Free Dinning - not again!

[loriandmatt]

ok - i get that this was an extremely good tool to draw folks into WDW last year and that for some this is a fantastic opertunity.....but.... for those of us with existing AP's who already have the DDE card, this free dinning frenzy creates havoc.

i can't tell you how stressful it was last fall. we couldn't get in anywhere and i was calling weeks in advance. everyplace was booked to the gills with free grubbers.

there goes my "relaxed - don't plan the fun out it" vacation plans. i now have to draw up spreadsheets and call like a mad woman to make dining plans. i wish there was a semi-realtime way to reserve dining plans online. a viewable calander with dates/times and availability that you could view, click on a desired date/time/restaurant and make a ressie. you could see on the calander what was available and what wasn't, so you wouldn't kill so much time.

that would be so much easier than calling over and over again trying to take a stab at a date/time/restaurant that coinsides with the park you want to visit that day only to find that each time you stab you hit a brick wall and have to change stratagy while on the phone with a CM (or keep calling back)

oy the maddness!

 

[DISNEYDUET]

We were in the same boat as you last year too! If it wasn't for the Food and Wine Festival events we would have been eating hamburgers for the whole week.

 

[WeluvDisney2]

Can you change your trip dates for after the free dining ends?

 

[hulagirl87]

I was there in September last year and had no idea that there was a "free dining promotion" going on. I had no problems when booking ADR's in April and May for my September trip and then even walking into restaurants we didn't have any problems. I didn't notice restaurants being overly busy either... I'm now keenly aware of free dining as I see it is available again for our trip down this September but I've already made my ADR's. I guess I'll be more aware of it this time, and see if the restaurants seem busier. It is a good promotion to get people to travel during the "hurricane season", I'll just be bummed if it turns out now to be mad crazy! We go because it is slow!

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I know how you feel and I think the calendar would be a great idea if they could get something that would constantly update. We went in early December last year and had planned all of our meals except one. We couldn't get any TS places the day of (we tried 6 different places), we even called WCC (we were staying at WL) and they didn't have anything until 9 p.m. We ended up going there and just waiting for a table. On all of our previous trips we went during slow times and could make ADR's the morning of. Now we have to plan in advance which is a pain. So I guess it's the popularity of the free dining plan and all of the people who are now purchasing the dining plan to try TS places. (We purchased the old dining plan back in '93 but I guess it wasn't as popular because it wasn't as "cost effective" as the new one).

 

[PratersloveDW]

i wish there was a semi-realtime way to reserve dining plans online. a viewable calander with dates/times and availability that you could view, click on a desired date/time/restaurant and make a ressie. you could see on the calander what was available and what wasn't, so you wouldn't kill so much time.

Wouldn't that be nice?! And SO much easier!!

 

[kellyanne731]

there goes my "relaxed - don't plan the fun out it" vacation plans. i now have to draw up spreadsheets and call like a mad woman to make dining plans.

I understand how you feel. We planned our honeymoon for this time thinking it would be relatively quiet. (We do have the dining plan, so I need to call tomorrow to switch it to free dining.) I had one sit down dinner planned every day but 2. I figured it would be fun to "wing it" a couple of days. But now with everyone clammering for the free dining, we don't have the luxury of spontanaity.

Oh well. If that's the biggest thing I have to worry about with this trip, I'll be a happy newlywed.

 

[Windy City Heather]

I have an AP and a DDE card and I still called and booked my free dining. I made all my ADR's on Saturday and got everything I wanted and even the times I wanted. It is a great offer and I am glad Disney did it again this year.

I do agree online ADR system would be wonderful.

 

[CinRell]

I was there last Sept during the free dining promotion (I missed out and ended up paying for the dining plan).. we planned the trip 1 month before going and I got every ADR I wanted at every restaurant I wanted with no problem whatsoever. I also never found any of my TS meals to be "booked to the gills with free grubbers"... in fact many of our dining experiences had few diners in the restaurant.

 

[Claudia Kellenberger]

If you book your trip through Dreams Unlimited, *THEY* do the calling
for you. Last year in December, they got me CRT for lunch, and I didn't
have to do the calling.

