2020 Free Dining at Disney World for UK
2020 Walt Disney World Free Dining is coming soon for UK residents! In this post, we share dates and details, what this could mean for future U.S. general public WDW deals, whether the promo makes sense to book, and more.
First, the details of the 2020 Free Disney Dining Plan discount for UK residents. You’re eligible for this promotion if you book a full-price Walt Disney World hotel and ticket package for a minimum of 5 nights for travel dates January 1 through March 29, 2020 and April 19 through October 3, 2020. Booking begins April 25, 2019 and you must book the Free Dining promo by July 2, 2019.
As part of this offer, you can also take advantage of Walt Disney World’s 14-Day Ultimate Ticket for the price of a 7-Day Ticket, which includes Memory Maker and is available exclusively to UK and Ireland residents. Guests booking the 2020 Free Dining deal will also receive a $200 Disney gift card.
One wrinkle as compared to the U.S. version of Free Dining is that for this promo, guests staying at Value Resorts will receive free breakfast, which should actually be a generic quick service credit that you could–and should–use for a different meal.
Consistent with other versions of Free Dining, Moderate Resort guests receive the Quick Service Dining Plan. Deluxe and Villa Resorts receive the standard Disney Dining Plan. Unless I missed something, the only resort or room exclusions are pool view rooms at Animal Kingdom Lodge and Pop Century, Little Mermaid Rooms at Art of Animation, and the entirety of Disney’s Riviera Resort. However, that last one could simply be an oversight since it’s not yet open.
You can read more about the details, exclusions, and terms of the offer on DisneyHolidays.co.uk. (Don’t miss the “exciting” pdf with the large section of conditions surrounding Brexit!)
Aside from a slight shift in the blockout period, which varies every year and is based upon the weeks around Easter, this 2020 Free Dining promo for United Kingdom residents is pretty similar to offers from previous years. The biggest changes from what I can tell are that booking ends earlier (July 2019 as compared to November last year) and the end booking window ends nearly two months earlier (October 3 versus November 30).
Neither of these things should be much of a surprise. It’s been several years since Walt Disney World offered Free Dining to U.S. residents for the month of October, and November has likewise become an increasingly busy travel period. Shortening the booking window likely reflects the room inventory dedicated to this promotion and/or Disney’s projections about when that inventory will sell out.
If anything, UK residents should be happy that the deal is being offered at all. Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is not suddenly going to be unpopular a year after it opens. To the contrary, Summer 2020 will be the first chance to see it for guests who can only travel during the summer. Likewise, early Fall 2020 will be the first fall that the entire land is open.
Even without Star Wars land, we’ve been getting to a point for the last several years where Walt Disney World doesn’t “need” to offer Free Dining to fill rooms. In part, this is why we’ve seen a gradual erosion to the promo the last several years, and why inventory has seemed paltry.
I wouldn’t bet one way or the other as to whether Free Dining is offered to U.S. the general public in 2020 quite yet. On the one hand, I doubt it’ll be a strict necessity, barring something happening with the economy. It just seems unlikely that Walt Disney World will need to do much extra to fill its hotel rooms.
On the other hand, those two words–FREE DINING–have enormous marketing value, and even if the promo is significantly scaled back, many people would book over the excitement of the offer alone. Given the power and recognition of those words, it’s hard to imagine Walt Disney World eliminating Free Dining entirely.
While I do not think this deal is indicative of a U.S. Free Dining offer, it’s at least promising. If there were no 2020 Free Dining deal for UK residents or no 2020 Bounceback, that’d be a strong sign of no general public offer next year in the United States.
Every year when this UK deal is released, we inevitably see Disney fans from the United States perturbed that we don’t receive as good of an offer. Basically, it boils down to something we always stress on this blog when discussing discounts: Disney never offers promotions out of corporate benevolence. Discounts exist to incentivize people to fill hotel rooms.
Disney does more to attract “holidaymakers” from the United Kingdom for a few different reasons. First, that long flight over the Atlantic means UK visitors need a greater incentive to head to Florida instead of, say, Disneyland Paris. Second, the pound is historically weak versus the dollar, which means the purchasing power of UK residents is diminished as compared to what it was only a few years ago.
Finally, UK guests are generally some of Disney’s biggest whales. (I mean that in the flattering way–it has nothing to do with how those Disney Dining Plan credits are used!) These UK guests come for two or more weeks–hence the 14-day ticket–and drop a lot of money on Walt Disney World vacations. If they’re staying that long, they are also less likely to spend all of those Dining Plan credits or spend every waking hour in the parks. In essence, they are less costly guests in terms of utilization.
The average length of stay for guests from the United Kingdom is significantly longer than the 5-day average for Americans, so Walt Disney World does what it can to entice these lucrative guests to come to Walt Disney World. It’s a pretty straightforward business practice of catering to desired demographics.
Moreover, it’s always odd to me that Disney fans are upset about promos to international visitors when these guests are a boon to the U.S. economy. In fact, if you’re a Floridian, you might consider personally thanking UK visitors for being a large contributor to the local economy…and your lack of state income taxes. 😉
If lengthy vacations were commonplace in the United States, you can bet Walt Disney World would try to attract domestic guests with comparable promotions. Before you reply in the comments that you do visit Walt Disney World for vacations of that duration–demographically, Americans do not. Plus, you’re a fan who just read all the way to the end of a blog post about a promotion that is not applicable to you. They’ve already got you.
