(Article updated: April 24, 2018)
There is no denying that the money spent for food on a Disney World vacation can really add up.
Fast.
But, it turns out, with a little planning there are ways you can save money and even get the food on your trip for "free".
Disney often offers discounts, and the Disney Free Dining promotion is the most popular discount of all. However, snagging this coveted discount has become more difficult in recent years - but it isn't impossible.
In the post below we'll show you exactly what you'll need to do in order to maximize your chances of getting your meals for free on your next trip. Plus, we have some ideas on ways to save even if you can't snag the Disney Free Dining promotion for your vacation.
Let's get started...
In this article
First, some Free Dining basics
What are the Free Dining dates for 2018?
These are the dates for 2018. As long as you check in during these dates, you can get it for your whole stay.
- August 20-September 29, 2018
- November 24-November 27, 2018
- December 7-December 23, 2018
Get all the details on the 2018 offer.
What is a Disney Dining Plan?
Simply put, the Disney Dining Plan is an optional add-on that only guests staying onsite at a Disney-owned resort can purchase as part of their vacation packages.
It is basically a way to prepay for your meals - and it can be quite expensive.
Ouch!
That is a lot of money, and it's probably a huge portion of your entire Walt Disney World vacation budget. That's why getting a free Disney Dining Plan during the Free Dining promotion is so attractive to so many people.
What you get for free
When you book Free Dining, the level of your dining plan will be determined by which level of resort you have booked.
Make sure you know exactly what is offered in each Dining Plan before you commit. You don't want to be disappointed and find out you didn't get what you were expecting.
Booking a Value or Moderate Resort?
You will get the Quick Service Dining Plan for free.
The Quick Service Dining Plan credits can be used at participating quick service and counter service locations (you can't use them for table service).
You can upgrade to the Regular Dining Plan for $22.99/adult and $4.00/child per night, and you can upgrade to the Deluxe Dining Plan for $63.75/adult and $18.24/child per night.
Booking a Deluxe Resort?
You will get the regular Disney Dining Plan for free.
The Regular Disney Dining Plan includes a mix of credits that can be used for dining at participating counter service, quick-service, and table service restaurants
You can upgrade to the Deluxe Dining Plan for about $40.76/adult and $14.24/child per night.
Get all of the Disney Dining Plan details
Get even more info, including the best places to use credits, in our Disney Dining Plan guide.
Free Dining tips
Plan to travel when Free Dining is offered
Free food is awesome. But to get it for free at Disney World, you have to book a trip when Free Dining is usually offered.
Notice any patterns in the chart of historical dates for Free Dining below?
The dates don't lie:
Free Dining is usually a fall promotion, so if you want Free Dining make sure your travel dates include the fall.
| Free Dining Stay Dates | Booking Period |
|---|---|
| 8/20-9/29, 11/14-11/20, 11/24-11/27, and 12/7-12/23/18 | 4/24/2018 - 7/7/2018 |
| 8/21-9/30, 11/14-11/20, 11/25-11/27, and 12/8-12/23/17 | 4/24/2017 - 7/7/2017 |
| 8/23-10/1/16, 11/15-11/21/16, 11/26-11/28/16, and 12/10-12/21/16 | 4/25/2016 - 7/8/2016 |
| 8/28/2015-12/21/2015* | 4/27/2015 - 7/10/2015 |
| 8/31/2014 - 12/23/2014 | 5/7/2014 - 8/8/2014 |
| 9/29/2013 - 12/22/2013 | 8/1/2013 - 9/15/2013 |
| 9/2/2013 - 9/25/2013 | 5/9/2013 - 7/31/2013 |
| 9/30/2012 - 12/13/2012 | 7/12/2012 - 9/29/2012 |
| 8/25/2012 - 9/29/2012 | 3/5/2012 - 5/18/2012 |
| 1/8/2012 - 3/31/2012 | 8/3/2011 - 10/29/11 and 10/27/2011 - 12/17/2011 |
| 10/2/2011 - 12/17/2011 | 8/3/2011 - 10/29/2011 |
| 8/28/2011 - 9/24/2011 | 5/2/2011 - 8/27/2011 |
| 8/19/2011 - 9/29/2011 | 8/16/2010 - 12/20/2010 |
| 5/27/2011 - 6/2/2011 | 8/16/2010 - 12/20/2010 |
| 1/1/2011 - 3/3/2011 | 8/16/2010 - 12/20/2010 |
| 10/1/2010-12/21/2010 | 8/16/2010 - 12/20/2010 |
| 8/15/2010 -12/21/2010 | 7/6/2010 - 8/14/2010 |
| 8/15/2010 - 10/2/2010 | 5/3/2010 - 8/14/2010 |
| 9/27/2009 - 12/17/2009 | 7/27/2009 - 9/26/2009 |
| 8/16/2009 - 10/3/2009 | 3/30/2009 - 6/21/2009 and 6/10/09 - 7/26/09 |
| *Blackout dates included 10/3/2015-10/24/2015, 11/1/2015-11/7/2015 and 11/20/2015-12/14/2015 | |
Get online early
As it turns out:
Almost as important as knowing when you'll need to travel is knowing when the promotion opens.
That is because since there is generally a limited number of rooms available to book with the discount at each resort, and the best resorts and dates for Free Dining usually sell out quickly.
Every year, the moment the promotion is released people frantically start booking it.
Sounds crazy, right?
But it's true.
That chart above also has the historical release dates when the promotion has traditionally opened.
Study them. Follow on social media to get predicted release dates. And then be ready.
What time will the promotion be released?
Discounts and promotions generally go live really, really, REALLY early in the morning. Before the sun comes up early. 2 am, 3 am, 4 am early.
The exact time isn't always the same, but it definitely is always - say it with me - early.
In 2018, it came out at 5 a.m. eastern time on April 24.
Booking by computer is almost always faster than by phone
Here's the deal:
The promotions often come out overnight or really early in the morning.
The phone lines don't open until 7 am EST.
If you wait until you are able to call at 7 am, you'll be behind the hundreds - if not thousands - of people that have been up and on their computers since it opened, snagging up all the best rooms.
You want to maximize your chance of getting what you want? Be prepared to wake up early and book by computer.
But, if all else fails - try the phone
If problems arise and you must use the phone, try calling as soon as the lines open and be prepared to be on hold.
Wait times on days when promotions and discounts go live are often very long.
Get notified about Free Dining
This tip is easy to follow:
Want to be one of the first people to learn about Free Dining? Sign up for the email list for your month, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
When Free Dining opens, those people that are on the email lists and follow us on social media will get notified - day or night - that the promotion is ready to be booked. All you'll need to do is make sure you have notifications turned on and up so that you'll hear them!
Use a travel agent
We can't repeat this tip enough:
If all of this talk about waiting for promotions to open up at 4 am is overwhelming for you, don't try to do it alone! Instead, use a good, reliable, Disney expert travel agent to book your trip.
One of the best perks about using a Disney vacation planning specialist is that they will work to secure you discounts when they come out - including Free Dining.
In fact, you could be in bed, sleeping like a baby, and they'll be up working their magic trying to get you the best deal possible for your trip.
Are you guaranteed to get Free Dining if using a travel agent? Nope.
But, are you chances better if you use an expert that knows the ropes? Absolutely.
The agents at Prep School Travel are Disney experts and completely free to use if booking a trip through them.
They work hard every single day to help families create magical memories on their vacations.
If you want their expert help booking your trip, submit a quote today.
Even if they can't book Free Dining yet (for example, because the booking window isn't open), you can still submit a quote request to start the process.
Make resort and dining reservations now
This could make all the difference:
Book a hotel reservation now, and then you can modify your reservation later.
This is especially true if you're going to be going to Disney World whether or not you get the Free Dining promotion.
Free Dining often means limited availability at the restaurants - but the Free Dining Promotion is often released AFTER the 180 day mark where guests can start making their Advanced Dining Reservations.
If you wait to start booking your dining reservations until the promotion is released, you might be left with 3 pm lunches and 9 pm dinners - not an ideal situation if you have little kids.
Might need to rebook instead of modifying
Picture it:
You're in bed asleep, when your phone starts buzzing from emails sent out from WDW Prep School.
"FREE DINING IS NOW OPEN," they say.
So you jump on your computer, log in to your My Disney Experience account, navigate to your reservation and go to modify it only to find out something is wrong.
It won't work. You try again. And again. And no matter what, you aren't able to modify the reservation.
So, think about it:
If you run into problems, instead of waiting until the phone lines open you should, instead, simply rebook the trip.
Waiting could mean losing out on the opportunity to snag one of the coveted rooms for Free Dining, so rebook and cancel your old reservation instead. Cancelling an old reservation will not affect any dining reservations you've already made.
Having an existing reservation can sometimes make it hard to book a new one, so try clearing your cookies, opening a browser tab in incognito mode, or using a different browser.
You can use Free Dining after the promotion dates
As it turns out:
As long as you arrive by the last day of the promotion, you can enjoy Free Dining during your whole stay.
This is an easy way to make Free Dining dates work for you. As long as your trip begins while the promotion is valid, you'll get the promotion for the duration of your trip.
But, the reverse isn't true:
If your trip begins before a promotion or discount period starts, you won't get the promotion for any part of your trip unless you book a split stay.
Basically, a split stay means you'll have 2 reservations: one for the dates that span the time before the Free Dining promotion begins and one reservation for the dates that include Free Dining. Only the dates of your trip that fall during that promotion window would be eligible for Free Dining.
The 2 reservations could be in the same resort or different ones.
Coordinating a split stay and making sure you meet all the requirements for a promotion can be a little tricky if you've never done it before (and split stays are fantastic vacations to book with a travel agent since they have lots of experience with them). But in some instances, the hassle of booking 2 reservations can save you money.
Be careful, though:
Some promotions (like Free Dining) have minimum ticket length requirements so you'll want to really look at the numbers before booking.
Other things to know about Free Dining
What happens if you miss out on Free Dining?
Keep checking
When Free Dining is released, many travel agents put 72 hour holds for their clients, but not all of these get booked, so they become available again.
Check the numbers
Many people get caught up in thinking that Free Dining is better than any other promotion, but that's not necessarily true.
For instance, there is often a discount code for 30% off room rates running at the same time as the Free Dining promotion. Depending on the hotel and dining package, 30% could work out to be a much better deal.
Check out this complete list of discounts that have been offered in the past. And then, do the math for your family.
- Using the menus, create a list of what meals would cost you if you were paying out of pocket.
- For the prices of the dinner shows like Hoop Dee Doo or buffets, try a site like All Ears.
- Make sure to include the cost of beverages you think you'd order, especially now since 1 alcoholic beverage is included.
- Then, see what the same meals cost if you have the Disney Dining Plan.
- Make sure to include the cost of any meals above and beyond the total number of credits you'll have.
- Often times people find out that the room discount saves them more money.
Sometimes Free Dining can be part of a Bounceback offer
If you are already traveling to Disney World (especially August-October which has the best chance) and you know you might want to go back, don't forget to check out the bounceback offers currently running. Sometimes that promotion will include Free Dining for times of the year other than the general public Free Dining promotion that is offered in the fall.
Free Dining often includes ticket and length of stay requirements
You must book tickets as part of your vacation package in order to qualify for Free Dining. In the past, Disney has required 2 and, most recently, a 3-day minimum ticket and a 3 nights minimum stay at a Disney World resort.
Some resorts are never eligible for Free Dining
Ideally, every resort would have some rooms available to book with Free Dining, but that isn't the case.
There are several resorts that never (or very, very, rarely) offer Free Dining:
- The Little Mermaid rooms at Art of Animation
- Port Orleans French Quarter and/or Port Orleans Riverside
- Fort Wilderness Campsites
- Polynesian Villas and Bungalows
This list could always change, but it is safe to say that there will always be some resorts that will be exempt from the Free Dining discount.
Can Free Dining be combined with other promotions?
No, you can't stack Disney deals. If you book Free Dining, you won't be able to use other promotions. Just one at a time.
Can I get Free Dining if I rent DVC points?
No, you can't do that since Free Dining requires booking a package and point rental is not a package booking.
Can Annual Passholders get Free Dining?
In short, yes, but you'll still need to purchase park tickets to book Free Dining. People with Annual Passes should book the minimum tickets required for Free Dining (since tickets are a requirement for packages) and then keep them in their My Disney Experience account.
With both an Annual Pass and tickets from your package in your account, you should call Disney and ask them to prioritize your tickets so they are used in the correct order. Then you can use the tickets from your package if/when your AP expires.
Some final thoughts on the Disney Free Dining discount
Remember the 3 Bs for Free Dining:
- Be realistic - whether you use a travel agent or book it on your own - sometimes there just isn't availability. It happens every year and we hear stories from families genuinely distraught over not being able to book because there wasn't availability. Don't set yourself up for heartbreak by thinking you're guaranteed the discount.
- Be flexible - the more flexible your dates and resort choices, the better the likelihood you'll be able to snag the discount. Wait to book flights and be open to trying a resort that's not first on your list if you want to maximize your chances for Free Dining.
- Be persistent - If you don't get what you want right away, don't give up. Many people (and travel agents!) place holds on rooms when the promotion is released, and, if those holds aren't deposited, they are cancelled 3 days later. That means, if you really want to snag Free Dining you'll want to keep checking. And checking. And maybe even checking some more. Persistence pays off and every year we hear from readers that kept trying and were finally able to book what they wanted.
Watch the video
Prefer video? Check out this video on Free Dining tips.
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Have question or other thoughts on the Disney Free Dining promotion? Feel free to share in the comments.
Do you need to purchase an official Disney cup to get free water refills or can you bring your own bottle and have them refill it?
if I already have reservations can I qualify for Quick service dinning
Will Disney announce in advance which resorts are included with free dining?
I’m going fo WDW for the first time in September (9-15) and I’m look forward to get the Free Dining Plan but I have some questions about the booking process.
When i get online on the day that the promo is release, I’ll choose the hotel and the tickets (according to the rules), will de Dining Plan be automatically add to my shopping chart? Or I will need a promo code or something like that?
Please help me I’m a fan from Brazil and down here we don’t have much information about the booking process and the Travel Agents cost just to much.
Shannon,
If we have reservations at Pop Century for early September and will be up as soon as you notify me of free dining, what would be our best 2nd option for a resort? Just in case I try to modify and rebook but still can’t snag free dining. I want have have my plan A, B and C ready :-). Just hard to figure out a semi comparable hotel option….
Thanks for ALL you guys do!
Christa
I would choose PORS for my Plan B!
If we already booked and can’t modify for some reason, you mention to book a new one and cancel that one we already booked. My question is, what about if your package already booked includes flights? The flights say non-refundable. So is cancelling my package going to cancel my flights as well?
Id like to know the answer to this too!!!
If my reservation qualifies for quick service free dining but we want to up grade to regular can that be done online at booking or do I have to call?
Hi Shannon. Will the taxes that would be included with the dining plan, still be applied with the “free” deal? Also, will my room price likely go up during the promotion? I have a room now for cheap (through Disney), and I can easily upgrade to a room/ticket package in order to get the free dining. However, adding tickets through Disney (not a discount site) already adds about $250+. I’m looking for an idea on the taxes and room rate increase to plan for, along with the tickets. I also want to get tickets for MVMCP, so any money I save either way will go towards those tickets. Thanks for you awesome site!!
I cannot modify my reservation on line. it says on my Disney experience that I need to call if wish to make changes. If I called right at 7am (which is 4am for me), how long would I be on hold for as I need to go to work. Or is it best to make a new reservation and then cancel old one. I have a travel agent but in the same time zone as me and does not get to work that early
If you have a travel agent, they are the ones who have to modify it. Important to book with a good agent who is willing to wake up early to do what’s best for their clients.
your article mentions the release for free dining as early as 2, 3, 4 am….what time zone is that?
Eastern time zone, where Disney World is located.
I asked Disney about the times and they said that all offers go live at the same time so its fair to everyone…and thats at 7am when the phones open up? Have you personally booked at those earlier times?
We booked our free dining last year the day it came out online before 7 AM.
I have booked my last 4 years around 3am, Florida time = 1am Alberta time Canada.
Florida, USA time zone!
So has free dining be offered this year yet? We are going in Sept and staying at beach club so we should be eligible. With 4 kids and 2 adults free dining would be great!
Not yet! Usually comes out in April.
This blog seems to imply the rooms for free dining run out the same day they are offered and if I don’t log in at 4am I can’t get the deal…am I reading this wrong?
That is often the case, although I also do mention that you should keep checking because openings pop up as travel agent holds expire.
we are wanting to book soon to go to Disney 16/12-2/1 I have a few questions if you could help me out…
have I understood correctly that if we book now we can modify to try and get free dining?
free dining historically is only available until 22/12 so I’m guessing it’d stop there and we’d only have free dining for 6 days? could we carry any unused credits into further days?
Also we were favouring french quarter, should we choose a different moderate if we are hoping for free dining, you said in your article it’s rarely offered here? If so what would you suggest?
