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

[Avalon_toon]

Well 11 minutes is turning into 24 minutes and counting but I don't care because at least I got through. I'm not sure if it's because I've been up all night combined with all the coffee but I feel like I am going to throw up from all this stress!!!!

Take a deep breath! Hopefully by the time you read this you'll be done and doing a happy dance!

 

[robinb]

2115 is rack rate without dining (see your note above, no dining, no tickets). 1971 is RO WITH dining. So again, for $144 you get 2 meals and 2 snacks per day for 8 days.

Stacy

*sigh*

$1971 is RO with dining.
$2115 is rack rate with "free dining".

BOTH have 2 meals and 2 snacks per day.

"FREE" dining is $144 more that RO with dining.

I'm sorry that you're so confused about this. I really don't know how to explain it more clearly.

 

[RolloTomasi]

Phew! It was a marathon but I was able to modify to add FD (WL 12/9-12/16) once it dropped at 5:30. Took a few tries - got an error message a few times before I just signed out and signed back in and voila! Then I immediately passed out lol.

This was my first time staying up for the promo to drop and while I'm exhausted it's better than staying on hold for hours!

 

[pigletto]

Booked FD end of August at Pop! Just purchased airfare-4 round trip tickets for $480 total!! It's real now! Going to be hot but we are going to make the best of it!

We are end of August at Pop too!! See you in the pool !

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

We booked AKL standard view for only $300 more than we would have paid for POR. The phasing out of it really hurts. We are going to upgrade to annual passes and go a few more times in the year but it won't be deluxe.

Stacy

Same here, if we book with Free Dining AKL or WL will make most sense now. But we have Poly booked with a really good discount, may just keep that. Not sure yet.
I do agree the phasing out hurts... The Free Dining promo sucks now (for luck of better word)... Disney should have ripped the band aid off and ended it. Instead it still has some people going crazy because they see "Free Dining" and think it's free.
Trust me I loved this promo before Disney starting adding restrictions to it. So it hurts for sure.

 

[Katmat75]

Well I didn't get my FD! All sold out! I am so upset because hubby said if we get FDwe can bring my stepdaughter who has not been to Disney since her school trip which was 26 years ago and my son and his girlfriend were going too and they didn't get it either! I was up and on line when it dropped then on the phone!

 

[jpeterson]

That's really mean to lump all travel agents into this because its simply not true. If you go with an agent who does this full time and for a living, you should have no problem. And most agents will do all the work for you for free with no charge. Booking your dining reservations, answering questions, rate monitoring and getting you the lowest rate, itinerary planning and more. My agent does all of this for me and some more. I can email her at 5am or 1130 at night and I always get an answer within minutes. I can call her toll free number and get answers within minutes to my questions. I had an email from my agent this morning telling me she got me the free dining and that email came in at 6:15am. I had no worries at all. Not all agents are the same. That's the purpose of my comment here

absolutely agree. Our agent is amazing. Does all the leg work. Makes sure we get the best deals, gets us all the hard to get reservations. Travel Agents aren't for everyone but I love ours.

 

[ChiasMom]

UGH, so my trip is booked for 11/28 to 12/5, one day off from an FD friendly check-in date. I was originally going to book 11/26 to 12/3, but wound up saving $600 on flights by flying Tuesday to Tuesday instead of Sunday to Sunday. We booked through a AAA travel agent back in January because they were having a promo to receive a $200 Disney gift card for booking with them. At that time, we booked the whole thing, including flights. So this morning when I saw that my arrival date doesn't work for free dining, I cringed, thinking that even if we re-book the vacation to get free dining, I'll still need to pay for flight rebooking fees. Also, by moving my arrival date from Tuesday to Monday, the price of our flights increases by $600. I emailed our AAA Travel Agent this morning to ask her if there is anything we could do to get the free dining and if it would even be worth it at this point, considering all the money we'd have to pay to fly on Monday. That was at about 7am. It's 10:40 and I have no answer

Lesson learned for next time, I suppose?!?

 

[lacy1101]

I had the same thing happen to me!!! I ended up having to just do chose the "Add new guest" option for ALL of my family members and re-add their names in order to get it to continue on....and it took me a few tries to get that to go through. All my choices were also booked up so I had to go with a list minute option. Now when I go in and look at my friends and family list, they are there multiple times. I figure that I can call in a few days to get it all straightened out, but at least I've got my reservations now!!

I actually tried that to, but when I clicked "add new guest," the boxes for me to put in the information didn't even show up. Glad you were able to get something!

 

[prettypatchesmsu]

Really bummed about the five night requirement as we can't swing that. Never expected that (maybe I missed a rumor but the ones I kept up with said four nights at last check). Super disappointing.

Not sure if anyone has answered you yet as I'm making my way through the posts. But it only requires a minimum 3 night stay and a Minimum 2-day Magic Your Way ticket with Park Hopper or Park Hopper Plus Option.

