Free Dining 2014 Discussion ~ Part 2

[donp]

Good luck to all for FD tomorrow : )

Remember to stay on the phones if you hear the music. It took me 2 1/2 hrs from 7 am EST to get someone (but that was changing an existing res).

Yes!! Good point. And don't wait for the little magical twinkle-jingle that you normally hear when you first call. I did NOT get that when I called on FD release day, and kept hanging up and calling back. But, there system was for some reason a little different that morning and had a listened to the message, I would have realized it was the actual, correct phone line. Good luck!!

 

[jblairosu]

Is there a summary somewhere of all the important tips for calling tomorrow like the best phone number, what time to start calling, what to say through the prompts, etc?

 

[PrettyMinnie]

anyone else trying for WL 9/7-9/18 ?

 

[crazyash83]

Just wanted to say something about booking ahead of time... My DH and I book in advance because we plan on going whether there is Free Dining or not. And due to my anxiety, I need to have things in place before I am calm. FD promo is just a benefit for the time we go during our anniversary in October. I understand why some individuals would be bothered by this but I do not think it is very nice to make people feel guilty for booking ahead of time for their own personal reasons, as you do not know exactly why these individuals are booking ahead of the FD promo.

 

[fallen_angel727]

Well everyone with the FD release quickly approaching I have to pass on some advice that a wise man once told me

My Friends...

We must be swift as the coursing River
With all the force of a great typhoon
With all the strength of a raging fire
Mysterious as the dark side of the moon


Well OK, maybe not mysterious but it would have sounded silly had I just stopped

Thank you Shang...I bet you never thought your wise words would be motivating to a bunch of Disney freaks waiting on free dining now did you

 

[Dawn Dis]

I am also guilty of pre-booking. We booked WL earlier this year hoping for free dining but under the realization that if free dining wasn't offered we would switch to a moderate. Reasons I pre-book? #1. I am totally Disney anal retentive. I need to have it booked, planned, and mapped out about 9 months before we go. #2. being able to make payments over a longer period of time really helps us manage our money saved towards the trip. 3. Dining reservations with the plus 10 days outs & 4. Did I mention I'm totally anal retentive? We were hoping for the free dining but knew it wasn't a given. I'm extremely thankful this year that it is because we will be there for our 15th wedding anniversary and we spent our honeymoon (with Hurricane Floyd) at the Wilderness Lodge.Our back up choice was CSR.... which we haven't been to yet.

I'm with you. We were going with or without free dining so I booked a long time ago. Now free dining is a great perk. Only I did have to change resorts. It was a tough decision almost kept POFQ even without FD. But DH SD no...:-(

turning into a Disney fanatic

 

[jlhill4444]

I booked AoA with the quick service plan and was going to pay for a few meals out of pocket. Could I do a split stay at AoA and upgrade to the regular dining plan for 3 days and do CS for 4? It would end up being cheaper than paying for 3 meals out of pocket. Would that mean switching rooms or could I set it up so I stayed in the same room?

It would be less expensive to pay out of pocket for the extra table service meals because to get free dinning requires two days of tickets. So in this case you would have to have two separate reservations with two different sets of tickets. That would cost quite a bit more than paying for three table service meals out of pocket. I would price out the cost of your OOP meals with the cost to upgrade your whole trip to regular dinning. If you would be paying more to pay OOP than to upgrade, then it would make sense to upgrade the entire stay to regular dinning, but then you would have to add in a couple more table reservations.

 

[GigiDisneyfreak]

I don't believe I have seen anyone saying they were going to try to get the Animal Kingdom Lodge with free dining. I have never stayed there before but it looks super nice. Is this just not one of the more well liked places?

This is my favorite hotel it is beautiful. I have noticed that people prefer not to stay there because they feel it is too far from the other parks except for AK. I didn't feel it took much longer but I had a cat when I was there. I would never hesitate to go back there if I could.

 

[mommyof3princess27]

Is there a summary somewhere of all the important tips for calling tomorrow like the best phone number, what time to start calling, what to say through the prompts, etc?

407-939-7639

Say agent even through all prompts for name and ressie number

 

[mommyof3princess27]

Just wanted to say something about booking ahead of time... My DH and I book in advance because we plan on going whether there is Free Dining or not. And due to my anxiety, I need to have things in place before I am calm. FD promo is just a benefit for the time we go during our anniversary in October. I understand why some individuals would be bothered by this but I do not think it is very nice to make people feel guilty for booking ahead of time for their own personal reasons, as you do not know exactly why these individuals are booking ahead of the FD promo.

I have it too and been messing with my adr's too much. But the anxiety messed me up for 2 days with free dining for DV. Panic attack thursday for nothing

 

[jblairosu]

So I have 3 different numbers that I've found and am not sure which is the best to call. What's the difference in all of them? If it matters, I have a current reservation I need to change and then add FD

407-939-8277
407-939-6244
407-939-7639

 

[mommyof3princess27]

There were issues last night with ADRs. Seems like it's a system all around.

I had to call this morning but did one at 5am and it worked. I do have my balance now on the website

 

[KNovacovschi]

I had to call this morning but did one at 5am and it worked. I do have my balance now on the website

That's good that you can see the balance now but not good that the system keeps crashing.

 

[mommyof3princess27]

So I have 3 different numbers that I've found and am not sure which is the best to call. What's the difference in all of them? If it matters, I have a current reservation I need to change and then add FD 407-939-8277 407-939-6244 407-939-7639

407-939-7639 and say agent through all prompts

 

[KLoniRe]

AKL is one our favorite resorts! We stayed there on our trip in February '13. It's gorgeous and there's lot of activities going on all of the time. My kids definitely enjoyed just looking out of the windows and seeing different animals anytime of day.

Thank you, I'm not as worried now. By looking at the pictures, it looks fantastic!

 

[Shagley]

This is my favorite hotel it is beautiful. I have noticed that people prefer not to stay there because they feel it is too far from the other parks except for AK. I didn't feel it took much longer but I had a cat when I was there. I would never hesitate to go back there if I could.

This gives a whole new meaning to Animal Kingdom Lodge You can bring your own animals.

J/K I know you meant to say "car"

 

[deakam]

I'm crossing my fingers for everybody on here! I think a lot of people are nervous mainly because disney keeps reducing the number of resorts. Last year everyone was upset that pofq was out. Now POR. And I'm just guessing but I think the number of people trying to book during FD is increasing or at least the same as last year. So it just feels more competitive. Imagine this... FD is eventually only offered at all star sports!

I booked free dining at French Quarter last year. 7 am of the GP opening.

 

[donp]

This gives a whole new meaning to Animal Kingdom Lodge You can bring your own animals.

J/K I know you meant to say "car"

Thanks for that! I was like, "Wow, they had a cat a AKL! I guess that is consistent . . ."

 

[Christinaxo]

I don't believe I have seen anyone saying they were going to try to get the Animal Kingdom Lodge with free dining. I have never stayed there before but it looks super nice. Is this just not one of the more well liked places?

Not an expert here but I think alot of families opt for RO discounts for the deluxes over FD. For many its the better value. But our first stay was at AKL and we LOVED it! Such a fresh breath of air after the chaos at the parks. Staff super helpful and the kids were always doing something around the resort. I did not find the bus rides long, but I also didnt have anything to compare it to! Anyways, good luck!

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Thank you, I'm not as worried now. By looking at the pictures, it looks fantastic!

It is very nice, but I would crunch numbers before deciding that FD here is your best opportunity to save money. For us, the RO offer would likely produce more savings at AK, but we are not big eaters.