That’s about it in terms of the 2020 Free Disney Dining Plan promo for UK guests. As always, deals for the United Kingdom are not exactly our wheelhouse, so if you’re a European who can offer any insight into how this offer stacks up to other promotions targeted at your region, we’d love to hear your thoughts!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
What do you think about the 2020 Free Dining discount for United Kingdom residents? Wish we got offers like this in the United States, or do you prefer getting the Quick Service Disney Dining Plan at the Value Resorts? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I’m so sorry to be off topic, but…Tom, it really stresses me out when you post pictures of delicious desserts, and I don’t know what they are. C’mon man. How would you feel if I flashed a juicy burger and creamy shake in front of your face but didn’t tell you where to find it? Sheesh. You’re probably one of the worst people on all of the interwebs. 😉
We have been using the free dining booking for years and yes it is the only offer. It will change in July to 100 usd gift card instead of the 200 usd. If you do your own flights then they only become available 11 months before your chosen date. We have had to change our dates this year because I could not get seats together (2) and the price was too high. So, you might have to book over 12 months in advance. I hope this helps.
Have you noticed in the past of any such offer for Canadian residents? Does this suggest any hope for Canadians in 2020?
Our dollar sucks much more then the pound and (departure pending) our flights are 8-12 hours.. lol
Based off the past this is our one chance.
Unfortunately the Auzzies don’t get any special deals either and we travel twice the distance the U.K. residents do.
Hi Tom
Do you think they will do another offer in the UK for free 2020 dining or is this our one and only chance? Many thanks.
Hi Tom!!! Thanks for all your blogs. 🙂 Will you be sending out a blog update that we’ll get emailed to those who follow you when and if free dining is announced in the US? I so hope you do. It’s a shark tank out here!
When can we book for 2020 and any deals?
The offer finishes in July? Therefore unless you are booking a package holiday it’s going to cause problems as flight schedules aren’t released until September after the offer has finished, meaning you have to take a risk and book them months apart.
Flights are available now for the first few months of the promotion. But it’s really no problem to book them separately. Our last trip was booked about 15 months prior to travel, so obviously there were no flights at that time. We just booked the flights later. There’s really no risk involved.
If on the off chance you can’t get flights for the right dates (which is really only an issue if you wait until the month or two before travel) then IME Disney are more than happy to adjust your reservation while maintaining your promotions and discounts. HTH.
I’m surprised that they dont have a statement anywhere when booking these UK resident only deals that states you have to show ID that verifies where you reside once you arrive at WDW. When they sell park passes at reduced prices online for Canadians it states you will be required to show a valid Canadian passport for each person the Canada sale priced tickets are bought for when you arrive at the park gates! I had a ten day pkg staying at All Star Resorts. I wanted to buy a park ticket for my sons friend who is American and who was meeting us there at WDW but I was told that they as an American they would not be able to use it even if it was as a gift bought & paid for by a Canadian! They said each person using a Canadian discounted ticket must show a Canadian passport. I then bought them a regular priced ticket. Also, even though we have never been able to get a special discounted price for Canadians for a vacation pkg at WDW we have always been asked to show all of our passports each time when checking into our WDW hotel. Does this not happen for everyone?
Wish we got better pkg deals for us Canucks, our exchange rates are horrible but, I appreciate why they offer such deals to the UK. We had been going once every year for quite some time and spending approx 10 or 11 days each visit but with the very poor exchange rates for our dollar the past few years and the rising prices at WDW plus the cost of flights we had to skip it last year. Not sure when we can go back but I’m a big Star Wars fan and would like to see Galaxys Edge some day & Toy Story Land.
Hi , I would just like to say free dining or not , makes no difference to my family and I as we just love wdw and the friendly cast members we meet every year the 9 hour flight is a precursor to fun we have when we arrive
Love your comment! It is like going to grandma’s house when we were children. We drive almost 10 hours to get to Disney and the anticipation is almost as exciting as getting their. God bless.
Those of us in the the Pacific Northwest wish we could receive the same deals, because it takes us just as long to get their. I have a two week trip booked as well. It just wouldn’t be worth the long flight for anything shorter.
Do you know when packages/dates will be released to book for June/July of 2020??
Need some help, thoughts on free dinning this year in December please please tell me they will do it?!?!!
They already offered free dining, I believe early December was included, but the promo ended. They surprised everyone and released it in January.
Ope, my bad, it wasn’t offered for December. So perhaps there’s a chance they’ll make more free dining available this year. There’s no way to really tell at this stage though.
Last yr it went out like April 20th for fall and December fingers crossed they do it again
Does anyone know if Windham Bonnet Creek will carryover as a Disney property in 2020, along with 60 days out FP and EMH?
Any word on Free Dining for Canadian’s?
It’s same as for the Americans.
Just loved the ‘Plus, you’re a fan who just read all the way to the end of a blog post about a promotion that is not applicable to you. They’ve already got you.’ comment!
We definitely struggle to use all our credits – even with taking home a major stash of Ghardelli goodies
I felt so called out by that statement
I am from the US, and we always go for at least 10 days, but i have never made a fuss about what deals someone else is receiving. It is very juvenile imo. We get offers here several times a year. Disney doesn’t HAVE to give offers. No company has to do this.
I agree! – I have been to WDW with my husband and kids (and now our grandkids) at least 1-2 times a year since 1987 and always got my money’s worth of food, fun and entertainment. We used to road trip out there from Texas 1200+ miles but now we fly, and we still don’t expect any freebies or extras.
Tom, do you still think there is a chance for FREE DINING for the US in late 2019?
This is what i got my fingers crossed for, but if not, it won’t stop me from going because i am hooked lol
Hai,
first: Enjoy your work!
Second: I think the offer is also available for other European Union residents, because we can book via the Ireland Disney World website.
Planning a trip for 2021 (wedding anniversary and of course WDW birthday)……