Thank you for your help.
Yes, you can try to modify to get Free Dining, but sometimes it’s just easier to book a whole new reservation and cancel the old one. If you check in during the promotion dates, you can get Free Dining for your whole trip. If French Quarter is excluded, you might consider Port Orleans Riverside which is similar but much larger.
My family is booked for 12/20-12/30, and my sister and daughter booked a reservation together to split the deposit and share the room. We are hopeful our trip falls in the free dining window based upon historical dates. However, my daughter is arriving either late 12/22 or early 12/23 due to work.
Is there any issue with getting free dining if both parties don’t arrive on the same day but do arrive within the free dining window?
What does “booking period” mean in this instance? If I book my room far in advance, now for a September trip and then free dining is announced but I didn’t book inside the “booking period” does my reservation still qualify?
As long as you modify your reservation to use the promotion during the booking period, it will work.
We have the Vacation Club and book through that. And we usually get tickets through our work discount Tickets at Work. Does this still allow for the free dining promotion? I didn’t see it addressed in the article.
Since Free Dining is a package promotion that includes booking a room through Disney (but not Disney Vacation Club) with tickets and the Disney Dining Plan, you won’t be able to get it in your situation.
Hi I booked 8/5 & 6 @ music can I still get free dining?
what are the dates for 2018? We’re planning on going on January and staying in Grand Floridian
Hi got a first time trip planned for November 30-December 13.
If we stay at the Pop hotel we will only get free dining from December 8-13 because that is when the blackout dates are done for that week.
any tips on making the most of it during the free dining?
Thinking of upgrading for the free days but just getting the quick service for the first week. Any information would be great!
Thanks
Does anyone know if you can trade 2 quick service meals for one table meal? thanks
No, you can’t.
Does anyone know if you can use tickets previously purchased from Disney and get free dining? I was thinking they could be “re-packaged” so we could get free dining, but I was told I need to buy new tickets.
It’s out! We managed to snag it for a 2 adult room at All Star Music (we’re doing a budget girls reunion trip), but had to make some rearangements. I had a reservation made for our room and tickets from September 13-19, but ended up cancelling that trip and making the Free Dining trip from the 14-19 and using the Enchanted Room rate for a room only reservation on the 13th since our original trip was unavailable. It was quick and easy to upgrade to the regular Disney Dining Plan from the Quick Service. The phone lines are jammed, I couldn’t even get to a hold music line so try your best to make the reservations online if you can!
Is it true that desserts have been removed from disney dining lunch? Also, at table service restaurants how many credits/meals is a large pizza (example tony’s town square)? Just wondering if a family of four can order 2 pizzas and use 2 meals instead of 4 meals.
I believe that when sharing meals such as a pizza they still deduct the number of people sharing, not just the number of pizzas. 2 Pizzas between 4 people would still cost 4 table service credits. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong.
Pizza for one please!
Hi I am looking to book next August 2018 , have been offered free breakfast at the All stars, which is great. We have just been advised we can upgrade £24 a day each,too 2 quick meals snacks does anyone know,do we still get our breakfast free as well. If anyone can help me please,as want to book at the end of this week please.
Hi Michelle,
You’re looking at the UK free dining deal, which is a little different to the one in this article.
“Free Breakfast” consists of one quick service credit each per day, but as far as I know there are no time restrictions on using it, so it could be you’re evening meal (I think!). By upgrading you would gain 1 extra quick service credit, 2 snack credits and a refillable resort mug for fizzy drinks.
If you have kids I would recommend ordering 1 adult meal between two, saving you a credit.
I personally wouldn’t upgrade, as I don’t think we wouldn’t use all of those credits, and £24pppd is quite a lot! You know your family best, but it’s almost always cheaper to pay out of pocket, and that way you can eat at table service restaurants without feeling guilty for not using the credit you’ve paid for. (You can use them on another day obviously).
Hope that helps,
Abi
Hi. First of all your site is amazing and has been very helpful. Second, I would like to know if only by booking the room I am eligible for the free dining when it comes out or do I need to buy the package? Also, how do I buy only the tickets I need and not for all the days I am staying.
The Free Dining deal is for room and parkhopper ticket packages. A minimum of a 2 day parkhopper pass must be purchased to get the deal, but other than that you can choose how many days you want and choose which days to use them.
There was a Free Dining plan in some Spring dates earlier this year for non-US residents, with both value and moderate resorts being related to the quick service plan. Does someone know what plan will be provided for moderate resorts on 2017 Fall’s free Dining plan promotion ? Table or quick service?
Hi, Chris – that was not the typical Free Dining offer. If you’re talking about the same one I’m thinking of, that one was just 1 Quick Service meal per day. The regular Free Dining promotion is as I’ve described above – Value Resorts get the Quick Service Dining Plan, and everybody else gets the Regular Dining Plan.
For the fall Free Dining promotion they did assign the moderate resorts to the Quick Service plans, so you’d need to upgrade (about $20/person/night) to the table service if you wanted that option (we did it, since we wanted a lot of character dining).
What about memory maker makes it more difficult? I have a reservation booked in December with Memory Maker and Dining Plan and plan to call to ask for free dining promotion when/if it become available. Should I try to remove Memory Maker for now?
Does anyone happen to know why they discontinued the premium dining plan?
I’ve book my hotel and park tickets for a time that I hope free dining is offered…should I also go ahead and book a dining plan? Also, is there a H&V breakfast that also includes Fantasmic?
I believe you do already need the dining plan on your reservation.
Value resort get free quick service dining plan
Moderate and deluxe get free Disney dining plan
Not this year! Moderates only get the quick service dining package (but can upgrade for a fee to the regular dining plan).
You don’t have to have it before the special is announced. Just have to add it then.
Hi there, we are military and I currently have a trip booked for 12/10-12/17/2017. We are staying at Coronado Springs and we have the Disney dining plan. We are getting the military discount on our room(35%). My question is if when the free dining comes out and if it’s during my dates can I drop the military discount on my room and utilize free dining instead? It would be a bigger savings. We usually get our tickets through shades of green. This may be a stretch I just thought I’d ask!
Yes, if you call and the room you are in is eligible for free dining, you should be able to adjust. I would go ahead and try to get your tickets on base ahead of time and not wait until you get there because you will not be able to book fastpasses if you haven’t bought the tickets. If you purchase them on base and at least have a confirmation number, you should be able to book them 60 days out.
Why is it more difficult to add the free dining if you’ve already booked a resort with memory maker?
I’m not sure; it’s just another one of the those quirky Disney tech things.
Wondering how it works if I book my dining now, planning on going during free disney dining and then making sure I get the room booked right away, how you you link them?
Any dining reservations you make will stay tied to you, even if you cancel your WDW trip completely.
If I stay at a Disney resort in Downtown Disney, would I qualify for free dining? Or would I have to stay at one of the main resorts?
If we have free dining but still need to pay oop for a few meals what would be the best way to do this? Pay oop for the 2 credit meals or pay for the lowest costing meal?
Pay for the meal with the least value for a credit. If that happens to be a 2 credit meal, go with that one.
We booked back in December with the offer of four nights free and 25% off park tickets. Can we add free Dining when it’s announced or not as we’ve already used a promotion?
You can only have one discount offer, but do the math and see which one is better, but don’t get rid of your current discount unless you can for sure get free dining.
You made some very valid and important points Shannon. I agree pretty much totally an all you say. My wife and I have vacationed at WDW five times. We’re planning another in 2018. The most valid point you make is that NOTHING is for free. Traveling from the UK makes things a little more complicated. In the fact that we have to think about the exchange rate as well. The first time we came over we used and paid for the Disney Dining Plan. That being said we had very little knowledge of the prices in Fl. Plus also we had a great exchange rate in our favour. We were getting two dollars to the pound. However, after the financial/bank crash of 2008 it dropped to around $1.55 to the £1. We opted to pay cash or with a prepaid visa card. Rather than the dining plan. We kept our food receipts and worked out we would have paid less. The last time we were in FL was 2016 and we had a free breakfast with the booking. Now that the dollar has got stronger and the pound has got weaker. The exchange rate is $1.25 to the pound, or there abouts. So I’m finding that something like a free breakfast would make a big difference. We also have a unique offer made only in the UK as far as I know. We can buy our two weeks park tickets in advance. There seems to be a permanent concession with that as well. Every time we have gone we can have two weeks for the price of one week. Once again Disney have shown just how good they are at marketing themselves.
I am planning a trip to WDW for Dic. 8-15 2017 and started considering the DDP mostly because it seems like a way to travel with less hassle in terms of handling money. However, I came across this promotion and have a few questions. I know my check in date is not within the days of the offer in past years, but I wouldn’t mind changing my dates for the 10th of December if need be. The question is, if I book a reservation now for the 8th and let’s say the offer comes out for December 10-20 2017, will I be eligible for the offer if I change the dates after the announcement? Do I only have to modify my reservation or should I cancel and create a new one? Should I include a -paid- DDP already in my original reservation?
Thank you so much!
We’ve already reserved rooms at 2 resorts using DVC point rentals and purchased discount park hopper tickets (not directly from Disney). Is there any way we can take advantage of the Free Dining promotion when it is offered? I’m not quite understanding what exactly has to be purchased together for the promo. Thanks!
Free Dining requires you to book a package that includes a room and tickets. You won’t qualify for it when it comes out, but you can always pay for the dining plan to be added to your DVC reservation if you’d like.
So, I’d like to make sure I understand correctly. If I book our trip BEFORE the free dining promotion is announced, i’ll be able to add it after the fact? I was worried that if I booked now, I wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the deal when it was announced next month.
You will still be able to add it when it becomes available if there are still spots available at your hotel. Having the hotel booked in advance doesn’t give you a secured spot for free dining, you’ll still be competing with everyone else once the promotion is released, but booking now in no way prevents you from taking advantage of the promotion:)
We are planning to go in Sept 2017 and someone had told me that if you are a disney visa card member you can take advantage of free dining a day or two earlier than the rest of the world. Do you know if that is true?
Yes that is true. We have done it several times now.
So does Disney Visa notify you? How will we know when the promotion is released?
We currently have reservations at the Bay Lake Contemporary in September. I have park tickets, DDP & Memory maker on the reservation. Do I need to change anything? EEEeeek!! This is our first trip to Disney, and I’m getting so excited/overwhelmed!! I think I’m becoming a Disney-addict!
I would like to know as well how you get alerted if you’re a Disney Visa cardholder. This is my first time and I feel like I’m going to miss the boat on the free dining!
Hey
I plan on taking my family in the fall so the dinning plan sounds great. My question is when and how so I know when the dates are up for that so I can change my reservation? is there a email list to get on or do I have to keep checking the website daily?
You pretty much just have to check regularly. Keep in mind the promotion often comes out in April or May, so you don’t need to get on top of this just yet.
Your other option is to use a travel agent. Contact a reputable travel planner specializing in Disney destinations about your trip and tell him/her you’re interested in free dining. Then you agent will do the work for you!
We are about to book November 26 at Port Orleans Riverside for 10 days in hopes they may offer the dates again after Thanksgiving. Any opinions on the downside of doing this? I believe we can edit our reservation to another hotel, dates, etc. We would really like to stay at POR but our priority is free dining…to the point we are fine staying at the POP and upgrading to the table service plan. Would love thoughts of others who booked dates prior to announcement. I totally know it is a risk but doesn’t feel risky since we can change it when dates announced. Thanks!
I know for last year, the free dining promotion was only available at Port Orleans Riverside for The end of August and the beginning of September, but if you are okay with modifying the resort you’re staying at, then you should be good:)
Does the free dining apply if youre an Annual Pass Holder?
The dining plan is part of a package deal and requires that you purchase park tickets as well – so it probably would not be worth it, unless you were able to apply the price paid for your tickets to AP renewals come time.
Is it best to book something now, even though we don’t know the free dining dates? Once the dates are released, can we change our dates? and if we book something, and then free dining happens to be during our trip, will Disney adjust our price? Thanks!
I have a vacation booked for Sept 2017 at the carribean beach resort for 5 people. Is free dining at this resoort ony offered at upgrated rooms. The pirate rooms at the carribean beach resort only sleep 4 people. Is it required for the reseravation to be at one of the pirate rooms? Also, do we need to add the park hopper or water park fun and mre tickets?
No you don’t need to be in the pirate rooms to get the free Dining Plan. You do need to have the park hopper tickets.
No you do not need to purchase any “special” rooms to get the dining plan. Caribbean Beach is considered a moderate resort, so if you are lucky enough to get the free dining plan, you’ll be getting the regular dining plan.
Also you DO NOT need to get park hoppers to enjoy the dining plan. I’ve been to Disney dozens of times with the meal plan and have never once had park hoppers or water fun and more, but the dining plan will certainly be available if you choose to get the park hoppers or water fun packages.
Free Dining has recently had the requirement that you upgrade your tickets, and availability has often been only in the upgraded rooms. If you’re paying for the Disney Dining Plan, tickets and room types are a moot point; if you’re using a promotion, you have to work within the restrictions of that promo to get the deal.
We have sites at Fort Wilderness are there any discounted dining plans with campsites
The campsites normally aren’t included for the free dining promotion.
We’re booked for dec 5-12 2017. It’s looking like historically free dinning starts on the 10th. Would we be eligible for free dinning the whole trip or just the last 2 days? I am willing to move the dates so we are eligible. Only other question is are the parks typically more busier during free dinning? TIA 🙂
The date of you check in and needs to fall between the free dinning dates. So if this year is the same as last year. You would not be able to get free dinning even for the last 2 days of your stay. Because you would need to check out then check back in under a new reservation on the 10th and you would have to stay a minimum amount of days with park hopper tickets. It’s probably best to move your dates.
I was there last summer and I received a bounce back offer and the first date I could book was December 8th, 2017. The first week of December was blocked off. I have no idea if the regular free dining promotion will be the same.
Hi there, I was wondering if I could upgrade my Disiney dining plan upon arrival. I have an existing ” magic your way” package already booked. So can I upgrade my current dining plan? If anyone knows I would appreciate the feedback! Thanks!!
Normally Disney require that you modify your DDP at least 48 hours before check-in
I just called about the fee dining..
I was told you have to have a discount code to get the free dining. I booked my vacation before the deadline .
Does anyone have the offer details from the Disney web page . Since the offer is over.
So any ideas yet when free dinning will be announced? Makes planning easier if we knew.
Should be announced at the end of April
If I am booking my vacation online, when the Free Dining Plan is announced, Will it reflect on the screen that asks if we want to add a dining plan?
Or is this something where we’ll have to call to have it added?
If Free Dining is available when you’re booking, you’ll choose it on the Special Offers page and then book it from there – https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/
I’m an annual pass member, with two boys. We go every month for a few days. How can I get free food?
If we end up opting for the 30% room discount (assuming the free dining plan isn’t available during our stay), can we get an adjustment if we have already made reservations? I’m hesitant to wait until the promotion is announced/goes into effect to make my reservations.
“Note: as long as you arrive by the last day of the promotion, you can enjoy Free Dining during your whole stay.”
Question about this. I was looking at maybe doing a trip next year, probably about Dec 3rd – 12th. Up to December 10th is a blackout date… but if I’m still there until the 12th when the free dining plan is available, would that still count for my whole trip? If so, awesome!
Your check-in date must be during the promotion.
Good to know! Thank you!
We are a party of 5. 4 adults one 9yr.
Can we make individual reservations for dining? Seems like we can’t. We tried to book a restaurant for 1 guest and when tried to add another reservation for others in the party it will bring up the one already booked and there’s no option to select which guest in our party or let others for the same time reserve else where. We are all under the same room reservation. How can we make individual reservations for the same hour for ppl in the same room reservation?
You will probably have to call Disney to do that. I couldn’t do it using the app or my laptop. The cast members who do that are usually very helpful.
Hi! Planning a trip for sept 2017. Is it true that the free dining promo isn’t available at port Orleans French quarter? I was thinking of staying there but will book at p.o. Riverside instead if it increases my chances of obtaining the free dining promo. Any advice you can give on this would be greatly appreciated. This will be my 1 st trip to Disney.
???? Does anyone have any advice for me?
I looked into this as well, most or FQ is not available, riverside is very few. I decided on Caribbean Beach as my pick as it gives you much better odds with a comparable resort.
French Quarter never has discounts, my guess is mainly because of it’s small size. We got a 25% off rack rates only because we took advantage of the bounce back offer the day we checked out.
This is the first time I have heard of “free dining”. My family of three is planning a trip Christmas 2018 or maybe even 2017. If we wait one more year do the prices tend to drastically change? We will stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge Club Level. Would we qualify for this “free dining” or do they not even do it during Christmas? We were willing to pay $1500 for the deluxe plan but if free is achievable we’d rather save money for souvenirs and special attractions.
