2019 Disney World Free Dining Dates & Tips

By Tom Bricker Dining, Feature 2,429 Comments

Free Disney Dining Plan is a Walt Disney World promotion and this discount is NOW AVAILABLE for 2019! Here, we’ll cover info about the deal, tips for booking, rumors on a ‘second wave’ of 2019 Free Dining, and answers to frequently asked questions including whether Free Dining is “worth it.” (Last updated January 2, 2019.)

For starters, 2019 Free Dining is available for travel dates July 5, 2019 through September 30, 2019 and is valid for booking through February 10, 2019. Other important details, exclusions, and restrictions are as follows in our Free Dining FAQ below. Before we get to that, some thoughts on this surprise release.

This is huge news and comes totally out of left field. We just updated this post yesterday and hadn’t heard any rumors about 2019 Free Dining, but noted that it could be impacted by the Fall 2019 opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Well, clearly that’s the case, as Walt Disney World is moving up the release and booking of Free Dining pretty significantly this year–or at least the first wave of 2019 Free Dining. (More on that below.)

UPDATE: DisneyWorld.com has been experiencing outages and delivering error messages throughout the day when people attempt to make a Free Dining room selection. If you’ve experienced issues such as Stitch eating the page or the “sorry, we were unable to add the product to your cart at this time, please try again” message, you’re not alone. Hold times when calling to book are currently around 3-4 hours, so be prepared for that.

Free Dining is Walt Disney World’s most complicated promotions, and can be a huge headache to book. Between limited availability and navigating a seas of rules and restrictions, we often recommend that first-timers (or regulars who just don’t want to deal with the hassle) use a travel agent.

To put it bluntly, we don’t know if Free Dining will be offered again for 2019. Unlike past years, this is not the ‘Half Free’ Dining that Walt Disney World sometimes offers in the spring–this is the full promotion. It doesn’t encompass the entire range of travel dates that would be included by Free Dining, but it does start over a month earlier.

We think a second wave of Free Dining for late 2019 travel dates is very possible, and we’ll keep our newsletter subscribers (sign up here for our FREE Disney newsletter here) updated on future 2019 Free Dining news and rumors. We’ll also provide info on other promotions that might become available during Fall and Christmas 2019 travel dates. With the current offer expiring only one month from now, it sure seems like this is not the end of Free Dining for 2019.

Given its hurried, early release, we are guessing that 2019 Free Dining is being offered so early because people are holding off on booking Walt Disney World trips until Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens, meaning Summer and Fall 2019 room occupancy is not meeting Disney’s internal projections and expectations. There have been rumblings of this for a few months now, and this is pretty solid evidence that bookings are down through mid-2019.

The same thing already happened with Disneyland releasing an unprecedented general public ticket discount for the spring in an effort to lure guests there pre-Star Wars land. There’s no doubt that Disney and Star Wars fans are postponing trips until Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge has an official grand opening date. However, there are two questions that remain to be answered: when will that be? and will that sufficiently fill Walt Disney World hotel rooms?

The answer to the second question is “probably.” The first question is the larger of the two, as many rumors have pegged Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge as debuting in Late Fall 2019–potentially not until Christmas week. It’s too early to know when it’ll be ready, but if this ends up being the case, or if Disney isn’t able to announce an official grand opening date until much later in the year, there’s the distinct possibility that a second wave of 2019 Free Dining.

In other words, if you’re disappointed by this 2019 Free Dining news, all hope is not lost. There’s a good chance that a second wave of Free Dining will be released to cover November and December 2019 travel dates. (In this scenario, October 2019 will probably be excluded, as has been case the last few years.) We will keep newsletter subscribers up to date on this as we hear more.

Other important details, exclusions, and restrictions are as follows in our Free Dining FAQ…

Free Dining FAQ

This section of the post covers the rules, terms and conditions, and policies that generally govern the Free Dining promotion for 2019 bookings.

With this special offer, Walt Disney World guests booking vacation packages with non-discounted resort hotels and park tickets receive the Disney Dining Plan for each member of their party for no additional charge. For obvious reasons (who doesn’t love free food?!), the promotion is incredibly popular and some resorts that offer free dining tend to sell out quickly.

