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

[ShinyRedGloss]

Maybe we will just try PORFQ if mod dining is only QS since there is no decent reason to stick with a room in a hotel under construction. That or to see if a deluxe with a discount would break even.

 

[mousefan73]

Maybe we will just try PORFQ if mod dining is only QS since there is no decent reason to stick with a room in a hotel under construction. That or to see if a deluxe with a discount would break even.

FQ is usually excluded due to the fact there is no availability.. That is the Mod that sells out first.

 

[KTwiegs]

I wouldn't worry about it...Disney is pretty much crowded all the time now. You'll have a blast no matter what if you are a true Disney Fanatic...like the rest of us!

My family has become big time fans. We try to go every other year. The crowds just always get me crazy. We are also usually January or very early september people so changing the time of the year we go scares me! But no matter what we will be at Disney

 

[TwoMisfits]

We're booked at CBR with the gift cards. Trying to crunch numbers and work out the best scenario. We will be getting Park Hopper no matter what and will be doing TS meals (already booked!) because it's our first time at WDW and we like long days!

Options are -

1. Keep CBR and gift cards and modify for free dining, adding on our 4 day park hopper tickets as per requirement and what we want. Pay for dining plan upgrade ($63 total for 3 of us).

2. Keep CBR and gift cards but buy our 4 day park hopper ticket elsewhere to save some money, then use the money saved plus gift cards to pay for food OOP. Possibly save more with a RO discount if that becomes available.

The issue I have is I don't know what the potential saving is when buying park tickets elsewhere. We are 3 Disney adults.
Where is the cheapest place to buy the 4 day park hopper tickets? Will the savings offset the cost of buying the tickets through Disney with the free QS dining?

$63/cost would be per DAY, not for the whole trip, to upgrade the dining if you have 3 Disney adults...

 

[kindle&wine]

My husband has lost his mind. We were booked at POFQ but going to switch to an available mod when free dining was released. After the news of probably only QS at mods he called yesterday and changed the reservation to Pop and when free dining comes out we would just pay the difference to upgrade to standard dining.
This morning he wakes up and changes our reservation to AKL !!! I predict before the 24th he will have changed his mind again LOL.

Oh and he's been stalking this boards multiple times a day even though I told him they were *mine* (lol) so hey honey!
He might be a little Disney World obsessed.

 

[sharonabe]

Ok crazy question- my brain isn't working correctly. I've never priced room only. I know we don't know exact discount yet but going off past years 20-30%. With a room discount can you still add the tickets and dining? Do you calculate the room discount, then figure the cost for tickets and dining? I apologize if this is a really dumb question... I just can't wrap my brain around it right now. Thanks!!

It is a process. Do a room only reservation first and calculate your discount by hand or calculator. Write that down! (Blast From the Past). Then add your tickets and dining. Sometimes it shows you what that cost will be, but it's been awhile since I did it, so if it doesn't, make sure you know what the room cost was without your discount and just calculate the difference of that with the total with tickets and dining. Now you have the cost of tickets and dining and you can add that to your discounted room cost.

 

[TeamBlack]

Where in the MDE is the cancel or modify reservation options?

 

[JadeDarkstar]

My husband has lost his mind. We were booked at POFQ but going to switch to an available mod when free dining was released. After the news of probably only QS at mods he called yesterday and changed the reservation to Pop and when free dining comes out we would just pay the difference to upgrade to standard dining.
This morning he wakes up and changes our reservation to AKL !!! I predict before the 24th he will have changed his mind again LOL.

Oh and he's been stalking this boards multiple times a day even though I told him they were *mine* (lol) so hey honey!
He might be a little Disney World obsessed.

OMG My Hubs too. He now wants to stay in a suit if we can make it work lol and he told me. "I was only ok with pop because you wanted to go, but come on I like the big decorations at music more. (after all, when he was young he put plays on, and did Shakespeare and many other musicals as well. He was very into the arts before me and the kid came along. (when he lived in Cali for a long time with his family)
So Ya he is now having me run around and get to prices written down. MODS are too much at the time without FD DDP, He would rather have room. And since he is the one working and letting me put money aside each paycheck for things like flight tickets, party tickets, and then paying off package together. I have to give him some of what he wants or at least let him think that.

 

[Rusty2rules]

My husband has lost his mind. We were booked at POFQ but going to switch to an available mod when free dining was released. After the news of probably only QS at mods he called yesterday and changed the reservation to Pop and when free dining comes out we would just pay the difference to upgrade to standard dining.
This morning he wakes up and changes our reservation to AKL !!! I predict before the 24th he will have changed his mind again LOL.

Oh and he's been stalking this boards multiple times a day even though I told him they were *mine* (lol) so hey honey!
He might be a little Disney World obsessed.