I just wanted to reply about the dining plan. We just returned from our family of 4 vacation at Disney. It was amazing!!! And we had the free dining. It was the dining plan with 1 CS 1 TS 1 snack and a refillable mug. It was soooooooooooo much food. And the table service meal took so long. I now know that I would never book 2 table service meals a day. You might consider not paying extra for the deluxe plan. The regular dining with one table service per day was great for us. Just my opinion! I cashed out 32 snack credits at the end because of how many meals I had left over.
What do you mean “cashed out”? I anticipate that we will have a lot of snack credits at the end too (we always have), and we always just end up buying a bunch of snacks for the drive home. Is that what you mean?
Can you get the free dining if you are staying at the Wilderness Campground??
The campsites are usually excluded, but the cabins are usually included.
If i book through a vacation club and they arw doing thw free di ing promotion. Will i get the free dining?
Nope, you can’t do that.
Very helpful information! Thank you so much! We are looking to book a trip starting Dec 31st 2016 and staying for a week. The current promotions do not go out this far…..do you know when they usually announce January promotions?
Thank you!
Hi, Michelle –
Glad you found the info helpful! This history of promotions should give you an idea what promotions to expect for your trip – http://www.mousesavers.com/historical-information-on-walt-disney-world-resort-discounts/#codechart
We have found that it is a much more enjoyable experience at Disney to go during NON free dining times. During our one trip that included free dining we found the restaurants to be even more packed than usual and behind schedule, the servers to be hassled and the food choices not so great. I got really sick of short ribs and pudding which seemed to be on most menus. A discounted room rate seems a much better choice for us.
So is the best way to get Free Dining to make your Magic Your Way package without dining, make dinner reservations, and then modify your reservation to include Free Dining when its offered? I believe you can add the dining plan at any time before your reservation starts so if Free Dining isn’t offered, you can add it later anyway. I’m going in September 2017 during the typical free dining period but don’t want to wait until its offered to make dining reservations.
Awesome site and info is invaluable. We are planning an early March 2017 vacation at WDW and are staying at one of the Deluxe properties. We’ve looked over the DDP but think for us, we would be better off not taking it and hoping for a room promo discount instead. It looks like historically the Free DDP offers are somewhere around Aug-Oct for Jan-March dates. Do discounts for lodging hit at about the same time?
Also you mention not to add memory maker now. Why are reservations difficult to manage with memory maker if you are adding discounts etc Should we ask our travel agent to remove it for now?
They likely won’t offer free dining. They haven’t offered it for that time of year since 2012. If you’re hoping to get a room only discount, though, they should be releasing details for March discounts some time in October.
Hi! Planning a trip in September 2017… hoping for free dining. Plan to stay at Coronado. IF free dining is offered, do you have to upgrade to a preferred room at the moderates to take advantage of the free dining? Thanks!
Hi we just stayed at Coronado Springs a few weeks ago and it was beautiful. I booked everything in advance including dining reservations and when I heard when they were announcing free dining I was on the phone dialing at 7AM and had it added to my plan no problem. We did not have to upgrade rooms or make any changes. Thinking of going back next year. It was so worth it and you get so much food we sometimes couldn’t finish and everything was delicious. Enjoyed every minute. Truly was a dream vacation.
Can you get a meal plan if you stay off site?
Under the first section of this post (“who can use it”), it is explained who can get the dining plan.
We are planning a trip in Nov of 2017. Do you know when the free dining will be announced for 2017?
We booked through Disney & took the regular dining plan. We arrive on 11/20 & the free dining ends on 11/21. So does that mean we could still get the free plan since we arrive on the 20th?
The booking period for free dining is over now, but if you had booked during the promotion, you could’ve potentially had it for your whole trip.
Shannon, we have a package with the dining plan starting on a Monday. We are actually coming down a day earlier (Sun) though and booked a room only for that day because it was outside of the dates for the package. I know the dining plan won’t be active on Sunday, but can we still use one of our theme parks tickets on Sunday?
Hi, I have a reservation at pop for 2 adults 1 child (2) with free dining offer in late november. Is it possible to include 2 additional persons in the same reservation (in the same room)? I checked online and pop seems to be sold out for those dates so we can’t get an additional room for them.
So I can use the desserts on the quick service and sub it for a snack at a different location and time?
If you become a Disney Visa card member, can you be eligible for the Disney Dining Plan that is free (the dates we are traveling are during the free dining)?
To get the free dining on a qualifying package do you have to book through the Disney site or can you use a travel agent? Also is it better to use an agent or just book yourself?
Just booked a trip and got the Free Dining Plan. We are going to stay at Art of animation for 8 nights on December, so i got the quick service dp free. We won’t upgrade since we have a child with low appetite and an adult recovering from a bariatric and just want 2 characters meals… its less expensive paying out of pocket for those.
Thank you sooooo much for the update email you sent this morning!!!
Free dining is available now. Booked it with no problem. They went live online in middle of night but phone lines don’t open til 7am. Good luck!
What time are ‘offers’ such as this free dining open online? Is there a time difference online vs phone? For example, ADR’s are open online 1 hour before the phone lines open. Is this something that resets at Midnight EST? TIA!
Any clue on the disney Visa card member dates for booking free dining? I added a dining plan to my existing vacation reservations yesterday and the rep said they were bombarded with calls re free dining. I told her there was a “leak” (incorrect, obviously) on a different blog. She said try again soon sand just try to modify my existing reservation. Any other “leaks” out there??
Hi Laura,
I got the Disney Visa last year (after release of free dining), and I didn’t even know we got a special release offer for the free dining until recently! How do they typically announce it to the card holders? Is it through email or what? TIA!
It says on the disney site that the qs are divided and show the # of child and adult left . Not grouped together. Therefore not allowing children to choose from the adult. Has this changed from what you have posted. thanks
What Disney says and reality are often very different things. 🙂
So when at a QS location, our family of 4 (2 kids) on the dining plan can order 4 adult entrees every time we are at a QS location that week?
Thanks!
If you have the Disney dining plan,do you have to pay gratitude on top of this. There are seven of us 3 adults 4 children ages 6 to 13.
Yes, you have to pay gratuity.
I have booked a Little Mermaid room at AOA for 9/25-10/1. I see that it is likely that free dining will be offered during this time but typically will not be offered for the Little Mermaid room guests. Do I need to upgrade to a suite now before the free dining announcement is made or do I wait until it is announced and call to completely change my reservation?
Which hotels historically do not qualify for Fall free dining promotion?
How do we know when they offer/release the options for free dining? We are getting ready to book our trip in October and want to maximize our options.
I read somewhere else that a couple of resorts were unavailable for free dining. Is this a thing I should be worried about if I book my reservation now and modify it later?
Question…in a chat someone posted about searching for free dining…if you Google free dining disney. A link will come up saying about 6 night stay/7 tickets with….then links to pops goofy ate page…..know anything about this? I tried it again today and wording has been changed….do you think it will be 6 nights?
You can see from this version of the page from summer of 2015 that the text appearing on Google is just the text that used to appear on the page. https://web.archive.org/web/20150601112140/https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/stay-dine/
If our stay overlaps with a black out date, would we just need to pay for that period of the dining plan?
If we are going in September, should we book the trip with out a dining plan and make dining reservations for the trip? If and when the free dining is offered, book a new trip to get the FDP, and then cancel the old, without losing any reservations?!? Also, on the DP, can you substitute a TS meal for a QS? I know it sounds weird, but I don’t know that we want to carve out the required time for a TS everyday we are there.
Thanks,
Hi, Andy –
Good questions. If you book a new trip, your dining reservations will not be canceled. However, if you had a package and canceled it after making FP+ reservations, any FP+ reservations you made would disappear.
You should be able to use a TS credit for a QS meal. You might consider just getting the QS Dining Plan if that makes more sense (and that’s what comes with the Value Resorts during Free Dining).
A quick follow-up to Andy’s question… if we book our on-site stay as a package WITH dining (maybe in the hopes of free dining), but then decide to downgrade to a room-only reservation, will we also lose our FP reservations? Thanks for all your great WDW insights!
If you remove your tickets, your FP+ will be canceled (and changing from a package to a room-only is basically doing that since the definition of a package is room+tickets).
We are going to WDW Aug 6-10, 2016. We are staying at the all star Disney movies value resort. I had everything booked when they ran a promotion for free quick service meals if staying at a value resort. I called WDW reservations and was able to add the promotion to our reservations (I did have to upgrade our room to preferred but that wasn’t that big of a deal). The only thing I don’t like is that the meal deal is only for the meals not the cup or snacks.
Hi there, have you already booked the promotion!? I am going in September this year and would also like to use this promotion. I was under the impression that free dining offer for this year is realised tomorrow.
We booked at a Value as well and upgraded to the dining service that included table service. It was about 400 more but still cheaper than the moderates. Hope this helps!
Hello! I am wanting to book a package at the Art of Animation Little Mermaid room. We are wanting to visit November 13-19 2016 in hope of free dining. Now, I know that free dining is not offered in those rooms. My question is, am I able to book my reservation in the resort, and if free dining is released, cancel and change to another resort that accepts the free dining plan, or should I just wait until free dining is released to book at another resort?
This isn’t answering your question but we stayed at the AoA last fall and loved it! The bad thing about the mermaid rooms are that they are the furthest rooms from the dining hall and transportation which means you will have to walk further.
Have they ever offered free dining at French quarter??? We are booked there for sept 2016 and if not wonder if it makes more sense to book preferred at riverside? Thoughts?
Is there any way to know for sure they will even offer the free dining this year? I’m looking to book in August or September and got free dining 3 years ago when I booked but im hearing through the grapevine they may do away with a completely free dining plan.
Do people realize that prebooking in hops of free dining is counter intuitive. Disney does this to fill rooms when it is not busy. If you book rooms Disney then says ok we are busy then and blackouts those dates. Meaning prebooking ahead of time made them think they were busy and they did not need a promotion during those day.
Hi there. Do they not offer free dining during Thanksgiving week?
They will not offer free dining that week because it is one of the most crowd east weeks of the year so there is no need. However, I have twice gone the week before, getting there on Thursday/Friday and carrying free dining all through next week. Also gives you a couple days to enjoy the parks before the mob scene shows up.
Hello Shannon,
Love all the advice 🙂 Myself plus family of nine, arrive 3-7-2016 to 3-12-2016 !!! EEK !! I reserved for Cinderella Castle and Aloha dinner. It states, 1 credits per each guest. My youngest two grandsons are very picky, so much so that one has to drink pediasure. I was told by 4 different team members. We did and did not have to put them on meal plan. Last person I had said, I had to, to so I did. How can I utilize all credits to benefit us w/o paying even more for these two special restaurants.
Thank you so much,
Anxious but excited
Correction: 2 credits each not 1.
Were you able to get the free dining for this? Or did you pay for your dining. TIA! Have a magical trip!!
Hi! I’m planning a trip to Disney in October 2016. Do you need to book the package with an agent in order to be eligible for the free dining promotion, or is it ok to just book the package on the Disney World website?
Also, if I booked now would I still be eligible for the free dining promotion since I’m not booking within the designated time period?
You can book it either way.
I’m trying to book in October 2016 and don’t see free dining as an option. Am I missing something?
According to the blackout dates, Nov 20 -Dec 12. Free dining has never been offered between those days?? So am I better off planning before Nov 20, for a chance of free dining?
I think I heard that for 2016 you have to have park hopper added to get free dining. Can you tell me if this is correct?
Park Hopper or the Water Parks and more tickets were required for free dining in 2015 so it’s very likely it’ll be the requirement for 2016 as well. Especially since it was a requirement for the 2016 free dining bounceback (an in-room offer for people staying in the fall of 2015 who booked their next trip before they checked out).
Do I have to purchase park hopper in advance? Or if they announce free dining,can I then modify to have park hopper and dining?
You can add it later, if you’d like.
When I booked our trip last year (for December), I got us free dining and it did require the park hopper upgrade on tickets. I would think since they did it last year, they will do the same this year.
I have a existing reservation with regular dining plan. If a promo comes out with free dining, most are saying to go online and book a new reservation instead of waiting hours on the phone. My question is how does it keep my existing ADR I have made on my original reservation if I am cancelling it and make a new one? Or do I lose all my dinner reservations by hitting cancel?
Hi! In march 2015 I booked my September 2015 vacation, did all of my dininig reservations and added the quick service dining plan just to guarantee i would have something. Then, in May they announced that my dates were included in the dining plan. I called and waited for like a half hour, and the lady said I could just modify my reservation online, so I did!! There is no need to make a separate reservation, you can just go to “modify” your existing one and the website will give you the new promo options (cheaper rooms, or add dining plan for free”). So, I modified my reservation, accepted the “free” quick service dining plan that came with my value resort, but then upgraded to the table service plan for a few bucks. It ended being cheaper than my original reservation!!! =)
Good luck and enjoy the magic!!!!!
We are planning a trip 11/12/16-11/18/16. Are we able to book now, and add the dining plan later during the promotion for free if they offer it again this year?
You can! But you will have to call and add the promo over the phone.
I called last year, and they said I could just modify it online and it’s true!! Just go to modify reservation and it will give you all the options. Otherwise you spend all your discount waiting on the phone haha xD
Hi Shannon! Last time we went to WDW was 4 years ago (when your site was just starting to kick butt, I think!), and we booked through DVCRS. Obviously we purchased tickets and the DDP separately, so the Free Dining promo is new to me.
We’re looking at going October 23-28, and as of right now we’re planning to camp at Fort Wilderness, adding tickets and the DDP. However, if free dining is offered during that window, I’d much rather stay somewhere that I *don’t* have to set up camp and clean house. (Momma’s vacation too, ya know?!) But as a family of 6 it’s expensive to stay anywhere else. I’d love to stay at AoA in a family suite, and score free QS then upgrade. But I’m totally confused as to how to do it. I know if we arrive PRIOR to the free dining promotion, we’d have to do a split stay or something, which is intimidating to me. So what would you recommend? Thanks in advance!
Planning a trip 10/16/16 – 10/22/16 staying in a Cars suite at AOA will we be eligible for free dining or is it AOA blocked?
Suites are usually not blocked, only Little Mermaid rooms.
10/23/16-10/28/16 would be part of the normal dates that they have offered Free DDP. (We are going this same week too!)
10/16/16-10/22/16 is usually a blacked out week. 🙁
So we are planning a November trip, hoping to get the free dining plan. Originally planning moderate, then my daughter fell in love with Little Mermaid rooms at AOA. Someone told me if you stay there, you aren’t available for the free dining plan if offered? Is that true? But staying at POP qualifies?
That’s sadly correct. The Little Mermaid Rooms at the AOA are blacked out from the promotion (precisely because they’re so popular they don’t need help to sell out). That said, you could stay at the Pop Century and walk across the bridge to AOA for their Little Mermaid pool as a bit of a compromise.
I thought that AoA pool is off limits for pool hopping.
Is it likely that I could be offered free dining in the last week of July? If not, would it be worth it to buy the regular dining plan for a family of 7 in a moderate or value resort?
We are going around that same time and my wife just spoke with Disney Reps who were offering the free Quick Service Plan (1 meal per day) for our entire family for those dates (end of July) had we purchased our park tickets through Disney (which we didn’t because my company gets discounted tickets at 7 days for the price of 4). She informed us to call back at least once a month because the discounts change and another one may come up for that timeframe. I hope this helped a little bit.
As you can see by the history of when it’s been offered, Free Dining is usually a fall promotion.
There’s a limited Free Dining promotion for the summer called Summer Meal Plan you can get at the value resorts. It’s not as nice as the full Free Dining in the fall as you only get one quick service meal rather than two, but if you’re going anyway it couldn’t hurt to try to get this added to your vacation (though if you’ve gotten any other discounts or booked your package through anyone other than Disney you can’t do it).
I’m planning my disney stay for early December. We want to do 3 nights with 2 day park pass and only 2 days dining, as we land late in the evening and fly out in the early morning so we don’t need a dining plan for the day we land and the day we fly out. Is there any way to do this?
Also, getting free dining would be AWESOME. I guess I am staying at the right time, but I’ll have to wait to book my dining plan when they release free dining?
sorry if this question has been asked before but just to make things clear. If I buy my accomodation in walt disney world from Thomas Cook etc, am I still eligible for the free disney dining plan?
I don’t believe so as I just asked the same question to Disney (I purchased my park tickets through my company benefits website). But the agent did say to call back periodically because they discounts do change and it is possible that it will be offered to everyone before our trip. Hope this helps… Never hurts to call Disney and ask as well just to be sure.
I am reserving a week in Disney for the second week in September. I am hoping for free dining, but I know that will not be announced til closer to time. My question is, if I book now and then they offer free dining, will I be allowed to use free dining or does it only happen if you book in a certain time frame (say April to June)?
Thanks!
Leslie
You will want to contact your travel agent or Disney. I had the same issue occur in November 2015, and was refunded the difference between my original booking and the “new” pricing with the free meal plan. Regardless of the promotion, Disney seems to always do what’s right for the consumer.