Guests booking the Free Disney Dining Plan promotion for Value or Moderate Resorts will receive the Quick Service Disney Dining Plan, with guests staying at Deluxe or Deluxe Villa Resorts receiving the standard Disney Dining Plan. The 2019 Disney Dining Plan will once again include alcoholic and specialty drinks. If you enjoy beer, wine, or cocktails, this adds a ton of potential value to the Disney Dining Plan and, by extension, Free Dining. Even if you don’t drink, having the ability to order these specialty drinks is nice.

There are some room exclusions for the Free Dining promo this year, including all of the following: All Star Movies, Port Orleans French Quarter, Fort Wilderness campsites, Art of Animation Little Mermaid Rooms, Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian, Cabins at Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, Bungalows at Polynesian Villas & Bungalows, and all 3-bedroom Villas. These resorts and room tiers are all not eligible for Free Dining.

To take advantage of Free Dining, there’s also the requirement that guests purchase tickets that include either a minimum 4-day Park Hopper or the Park Hopper Plus option. Additionally, a 4-night minimum stay is required with a maximum stay of fourteen nights.

This means you can’t purchase discounted Walt Disney World tickets from an authorized reseller, which is something to keep in mind when doing the math to determine if “Free Dining” is a good value for you. Speaking of which, doing the math is incredibly important, since other discounts (such as a room-only discount) might be better for your family. Remember, there is no such thing as a free lunch; you have forfeit an alternate discount to qualify for Free Dining. We break down some of the math in our “Is Free Dining Worth It?” post.

If you have already booked a vacation package with an arrival date that qualifies for Free Dining, we recommend using the “modify reservation” link in your booking to apply the promotion to your package. This is the quickest and easiest way to apply the promotion.

You might see other advice that recommends calling first thing in the morning to book Free Dining. This is outdated. If you call Walt Disney World’s reservation line, you will likely wait on hold for an hour (or hours) until you’re able to speak to an agent. Booking or modifying your reservation online is far quicker and easier. Even if the online system crashes (which has happened) or moves slowly due to all the traffic, it’s easier to just keep trying online.

If you are wondering which hotel to book for the Free Dining promotion, check out our new Best Walt Disney World Hotels for Free Dining post. It gives our preferred option for each resort tier. Oh, and don’t forget to make some ADRs for the best and most popular Walt Disney World restaurants. (We haven’t updated that post for 2019 yet, but Storybook Dining at Artist Point should absolutely make the list.)

With this Free Dining offer, Value and Moderate Resort guests receive the Quick Service Disney Dining Plan during the promotion. Guests at Deluxe and Deluxe Villa Resorts receive the standard Disney Dining Plan. Upgrading to higher tiers is possible for an additional charge.

We highly recommend making Advance Dining Reservations as soon as possible. Yes, even before Free Dining is offered, if you can. Everyone gobbles up the good ADRs quickly for Free Dining dates, so if you don’t book early, you will be stuck eating counter service or unpopular restaurants for the duration of your trip.

To answer some other common questions: yes, you must purchase tickets with the offer even if you already have them (or an Annual Pass). No, bookings made with Disney Vacation Club points are not eligible for the offer. No, you cannot “stack” this offer with a percentage-off room discount (at least not in the U.S.). For those wondering about other Walt Disney World discounts, check out our Current Walt Disney World Discount Offers post for what’s presently available.

For details about which tier of the Disney Dining Plan includes or for recommendations about which restaurants to book to maximize your use of the Disney Dining Plan, please see our comprehensive Disney Dining Plan Overview Page.

Additionally, if you’re looking for general Walt Disney World advice, we recommend reading our Walt Disney World Vacation Planning Guide and Requesting a FREE Walt Disney World Vacation Planning Video. We are big fans of that planning video, as it’s a great way to get hyped for your trip, and see a visual overview of everything that’s new at Walt Disney World!

Note that the Free Disney Dining Plan promotion is always based upon arrival dates. For example, if Free Dining runs August 20 to September 29 and you arrive on September 29 and stay until October 7, you are eligible for Free Dining–even though it’s blocked out for October arrivals. (You didn’t arrive in October in that scenario–you arrived in September.)

However, if it’s offered November 24 to 27 and you arrive on November 23 and stay until November 27, you are not eligible for Free Dining, even though more of your stay falls during an “eligible” period than the first example’s. The work-around for this is doing a split stay, with the ineligible arrival nights part of one vacation and a second vacation starting at the first valid “arrival” date and continuing thereafter. Again, arrival dates are what matters with Free Dining.

