How Does "Free Dining" Work???

[VeganPrincess]

Not that I'm going to book a package w/ the free dining, but how does it work? From what I understand, free dining is only available during late August and all of September. Is it only available at value resorts? Is free dining per length of stay? For instance, could you stay at a value resort for one night to get free dining, and then switch to a DVC resort and STILL have free dining?

Just wondering.....Sounds like a great deal - too bad I can never vacation during "off" season due to school!!!

[MickeyMania]

Every now and then they offer a promotion with free dining. They are not offering one right now. Hopefully they will begin offering it soon.

[mrcoaster]

School, schmool! Nothing you'll miss can't be learned later. This is Disney we're talking about! I take my daughter out for a couple of days during the school year and she never misses a beat. That's the best time to go!

[danceguest]

Im not sure if this is what your talking about but at certain hotels you get a room key and you bring it everywhere you go. You get a certain amount of meals, snacks and drinks for your whole stay.
When ever your hungry and you in WDW you go to a stand in the park choose it give your card and you loose one snack item.
At meals it is totally free. I got a $75.00 stake at the California Grill once for free but gave a tip of $30.00. Im not sure how much this room will cost to get the card but you can look it up.
I stayed at animal kingdom lodge if that helps.

Sorry if i am off topic and this isn't what you are looking for.

[VeganPrincess]

Every now and then they offer a promotion with free dining. They are not offering one right now. Hopefully they will begin offering it soon.

They were offering a promotion with the free dining plan. You just had to book by June 25. I'm just curious about how the whole system works. I was wondering if it would be possible to stay in a value resort and get a 1 day park hopper just for the free dining, and then transfer to a DVC resort and use an AP - and still be able to utilize free dining???

At meals it is totally free.

Well, actually, it's only prepaid. The DDP is available as a part of a package with any room. It was recently being offered free during Aug/Sep 2006.

[VeganPrincess]

School, schmool! Nothing you'll miss can't be learned later. This is Disney we're talking about! I take my daughter out for a couple of days during the school year and she never misses a beat. That's the best time to go!

I'm guessing your daughter is not in high school and/or taking 5 Advanced Placement classes.

[Hilsbro]

lol...I find it funny that our band trip we are taking in may.....We get to miss 2 days of school...and it will be marked as "Away for an event"

so we will not be concidered absent....lol

[tinker_bee]

Danceguest, the Disney Dining Plan (if that's what you all are talking about) includes gratuity.

A little about the Disney Dining Plan:

When you book your stay from the Disney website, you have the option to buy the dining plan with any type of hotel (value, moderate, or deluxe). You must buy the "magic your way package with dining" which includes your park ticket for the length of time you specify. You get free dining for each day of your park ticket (ie 8-day ticket = 8 days of dining, even if you are staying in the hotel for 10 days), but you don't necessarily have to use the meals each day (you can have two snacks one day and none the next if you want). The plan is about 35USD per adult per night you stay (per child is less, not sure how much), and you can buy it starting from a one-day ticket.

[b]

disneyprincess4590]Is free dining per length of stay? For instance, could you stay at a value resort for one night to get free dining, and then switch to a DVC resort and STILL have free dining?

You can't buy a Magic your way ticket for a duration longer than your stay in a hotel (which you must book together to get this option). This means that you can only switch to another WDW hotel to remain eligible for the dining plan.

You can get the Magic your way package plus dining beyond September (I just put in a test trip for November on the WDW website, and the option was still available).

Now, I am just wondering. DisneyPrincess4590 calls this "free" dining. You must pay additionally for the "plus dining" option on your Magic your way package (approximately 35USD per adult per day) if you book through Disney. It's not copmpletely free unless you book with a non-Disney travel company who is running a promotion. I booked my trip for the end of this August from a non-Disney website (PM me if you would like to know which one), and they were offering the "plus dining" option absolutely free on select arrival days between mid-August and late September (the Happiest Celebration on Earth ends September 30th). We had to book by June 4th. So for seven days, we are saving about 600USD between the two of us. Needless to say, we snatched that right up.

[dsnylndmom]

Up until June 25 you were able to get the dining plan free via a WDW promotion, it didn't matter if you booked through WDW, AAA or a seperate TA. The dates were mid August-Sept. It is the exact same dining plan as described above.

Your dining plan lasts for the amount of nights you are staying, ie if you booked a 5 night package with 5 day hoppers you would get 5 days worth of meals including a snack, counter service meal and table service meal for each person in your party. Some dining experiences are two "credits" though.

From allearsnet.com
1. If you are a non-Disney Vacation Club member, you must purchase a Magic Your Way vacation package at a Disney resort for your entire party with at least one day's park admission. The number of days for the Dining Plan will equal the number of nights you have reserved your room on the package. It has nothing to do with the number of days of park admission you have.
2. If you are a Disney Vacation Club member staying at a DVC resort on points, you may purchase the Dining Plan. You must purchase the Dining Plan for everyone in your party. No purchase of park admission is necessary. The number of dining plan days will equal the number of nights of your stay.

The prices without the free dining promotion are $37,99 for adults and $10.99 for kids


We booked our trip for August with the free dining promotion

[crlachepinochet]

You can't buy a Magic your way ticket for a duration longer than your stay in a hotel (which you must book together to get this option). This means that you can only switch to another WDW hotel to remain eligible for the dining plan.

So I couldn't stay at Pop for a week, buy a 10 day ticket for like $10 more and get all those extra free meals? For about five seconds, I thought I was really smart....

[disneydaft]

At meals it is totally free. I got a $75.00 stake at the California Grill once for free but gave a tip of $30.00.

Hi
Tips are included with the Dining Plan, you do not need to pay anything at all.

[danyoung]

So I couldn't stay at Pop for a week, buy a 10 day ticket for like $10 more and get all those extra free meals? For about five seconds, I thought I was really smart....

Nope. The dining plan is not tied to the ticket in any way. It's tied to the number of nights spent in your hotel. You do need to buy at least a 1-day ticket to qualify. I'm an AP holder, so I don't really need tickets. But for my trip in Sept/Oct, buying the $35/day dining plan along with one $60 1-park 1-day ticket still made economic sense. And I have a ticket to use sometime in the future.