Do you have to arrive on one of the valid dates to get free dining for your whole stay or can your arrival be any of the valid dates to get it for your whole stay? Hope this makes sense… TIA
Shannon mentioned in the article, as long as you arrive by the last day of the promotion, you can enjoy Free Dining during your whole stay.
What if you arrive before?
If you arrive before, you would need to book a split stay. You would only have the Free Dining from the day the promotion begins until you check out. You would have to buy your owns meals for the first part of your stay. I can help you if you’d like. 🙂
Am planning a trip for early September, hopefully at Poly. Was considering going through David’s rental to save money. Would the room only discount be a better option? And, can I add a DP
You said you can sub 1 quick service credit for 3 eligible snacks if done all in one transaction. Does it have to be at a quick service restaurant? What about subbing the quick service dessert for a snack? I assume it has to be purchased with the meal? Do I have to explain what I want to do? I have never done the dining plan, and we are going next week with 2 little ones who are not big eaters, so it might be useful to do this. Thank you,
Cathy
I’m confused about what you said about the 18% gratuity. How am I supposed to make those calculations exactly?
You’ll get a bill for your meal where you can see the total.
To expand on Shannon’s comment, you will receive a bill with the totals for each person in your party. It will be the “before meal plan total”. It will include the 15%, 18%, 20% gratuity totals for your benefit, and they will ask if you would rather pay the gratuity in cash or charge it with you MagicBand. They will also ask you to write in your gratuity amount. As long as the group isn’t over 6 – I think – you will not automatically be charged gratuity.
So you don’t have to pay cash for the tip you can charge it to the room? I hate having to carry cash around. We have the dining plan and wasn’t sure if we could charge just the tip amount to the room. Thank you!
Tips can be included on room charges. They’re on the bill, just like when you go to any restaurant.
I am going to WDW in October with a free dining package. I would like to upgrade to a season pass while I am there. Do I have to wait until the last day in order to keep my free dining, or can I do it at the beginning of my trip and still have the benefit of my free dining promotion?
I have a daughter that eats like a bird. She’s 10 yrs old, so we’re forced to buy her the adult dining plan. I don’t think she’ll eat even half of her table service meals. Sharing table service meals is not allowed, correct? So, I envision stuffing my face with her meals all week, carrying doggy bags around the parks or…just wasting half a meal.
Is this a common problem? Thanks
My kids are 14 and 11 and they both want kids meals not adult meals. What we do with the free dining is pay for our kids meals and save those 2 adult meals. That way when we go to a sit down dinner that counts as 2 we have it. We used it for Narcosse’s. I also have done it with the quick serve because my son is happy with just a bagel.
If I book reservations through Davids vacation rentals where we will stay at a DVC resort can I still be eligible for free dining plan?
No, as mentioned in the article, DVC members and renters do not qualify for free dining plan because you didn’t purchase a package. However, you do have the option of adding a dining plan to your rental, but you have to pay for it. not free
if you book your package for December of 2016 and add the dining plan and then the free dining plan comes out for that time period, can you still get the free dining? I am booking for December of 2016 and was going to add the dining plan. We will be staying at Contemporary Resorts and I am paying monthly for my package. If it is paid off by the time they announce the free dining, will I get my money back on the dining package or should I just not add the dining pkg until the free dining times are announced? Thank you
Yes. I’ve done it before and I called Disney. If new promotions come out before your stay for the dates of your stay you can always switch promotions. =)
We will be booking here in a couple of weeks for 12/12 – 12/22 can I still get the free dining or I’m I too late for booking period?
I’d really like to know this as well. We’re already booked for 12/15-12/19. Would love to get free dining!! Hopefully we find the answer. I currently took advantage of the 30% room promo.
Disney does not allow you to double dip on discounts. If you got the 30% off on the room, you can’t have the free dining as well. If you look at the website, they have specific dates that the free dining is available. Your vacation has to start on or after that date to get the free dining. We booked in 2 days prior and are not eligible for the free dining. I’ve made tons of phone calls to find out more about these promos.
Can you do a split stay in order to take advantage of free dining at least for the days that you are there and the promotion started? For example, book the first 2 days separately from the other days when the promotion starts.
also, you have to choose which offer you want, because you can’t double on offers. It’s either the 30% off OR the free dining.
Will there be any more offers for free disney dining for 2015?
Hi there,
I wanted to know if you know which resorts are generally excluded from the free dining plan?
Thank you so much!
Angella
We are a family of 6 going on Feb 22-27, 2016. We are set to book Friday 7/24/15 will it be too soon? We got a 4 day pass no hopper pass. Will this affect the free dining if its available for those days. Any suggestions?
Free Dining is usually offered in the fall so it won’t be available during your travel dates in February.
Hello,
We are planning on traveling in November of 2016. I have already put a deposit down on a package and did not add dining(hoping for free). So if free dining is during our trip should I call and add it(last time I spent about 2 hours on hold) or do I just go online and make a new reservation? If I do make a new one can I transfer my any payments I make to the new one and any dining reservations to the new one?
This is exactly what I’m doing. Last time when I went, we were able to call and add it to the our package no problem. Seems like it’s been three years, and things are booked and reserved way faster. I would like to know this answer too. I have not booked my November vacation yet. Debating whether I should wait until May 2016 when dining dates are announced. Any advice?
This site has a great calculator to see if the DDP makes sense for you vs OOP.
http://seeyareelsoon.wix.com/seeyareelsoon#!dining-plan-calculator/cxc0
I know that we could split QS meals. What about TS?
You can’t split buffets and family-style meals, but can split TS meals at many locations.
When you want to use your credits, how does it work? Do you have to tell them before you order or do you wait until the end of the meal to tell them that you are using a credit?
They will ask you if you’re on the DDP when you order.
If you book prior to the booking period, can you call to have the free dining applied (given a non-discounted room and tickets are purchased)?
we booked a package in January of this year. In Late April,mother announced Free dining, but it didn’t fall within our dates booked, and then after a couple of weeks, it was extended to include our dates. We had to change hotels, and also ended up doing a split stay, but we were able to add Free Dining. The CM who helped me make all the changes was really informed and worked hard to make it happen for me (I had 5 rooms to change! ) but it can be done. Shannon has a great podcast about this too!
Thanks for the info! I will search for the podcast. 🙂
Do you know when the Free Dining Plan dates for 2016 will be released? Or if they’ve already been released, where I can find them?? Thanks!!
Hi! Please let me know if you locate this info! I’m looking for it as well! That or the 30% off deal!
I’m looking as well. Hoping for some Feb dates for free dining!
Free Dining dates are usually announced in April/May of that year so I would expect around that time next year.
Hi Shannon! I will be visiting WDW in March 2016 for 6 days (3/19-3/25) with my parents, husband and two little girls. We are staying at Fort Wilderness. I got the Disney Dining Plan for all of us, but my parents just informed me (great timing) that they will NOT be with us for a couple days – they will be visiting family. Are we able to use their dining credits since they won’t be around or do they have to be present? TIA
Last time we were there, five years ago, the dining credits were in big pool attached to the main account. Anybody could use credits from the pool.
Do you have any idea when the 2016 Dining Plan prices will be announced?
shannon, I so rushed into things and booked my vacation but did not add a dinning plan. Is there a way I can still add it. My vacation is still not until september.
Yes! Just add it the same way you booked it (through your agent, through Disney, etc.).
How does free dining work if you are renting through the DVC?
The free dining promotions require you to book an undiscounted room and tickets. DVC provides a discount off the regular prices, thus DVC rooms based on points are not eligible for free dining promotions.
Hi, my family and I are planning a trip to Disney World in November and would like to take advantage of the free dining plan that was just announced. I am new to the dining plan and need a little clarification. We are planning on staying at a Disney value resort for 6 nights and purchasing 3 day park hopper tickets. I understand that this would put us in the quick service plan. Would we get meals for all 6 nights that we are booked at the hotel or just the 3 days that we purchased tickets to the park? Thank you in advance for any help you can provide
I was unsuccessful at booking free dining for my family of five on the first couple of days; however, I continued to check back, and I was able to book it, yesterday, for our trip dates. Just wanted to let you know not to give up hope. Persistence pays off. Saved $1300 for my family. Good luck!
Nice work!! Did you just keep calling every day asking of any free dining opened up?
That is what I’m doing still! I’ve got a room, but it is our second choice, so I keep calling back every day to see if our first choice has opened up.
Ok so contemplating a trip in September and love the idea of the dining plan!…but I won’t know for sure if we’re going until early June so I can’t make any dining reservations yet. My question is, from your experience, will reservations for September be basically filled up by June for the table service restaurants, thereby making my 1 table service meal per day basically mute? Thanks! Loving this blog!
haha *moot – not mute 🙂
I am currently on hold with Disney to try to get the free dining plan. We already have a trip booked for October 26-31 and those are the dates they released for the free dining plan but holy crap, they said an hour wait and online it is saying it is sold out already? Is it seriously this hard to get the deal????
Oh and is it this difficult to get dining reservations?? Feeling super frustrated!!!!
Tiffany my husband and I are going the same time as you. Open a My Disney Experience account at https://disneyworld.disney.go.com. Be diligent in checking for dining reservations at all different hours of the day and you just might be lucky enough to get one. I got a 9:25 PM BOG reservation (late at night but we got it). It is worth the effort. Good luck~
I’m curious to know why the month of October isn’t included in the dining promotion? Is there something going on during that month? It seems like a Fall promotion would include Oct. but it’s only available for the very last week.
It’s a fairly busy travel time now with all of the fall breaks.
I booked this morning for a family of 4 – kids age 6 and 4, and got the free dining promotion at the Cornado Springs with a 6 day hooper passes and staying 6 nights/7 days for $3200. It took about 20 phone calls and a 1/2 hour wait. I am curious if this is a decent price.
That seems to be an excellent price to me. My fiance and I booked our honeymoon (10 days in December with free dining at Caribbean Beach with a King sized bed upgrade and 6 day parkhopper passes) and it’s more than that for just the two of us! Granted, there is an upcharge for the time of year and for the room, but for 4 people that doesn’t seem to be a bad price at all. 🙂
I got free dining (for the first time) and wanted to convert our tickets to season passes (for the first time0 while there. I thought that the tickets that we have (part of free dining) and just like cash and applied to the pass purchase. But a CM just told me that you have to keep two days seperate for each person to use another time (in order to keep the dining)…. or you lose your credits.
Hi
We have made reservations for room at yacht club from 22/08/15 until 01/09/2015, can I get free dining added for the last few days? . My booking had a couple of free nights does this mean no free dining.
Thank you
They just announced FREE DINING on the walt disney world website this morning!!
Yep! Sent out all of the details to my email list and posted it on my FB Page – https://www.facebook.com/WDWPrepSchool/posts/870593846312235
How do you know if the dining plan will work for you? I’m single, haven’t been to Disney World since the mid 1980s…I have no idea what the food cost nowadays. I don’t think I’ve seen a list of quick services places and prices. Is there a list? I was planning on $100 a day for food.
I used distripplanner.com to estimate my food costs
Problem: I’m reading about the possible announcement of the free dining (for disney Visa card holders) on Monday. We have reservations for September 12-19 at Port Orleans. I’ve also read that Port Orleans RARELY has the free dining available. Why?? We are paying a huge amount of $$to stay there! I understand not having room discounts, but why no free dining?? I’m bummed!!
Thanks in advance;)
Michele
Some resorts are normally filled to capacity. They offer promos to sell rooms are resorts which are filling as fast. POFQ rarely has a problem filling, though POR is usually available. Ive had to switch from Contemporary to Polynesian once to get a good promo. Contemporary fills fast as its the least expensive of the monorail resorts. FQ fills quickly too, for a moderate, because of its great amenities.
Hi, if they introduce Disney Free Dining soon for 2015 can anyone apply for that as I have booked my flights from UK but no accommodation yet as waiting to see if they release free dining otherwise I will book an apartment instead of a Disneyhotel. Also any ideas when it may be released, any rumours at all? They have Just released it for 2016. Would they normally run the two offers concurrently? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks
USA promotions are different from UK. I believe 2015 free dining for UK residents was already offered last fall. Youre best bet is to contact a UK agency and ask them.
Good Luck!
My room is already booked for November 10-18. If the free dining comes out, can I book a whole new reservation online and then cancel my existing one? I’m thinking I’d rather do it online if I can as I’m sure the phone lines will be crazy busy!!
Firstly, can you book the free dining promotion online if you book your hotel at the same time (or can you even go into your existing reservation and add the free dining promotion afterwards?) or can you only book this promotion over the phone, Disney, will not directly commit to answering this question when i phoned. Secondly, if you can book online what time are lines open 6.00ET or midnight? Many thanks.
You can book this promotion online if your are booking a new package. This promotion has requirements, such as minimum # of nights and minimum # of tickets purchased at the same time.
If you have already booked your Disney package, you need to call Disney or your travel agent to add the dining promotion. # of rooms per resort are limited for this promotion, so call as early as possible if you have an existing reservation. If you wait too long, you will either be without this deal, or asked to change resorts.
Also keep in mind Disney often offers a room discount promotion at the same time as the free dining. Depending on where you are staying and number of guests in your party, the room discount may be a better deal. You will have to do the math before choosing the promotion which will benefit you the most.
Good luck!
Many thanks – I will try and book my new package online, do you know whether I can do this at the earlier time of 6.00am ET (compared to phone lines) or even earlier?
The website is usually not updated with new promotions until 7am – 8am EST and with a promotion this large, I would expect a lot of site “freezing” in the morning.
The promo will be open for Disney Visa Card holders Monday morning. If youre not a card holder, you can check to see how it works Monday morning, so you can be ready Thursday when its available to the general public. I am a card holder and will come back here and post how I made out! Good Luck with your trip 🙂
Thanks for the heads up, much appreciated. Will keep my eyes peeled hope your trip is wonderful.
Again, thanks for the heads up. I checked out the site, despite believing it was for dvc holders, to be surprised the offer was open to everyone. The website was frozen very early on, but amazingly, after a couple of redials, I got through with no holding waiting times and booked my vacation with amazing ease. I’m extremely happy. 🙂
Hi!
I am planning a trip mid December for 2015 & planing to stay in one of the All-Star resorts (have not decided which yet & would love to hear input or advice on which to choose!) Staying in the All-Star resorts, I’ve read in some places that individuals who stay there are not eligible for the free dining plans. However, I’ve read in other locations that individuals are able to qualify for free dining if they stay on ANY Disney property. Does anyone know for sure? I’ve tried contacting Disney & since the free dining dates have not been released as far as the time frame I am looking to go, they couldn’t offer me any help. Thanks!!
The way it works for Free Dining is that if you stay at a value resort you are entitled to the Quick Service dinning plan. However, you can upgrade to Plus Dinning, and Deluxe for a fee. If you stay in a moderate or deluxe resort the same goes except you will get the plus dinning and so forth. A little birdie told me it will open up next week to Disney Visa card holders then to the general public. (remember a little birdie told me this info not sure how true).. Hope this helps
Historically in regards to All Stars Resorts I believe the All Star Movies has been excluded in the free dinning. Not “all” resorts are included in the offer. There is a rumor at this point going around on Facebook that in December the dates will be the 15th-21st, nothing is definite yet though.
Some resorts are restricted. All Stars are usually not one of them. With any value resort, the free dining promo only offers the quick service plan, though you can upgrade to regaulr Disney Dining or the Deluxe Plan for the price difference btween the plan offered and the one you choose.
Upgrading to the regular dining plan would cost, per night:
Adult $ 18.05
Child $3.18
Upgrading to the Deluxe Dining plan would cost, per night:
Adult $67.56
Child $13.81
If you are planning to upgrade to a different dining plan, do the math on what it would cost you to stay at a moderate resort vs. a value. Sometimes your better off staying at a moderate and getting the free regular plan (especially if there are 3 + people in your party over 10 years old)
Good Luck!
Thank you for the info! My husband & I are planning to take our 2 kids (ages 7 & *almost* 4) to Disney World for their first trip soon. Do you know what the price difference would be to upgrade to the deluxe dining plan from the free regular plan? I’ve never planned a Disney trip, so I’m new to this. 🙂
The upgrade from Regular Dining to Deluxe would be, per night:
Adult: $49.50
Child: $10.63
Hi! We have our trip booked to arrive 12/22/15 – 12/26/15 at Wilderness Lodge. It looks like that is historically just in range of getting the free dining plan (we currently have Deluxe dining added to our plan). If the date does fall where it ends on 12/22 as in previous years, I can still call and get the dining plan free (well plus the updgrade to Deluxe)?
Rumor has it that December will not be included in this years Free Dining promotion. Again, this is just a rumor. We should all know for sure Monday morning 🙂
Rumored Dates…..
August 15 through October 2, 2015
October 25 through October 31, 2015
November 8 through November 19, 2015
Curious how Disney has handled this historically: When they announce free dining for the various Fall dates is it before the 180 day window to book reservations begins causing those who are paying for their meals at the non-qualifying resorts to compete for reservations on day 1 of the 180 day period with those who are getting their food free? Or are the dates released in waves so that the potential paying customers have at least a few days to reserve first going into their respective 180 day periods.