Guests staying at a Walt Disney World Value and Moderate Resorts receive the Quick Service Dining Plan during the Free Dining promotion, but are able to upgrade to the (standard) Disney Dining Plan or the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan if they pay the difference. Guests staying at Deluxe or Deluxe Villa Resorts receive the standard Disney Dining Plan and may upgrade to the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan by paying the difference, too.

The upgrade cost to go from the Quick Service Disney Dining Plan to the standard Disney Dining Plan for Free Dining is $22.99 per adult and $4.00 per child per night. The upgrade cost from the standard Disney Dining Plan to the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan is $40.67 per adult and $14.24 per child per night. To upgrade from the Quick Service Disney Dining Plan to the Deluxe one, add the two upgrade costs together.

In the section below, we have historical Free Dining dates for the last few years. The rest of what follows is historical information about the Free Disney Dining Plan promotion…

Historical Information

The following is not pertinent to 2019 or any years beyond, but we have found that readers find it useful to have details about past Free Dining promos when planning for the future and what to expect. Note that the dates are pretty consistent from year to year, with slight shifts for holidays, weekends, and special events (like Pop Warner), or other things that may be excluded from the Free Disney Dining Plan promotion.

Last year, there was no early booking window for Disney Visa cardholders, but there was an expanded date range (see below). The two years before, Disney Visa cardholders did have an early booking window. Exact dates are listed below. Most years, the general public is able to book Free Dining packages 5 days after Disney Visa cardholders can book.

In years past, Free Dining has been announced in late April, with booking opening first for Disney Visa credit card holders and the general public a few days later. The last couple of years, there was no early window for Disney Visa cardholders. However, that earlier August start date is arguably a better perk, so hopefully it returns again for 2019.

Here are the Walt Disney World Free Dining dates that were available for 2013-18 for historical reference…

2018 Free Dining Dates:

August 20* – September 29
November 24 – 27
December 7 – 23

*Disney Visa Cardholders could book for arrival dates beginning August 2.

2017 Free Dining Dates:

August 21* – September 30
November 14 – 20
November 25 – 27
December 8 – 23

*Disney Visa Cardholders could book for arrival dates beginning August 13.

2016 Free Dining Dates:

August 23* through October 1
November 15 through 21
November 26 through 28
December 10 through 21

*Disney Visa Cardholders could book for arrival dates beginning August 14.

2015 Free Dining Dates:

August 28 through October 2
October 25 through October 31
November 8 through November 19
December 15 through December 21

2014 Free Dining Dates:

August 31 – October 3
October 26 – November 1
November 9 – November 20
December 12 – December 23

2013 Free Dining Dates

September 2 to September 25
September 29 to October 2
October 18 to November 2
November 11 to November 23
December 12 to December 22

Your Thoughts

Now, let’s hear from you. Are you a fan of the “free” dining promotion? Have any tips for free dining rookies? If you booked Free Dining, which resort and travel dates were you able to secure? If you were unable to get it, where/when were you unsuccessful? Let us know what you think of the promotion and whether you’re planning on taking advantage of it in the comments!

Written by Tom Bricker

2,429 Responses to “2019 Disney World Free Dining Dates & Tips”

Shirley January 9, 2019

Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy reading your blogs. We have bounce back for Sept., thanks to your articles about it.

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Amanda Keogh January 8, 2019

I noticed when putting my vacation package together on the wdw website with the free dining option, that park tickets are only to be used within your reservation period….not the usual “14 day” rule. Is this accurate or possibly a misprint…??

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Jan January 7, 2019

I was thrilled when this came out. I contacted my travel agent and let her know so she could make changes to our reservation. We already had a bounceback offer with free dining but we didn’t get the hotel we wanted. She was able to change it and get the hotel we were looking for. Plus it saved us $300 from the original. I did notice this morning that the prices for later in September went up and that the first week of September had only 2 hotels left: Port Orleans Riverside and Caribbean Beach.

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Heather Greene January 7, 2019

Congrats to those who booked their free dining in 2019!
You may see some of the lowest crowds within the next couple years.
In some ways that makes it more exciting than waiting to do a StarWars trip.

