A few Free Dining Questions....

[ewalshslp]

Hi Everyone,

I have a few questions regarding free dining. We are looking to travel September 2019. We have always rented points to stay at the Boardwalk Villas, but looking for a change. I know that Port Orleans is usually excluded from any free dining promotions. We would like to stay at the CBR, but do you think with all the changes that this would be excluded as well?

Also, if I book now, and a free dining promotion is announced, I can just call and add/switch, correct?

Last question...in the past, when has free dining been announced? We are Disney Chase cardholders.... do they sometimes get to book early?

Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

 

[sharonabe]

Hi Everyone,

I have a few questions regarding free dining. We are looking to travel September 2019. We have always rented points to stay at the Boardwalk Villas, but looking for a change. I know that Port Orleans is usually excluded from any free dining promotions. We would like to stay at the CBR, but do you think with all the changes that this would be excluded as well?

Also, if I book now, and a free dining promotion is announced, I can just call and add/switch, correct?

Last question...in the past, when has free dining been announced? We are Disney Chase cardholders.... do they sometimes get to book early?

Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

Disney Chase holders no longer get to book early, but they sometimes have valid dates to travel that the general public does not.

IF free dining is announced and they follow recent years' history, it will be some time in mid to late April.

You can't just call and switch an existing reservation. There are many variables to getting free dining. If you know you want to go even without free dining, and your dates are firmly set, then you need to go ahead and book the exact vacation you want to have, resorts and tickets. If you can only go if free dining is available, it will be easier to make a completely new reservation than to try to modify/adjust an old one.

 

[nkereina]

I have a few questions regarding free dining. We are looking to travel September 2019. We have always rented points to stay at the Boardwalk Villas, but looking for a change. I know that Port Orleans is usually excluded from any free dining promotions. We would like to stay at the CBR, but do you think with all the changes that this would be excluded as well?

Impossible to know, they frequently change the restrictions so there hasn't been much consistency in recent years. The current bounceback offer only excludes POFQ and FW campsites of the moderate category, and sometimes this can mirror the free dining promotion for the public.

Also, if I book now, and a free dining promotion is announced, I can just call and add/switch, correct?

The phone CM will need to book you for the resort under the free dining promotion, so it would be based on availability. Disney only allots X number of room for free dining so if they are filled before you can call in (or one of your dates happens to fill), then they can't just change you to the free dining promotion. So, if you are booking now in anticipation of the announcement, just have flexibility on resorts, room types, and dates.

Last question...in the past, when has free dining been announced? We are Disney Chase cardholders.... do they sometimes get to book early?

Like PP mentions, April timeframe. I've seen May as well. I'm also a Disney Visa cardholder and I believe there was an extra week in August we could book free dining during, or something like that.

 

[Pumbaa_]

If the resorts are filling then there is less and less of an incentive for Disney to offer free Dining. So everyone that books hoping for free Dining is most likely reducing the free Dining availability

 

[Nancyg56]

If you are only going if you are offered free dining, and will only book a resort that falls under that category, please donot book in advance of the offer. As was pointed out, there is no such thing as "apply" the discount, and your booking is not a placeholder for the discount, It is actually problematic because you need to "modify" the reservation, and it has to be exactly apples to apples what you are now trying to secure. The census is artificially inflated with all of the phantom bookings that are in the system. The practice is not helpful to you at all.
Now, if your dates, resort, etc is set in stone, book the trip, and then if a discount comes through maybe you can use it, maybe no, but it is no harm no foul. You were going anyway.