I see the history chart but I’m not sure if that means all the Fall dates were announced in May 2014 or the beginning of a wave of announcements. Thanks!
I love this site and felt like posting since I have been using it for years now. However you can book ADR 180 days out prior to arrival. So you don’t have to wait for dinning to open up. Disney has so many options for ADR and I think the most popular now is mainly Be Our Guest as it stays booked.
The entire block of dates was announced early May last year. For some it was prior to their 180 day mark for dining reservations, for others, it was after. My trip, for example, is in September. I have already made my reservations (in March). For trips in November, the announcement will come prior to the 180 day mark for those guests.
If you are already planning a trip, I strongly suggest booking your reservations 180 days prior to the first day of your trip. There are many popular restaurants that sell out within hours of the first available booking date. Be Our Guest is nearly impossible to get into. Most character meals and a few Epcot locations are also very difficult to reserve. You can manage (reserve, modify and cancel) your dining reservations on the Disney Website at “My Disney Experience”.
Good Luck!
My family will be staying at Fort Wilderness Campground. Will we be eligible for the free dining plan? I know that guests staying at the Fort don’t usually qualify for some of the other discounts offered.
Hi, do you need to order tix to be eligible for free dining? If so can I order just one day passes and still get dining for the entire stay?
thanks!
Justin
Hi! From my experience, you do have to have some sort of ticket order to be eligible for the dining plan unless you are a Florida Resident/Annual Passholder. You can call in and make reservations that don’t include a ticket purchase in that case (I’m an annual passholder and that is how I had to book mine with dining plan.)
Although now I am reading that the free dining isn’t open for Annual Passholders unless they buy 2 day passes…..
Going 8/26-8/30. Hoping for a plan.
Is October historically blacked out from free dining?
No, it’s in most of the date ranges I listed in the table above.
Oh I thought I sAw on other sites that they normally black out parts of October. We have a fall break October 9-12 so I was worried it would be blacked out. Anxiously waiting…
Your site and Facebook posts are awesome. Thank you so much.
Last year it was blocked out October 4-25.
Ah, yes, much of October was blacked out last year because October has gotten busy. But it hasn’t normally been blacked out. I wouldn’t count on it for the future though. School breaks in the fall have made it much busier than it used to be.
We have used the free dining plan several times. My advise to all those planning a trip is this. Book your trip now. Do it as if the free dining plan will not be offered. Book your dining reservations so you can eat where you choose. Then periodically can Disney reservations to see what discounts and specials are currently offered. They gladly look and are all too happy to change your plan to benefit you. This without the fear of change fees. Then watch social media for when the free dining plan will be released. When it is, call that day.
Who do you follow on facebook for release dates on Free dining? Do some places tell you before Disney?
You can follow me because I will definitely be posting the info –> http://facebook.com/wdwprepschool
I stayed off grounds back in 2012 and I along with 300 of my classmates had the dining plan so no, you don’t need to stay on grounds for the dining plan.
You had a special dining plan that’s available for groups, but the regular Disney Dining Plan is only available to people who stay onsite.
I have a trip booked for 12/8-12/17 at Pop… do these dates usually qualify for free dining?
I’m going around the same time and wondering the same thing. :/
free dining has started around december 12th-13th historically. If they follow the same dates, it should start the 11th this year. you would need to check in on the day it starts and only dates after that check in would qualify.
Hi I’m still trying to get my head around all of this but I am planning a trip for January 2016 and I was wondering if you knew if their would be free dining around then. If you don’t know how soon would they release the dates for free dining to the public?
Thanks in advance
When does the fall “free dining plan” promotion usually get announced?
Last year it was early May! 🙂
Confused:
We are taking our 6 and 3 year old to Disney for the first time October 8-12, 2015. The 180 day window to book dining is coming up, but I’m still unsure of whether or not to try to get the free dining promotion (which has yet to be announced). If I make reservations, like CRT and they charge my credit card, what happens if we try to get free dining?
I just am so overwhelmed and don’t know what steps happen first! I appreciate any advice trying to navigate dining. Thanks!
You still have to make reservations. We will be at WDW , Oct5-15, we are making our reservations tomorrow. When they announce the free dining they credit your account.
They don’t charge your credit card until it used. It’s only for security. You have to keep your reservation or cancel in their time limit or you will be charged a fee on your credit card.
You do get charged for CRT. Or at least I did. I am still deciding on the dining plan. I assume they will just credit your account. In all the planning so far everyone has been so helpful, I don’t think it will be a problem.
What you want to do is add the dining plan onto your reservation now (yes, this will raise the total cost), but then transfer it to the free dining once the promotion is announced. You have to call again and ask someone to transfer it over for you right away, it will not be automatic last done. What this will allow is for you to make all your reservations for free using the dining plan, your card will be needed to secure your reservations, but nothing will be charged to it.
We have reservations for CRT in September. We had to call and add the dining plan to our vacation trip so that we could use the dining plan as our reservation and not pay the $500 credit card hold.
If only part of your trip is blocked out, can you still get free dining for part of it or the whole thing?
As long as you arrive on one of the days during the dining plan then you can use it (if your hotel and room type is participating). So, if the free dining plan dates are 9/1 – 9/18 and you’re there from 9/16 – 9/22 you will still be able to get the dining plan for your entire stay. If you arrive 8/28 and are there until 9/4 then you cannot use it unless you switch your reservation around (check-out 9/1 and check back in 9/1 so you can use it the rest of your stay – call 800# to do that). If you’ve already made a reservation and the dining plan becomes available, you can add the deal to your reservation (you may have to switch hotels or room types to get the deal). The best way to do that is call them. Make sure you check regularly (some sites email Disney deals as they become available) and add it as soon as it becomes available for the least hassle with having to move rooms and/or hotels because they only allot a certain amount of these deals per hotel and per room type.
We are staying at the Art of Animation October 2015. I am hoping that free dining will be offered during that period. I have two VERY picky, light eaters so we only plan on getting the plan if it is offered for free. Should I add the Quick Service plan now, and remove it if Disney does not offer the free dining? Or just wait to add it?
We are also staying at AoA in October 2015. I was told that they have offered free dining with the Famiky Suites in the past but not the standard rooms… I’m really hoping this changes this year. I really want to stay there but free dining is a big savings! We have both hotel and dining booked and were told if we need to change anything we can. Hope that helps 🙂
I am planning a trip for my family for October 18-24, 2015. We are thinking about staying at the Swan or Dolphin Resort. We’ve heard that although these hotels are on Disney property, they are not owned by Disney. If we were to book a room for the week at either hotel, would we be eligible to get the free dining plan during our stay? Thanks so much!
No, unfortunately Free Dining is not offered at the Swan and Dolphin.
YES now the SWAn and dolphin are DISNEY associated and YES you can get the plan now as of 01/01/2015
You can’t get the DDP at the Swan and Dolphin still, but you can make FastPass+ reservations there 60 days beforehand like an on-site resort.
Sorry to say, but I called the Swan and Dolphin 2 weeks ago because they offer a teacher discount. At that time I was told by them that not only is the free dining plan not available for these hotels, but you cannot even purchase a dining plan at these hotels because they are not owned by Disney, So, as of March 12,2015……..NO dining plans for Swan and Dolphin what so ever…..bummer.
Does anyone know if it’s all Art of Animation rooms that are excluded or is it just the Little Mermaid rooms? Thanks!
I was told in the past it has been offered on the family suites
Hello! I plan on waiting to book my trip for October of this year for the Free Dining to come out in May. Do you recommend I wait? I want to book around Columbus day, but I read sometimes the free dining blacks out around then. I plan to book flights and everything when I do booked and really do not want to change it. What do you think? Thank you so much! 🙂
We are going the same week and are already booked with hotel and dining. I was told if free dining is offered we can change the plans.
my husband and I are booked for October as well. We got a dining plan and I just found out free dining might be included. I’m willing to change the hotel and dates if possible. But I don’t know if financially it’s worth it. It’s only the two of us and right now we are in a value resort with park hopper and more passes. The room rates increase to cover the free dining. Which hotels are included in this offer usually?
Will the French Quarter offer free dining? We have always used the promo with the FQin Feb, our first trip in Oct will be 2015. If some of our dates fall in the window of Free Dining, will it count for the entire trip?
french quarter never offers free dining as a promo. Some people can get it through a pin code or bounceback offer, but it isnt included in the dining promo
We, 2 adults, were at the 2014 Food and Wine Festival for 10 days. All in, we spent $849.84 for all of our eating/drinking. This included the food we bought at the grocery store (we made one trip as soon as we arrived for breakfast food and drinks), all of our lunches, snacks and drinks in the parks, as well as dinner with at least 1 glass of wine each, at one of the 1 table service credit restaurants. The above also included tips at ~18-20%. We always had either a salad each or an appetizer to share and occasionally a dessert to share with dinner.
Currently the Regular Dining Plan is $60.64 per adult/per day. Doing the math, a 10 day stay would cost $1212.80 and this doesn’t include gratuity. That’s a difference of $362.96 (with no gratuities added and no options other than to eat the prescribed items at each meal).
We always charge everything to our room key, or now, our MagicBands so we get an exact accounting of what we spend. Nothing could be more accurate and easy than that.
Hi,
We’re planning a trip between 7th-18th Nov 2015. We’re family of 4 – 2A, 2C(11B, 4G) and looking to book into Disney All Movies Star Resort.
However the Disney website doesn’t mention free dining plan. Should we book the vacation package without dining plan and add it later?
or should we book it as of now, and then should the free dining promotion becomes available, will it we credited??
What do you suggest?
Thanks,
megha
i would add it in at booking and just not pay for the whole thing yet. just do the deposit and then when and if free dining is announced pay the rest.
Hi Megha,
It is my understanding that they will not automatically credit the free dining. You will have to call and rebook it with the free dining plan. As the rooms allotted do go fast, you would need to do that pretty quickly when it comes out. If you have a Disney Visa card, you will get the offer before the public and before Disney releases it.
You can only get Quick service when staying at cheaper hotels, no table service.
When staying at the Value Resorts, you can pay the difference between the Dining Plan cost and the Quick Service Plan cost and it will upgrade your plan to the Dining Plan.
I booked my husband and I are booked at a moderate resort for 5 days February of 2016 for our anniversary. We are probably out of luck regarding any free dining, correct?
They have great discounts on rooms, be sure and ask. They might not offer it now, but the closer to trip it will change and they will credit your account.
I am planning my first trip to Disney in the beginning of September. I know it is listed as a Free Dining plan on here, but how do I know if the plan is really for free? Or if I can get it? I want to start booking my trip, but am unsure if I should include a dining plan now, or wait until I know further information.
Book your trip to get the dates you want.. as I’ve learned from using this site as well as calling WDW reservations — you can change your reservation to apply the promo’s as they come out. If you get one, and a better one comes along (like getting a room discount, but then later the free dining discount comes out) you can trade up to the new discount if your resort is part of that promo. That’s how we’re doing our plans now…
No free dining for 2015 has been announced yet.
We just went on our first WDW trip last week. We had SO much fun! And my son will be three this summer. He’s already asking for a birthday trip. We live in GA, have a 5 hour drive. Since we drive a diesel VW, whole drive is one $35 tank of fuel. We are considering purchasing annual passes by my numbers, if we make 3 more visits this year, birthday, Halloween, and one at Christmas, we’ve made money on the passes. I have tentatively booked a room-only reservation for the birthday trip. I am wondering if I can add the Disney dining plan at check-in. Because we want to purchase the annual passes through AAA to get the $20 off per person, and then buy the Tables in Wonderland card… I want to wait to make sure we want the dining plan this time, if that is an option. Thanks in advance.
No, you cannot purchase the meal plan at check-in. It has to be purchased ahead of time.
Hi, I am planning on a trip around the first week of December 2015 and staying at the Fort Wilderness Campground. Does this resort ever qualify for the free dining plan? I know that it doesn’t for the 30% off room rate promotions. Also, do you recommend booking a trip as soon as possible and then when the dining promotion is announced, call and try to have it added?
We have stayed at the campgrounds every year for the last three years and had the dining plan every year, each time it was listed as a promotion when we booked, as of yet I haven’t seen anything about it this year (being free). But you can purchase it when you book and yes they do accept it and use it there at the Wilderness Resort. Although their dining options are limited in my opinion compared to other resorts. . but then each year we have made reservations at other resorts and just tried different places each night!
We are planning on booking our trip for September 30th- October 6th. If they offer the free dining for the month of September will we only get free dining for September 30th or our whole trip? Generally do they only offer the free dining for one month or several?
No, as long as you check in during a period when it is offered you will get it for length of stay.
Just got back from Disney World. Next time I will use the dinning plan. It would cost me and my wife almost $25 for breakfast alone everyday! But it was still fun to go.
You need to crunch the numbers and decide what you really would order, not just what the dining plan gives you. We find buying the dining plan is not worth it for our family (for instance, we would never order 7 desserts twice a day like the plan includes) but free dining is usually a good deal for us when we can get it.
Hi! My husband and I are looking to book our next trip Dec. 7- Dec. 11 this year for our 5 year anniversary, and we want to stay at the Wilderness Lodge. Are there any resorts that are not part of the free dining promotion? And do you have to have a dining plan booked already to get the free dining, or just the room/park tickets? We have a Disney Visa card, so I am really hoping to get this promotion for our visit!
Usually the Little Mermaid rooms at Art of Animation and Port Orleans Riverside and French Quarter are not included in free dining. I was told it’s because they will fill these rooms regardless.
Hi Debra,
Who told you about Port Orleans resorts not being included? Is that information from an official Disney source? Anything I have ever seen says all moderate resorts are included.
The Port Orleans resorts weren’t included in the Free Dining offer from fall 2014. The offer never includes all resorts because the ones that have lots of bookings don’t need a promotion to get people to stay there.
I have free dining for Port Orleans Riverside so it is available.
If you currently have a Free Dining reservation, it’s not part of the general public offer since that hasn’t been announced yet. I’m only talking about the public offer. Bounceback and PIN code offers are totally different.
If I book a trip now for Sept without the dining plan would I still be eligible for the free dining if it is offered for our dates. Is it better to book sooner…or should I wait til May, the expected Free Dining promotion release?
A friend of mine stayed at the Port Orleans Riverside in November 2014 and had the free dining plan.
We have always stayed at Riverside or Port Orleans and got free dining. 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013
Is it true that not all the rooms in AOA are eligible for free dining, but only the family suites? We are currently booked in October for a Little Mermaid standard room.
LM rooms have never been part of any promotion, as far as I know.
I am guessing that if your whole trip doesn’t fall within the dates for free dining you can’t get it at all? We were planning on arriving 8/30 which is a day before the plan started last year and I would rather not shift it a day because that would mean I would miss a Labor Day party at home. Also if I were to book within the next month what would I have to do to get this discount added to my trip when it is announced if I fall within the timeline.
I was offered a free dining plan last year if I upgraded from a basic resort to a moderate resort. The plan was valid as long as you booked during that time period, so if the last day the free dining was offered was October 15th for example, and your trip was the 15th through the 22nd, you had free dining the whole time.
Last year I tried to get the free dining plan on a Sunday when it didn’t start until the Monday and we could not use it. The only way around it would to book two separate reservations so that you get the dining plan on the days it is valid.
I planng a trip for Feb 22-28 2015 . How can I get free dining? amplanning on using a travel agent
There has not been any free dining deal for Jan/Feb/March for the last couple of years, you will most likely not be able to get it for February. A travel agent will get you the best deal from what is available.
I am planning a trip for a family of 5 … myself, 3 daughters and my son-in-law. The youngest will be 17 years old at the time. I am wondering if the Caribbean Beach Resort 5 person rooms are eligible for free dining. They show up for 5 adults as a room option but I was wondering if the dining plan excludes families of more than 4. Thank you for any help.
If they offer free dining at the resort all 5 of you would get it. Everyone person in the room is always on the same package plan. I would just worry about how comfortable 5 big people would be in there with one bathroom. But if that is fine with you, yes, you would all get free dining.
We rented DVC points for a condo at OKW in October 2015. If they offer free dining are we elligible? If yes, can we add to our room reservation or does it need to be added by DVC owner?
No free dining for DVC. It’s only offered to those booking a complete rack-rate room/ticket pkg. 🙁 sorry
Yes, that is one issue with renting DVC points in my opinion, you are stuck and won’t get any special deals that come it. DVC may still save you money in the long run, but free dining is only available for those paying rack rate for rooms.
We have booked our trip for September 2015 we know that we can call and apply it to our trip when it is announced…however, they say they only have so many rooms that can get the free dining?? How does that work and how to make sure we get the free dining?