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Andie Robin Lazaroff January 7, 2019

I’ve been hearing a lot of murmurs that you can no longer “share” dining credits, such as purchasing a meal for friends/family using your credits. So far it’s mainly at HS, but managers are claiming that’s the way it will be this year across property, even though the pdf has not been changed to reflect this. If this happens, upgrading may not work out for many guests.

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Mike January 5, 2019

I’m holding out for late Nov free dining, and even if I score it for a moderate resort, were staying with quick service plan instead of paying for table upgrade. Table service has become a huge drag for us because it ruins the spontaneity of snacking and also cuts into nighttime park hrs. Most table service dining Is notreally something to write home about, being only fair on food quality. I was able to book port orleans, Caribbean beach, and Coronado under the dining offer currently available with sept 30 arrival date, and let them all slide. We’ll see what comes up in a few months!

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- Erin January 5, 2019
  
  I’m also hoping for a November option, thought I gave not shared the possibility with the rest of my traveling group. My MiL is paying for hotels/air fare for 8 of us, we are each responsible for passes and our own food. My husband and I are the only ones who have been to WDW before. While we have tried to explain how much one can expect to pay for food, a few of the folks just aren’t understanding and therefore not preparing financially. It would be great to “surprise” them with a dining plan but I in no way want to get their hopes up!
  I agree with you regarding not upgrading from Quick Service, I enjoy some spontaneity and have no problem footing the bill for a nice dinner out of pocket while on the quick plan (when getting the plan for free).
  Fingers crossed for Nov offers for you!
  
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  - Hope Pittman January 16, 2019
    
    That is so smart of you. I am also planning a trip for my family and they just don’t understand how much food and drinks are. I do not think they are saving enough for food. Good luck getting free dining on your trip.
- Jack January 6, 2019
  
  We have gone the week after Thanksgiving the past 3 years since the weather is great, the crowds are relatively low, and they always offered free dining. However, this year will all depend on when Star Wars Land opens. I’d be surprised if Disney needs to offer any promotions in the 4th qtr to attract visitors. I would prob enjoy Star Wars Land much more than my kids, so I wouldn’t mind it being delayed until Dec or 2020 if it meant one more year of free dining and less crowds.
  
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Eugene Pomianek January 4, 2019

I’m so disappointed with this free dinner going on. I’m retiring and my wife made plans to take the grandkids and daughter in-law to Disney world. As soon as you announced it the phones were locked. . We are stay at arts and animation. How can Disney take advantage of the working class. There sold out. I have never been so disappointed in my life. The trip is costing 8k for four adults two children under five. Not including airfare. There no sympathy from Disney that I once knew as a child. One old mans broken heart . My wife booked it through Disney via call and the order taker even said we should get it.

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- Aaron January 4, 2019
  
  What are your dates of travel? For the week we are going in mid-August, there still is availability for 6 at Art of Animation. The Web site has been working fine in the past day, check out availability there. If you can potentially move airline dates, you should be able to find a reservation with free dining. I feel that Art of Animation can be expensive for a value – maybe look at getting two rooms at POP or All Stars and ask for them connecting. We did this two years ago and it worked out great for a very low price. You’ll end up with four beds and two bathrooms for $200-$250 total per night.
  
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  - Eugene January 4, 2019
    
    We’re at the last week of September. They already told my wife no more rooms available. We are booked and been paying on it over the months. It will be only my second visit in my life time and will be my last. ONly doing it for the love of the grandkids. I know in today’s economy they will never afford to go.
- Aaron January 4, 2019
  
  Looking at availability, I am seeing that the sun and fun offer is still available for All Stars the last week of September. Assuming you are going Sept 22-29 (Saturday to Saturday, 7 nights), you can get two rooms at either All Star Movies or Sports for about $120 per night each. That would be $1680 for the room. Movies should be fully renovated by then with great new rooms. For park tickets, 6 day non-hoppers for your group would be $2553. Save more if you don’t go to parks that many days. This totals under $4300 leaving you $3700 left for food and drink for the week which is more than enough. You can cancel your package up to 45 days before with no penalty and get your money back. Do the work and change up your reservation and you’ll be in great shape and pretty much level with all of the deals us working class folks are getting.
  
