here's a little story for you all. My sister is headed to Disney today, at noon, to be exact. She is driving with her sweetie. 3 hours. They booked a condo to share with her son, his girlfriend and their combined kids. Well, her son arrived early and found the condo was not as advertised and there would be no room for my sister and her sweetie. She got right on the phone looking for a place to stay off site. She did find a place, relatively inexpensive and was glad she saved the day. I know by now you are thinking, where is this story going? Well, here's where it takes a turn. I asked her what park she was planning for day one. She knew it was MK and knew her son had booked a FP+ for Thunder Mountain. Then I asked her what other rides they were booked for. She didn't know. Then I asked her what parks she was going to, for the two days they were there. She said, "well, I think we are going to MK then to eat at Rainforest." I said, "in the same day, you don't have PH's, why would it be the same day?" She said she didn't know. I asked her what parks she was going to for her two days. She said, "MK, AK and Epcot." I said, "But you are only there two days, and don't have park hoppers, how are you doing three parks?" She said, "I don't know, I don't know where we are going, or what we are doing, I'm just going with the flow." The moral of this story is: Non-planners get what they get, and for those folks, they just really don't care. For those of us who plan....this scenario would drive us even more crazier than we already are! Just a little something to break up all the mounting tension. Hope you enjoyed it!
 
Have you tried the button to see what happens? If it takes you to the page where you can change resort/dates/etc., I think you may be good to go.

As I've never modified a reservation, if I were to click on it to test it out, is it easy to back out of it? I don't want to screw up my existing reservation.
 
As I've never modified a reservation, if I were to click on it to test it out, is it easy to back out of it? I don't want to screw up my existing reservation.

Yes. I played around with it yesterday. You aren't committing to anything by clicking on that
 
Here's a little story for you all. My sister is headed to Disney today, at noon, to be exact. She is driving with her sweetie. 3 hours. They booked a condo to share with her son, his girlfriend and their combined kids. Well, her son arrived early and found the condo was not as advertised and there would be no room for my sister and her sweetie. She got right on the phone looking for a place to stay off site. She did find a place, relatively inexpensive and was glad she saved the day. I know by now you are thinking, where is this story going? Well, here's where it takes a turn. I asked her what park she was planning for day one. She knew it was MK and knew her son had booked a FP+ for Thunder Mountain. Then I asked her what other rides they were booked for. She didn't know. Then I asked her what parks she was going to, for the two days they were there. She said, "well, I think we are going to MK then to eat at Rainforest." I said, "in the same day, you don't have PH's, why would it be the same day?" She said she didn't know. I asked her what parks she was going to for her two days. She said, "MK, AK and Epcot." I said, "But you are only there two days, and don't have park hoppers, how are you doing three parks?" She said, "I don't know, I don't know where we are going, or what we are doing, I'm just going with the flow." The moral of this story is: Non-planners get what they get, and for those folks, they just really don't care. For those of us who plan....this scenario would drive us even more crazier than we already are! Just a little something to break up all the mounting tension. Hope you enjoyed it!

A lot of people assume us planners are uptight, inflexible, neurotic control freaks who need structure. But that's not it!
I'm a very laid back, flexible person, but I refuse to be a sucker and be one of those people waiting for 3 hours in a ride queue and seeing others walk up and on the ride and wondering why they get special treatment. Or walking past a restaurant and thinking "Ooh! That looks great! Let's eat there" only to be told it was booked out months before. Or being at a park that is super busy, to the point of ruining the trip, and not realising there's other parks half empty we could have been at if only we knew.

We're not crazy, we're just not suckers!!
 
So we did FD in 2015 and 2016 (hello to all the 2016 planning friends - long time no see!) and had no intention of doing Disney again this year...until my sister called and said they want to go. So, we *have* to now :flower:

HOWEVER - the only week that works for us both is 12/3...Pop Warner week. And we had planned to stay at Sports. How doomed are we?! Anyone gone during Pop Warner week that can give me the good, bad, and ugly? in 2017 we left for home on 12/3 as the football kids were taking over the resort. But, we are really only there at night to sleep.
 
It definitely is a bit cheaper, but when I had to factor in car rentals and all that, it did add up. Besides after my first onsite stay, I was hooked for life - I don't think I can do an offsite anymore unless I do a non-Disney trip, which I've done a couple of times.

My first trip to Disney, we stayed offsite. The next 3 times were onsite. And actually, the last trip, we flew for the first time. I weighed the cost of parking, car rental, traffic, etc... Nothing beats the cost and convenience of letting Disney handle it all. Now, I'm not saying that it would be cost effective for a larger family. It was just 3 of us. I'm definitely hooked on flying and Disney's transportation.
Our first trip was 2008 and then we've gone every year since 2011. All our trips have been on Disney property with free dining and we like to stay at a different resort each time. Since our family still fits in one room, I haven't found off site to be a better deal yet.
 
A lot of people assume us planners are uptight, inflexible, neurotic control freaks who need structure. But that's not it!
I'm a very laid back, flexible person, but I refuse to be a sucker and be one of those people waiting for 3 hours in a ride queue and seeing others walk up and on the ride and wondering why they get special treatment. Or walking past a restaurant and thinking "Ooh! That looks great! Let's eat there" only to be told it was booked out months before. Or being at a park that is super busy, to the point of ruining the trip, and not realising there's other parks half empty we could have been at if only we knew.

We're not crazy, we're just not suckers!!
As one of the classic "crazy planners" I'm definitely not neurotic or uptight...I just find it fascinating how some people can just be okay with whatever. Good for them, it's just not me.
 
A lot of people assume us planners are uptight, inflexible, neurotic control freaks who need structure. But that's not it!
I'm a very laid back, flexible person, but I refuse to be a sucker and be one of those people waiting for 3 hours in a ride queue and seeing others walk up and on the ride and wondering why they get special treatment. Or walking past a restaurant and thinking "Ooh! That looks great! Let's eat there" only to be told it was booked out months before. Or being at a park that is super busy, to the point of ruining the trip, and not realising there's other parks half empty we could have been at if only we knew.

We're not crazy, we're just not suckers!!

Absolutely! In most other aspects of my life, I am not a huge planner. And any other vacation I take, I usually go with the flow. Not so with Disney. But I enjoy the planning. It's part of the fun of the vacation for me. I like planning out the meals and then planning them out again and again until I get it right. And other than meals and Fast Passes, I don't plan much else. I don't map out the day, minute by minute. But I want to know where I'm eating. And I want to make sure to ride the busiest rides. It would be too stressful to go without any plans in place.
 
I'm not so sure...,,

We're also a family of five, 2A, 3C, and currently booked at The Contemporary. I've been pricing things on the DW booking page (so, actual numbers may differ), and with the current Cdn ticket discount, I'm finding a 7 night trip at any deluxe is actually cheaper (with the summer room discount, Cdn ticket discount, no PH, DDP) by about $400....

Depending on when you're travelling, with the requirement to buy PH, FD may not save you the most :thumbsup2

we are going in mid December. 2 of my kids are (disney adults) staying for 10 nights.
I've priced it all out and fd is the best deal for us.
I now have $6600 at CBR with tickets 25% off and dining plan. also have gift cards.

I get 2 rooms at pop for $5900 dining upgraded from qs.
If Cbr is FD end even an upgrade it is less again.

I've also checked out the summer discount to check out prices and still not better then fd.
 
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