Call Disney booking as soon as you see free dining available for your dates. One year I booked my own pkg. thru Disney & then transferred it to a travel agent so they could keep an eye out for the free dining promo. 🙂 GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF US FALL-GOERS!!! 😀
Disney only offers free dining to fill rooms that are empty, the more people go ahead and book in advance hoping to get free dining the less rooms there will be available to get the deal. That is why certain resorts are always excluded, certain room types are excluded, etc. You just have to call as soon as the phone lines open when the deal comes out and be prepared to have to switch to a different room type or resort. A travel agent will do it for you. Be prepared to be on hold for possibly hours.
I am really wanting to go Sept 21-27…but was going to book it around March. If they end up doing free dining will they adjust that for me if I already purchased the dining plan?
Yes, if you go through Disney planning (https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/), they will add it to your plan as long as it fits within the criteria. Happy Disney!
Be sure to book your dining 180 days from your arrival date. The popular restaurants get booked quickly.
They will not automatically add free dining, you have to call to get it and you may have to change resorts or room categories to get it.
Hi Shannon! Think we’ll get lucky and get free dining for November 9-18th? I have booked Pop Century already and am keeping fingers crossed as I wait for an announcement in the spring!! We plan on upgrading our QS plan for the regular, too. They won’t have to change our accommodations, will they? Thanks so much! Hope you and your family are well.
One more question… was I supposed to have already booked the dining plan and then have it changed to free once it is announced? (if it is announced.) Or is it good to hold off and just add the plan if it becomes available during my dates. Sorry! Just when I think i know everything to ask, another question comes along.
If you have already booked you will have to call once the announcement is made (first thing and the morning, be prepared to be on hold for a while) and they will try to get the deal for you. Your dates and resort will have to be included of course, and sometimes you do have to change to a different room category to get free dining. Also, only a certain number of rooms are included in the deal. Sure, you can add the dining plan at a later date but be sure to book table service meals 180 days out for best selection.
Lacee, is this concerned a change to the reservation, that you may be charged a fee for making a change to your reservation?
Say if I go in August for 2 weeks, how do I get it for free
I was told by Disney that it’s usually a 10-day limit on free dining. You can split your reservation to be for 10 days and then 4 days in order to enjoy free dining for your entire 14-day trip. The only thing though is you’ll be paying for a 10-day park pass and then a 4-day park pass.
Question: let’s say I will be at Disney World for 2 weeks and free dining only falls on the second week I am there. Is there a way I can get free dining for just the second week?
Yes, but you will have to book 2 separate resort stays.
Does Disney normally black out free dining around Columbus day?? I have to choose my vacation in the next few weeks and we want to go during the month of October, I really would love to advantage of the free dining. Thanks for your help.
For 2014 almost all of October was blacked out, you can see historical data online but you never know until the announcement is made what it will include this year: mousesavers.com/historical-information-on-walt-disney-world-resort-discounts/#rack
Are you saying it was available? According to this site Free Dining for 2014 was available Aug.31-Dec.23…2013 wa Sept.29-Dec.22…Fall looks real promising for us fall Disney goers.
Would I be able to book my vacation for next fall right now and make adjustments in the spring in order to get the dining plan if free dining is offered for my resort?
yes…as long as it’s a room/ticket package.
Will I be able to use a Florida Resident discount as well as a free dining offer?
No, you have to pay rack rate for the room to get free dining.
Our family of 4 (kids 5 & 8) just got back from week at Disney, and I’m on the fence if the dining plan was worth it. We purchased the regular dining plan, we maximized our meals (thanks to Shannon’s awesome chart!), and only scrambled to buy 6 take-home treats with our leftover snack credits. We came out ahead, in terms of what the plan cost vs. what menu items we chose cost; however the tips really added up!
Also, it’s just so much food!! We were actually tired of desserts by mid-week (even the kids!) One night we got 2 bowls of soup (snack credit!), popped a bag of popcorn and split it between the four of us- we couldn’t imagine a real meal. It seemed so wasteful to see all the uneaten food sit at multiple meals; perhaps that’s just my starving-people-in-Africa upbringing…
It was great to have the ease of prepaying, we tried foods we probably never would have ordered a la carte, and we may have saved a tiny bit of money. The overindulgence just started to bother us though, not to mention our poor digestive systems- TMI…yeah I know!
Agree 100%, we like free dining but it does cause us to overindulge, we would NEVER order 7 desserts twice a day, EVER. With free dining you don’t feel like you have to of course, but paying for the dining plan is not worth it to us as we would often split meals, split appetizers, split one or two desserts, sometimes just order a soup or salad, etc.
Also, totally agree about the tummy trouble, my son calls Disney “meat and dessert” and we ALL feel ill after a few days of that.
Like I said, free dining can be good, but we would never pay for the dining plan. It is just too restrictive.
do they ever offer free dining for the months of june? that is when we will be coming as the kids will be out of school?
Never. Free dining is offered during the slow times of the years in order to fill resort rooms. In summer, or any other time when most schools are closed, they have no problem charging the highest prices AND keeping the rooms full. You may find a small resort discount in the summer but never free dining.
Hi Shannon – thanks for all the time and effort! so i had never heard of free dining and despite total flexibility in my schedule, planned this so that we are at disney the 19th to the 27th, with only the 26th falling within the free dining. I don’t suppose I have any options there? I did see that you said if your trip Starts on the last day of the promotion, you could still use it, so thought i’d ask! Probably call tomorrow as well…i think i got the 15% off a value room which works out to be about $200 over the 8 night stay :/ thanks again!
Michael, we are going at that time this year Oct. 2015. How was your trip, crowds, food, Halloween stuff, etc?
Halloween is an AWESOME time to go. Mickey’s not-so-scary Halloween party is a MUST. Crowds are a little larger because of the holiday, but the weather and decorations are awesome!
I was told a new promotion will start Oct 4, 2014 as the current one runs until Oct 3rd. Can any Disney veterans guess if the that promotion will be free dining? I am looking to book for Feb 2015! The suspense is killing me and I need some insight. =)
p.s this will be our first family trip!
Free Dining is almost always a fall promotion so I wouldn’t count on it for your dates.
Aw okay thank you for your answer. I have been spending so much time on your site. Everything is so helpful!
We have found that the dining plan does not work for us seniors. We just cannot eat that much food. Plus it forces you to make dining reservations every night which kind of spoils an evening if you are in one park having a good time and have to leave to get to another to make your reservation time. We have done it both ways and usually by the end of our trip, we are sitting there with credits that haven’t been used. Once I stood at a cash register at one of the Disney Restaurants (Animal Kingdom) and used my leftover credits to pay for a meal for a random family as they came up to pay.So, we do better just eating when we feel like it and not making reservations. Except we always pick one night to have a high end dinner just to celebrate being at our favorite place on earth. That usually means a meal at Jiko at AKL, or the California Grill at the Contemporary resort, or San Angel Inn at the Mexican Pavilion at Epcot.
The wife and I belong to the Disney Vacation Club, so we are “forced” to head to Orlando from out Northern Illinois home several times a year (Oh, the pain! Ha..ha..). So, we already have a place to stay and we also buy season park hopper passes because we get a $100 discount being DVC members. We also pick up a Tables in Wonderland card which we use to defray food costs. The TIW card costs $100, but it is good for a year and you can use it for up to 10 people in your group. It gives you a 20% discount on all food and drinks (alcohol included) for sitdown restaurants on Disney property. Many times we go down and take friends/family and we use the TIW card to get the 20% off for the whole group and they just pay me back later. This saves everyone lots of cash. You get your $100 back quickly. It basically pays for the 18% gratuity and gives you an extra 2% discount on top of it.
I am taking my three teenaged children for their first Disney trip in Nov. 2014. The trip coincided with a lacrosse tourney that my oldest daughter will be playing in. We will be staying at Pop Century for the tournament (per organizer requirements) but then moving to an off site hotel for our Disney park portion. I have until November 5 to get my discount tickets through the travel agency that had to book our tourney rooms. I wonder if I can get a dining plan with those tickets and the on site room to be used later? The tickets are good for 7 days before and after the tournament.
No you can not the meal plan is only good for the days that you are checed in the the disney hotel and expire at midnight on your check out date.
We are leaving tomorrow, and we still have 20 table sit down dinners left, we paid for the deluxe plane can you get a refund on the 20 remaining dinners?
No refund, and this is why I would never recommend the deluxe plan unless you are going to do all 2 credit table service meals. Too bad you did not research better or have a travel agent help you before you paid for that plan.
What if you already have a vacation planned OUTSIDE of the arrival dates for the free dining promotion…can you change your arrival and departure dates to take part in the promotion?
As long as there is availability and you are not flying then yes.
I will be booking my trip to Disney as soon as the Free Dining plan is available for the non Visa card guest from Nov.11-19 according to my travel dates I will be able to get the Free Dining Plan, but we will be staying at a value resort. After making my reservation will I be able to upgrade from the Quick service meals to the regular dining plan? And if so, do I have to request the upgrade at the time of my reservation or can I upgrade later on at any time?
ABSOLUTELY!!! I did it 4 years in a row. was about $160 upcharge for 3 of us, but hoping you did it!!
Did you upgrade at the time of booking, or after?
I am preparing to make reservations that will include the free dining plan for fall 2014 dates that border a black-out date on this offer and was curious for any feedback on these questions (Thanks in advance for any and all replies!):
1. If I book a reservation from Nov. 1 – Nov. 5, would I still qualify for the free dining for all 5 days of my visit, even though a blackout period begins Nov. 2? Everything I’ve read here and elsewhere suggests I would, but the Disney agent I spoke with on the phone tonight repeatedly told me I would not be able to, even after I told her I would be checking in, paying for a room and park ticket for Nov. 1, a date still included in the offer.
2. I understand that I obviously cannot book two separate Disney-specific discounts if they are available at the same time (For example: 15 percent off Value rooms OR free dining but NOT both). However, if I book my room through AAA, which seems to offer a year-round or ongoing 10 percent rate off of the value resort rates, would I still be able to get the free dining plan during dates that are valid for this offer this fall? Yes, this would be combining two offers, but the room discount is through AAA – not Disney. The Disney agent on the phone stated more than once that this would be possible, though again she seemed a bit less-than-convincing on both of these questions.
3. Regardless of whether I book the rooms through Disney or AAA, do I have book a complete package (room and park tickets) from the same source to qualify for the free meal plan? I’ve read conflicting responses on this but am curious to know. I can purchase the park tickets cheaper through Undercover Tourist and save – essentially the fifth day free. However, would I be ineligible for the free dining plan offer if I purchased the room through AAA (or Disney directly) but my park tickets through Undercover Tourist?
Again, thanks in advance for any replies or feedback to these detailed questions.
hey! last year the special ended on Nov 2. I set my vacation where I purchased the tickets to start on nov 2-8, but arrived after midnight. My entire week still worked and the meal plan was still free.
I found that if you use the disney website instead of the agents on the phone, it pretty much gives you all the answers by virtue of, if the deal doesn’t work, it won’t let you put it in your cart. Good luck
If i get discounted rooms through friends and family discount can i still get free dining?
Hi Shannon, we are already booked for 9/9/14-9/16/14, we have put a deposit down and have been making payments on our stay, what if the free dining becomes available during that time of our stay, can we still qualify?
Hi Shannon,
How quickly does the free Dinning rooms go? I have a friend studying to be a travel agent and we were waiting for her to finish so she could book our trip. I’ve heard that only a certain number of rooms are available for free dinning and I’m afraid if we wait, they will all be gone.
I booked my package holiday to disney a few weeks ago can I add on tickets and get free dining?
If I book our stay the day the promotion for free dining ends will just the first day count or all of our stay? Thanks! !
From mousesavers.com: As long as your arrival date qualifies for free dining, you get the free dining for your entire stay (up to 14 days). For example, if you check in on 10/3/14 and are staying 10 days, you would get free dining for the entire stay, even though only the first day is within the promotion period, assuming you can find a resort and room type that is available for those dates and qualifies for the discount.
We are going to Disney 10/22-10/28 which does not qualify for free dining 2014…..what are the chances more dates will open up? Do they ever add more dates as it gets closer?
We have planned our trip for those dates too. Fingers crossed that Disney includes our dates, but we are also staying at Port Orleans but I don’t mind moving to another resort to get free dining!!! 🙂
Just saw that free dining for 2014 has been announced, but only Disney Visa Cardholders can book it right now. We don’t have a disney visa and have already booked our stay. Luckily, our arrival date is the day the free dining starts. Is it worth applying for a disney visa to go ahead and book the free dining….or do they typically open it up a little later for non-disney visa people. Is there any risk of not getting to stay in the same resort, etc. if we wait to book when they offer it to everyone?
You have to have your Disney Visa card to pay the deposit on a booking so you won’t have time to do it now. It’ll be available next week for the general public.
What were the dates, we have been patiently awaiting free dining. 🙂
Offer is valid for stays 8/31/14 – 10/3/14, 10/26/14 – 11/1/14, 11/9/14 – 11/20/14 and 12/12/14 – 12/23/14.
Im going to pop century oct 22nd 2014 i have booked my disney hotel through hotels.com and my disney tickets through disney direct.can i still recieve free dining?
We are currently booked for Oct 1-10 @pop century. What is your best educated guess of free dining during these dates 2014???
The dates for free FALL dining were released May 6, 2013 last year. So any day now!!! Exciting for sure.
Is the Art of Animation Suites considered a value resort?
Art of Animation is a Value Resort, yes. 3/4 of the rooms are suites and the rest are standard rooms located in the Little Mermaid section.
Hi. We are going to disney the last week of September 2014 and staying at pop century .we went though a TA .if the free dining should become available can that be added on if I or my TA calls?this would be awesome !
When free dining is offered, can passholders take advantage of it if they are staying on site?
we are looking to go in the third week in october. I see multiple announcement dates and was wondering when the disney visa cardholders usually get notified free dining is available. Is there a way you can sign up for the annoucement to know as soon as it is made?
You can sign up to receive alerts for the month that you’re planning to travel. Once the Disney Visa announcements are made, I email the people who have signed up to receive alerts to let them know that it’ll be available to the public within a couple of days. http://wdwprepschool.com/monthly-dashboards/
Last time I did the disney deluxe dining plan, it went great until my mother in law didn’t use the coupons and paid out of pocket. We lost some money do that. This time I’m looking at the (disney dining plan) but it only has one table-service meal but the Cinderella’s Royal Table use’s two table-service, so can you pay the other half out of pocket?
You can use 2 table service meals to go there if you want.
Hi,
we are planning to stay at the all stars resort in Disney world December 7th -14th and doing 5 or 6 day park entry as we are going to sea world.
We want the dining package with one table service meal a day, so if we get the free plan added we will pay the extra, my question is should i book the dining package with the one table service meal now or the one with the three quick service meals now? also is the dining plan based on the nights staying at the resort or how many park entry days?
thanks
kim
Hello I looking to book my first disney vacation and dining free package would help a lot , I am looking to go at the end of August or the end of October which one would you think the best option to get the free dinning package if any ? Thank you
Hi, Jason –
It’s hard to know but here’s a post I did showing the 3 year history of when and what discounts have been offered that you can use as a reference – http://wdwprepschool.com/guide-to-disney-world-discounts/
We are planing to go to disney world the week before thanksgiving…. Is the free dining plan ever offered during this time or only during sept… Trying to decide if I should consider sept to go or not? I am going to book in about two more weeks and if the dates aren’t up yet for free dining yet can I still get it if it comes available?
Hi, Terrie –
Check out my post with a 3 year history of when and what discounts have been offered so you can see what’s normally been offered – http://wdwprepschool.com/guide-to-disney-world-discounts/
Hi Shannon .. We booked our trip in January for August . We usually get the free dining because it’s slow in august but we also got it free the week of Christmas when it’s busy , so I really don’t get it. This time we booked and got a free memory maker . Can we take the free dining if it becomes available?? Or do we need to stick with the memory maker?
Yes, you can change the promotion. The free Memory Maker deal isn’t such a great deal and if you do change the promotion to Free Dining (or something else) and you don’t really want Memory Maker, be sure to remove it from your package.
Do you know if the free dining is generally offered for longer stays? We reserved our vacation for Sept at AOA, but are only staying 3 nights. Just wondering if free dining plans generally have a minimum stay and if you think they will be offered in 2014? Thank you!!!
My family has an RCI timeshare which includes Old Key West resort. If I book through RCI during free dining plan, can I get it?
We are also booking through RCI but are interested in the possible free dining option.
Hi we are planning a trip in October of 2014 and old like to take advantage of the free dining. We’ve keys one it in the set. Can we book now, and add dining if/when it’s offered. Is there a good chic if will be offered this year?
Hi there.
Thanks for all the great advice. I was getting ready to make my reservations for Aug 17-23 of this year and keep changing my mind about dining plans when I came across this section. I would be thrilled to learn that they were offering Free dining during my up coming stay but I want to book as soon as possible so I can make my ADRs early (or try.) Should I make the reservations now? And Disney is only asking for the $200 deposit + Airfare at time of booking to hold the reservation. I have never used a TR before and wanted to know if they work the same way and if so could they help me change\ upgrade my dining package when\if the FREE dining is announced for my travel plans. As you can see I need alot of help.