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- Jerry January 4, 2019
  
  Don’t understand how WDW is to blame for offering limited numbers of rooms for special offer if everyone isn’t able to get them booked. Just like sales everywhere things sell out. People getting in line quickly are happy. If you’re not one of the quick and lucky ones it’s nobody’s fault. Certainly not Disney’s.
  
  If you were planning to go anyway before the offer was announced don’t let missing out on a limited offer spoil the fun.
  
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- Rylee January 4, 2019
  
  If the Free Dining offer doesn’t work out, you can always try to get a room only discount too.
  
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- Rylee January 4, 2019
  
  If the free dining offer doesn’t work out, you can try to get a room only offer.
  
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Michael T Doyle January 4, 2019

Staying in preferred at Coronado for seven days at the beginning of August, even with the upcharge for the standard dining plan, the free dining promotion turned out to be more than $500 cheaper for our party of two than the current room only promotion. We had plans to do room only with the current promo discount and get annual passes for a subsequent trip, because we’ve heard so long that free dining discounts with rack-rate rooms usually equal the cost of paid dining plans with room discounts. We were so shocked at how much we were going to save with the current free dining plan that we ditched our plans for annual passes and will simply purchase a dining plan and park hoppers for our follow up trip after our August free dining trip. I can only imagine Disney built unusually large discounts into this current free dining promotion to really entice people to arrive before Galaxy’s Edge opens. I am so happy they did!

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- Tom Bricker January 4, 2019
  
  In doing the math, Moderate Resorts are usually the tier that could go either way–it depends upon the details. Values are almost always better off with Free Dining, and Deluxes also could go either way (room discounts are almost always better for parties of 2 or fewer at Deluxes).
  
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Josie V January 3, 2019

Tom, THANK YOU for your blog post! I was able to book the dates with free dining LATER in the month of September than ever before. We know it will still be HOT (b/e it’s Florida, after all), but it makes us happy to go a bit later and be sure to hit the HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS at Universal as well as the MNSSHP – whee! Thanks for everything!

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Deanna January 3, 2019

Hi Tom!
I tried to book all day yesterday and kept getting stitch. Finally at bedtime I filled out all the correct info but never got the option for free dining. Does this mean they are sold out already? We stay in the ‘cheapo’ hotels usually, but I also tried booking at the polynesian to see what my results were and I still didn’t get any option for free dining. We booked last year with free dining and had no problem. I may have to bite the bullet and actually call. I’m thinking I should go ahead and book a room and then call and see if they can modify. But maybe they have sold out of rooms already? Who knows.

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- Tom Bricker January 4, 2019
  
  I’d keep checking and trying. The issues you encountered were pretty common on release day and were largely errors, not reflective of actual inventory.
  
  In any case, room inventory is often added to the promotion as it goes on, so continuing to check can yield positive results.
  
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Susan Burkett January 3, 2019

Thanks Tom and Sarah for the updates.
I previously booked my travel ( based on past dates from other years) at Coronado for Sept. 27- Oct 3. Went on WDW site today , changed my reservation to free dining promo and saved … $800.00 on my current reservation. Plus, I will be there at one of my favorite times… Halloween :).

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Faryn January 3, 2019

Tom,

I am so thankful for your email early this morning! If we didn’t open it up we wouldn’t be going to Disney World this year. I think I just got the last room at All Star Sports for the dates we needed. A lot of hotels were already full for the promotion.

That was a pretty mean thing for Disney to do, release the promotion right after Christmas and unexpectedly.

You are a lifesaver.

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- Tom Bricker January 4, 2019
  
  It was especially mean to Disney’s phone operators, who had no heads up about this–nor was anyone given extra hours or shifts, hence the long waits on hold.
  
  All around, it seems like this was a hasty idea thrown together at the last minute because bookings aren’t where Disney wants them.
  
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Nightmare January 2, 2019

I’m shocked that Disney decided to release this so early on, I got a room at Pop online with lag but other then that it wasnt too bad. But I wager that this will be the only form of Free Dining we will see this year. October has been out of the picture for the offer for a few years now. This past November it was only offer for arriving dates of 3 days, and for December for 2 weeks. Along with Galaxy’s Edge opening up, as well as all of the Disney Christmas happenings (taping, MVMC, and ect) I guess that they just didnt see the point to even bother with including those two months.

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