Free Dining is available now: 8/20-12/23

Just an FYI, My wife called this morning and ask about Disney Visa Card holders and got our dates of 8/4 - 8/14 with the Free Dining Promo. I don't know if it was just Disney Magic or if Disney Visa holders get earlier dates. She went with Pop to save a little extra money.

Disney Visa holders receive an extended reservation window. Disney Visa cardholders can book arrival dates from 8/2 to 8/19 under this special offer, which is not open to the general public.
 
Frankly the Free Dining offer should really be renamed "Resort not available under this special promotion". I've tried multiple dates for any resort to see if there is any availability, and nothing, nada. Two biggest disappointments are that they downgraded the moderates to CS level (I think that trend started last year) and that Riverside is excluded from the offering. As a family of 5, options are limited for getting one room that can accommodate that many people, especially below the Deluxe level.
 
Frankly the Free Dining offer should really be renamed "Resort not available under this special promotion". I've tried multiple dates for any resort to see if there is any availability, and nothing, nada. Two biggest disappointments are that they downgraded the moderates to CS level (I think that trend started last year) and that Riverside is excluded from the offering. As a family of 5, options are limited for getting one room that can accommodate that many people, especially below the Deluxe level.

It really is date dependent. We are going in August and December. I'm suprised that there is still availability at all resort categories for my dates.
 
Can you book for a window of say 8 nights and then call and cancel the last two so you get the room and the deal?
 


Can you book for a window of say 8 nights and then call and cancel the last two so you get the room and the deal?

The free dining is based on the day you check in, not the day you check out. As long as your check in date falls within the promotion window you get the deal for your entire stay, even if the end dates fall outside the promotional window. So I'm not really understanding the need for canceling the last two nights, why not simply book it for six nights to begin with? I'm not understanding fully the question.
 
It really is date dependent. We are going in August and December. I'm suprised that there is still availability at all resort categories for my dates.

I tried two different time frames, end of November and middle of December, came up with nothing both times. Granted I was going for an 8 night stay for 5 people, so I may have really narrowed my window of what's available.
 
The free dining is based on the day you check in, not the day you check out. As long as your check in date falls within the promotion window you get the deal for your entire stay, even if the end dates fall outside the promotional window. So I'm not really understanding the need for canceling the last two nights, why not simply book it for six nights to begin with? I'm not understanding fully the question.
I think they mean, as an example, you may be able to find FD availability at a resort for more days than you actually need. If you do, book it online, and then call and ask to speak to guest services where they might be able to shave off a couple of days.
 


I tried two different time frames, end of November and middle of December, came up with nothing both times. Granted I was going for an 8 night stay for 5 people, so I may have really narrowed my window of what's available.
I've heard those times are tricky. We are going December 22nd for two weeks. I just randomly checked yesterday and there are so many options still available for a variety of stay lengths for the 22nd and 23rd. I guess not many people take advantage of FD over Christmas/New Years.
 
The free dining is based on the day you check in, not the day you check out. As long as your check in date falls within the promotion window you get the deal for your entire stay, even if the end dates fall outside the promotional window. So I'm not really understanding the need for canceling the last two nights, why not simply book it for six nights to begin with? I'm not understanding fully the question.

When I put in my chosen dates (6 nights), there's nothing at the resort I want. When I extend the stay by two days - magically, the resort is now available for all 8 nights.
 
When I put in my chosen dates (6 nights), there's nothing at the resort I want. When I extend the stay by two days - magically, the resort is now available for all 8 nights.

Wow that is just plain odd, have not heard of that before. From what you are saying your 6 night stay should meet all of the eligible criteria for the free dining. Making it 8 nights vs 6 shouldn't impact availability I wouldn't think. Is your first night within the booking window. Only thing I can think of is maybe your first or second night isn't in the window and your remaining days don't meet the minimum 5 night stay requirement, then by adding two more days you do. Otherwise, I'm stumped.
 
Wow that is just plain odd, have not heard of that before. From what you are saying your 6 night stay should meet all of the eligible criteria for the free dining. Making it 8 nights vs 6 shouldn't impact availability I wouldn't think. Is your first night within the booking window. Only thing I can think of is maybe your first or second night isn't in the window and your remaining days don't meet the minimum 5 night stay requirement, then by adding two more days you do. Otherwise, I'm stumped.
The minimum night stay this year is 4, not 5. (Yes, I know the promo is misleading). And the PP's situation is pretty common. Free Dining packages are each set up to be booked for a certain (varying) amount of nights, presumably so that 1 or 2 lone nights aren't left unbooked. But as Disneylover99 mentioned, some people (but not all) have had luck calling guest services and asking them to drop a night or 2 off of a FD package as long as it still meets the minimum requirements.
 
The minimum night stay this year is 4, not 5. (Yes, I know the promo is misleading). And the PP's situation is pretty common. Free Dining packages are each set up to be booked for a certain (varying) amount of nights, presumably so that 1 or 2 lone nights aren't left unbooked. But as Disneylover99 mentioned, some people (but not all) have had luck calling guest services and asking them to drop a night or 2 off of a FD package as long as it still meets the minimum requirements.

In the past, it was very easy to drop a day or two (specially at the end) or at the beginning as long as you were within the promo at Check-In. However, 4-5 years go it looks like CRO lost that ability and simply would tell you they couldn't change it because of availability as they would simply try make a new booking with the dates you want. Now, Guest Services needs to get involved and they can make the changes happen.

But it is still YMMV. Last time I had to do this (3 years ago), it took me two calls and a good 45 minutes...
 
In the past, it was very easy to drop a day or two (specially at the end) or at the beginning as long as you were within the promo at Check-In. However, 4-5 years go it looks like CRO lost that ability and simply would tell you they couldn't change it because of availability as they would simply try make a new booking with the dates you want. Now, Guest Services needs to get involved and they can make the changes happen.

But it is still YMMV. Last time I had to do this (3 years ago), it took me two calls and a good 45 minutes...

Thanks for the info, I didn't know this. I thought the promos were limited simply to specific resorts and then within those resorts only so many rooms made available. I didn't realize that length of stay could impact receiving the promo or not. I'll have to play around with varying dates to see if I get better (or any for that matter) results.
 
It looks like they've extended the window to book with Free Dining. It was set to end on July 7,now it says August 1, 2018. It doesn't look like availability changed though based on the dates I have been looking at.
 
It looks like they've extended the window to book with Free Dining. It was set to end on July 7,now it says August 1, 2018. It doesn't look like availability changed though based on the dates I have been looking at.

Thank you! Thought I was going crazy - had told a friend they had to book by July 7th, then saw Aug 1st on there!
 

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