 

[919Florida]

NOWHERE in my comment did I throw an insult at TAs. Read again!

I was thinking the same. I do not understand why people use Travel Agents anyhow, unless they are offering you an incentive (like Costco does).
Going through most TAs, the price is the same. Why lose control over your reservation?

Where is the insult to a TA? How is that mean? I don't know if you are a TA and just took offense or you are looking for an argument, but you clearly read something into that comment that does not exist. LOL

Maybe you took me wrong? When I read you saying "I do not understand why people use Travel Agents anyhow, unless they are offering you an incentive (like Costco does)." I took that as you are against all agents unless they are giving you money back. I am sorry I understood you wrong. I am not an agent myself but I have a good relationship with my agent who has booking my trip for 8 years and I never saw anyone so at the ready to help and make sure I have a fantastic trip. She literally never sleeps because she is always there for me. All I was saying is not all agents are bad. Im sorry

 

[agassizsmile]

UGH, so my trip is booked for 11/28 to 12/5, one day off from an FD friendly check-in date. I was originally going to book 11/26 to 12/3, but wound up saving $600 on flights by flying Tuesday to Tuesday instead of Sunday to Sunday. We booked through a AAA travel agent back in January because they were having a promo to receive a $200 Disney gift card for booking with them. At that time, we booked the whole thing, including flights. So this morning when I saw that my arrival date doesn't work for free dining, I cringed, thinking that even if we re-book the vacation to get free dining, I'll still need to pay for flight rebooking fees. Also, by moving my arrival date from Tuesday to Monday, the price of our flights increases by $600. I emailed our AAA Travel Agent this morning to ask her if there is anything we could do to get the free dining and if it would even be worth it at this point, considering all the money we'd have to pay to fly on Monday. That was at about 7am. It's 10:40 and I have no answer

Lesson learned for next time, I suppose?!?

Last year my TA got me fd. Two days after it dropped.I have hope.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

UGH. I'm sorry. That's so frustrating. I am annoyed on your behalf.

I truly think if she doesn't get what you want today, that there is a VERY good chance of finding a room in the next few weeks. I had read that TA's release holds after three days if deposits aren't made and that could help.
You can also make a deposit online with a gift card I believe. Maybe that would work if you decide to book yourself. Fingers crossed for you.

Oh, I hope so. Waiting for her to call me back is killing me. *And* I have to go out in 20 minutes to a physical therapy appointment that I can't break. I'll have to leave my notes with my aunt (who I live with) so *she* can take the call. Hopefully I get something. Thanks for the suggestion about the gift card, and thanks to whoever said to get a prepaid Visa. It won't help me today, but it might if something opens up. Ugh!

 

[Katmat75]

Phew! It was a marathon but I was able to modify to add FD (WL 12/9-12/16) once it dropped at 5:30. Took a few tries - got an error message a few times before I just signed out and signed back in and voila! Then I immediately passed out lol.

This was my first time staying up for the promo to drop and while I'm exhausted it's better than staying on hold for hours!

Wish I would if thought to do that sign out and back in because that's what I kept getting! Then I called and nothing available! I checked on line too and still nothing! Glad you were smart enough and got yours! This was my first time staying up all night too!

 

[sjs314]

Just tried to book Boardwalk and it booked up instantly. FML

BWI was my 1st choice but nothing for my dates

 

[Srbright]

You need to unpack "free" dining and look at it as a discount.

ETA: I see where you were confused. The rack rate (which includes the QSDP) is $2115, NOT $1343. $1343 is the the discounted total I came up with by subtracting the cost of the DDP from rack rate.

Your math is wrong somewhere. For the room to go from $2115 rack rate to $1200 room only is a 43% discount. There are NO Rooms in the offer going for more than 40% off.

I'm sorry that you're so confused about this. I really don't know how to explain it more clearly

Stacy

 

[smallworldnh]

Well I didn't get my FD! All sold out! I am so upset because hubby said if we get FDwe can bring my stepdaughter who has not been to Disney since her school trip which was 26 years ago and my son and his girlfriend were going too and they didn't get it either! I was up and on line when it dropped then on the phone!

That really stinks but don't give up. A lot of people are saying to try again in a few days and things will open up again. Good luck to you guys!

 

[DiaryofaDisneyKid]

Wish I had been wrong about the quick service at the moderates. That was a low blow this year.

Thank-you for always being so helpful on this thread! We appreciate the early info from you, The Dirty Steve and Ron!

 

[robinb]

Your math is wrong somewhere. For the room to go from $2115 rack rate to $1200 room only is a 56.7% discount. There are NO Rooms in the offer going for more than 50% off.

Stacy

I am only going with what @ChiCat said was her discounted RO rate.

 

[lacy1101]

Wish I would if thought to do that sign out and back in because that's what I kept getting! Then I called and nothing available! I checked on line too and still nothing! Glad you were smart enough and got yours! This was my first time staying up all night too!

I thought about trying that, but figured I would lose what was in my cart . . .