Hi there!
I am thinking about getting the quick service disney dining plan for my trip in May. I was planning on getting quick service, because I don’t believe my boyfriend and I would be hungry enough everyday to eat at a table service restaurant. And for it to be worth the extra money. But my question is, would we be able to redeem 2 (or however many it required) quick service meal tickets and eat at a table service restaurant one night if we chose to?
Thank You!
Lauren
No, you can’t use QS credits to pay for TS meals.
We are planning a trip to WDW in mid-September 2014. My husband is ret. Navy so we will be purchasing our tickets through our local military base, however we still plan on booking our hotel directly through Disney. If we don’t purchase our tickets directly through Disney would we still be eligible for the “free dining”?
Thanks!!!
Hi Tricia, my husband is in Army and we were going in September also. We’re going to buy tickets at a ITT office too, but if they have the Free Dining Plan then you have to get tickets through Disney, that’s the catch. Hope this was helpful
Question, party of 10 going in Sept….hoping for free dining. The question is….IF free dining or room discount is offered. Would it be possible to book 4 adults in 2 rooms, 1 adult and 2 year in old room 3. Room 3 take the discount (possibly around $250)…and 2 rooms with adults getting free dining. The 1 adult in room 3 wouldn’t have free dining, but the way our meals would be….arrival late day 1…we’d only need 1 quick service meal day 1 and day 2 we would do 1 character dining OOP, so between 8 of us…we’d have enough credits plus some to get my mom free meals throughout the other 4 days. Do you think that would work? This is all a bunch of IF’s, I know.
is there ever an advantage to Disney Visa card holders getting free dining, or free dining sooner? I’m contemplating applying for a card, but don’t want to do so if most likely no advantage.
Disney Visa cardholders usually get every promotion a few days before the general public.
Hi Shannon and thanks for all of your information!
I’m hoping you can clarify some things for me. My family will be traveling to Disney World this September 2014 (20-27.) I’m hoping to get the “free dining” promotion if/when it becomes available. I have already booked the hotel room (we are staying on-site at the Beach Club). I have not yet ordered park tickets, but I will be doing that through Disney as well (you have to, correct to get the free dining promotion??)
My question is, do I also go ahead and book a dining plan in “hopes” that it will be free; calling in later to get it adjusted once the dates have been released? or do I wait and book a dining plan once the promotion has been released? If the plan is not free during our stay, we do not want it.
Hope you can help!
Jennifer
I have the same question as Jennifer. Is it better to book deluxe villas & tickets now and then call back for the free dining when the announcement comes out OR should we wait to do everything when the announcement about free dining is put out? Our party is 16 people, hopefully in 2 – 2 bedroom villas, so we were thinking that we should book rooms as soon as possible to ensure a convenient resort for us during the 1st week of December. But if free dining isn’t available for 2014 during this week, we could wait until value season. Any opinions or suggestions? Thanks for any input! Michele
I have 2 question if thats ok.
1. If I pay for the dining plan on an early booking for mid october for 2 weeks and disney later release the free dining option could I get a refund?
Or…
2 If I dont pay for the dining option in my package, can I pay for it on arrival at the resort if they dont offer a free upgrade,
Im looking to book with disney themselves fir 2 weeks at animal lodge or wilderness lodge
Thanks
I have 2 question if thats ok.
1. If I pay for the dining plan on an early booking for mid october for 2 weeks and disney later release the free dining option could I get a refund?
Or…
2 If I dont pay for the dining option in my package, can I pay for it on arrival at the resort if they dont offer a free upgrade,
Im looking to book with disney themselves fir 2 weeks at animal lodge or wilderness lodge
Thanks
Do you have info on the Disney Cruise Line? My understanding is you must stay at a Disney Resort to be able to go on one? Also, my family is planning on visiting WDW in October, 2014 when should we be booking this trip? Thanks for all awesome info!!!
When are the best times to make reservations for eating at WDW? Should we eat early, late, or what suggestions do you have? We will have 7 adults and 3 kids ages 3 and under.
Hi Shannon, great info but I have a silly question for you. I’m planning on going next year when my daughter is 2 1/2. Question is, how do I feed her? Does she just get free food or share off of my plate? Thank you!
If you rented a Dvc studio at bay lakes or grand Floridian would you still be able to get free dining? We are starting our vacation plans for October 1-7th 2014. would you buy the dining plan first then call disney when they announce free dining?
Is there only a certain amount of dining plans issued during the specific time frame?
Thank you!
If you are a Vacation Club member the Free Offer is not available to you. If you are staying as a guest renting through traditional means then the plan could be extended to you unless the location is on the exclusion list. Hard to tell as that tends to change
My family is planning a trip the end of May 2014. Is their normally a free meal plan that comes out at that time? If so, when should I be looking for it? Thanks!
Alleson
I believe Free Dining happened for the last week of May one time but I wouldn’t count on it for your trip dates.
Hi! I was just wondering about the Disney dining plan. If they were to offer it for dates in March 2014, when would it be announced?
Hi, I have previously booked to stay in the all star music resort for myself and my 3 children aged 4, 13 and 16 from the 26th November 2013 and the 10th december 2013. Is there a free dining option available for these dates and if so how do I apply to get it?
Hello Shannon,
Thanks for the great info, I have some questions, I booked a vacation with room dining and tickets. If free dining becomes available should I make a second booking through the website , then cancel my first or should I call in? All so, if I cancel my current reservatin for the better deal, will that mess up my dining reservations I have already made?
We are going in March 2014, there is 4 adults, 1 six years old, and one 2 years old. We want to stay together and we need at least 2 bedrooms and would like a small kitchen. Is it cheaper staying in the cabins at the campgrounds? Or would you stay at a hotel off disney world? And what would be cheaper for the meals? Thanks for all you do.
Is February a predicted slow time when free dining might be available? And I have read through the comments where you recommend going ahead and booking everything and then waiting on the meal plan to see if free dining is available- Are you meaning go ahead and book the resort room? Never been before and happened upon your site. Not sure if you have to book the meal options in a certain amount of time before you go. Thanks!
Booking for four using the booking website is there any way we can take the dining plan and the tickets for two persons. And the kids get their meals out of our pockets or “plate sharing”. The thing is that we want to buy the kids tickets through aquired rewards points from our credit card to save 500$+. The WDW web site doesn’t seem to “agree” with that.
I though about that.
Can I book for two adults in a two double bed room and when I arrive on site “surprise” we are four! How will the staff handle that. I dont think that the prices of the rooms varies in function of the number of persons, but even knowing that will they agree?
We are booked, three of us with the dining plan. If two of us wanted to share/split an entree at one of our TS meals, is that acceptable? I know the portions are large and I’m wondering if we’ll have any problems.
Our nine year old is going with us and a CM suggested that for a few more dollars we could put our son’s age at 10 and he could eat off the adult menu because it would give him more menu options. Initially, I thought it was a good idea, however, he already had to deal with food allergies, which WDW handles very well, however, he won’t eat a full adult meal. So, I’m thinking we might share entrees.
Anyone ever have this situation come up?
If you bump his age up to 10, you’ll also pay park ticket prices for a 10 year old. I wouldn’t suggest it. You can usually share. Just have him get a kid entree, adults get adult entrees and add some food to his plate from your plates.
One of the things everyone should be aware of if you are looking to purchase the dining plan is that you must purchase it for the entire time you are staying at disney. If you plan to eat elsewhere or go to other parks, you cannot opt out of the plan on those days (well, you can but then you lose money as you technically have paid for those days). In other words, if you are staying at a disney resort for 7 days but only plan on going into the parks or eating onsite for 4 days – disney will not allow you to purchase the dining plan. You could make the resort reservations for 4 days first (and get the dining plan) then call back and make a separate reservation for the remaining 3, but not sure if that might pose an issue (possibly cheaper rates the longer you stay…) also a hassle if you have a big number of people and rooms. Just thought people should be aware.
We just booked our Disney vacation for 2/3-7, 2014. Am I reading right that free dining is not likely to be offered?
I am planning our 12th trip to Disney and all other trips we have planned when we can book our package which includes a discount on hotel or a free meal plan. We are planning on going March 16-22, 2014 and I have only booked our hotel since they have not released specials for this time frame. I have reviewed all the prior years and the specials are always released more than 180 days prior to our trip and we are now at 179 days.
We are not purchasing the meal plan this year because my son is 13 and he does not eat much so it is not beneficial to purchase the adult plan for him. If it is free will will take advantage of this but right now I am stuck.
Do you think they will actually release a Free Dining Special or should I continue planning as if one is not going to be released? The people I have taked to at Disney of course do not learn of specials before they are available. I have not experienced anything like this before when I have planned a trip and I am at a loss for what I need to plan.
We have reservations for POR w/ free dining plan from December 16-21. We *have* to leave for home on the 22. When reservations were made, we were told we have 14 days to use 7 days of tickets and DP. With that in mind, we made a reservation for AKL for Dec 14, with reservations for Boma that night, and Epcot/Tutto Italia on the 15th (will stay off site that night).
Now I’ve read (several places – none of them on official WDW sites or our confirmation, both of which are surprisingly vague) that our package isn’t valid until the first day of our resort reservation in the resort the package is attached to ( so, the 16th). Is this true? If so, doesn’t that make the whole staying in the resort thing a crazy hassle, and risky besides? It would mean we have to check out (with warnings that can take up to 2 hours on busy park days), load our car, including valuables, and leave them in a hot parking lot while we visit the park….? BTW, the 16th was the only start date still available in the resort we chose. Thanks for helping me clear this up. Tried phoning and was on hold for 48 minutes before giving up.
Hi! We are going to Disney for the first time in October and we get the free dining plan. If we book a dining reservation for the 5 of us at a restaurant that uses 2 credits for the meal, is it possible for only 3 of us could spend our credits and share the dishes?
Do you think that free dining will be offered the first week in February? We are looking to go then!
Hello Shannon,
We will be at WDW Feb 6-13, 2014 and I see on the chart above there was a free dining option Jan – March in 2011 and 2012, if it were offered in 2014 when would that be announced? Or when was it announced in those prior years? By the way, thanks so much, couldnt have planned our trip without your site.
Thanks,
The chart above also includes the “booking dates” which is when it was announced (and you’ll notice that the 2 times it was offered in February, it was announced by this time of year already). However, this year has been strange in terms of when WDW has made announcements for promotions so there’s no telling when they’ll be making promotion announcements for early 2014.
Thanks so much for the info. I appriciate it.
Hi Shannon,
We are planning to take our 1st Disney vacation in Late February early March of 2014…Our family is VERY excited!!! My question is do you possibly know when we will be able to start looking at park/parade schedules for 2014 and when do you feel they might release the dates for the free meal plans for 2014?
Thank you,
Christina
Schedules usually come out about 6 1/2 – 7 months in advance. Free Dining is almost always a fall promotion as the dates in the chart above show so I wouldn’t anticipate it being available for your trip.
We will be at WDW Saturday 10/05 through 10/09. The free DDP is not offered during this 2 week period (10/03 through 10/17). Is there something special going on that these are black out dates and is there any chance I could get the DDP free? Thanks!!
~Sharon
Hi! I have the exact same question about these days! Thanks!
My husband has a job interview in Jacksonville & we figured since the kids are on summer vacation we would take the drive down from NY together & head to DisneyWorld after but it seems everyone plans this out way in advance & we arent able to. Im getting nervous about eating since Im a type 1 diabetic and all the walking & warm temps can bring my sugar down. I dont want to be waiting to eat or pay a fortune either! Any helpful tips?
I booked a last minute vacation ala carte for my family in Disney using a work-related discount website (ticketsatwork) – I booked the a value hotel and a I purchased Magic Your Way tickets (buy 4 days get 3 free) and the air was separate. Looking at the cost of dining out, I’m starting to think it makes more sense to add the dining plan – given I bought everythingn ala carte, do you think the value resort would allow me to ADD the dining plan to our vacation?
No, it’s only for packages.
My husband and I booked a Disney vacation through his work. He is going there for a conference. We are going at the end of Aug. 2013. Would we still be able to get the free dining plan. He is a veteran. We are trying to get discounted tickets to the parks.
No, I don’t think you can get free dining. Check out http://www.militarydisneytips.com/ for discounts you might be eligible to get.
Ok, I am a little confused. It looks like free dining will be offered in Oct. We were hoping on going Oct 10-17th, which wouldn’t qualify us for free dining. Our dates are flexible at the end though and can change the dates to say the 12-20th. Since our a portion of our package would include dates that are covered ( 18-20) could we get free dining for the entire time, or would we have to check out and then re book for 3 days at the end. I really wouldn’t want to do that if that was the case. Honestly, if we aren’t getting free dining, I would rather save my money and stay offsite with a kitchen.
We are going to WDW February 4, 2014. Do you think they will offer the free dining then?
I would guess it won’t be available then.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3141417
I know that but i cant change my flights because i will be coming from argentina and the cost of the change is so expensive. So…do you think the current free dinning offer will include more days in a close future? Thanks!!
I have no idea but Free Dining isn’t the only kind of discount. Look for those to be announced soon.
i booked a disney package from september 26 to october the 5. do you think disney will release the free dinning plan for this dates? i missed for one day the current dinning plan free offer!!!
Normally, if you show up on the last day of the promotion, they’ll let you use it for your whole trip. Might be worth it for you to change your trip dates by 1 day to get free food.
I have seen they are offering free dining again till the end of sept, my trip is booked for the end of October, any chance you think that will be carried over into my vacation booking time when they release new discounts? what are the chances?
Hi Shannon, A few questions about dining . . . I’m planning a trip for two adults to WDW for 1/5/14 – 1/11/14. We will be buying hopper 7-day passes. A CM told me, and the website indicated, I can’t purchase a package, at least with on-site hotel, until July 10th. BUT, this is already five days into the allowed period for making dining reservations. Am I missing something? Will I somehow be behind? And is the dining plan worth it for two adults? We are hoping to enjoy a few table service meals while there, and maybe one signature dining experience, but we’re also very cost conscious. Help? Thank you!
Good questions! 180 days before your trip is July 9. You can call or go online on July 9 and book any reservations you want for January 5. On July 10, you can book your trip and then the rest of your reservations.
The Dining Plan is really more of a convenience that makes your trip feel like an all-inclusive package. If you’re very cost conscious, I would pay for your meals out of pocket. You really will have to do the math on that one though. For instance, the DDP includes desserts which we wouldn’t typically order after a meal so it depends on your style and what you would typically eat.
If the dining plan isn’t yet announced for the dates I am going to travel, should I wait for the dining plan to be announced for those dates, or should I sign up under the room discount now and then switch over to the dining plan when it’s available?
Hi Shannon,
I read here that if the dining plan is offered at any time during your trip, you can get it free for the duration of your trip? Is this still true? We arrive on Oct 16, and the dining plan looks to start on Oct 18… Can we do the plan for our entire two week vacation?
Here’s something you may not have covered. But if you did, forgive me for overlooking it…
We are going in about 6 months.
We have a 6 year old boy who eats wonderfully (He’ll try ANYTHING) and a 3 year old girl who will eat almost nothing.
We wanted to just get a dining plan for me, my wife, and the boy and just shovel some food onto daughter’s plate.
We have done the dining plan many times and know from experience you are given more than enough food and certainly enough to fill my daughter.
1) Will my daughter be required to get a meal plan if we do?
2) At sit-down restaurants, will they change a “share fee”? And if so, is it just billed to the room or something?
I am planning a trip with just me and my daughter—do you think the Regular Dining plan will be good for us? Is it really free with Moderates & Deluxes?? (wasn’t free last time we stayed!). We will be doing some high-end dining, & sharing of counter service meals (they are traditionally still large??!!)
Thanks!!
It’s only free during certain promo dates.
Hi Shannon,
Nice article. I really just wanted to say how nice it is of you to graciously answer so many of the same questions over and over again in the same line of comments.
Keep up the good work!
Rob
Dear Shannon,
My wife ,son and I are planning a disney vacation in Oct of this year, My wife recevied a free dinning plan promotion via her e-mail address, but when she called the rep. stated the the person who the promotion was intended for was my cousin and his wife, Disney had that information because my wife had booked a stay for them 3 years ago, using her e-mail to book.
Question is could we state the fact that the e-mail is our account and the promotion was selected using our e-mail address, not to mention we have been to Disney 2o+ times and have never been offered the free dinning. should we push back and ask that Disney acommadate?
Thank you,
Dan Loura
Hi….We are planning to go to WDW the last week of Jan.2014. I know that free dining was offered during this time in 2011 & 2012. Any thoughts/guesses if it will be offered in Jan 2014? We have been to WDW many times with our family, but always stay off property. We’re thinking of staying on WDW property but the food costs are a big issue for us. Any ideas?
I wouldn’t count on it during that time. There are always room discounts. Free Dining isn’t always the best way to save.