If I upgraded from Pop to AKL and then changed it...I'd have to sleep with one eye open. My DW would not be happy.

 

[agassizsmile]

Exactly!! If you have to buy the PH+ to get FD, it isn't the end of the world. Remember, you can go to a Water Park and it won't use one of the days on your pass (included as a + perk). For example, you can buy a 6 day PH+ instead of a 7 day PH, and actually save a few dollars (just don't go to a park the same day as a water park).

Im confused. My TA said I must buy PH for the length of my stay.Staying nine days.Are you saying I dont have to buy 9 day PH? I have. Magic your way pkg.

 

[Mbuksa]

Im confused. My TA said I must buy PH for the length of my stay.Staying nine days.Are you saying I dont have to buy 9 day PH? I have. Magic your way pkg.

I think what jessiegirl1982 meant was that: for example: you were planning to be at Disney 7 days and were going to buy a 7 day ticket, you could actually only buy a 6 day ticket and add on the PH+ because you could still spend 6 days at the parks and then one of the days you could go to a water park. Would save you a bit of money only getting the 6 day ticket. Maybe wouldn't actually need the 7 day ticket since you could spend a day at the water parks.

 

[Disneylover99]

Im confused. My TA said I must buy PH for the length of my stay.Staying nine days.Are you saying I dont have to buy 9 day PH? I have. Magic your way pkg.

You do not have to buy tickets for the length of your stay.

 

[jessiegirl1982]

Sorry, I'm confused by your statement. A 7 day PH would not allow you water park entrance. A regular PH only includes admission to the 4 main parks. With PH+ you can definitely visit a park and a WP on the same day, since the WP visits are completely separate from the park day visits.

I never said a 7 day PH would let you into a water park. I was talking about if Disney "forced" you to buy a PH+ in order to get FD (and posters were complaining about the extra money), a 7 day PH is more expensive than a 6 day PH+. Also, a lot of people don't know you can go to a water park on a day where you don't go to a park, and it won't take a park day away (so you can buy a 6 day PH+ for a week long trip), but if you go to a park on a water park day, it would use a day of your tickets.

 

[Mbuksa]

While we are in the PH+ topic, I was trying to read up on this ticket. It looks to me, that if you bought a 5 day base ticket, and added on the PH+, you would have 5 days that you could be at the regular parks (and of course, hop back and forth between them) plus... you would get 5 days of the "extra stuff" like mini golf, water parks, ESPN. Am I wrong?

 

[Greg36]

Sorry, I'm confused by your statement. A 7 day PH would not allow you water park entrance. A regular PH only includes admission to the 4 main parks. With PH+ you can definitely visit a park and a WP on the same day, since the WP visits are completely separate from the park day visits.

I read through on the Disney site about this plus option but I found it a little confusing. So if you get a 10 day ticket with the PH+ option, does that mean you can do your 10 days in the 4 parks (MK, HS, AK, Epcot) and then have additional days to do water parks and other activities (e.g., golf)? Or are you simply allowed to do the extra activities during your 10 ticket days? Thanks...

 

[jessiegirl1982]

You do not have to buy tickets for the length of your stay.

Unless your TA has some sort of crazy package that requires 9 day tickets (which I doubt), you don't have to buy a ticket for the length of your stay. Many people have non-park days where they explore resorts, Disney Springs, water parks (with PH+ option), etc.

 

[DiaryofaDisneyKid]

Can't buy into the DDP when staying off site, I checked, because we are staying off site in July.

I hope you are feeling better after your fall!

 

[DiaryofaDisneyKid]

Don't you have the $75 GC's from CBR?
If you're pricing out 2 values against CBR, minus $75 per night, then yeah, it's definitely going to cost a lot more.

Sadly, there's not as many options with families of 5. CSR only sleeps 4 in standard/preferred categories, but I wonder if this will change as they are currently undergoing room renovations?

That's what I keep hoping. Just add a trundle bed and we are there.

 

[agassizsmile]

I think what jessiegirl1982 meant was that: for example: you were planning to be at Disney 7 days and were going to buy a 7 day ticket, you could actually only buy a 6 day ticket and add on the PH+ because you could still spend 6 days at the parks and then one of the days you could go to a water park. Would save you a bit of money only getting the 6 day ticket. Maybe wouldn't actually need the 7 day ticket since you could spend a day at the water parks.

thanks for clarifying. Last year we did a wp in am and theme park in pm it was great! Its not tiring.Disney just keeps us full of adrenaline.

 

[bjcaed]

Help!! Am I doing this right?? We have a reservation for 8 nights at POR. If mods are getting QS only we would have to upgrade 4 adults (teens count as adults, right? Then it will cost close to $700 to upgrade but right at 1,000 to stay at AkL. That would be the best spent $300 at Disney ever. Going to go check again!!