 

[cobbler]

I think this is a reality regardless of free dining.

Ever since it came out last year and the reports were great a lot of people now add the dining plan to their packages. We saw tons of people get turned away for restaurants when returned in December - which is traditionally a slow time.

I have even read reports of such things happening since then.

Will free dining have an impact? A little bit I think because people are actually changing their dates to take advantage of it. But it won't be extreme because I think it is something that is just going to become common place now because of the added popularity to the dining plan in general.

 

[jennyl772003]

Last year, we just missed the free dining and weren't able to change our dates. We didn't eat at many table service anyway.

This year, we had already gotten the dining plan and booked all of our ADRs. We are so excited to find out that they are offering the dining when we are there! We already have a call in to our TA to change, and since all of our ADRs are made, it's smooth sailing!

My DH was so excited, he woke me up to tell me!

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I agree, Disney could really use a system similar to Opentable.com. I love that site!

 

[Simba's Mom]

I was there in September last year and had no idea that there was a "free dining promotion" going on. I had no problems when booking ADR's in April and May for my September trip and then even walking into restaurants we didn't have any problems. I didn't notice restaurants being overly busy either... I'm now keenly aware of free dining as I see it is available again for our trip down this September but I've already made my ADR's. I guess I'll be more aware of it this time, and see if the restaurants seem busier. It is a good promotion to get people to travel during the "hurricane season", I'll just be bummed if it turns out now to be mad crazy! We go because it is slow!

Thanks so much for your words of encouragement. I'd already planned my trip for September, can't take advantage of this free dining thing, and my first reaction when I heard about it was "Oh, no-what's it going to be like now?" Come to think of it, I was there the very last week in August of 2005 and I wonder if free dining was going on then. If so, I didn't notice any difference.

 

[emmabelle]

i can't tell you how stressful it was last fall. we couldn't get in anywhere and i was calling weeks in advance. everyplace was booked to the gills with free grubbers.

Wow, that was kind of harsh, don't you think?

 

[laurabelle]

Well, I didn't think I would be going this year until this wonderful deal came along!
I'm really grateful for it...I need some pixie dust!
Here's some for you too!

 

[FINFAN]

Our trip is planned for 8/11-21...involving a split stay. Our 2 issues are if we do decide to do DDP free, we need to book our park tix in the package..no biggie as we need them anyway, but not being able to get them until the 13th is the drawback. Paying over 200 for one day,(4 people) on the 12th sort of cuts into any savings we had going. We have the POP for free using flier miles (long story) so that helps, but still...I am more concerned about crowd level now. We had hoped that the 2nd half of our stay might start to thin out, kids back to school...but I think the DDP will not only wipe that out, but now force us to do more TS meals than we had planned on just to make sure we can get in somewhere...I shouldn't be complaining, 'cause we will still have 8 days...but 9 was what we had palnned on. We may not do the DDP based simply on not losing the extra park day, to help offset the crowds.


Pam

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I think this is a reality regardless of free dining.

Ever since it came out last year and the reports were great a lot of people now add the dining plan to their packages. We saw tons of people get turned away for restaurants when returned in December - which is traditionally a slow time.

I have even read reports of such things happening since then.

Will free dining have an impact? A little bit I think because people are actually changing their dates to take advantage of it. But it won't be extreme because I think it is something that is just going to become common place now because of the added popularity to the dining plan in general.

I agree. I think there are just a lot more people eating TS meals now than there used to be.

 

[ncbyrne]

free grubbers.
!

Free GRUBBERS!? So what should we do if we have reservations and then WDW offers free dining? Should we not take it? What if they gave free dining options to only AP holders - would you be a grubber? Gee whiz!!

 

[disneyfreakjackie]

Free GRUBBERS!? So what should we do if we have reservations and then WDW offers free dining? Should we not take it? What if they gave free dining options to only AP holders - would you be a grubber? Gee whiz!!

I was also a little offended by that comment also as I will be one of SIX free grubbers this August!!! Made my ADR's long ago in anticipation of this promotion!!