We have reserved our family vacation for Thanksgiving week 2013 and have included the plus dinning plan. When do they usually announce dinning plan special promotions for these dates?
Hi, I want to know if I plan our trip thorugh a disocunt website for a delux resort and NOT thorugh Disnsey, will we still get the free dinning plan. Thsi woudl be in Sept.
Next question. We may come the week of Sept, 22 so our trip is hafl way thorugh on Sept. 25 when the free dinning ends. WIll all of our trip be covered since we started our trip during the free dinning offer?
Tahnks
We plan to wdw on Nov 28th thru Dec. %th 2013. We have made reservations already and if a free meal plan comes up, we are told we can get it. Any word of fd for that month Nove-Dec?
If you buy the package for 6 days 5 nights but only buy 2 days of park tickets – can you still get the free dining for all the days you’re there?
I booked a 6 day stay at Disney Art of Animation. I will be there in mid October. I noticed there is a free dining plan till September. Is it safe to say that there would be no free dining plan in October? Thanks for the informative website.
Have you heard if they are offering the free meal plan in October 2013?
If they offer anything for October do you think they would announce by early June?
Hasn’t been announced yet.
I have been reading all of your answers to the questions people ask but couldn’t see any info on Disneyland. Do you feel they will extend the free dining plan to the first part of October and do you still recommend going or trip now then changing to the free dining once it’s available?
Sorry, I don’t know much about Disneyland planning.
Based on the free dining in prior years, I’m planning on going on Nov 10th. Should I book now? I feel as though airfare and car rentals are getting more expensive if I wait. I hesitate to book the airfare since its nonrefundable and the 10th is not one of the check in dates for the free dining.
Also – my daughter will be a couple of months short of her 10th birthday so I was thinking of saying that she is 10 so she will be able to order from the full menu for just a few dollars more. Does Disney do anything to regulate this? Thanks for your help.
No, but you’ll have to buy park tickets for 10+ as well.
Are they offering free dining to the Art of Animation guests so far in 2013? Would we lose our dining reservations if we switched resorts because they do not offer the dining to AoA guests? Thanks!
Hi Shannon! My fam and I are going to Disney on July 1-7, we already made a reservation at the all star music resort and I was wondering if you think they will have the free dinning or quick service meals at that time ( July 1 to July 7). Thank you in advance!
No. As you see from the history of discounts, it’s offered in the fall usually. They won’t offer it during busy times like summer.
Just to let you know, when you book your vacation. The first day has to be during the promotion, I just tried and they said they could not honor it. My pin that they sent me runs from november 11 thur the 23. They said since I’m getting there on the 6th and not the 11th I can’t get the free dining plan. Keep in mind I’m there for 8 days.
You can book your trip in 2 parts to get Free Dining. One part would be the dates that don’t qualify and the other part would be for the dates that are part of the promotion.
Rich, I hope that you are right about the 11th to the 23rd of November. We are going 11/13 to 11/19/13 and have all dining reservations made already. Our travel agent told me that she will deduct the dining if FDP is offered.
We have a timeshare with Disney. Do you know if we are able to use the free dining option?
DVC members can use the Dining Plan but can’t get Free Dining.
Hi I was wondering if this year Dec 2013 is having the FDP? Is it usually all of Dec? I know last Dec it started on the 9th. Any thoughts?
Free Dining for September was just announced. No word on December yet. In the past, it’s been just the first part of December.
They just took it away!!!
Do you know when it will be back & if I book for 9/15/2013 and the free dining plan comes on can I add it to my vacation or do I have to do it all at once?
I will be booking thru SWA Vacations.
Plus does the free dining apply to all guests? I have 3 children, one is 2 and the other 2 classify as adults because they are over 10. Would all 4 of us get the free dining? Plus are Canadians eligible for this? thx again
Thx Shannon!! We just went this past Jan and loved it so much…can’t wait to go back! 🙂
Any feelings if they will continu
e to offer the free dining in October or November 2013
Nope. Some people have speculated that Disney’s recent earnings report was so good that they might have very little incentive to offer Free Dining after September. Nobody really knows though.
I’m looking to book in late August. Any chance they will add the free dining in for that date? thx
At this point, it doesn’t seem likely. They did just extend a late summer discount through August that’s up to 30% off on room rates which can add up to way more than the savings you’d get on Free Dining, depending on where you stay. If you do get Free Dining, it applies to everybody on your package. I believe it’s available to Canadians but you’d have to call to double-check that.
Disney just released the the dates for the free fall dining plan. Booking to the general public is May 9th. The dates are only from Sept.2 – Sept.23. If you are a Disney Visa cardholder you can book now. Hope this helps!!!
Just booked my FREE dining. If you call expect a very long wait. Thanks Shannon for recommending going ahead and booking in advance. We got great dining times and now it is free.
Brian
Great! That’s exactly the right way to do it.
we are looking to book our trip for Nov 4th-11th 2013 so do I add the dining package when booking or wait add it after they announce the promo? Also I might have mis read this but did you say that if you stay at a value resort ( we are trying to art and animantion resort) you automaticy get free dining? if you this needs to be corrected because that was not an option for us once i added it the price went up dramaticly….thanks!
Hi Shannon,
We are planning to take our 3rd Disney vacation in March of 2014…we took one in March of 2012 and got the free dining plan. My question is when will be able to start looking at prices for 2014 and when do you feel they might release the dates for the free meal plan for 2014.
Thank you,
~Tammy~
I am also very interested in hearing the response to your comment. We are looking to go in Spring of 2014 as well and would LOVE to take advantage of the free dining.
All of the dates it’s been offered are listed above. I wouldn’t count on it for spring, though it’s happened a couple of times.
Hi Shannon,
We are planning our first ever Disney trip in early October. A friend forwarded your info on the free dining. If I book a trip now and they offer free dining in a month, can I really have my plan changed to get the dining package for free? What if they don’t offer it, can I cancel my vacation altogether without a penalty?
Julie
Hi. We are already booked at POR in a preferred room. Thinking now I would rather have a standard or a Royal Guest room. I am afraid to make any changes before they put out a room only discount or free dining because I know they have only inluded certain rooms. What are your thoughts?
When you call to have a discount applied to your room, they are basically rebooking you anyway. I’d wait until a discount is announced and then you can make a room switch when you call about the promotion.
so if i book a trip to disney nov 23-27 will i get free dining?
Ashley,
Your TA can call in and see if you have a PIN code available. Otherwise, we have received no word that there will be free dining past September. I hope they do offer it, but until (if) they announce it, plan like they are not…
-Amanda
We will be going on our first Disney trip this year during September 15-21, 2013. Have they released any special offers or free dining during that time?
Hi! I was wondering… we are planning a trip in Sept. and a friend of mine had heard that the Disney Dining would probably run in Sept this year. We actually have reserved a condo off property but were going to do some of the character meals for our girls. There are 5 in our family but the youngest will be 2 while we are there so she is technically free anyway. I was thinking of maybe splitting our trip up and staying part time at a resort (probably a value) and part time at the condo to get the free dining to use for our character meals. would this make sense price wise? I know it SOUNDS like a huge hassle, moving our things around but if it saves money I’m all for it! haha. thanks for any input!!
Free Dining at the Values is usually for the Quick Service Dining Plan only. You can pay to upgrade but you may not end up saving money by doing it that eat.
ok…thanks!
I just booked my Disney Trip for September 7-12. I took your advice and booked in advance to my dinner reservations early. The agent flat out told me that the FREE Dining plan would not be offered this year because Disney is doing so well and is booking up fast. Has anyone else heard this? I have been for the last 6 years and always got it.
Hi Brian,
I was told by a Disney agent that they don’t have any insiders information about upcoming promotions. I did speak to my friend and travel agent who told me that it was coming shortly. It seems logical to me since their last promotion is ending mi-August. This will be our first Disney vacation and I am counting on the free dining plan… so I will keep my fingers crossed. In preparation, I have booked some dining.. you can do so by simply creating an accound on Disney.com
Yeah I already made all of my dinner reservations. I am also keeping my fingers crossed.
Hi we are a group of 12 and are looking to book Disney from October 24-November 3rd 2013. Rumours have us very worried that the Disney Free Dining will not be offered due to other promotions etc, have you heard anything about this? Is there any truth to it? If the FDP is not offered then we will not be going this year what would you recommend we do?
Hi Scubabare,
Disney will let you cancel without a penalty up to 45 days before your trip. I would recommend booking your trip now and make your dining reservations. If Disney ends up having free dining during those dates then you can have it applied at that time. If Disney does not offer it then you can cancel the trip. Disney should be announcing the Free Dining (if they are having it) no later than early June. This should give you plenty of time if you need to cancel the reservation.
I have booked a trip for first week in Dec. at value resort and paid for dining plan but I am a pass holder so I did not buy a package with tickets so my question is.. If free dining is offered during my stay will I still be eligible for it? I sure would love it if I was!
Hi Pam,
Free dining plans typically require that you purchase a package from Disney including park tickets.
We are planning a trip to WDW November 16 through 25th, we love the dining plan and already have the reservations with our friends through their DVC member points. Will we still qualify for the free dining?
DVC are not able to book dinning plans 🙁
I used a dining plan when I rented DVC points in April. *Free* dining is not an option for people using DVC points.
Hi, my family and I are booking a trip for November 9th to the 16th 2013 we were wondering if you think the dining plan would be free then. Thanks for your help!!!
Julie
If I book my trip for October 20-26, 2013 but the dining plan is only offered until say October 15, will disney let me change my vaca dates so I can get the fd? Would I be charged a fee to change dates? I’m afraid to book before knowing the exact dates fd is offered.
Hi Ally,
Disney will let you modify or even cancel your reservation until 45 days beforehand without any fee. If you make a change after then you will lose your $200 downpayment.
Is it true that only a limited number of FD is offered? Is it a “first come” type of deal? We are booked for AoA in October 2013, is the FD offer good no matter which resort we stay at? Thanks!!
There is a limit and it may not be offered at AoA. Be prepared to switch if needed.
Hmmm… what about an early-mid Jan visit?
How does one become aware of these free dining promotions? Is there an email list from Disney we need to get on? We are planning on a February 2013 visit to WDW so I figure I have plenty of time to see what emails come in and what promos they offer.
Hi, James –
Free Dining will not be offered during your dates. I recommend Mousesavers.com for keeping track of what’s new. She also sends a newsletter on the 15th of each month that’s very helpful.
Free dinning wint be offered but the spring discount may be offered during that time. Depending on where you stay and the duration of your trip, this discount may be more than a free dining promotion for you!
Amanda Power
I was reading through your posts and you seem to suggest that people should book a disney trip before the free dining promotion is announced. I am wondering why you suggest this? I am looking into a Disney trip for 8/20/13 to 8/27/13 because I found good airfare for those dates. Based on history, these dates may or may not be included in the free dine promotion. It seems we are very close to an announced offer at this point. What do you suggest? Without the free dine offer, we willl likely hold off on Disney.
I suggest booking now so dining reservations can be made 180 days in advance. That’s important for the hard-to-get reservations, plus restaurants are particularly full during Free Dining. I wouldn’t book your flights until after Free Dining dates are announced.
I was wondering if it is possible to upgrade to the deluxe dining plan if you are staying at a value resort during the free dining promo.
Yes, you would just pay the difference!
Yea!!! Doing the happy dance 🙂
We were gutted at the weekend when we found out we had missed the offer of the free dining – have had it in the past & now feel we can’t go without it . We’re hoping to go in October 2013 do you think it may be offered again this year for free ?
Many thanks & site is fab !
Yep! I assume it’ll be offered again. Book your trip and then apply the discount after it’s announced (probably between March and May).
I am wondering if you are pretty confident that the dining plan will be offered for the fall of 2013. I want to go down from 9/11 to 9/16 and the only way I can afford it is if the free dining plan is offered. Just hoping to get your opinion.
Yes! I’d look for the announcement between March and May. Go ahead and book your trip and apply the promotion after it’s announced.
I also have the Disney visa does that mean I may receive the offer earlier than people who do not have the card? And if I do book in advance and pay using the card how will they reimburse the price for the meal plan? Thanks this site is so helpful!
Yes – the promotions are usually available a few days early for Disney Visa cardholders. When you book, you can just pay a deposit and then pay the balance after Free Dining comes out.
Hi Shannon! My family and I are planning to stay at a value resort during the last week in August 2013. We want to wait for the free dinning promotion. However, I don’t know if I should just book it without the meal plans and then add it on when the promotion comes along (if it does this year). I also wanted to know if the dinning promotion is provided for the general public. If not, where should I search for the code? Thank you for your help 😉
Hi, Rosie –
Yes, book it now so you can make your dining reservations 6 months in advance (coming up soon!). When Free Dining is announced, you can call and just ask them to apply it to your reservation. I think the only resort that wasn’t included in last year’s promotion was Art of Animation. Not sure what it will be this year.
Value resorts usually only get the Quick Service plan for free but can upgrade to the higher level ones for a fee. Look for the Free Dining announcement sometime between March and May.
I stayed at Art of Animation in the little mermaid room last september and the disney dining plan was free (well the quick service was- we upgraded to the dining plan)!
We have already booked a trip (including dining) for
mid/late October. If the free dining option is announced, will our
TA be able to apply the discount to our reservation or is it only
valid if you book during the booking period?
Your TA can apply the discount. It’s important for you to have your reservation in place now so you can make dining reservations at the 6 month mark. On-site guests get to make them slightly earlier than the general public so it’s a nice advantage.
If I’m not using a TA would I be able to have the discount applied without losing any reservations I have already made? We’re planning on going September 2014 so my 180 days will be in March…thanks!
Yes, but you’ll just need to be sure to call when it’s announced because they only allow so many rooms to use a promotion so you want to get in early to make sure you’re 1 of them.
We are staying at the Wilderness Campground the first week
of Dec. Would the campgrounds be included in the free dining
promo?
The campground has never been included in the Free Dining promotion. It might be worth it to stay at a Value or Mod and get free dining, depending on your group (the more people, the more value you get from free dining).
The free dining is included if you stay in the cabins at the campground but not if you stay in your own camper.
My family normally shares meals when at Disney World. Would we be able to get a dining plan for two people and share the meals between four people? We figured we could buy tickets for just two of us under the disney package, but we were afraid that we might face problems from servers at sit-down restaurants. What do you think?
Hmmm. I think you technically could do it if your number of tickets = number of people with the Dining Plan. I think you’re right that the CMs would say something or think it’s strange that you’re sharing and only have 2 people on the plan. For you, it might just make more sense to pay out-of-pocket. Look into the Tables in Wonderland card which gives you a discount on food.
I believe you have to have it for the same number of people in your room reservations…. so if you have two rooms you could do this, but not if all four people are in the same room…. it would only work for quick serve only, as it states that you can’t use it for anyone not on the plan.
Hi, When purchasing the Disneyworld Dining plan you have to book it with your package that includes room and park tickets, so if you are booking a room and park tickets for four you would have to pay for the dining plan for four people as well, and you cannot customize the number of nights, it is for each number of night you are there.
My family is planning for Thanksgiving 2013 (11/24-11/29).
Our travel agent said she has never seen the DDP offered FREE
during this week, as it is always blocked out. But, based on your
comment about arriving on the last day of the promotion – do you
think it will be offered during that time period? BTW, this site is
fabulous!!!
Typically, you’d have to check in by the Thursday or Friday before Thanksgiving (when the Free Dining wasn’t blocked out) to get it for free Thanksgiving Week.
Have you ever booked a trip ahead of time thinking free dining might be available then call back in once it has been offered? I read a little about that somewhere and wondered if it is a save option of booking dates but getting free dining “if” it was offered.
Thanks,
Tina
Yes. I recommend doing it that way.
I’m thinking about booking in September. Would I go ahead and get the dining plan now or just make my reservations and get my tickets then wait to see if they offer the free dining? Or do i go ahead and get the dining plan now and have it adjusted once they announce the free dining? Also according to your chart above you listed that they usually announce free dining between March and May if you are staying in September….Is that correct?
Thanks!
I have been in this situation as I had previously booked dining in anticipation of the free dining plan. I was told that they need to “release” the earlier booking (not on the dining plan) and then re-book the dining. The problem with it is that when they release the booking(s), ANY operator can book those tickets, so if your operator isn’t fast enough, you will lose those bookings.
That is how we do it all the time. Disney is routine with their free dining promotions at times when bookings are low.
Be careful if y0u choose to add free dining after you book your trip early. I called to add the free dining option after they chose to run that promotion. Doing that is considered changing your reservation. If prices have gone up since you booked, you now have to pay the difference….. “Free Dining” would have cost me an additional $700.00.
Kimmy,
How far in advance did you book? and did you go directly through Disney or through a travel agency? We are planning a Nov 2014 trip and have sent in our $200 deposit to the travel agent, with the understanding that if/when free dining is offered, we’d take it. Wondering now if this would fall under your description of changing the reservation.