2026 Free Dining at Disney World Dates, Predictions & Info

ByTom Bricker
2700 Comments

The Free Disney Dining Plan is a popular Walt Disney World vacation package discount. This covers 2026 dates, deal rules & requirements, predictions & rumors for future dates, and answers to questions including whether Free Dining is “worth it.”

If you’re unfamiliar with the Disney Dining Plan (DDP), we’d direct you to our comprehensive Guide to the 2026 Disney Dining Plan. That covers the basics, what the DDP includes, how it’s changed since returning last year, and more. It also breaks down the value of the Disney Dining Plan and whether the paid version is worth the money, and much more.

The bad news is that Free Dining is no longer available to book for this year. The good news is that it did return, and with the most dates in about a decade, which bodes very well for next year! If you want to be notified immediately when 2026 Free Dining discounts are released, sign up here for our FREE Walt Disney World newsletter.

We’ve consistently notified our subscribers when Free Dining and other Walt Disney World deals are going to drop. Either in advance of their release or on the day they go live at ~7 a.m., which typically gives you a 2+ hour head start on Disney’s official announcement. That may not seem like much, but it makes a huge difference when booking–it means that you won’t have to wait on hold for hours on the phone or in a long virtual queue online.

In the last several months, Walt Disney World has released over a dozen different discounts. There are even targeted deals available through late 2026. This is a huge change as compared to 2021-2022, when many dates didn’t have discounts at all due to revenge travel and guest spending being so strong. That coupled with capacity is why the Disney Dining Plan took so long to return in the first place. Those are both non-factors now, and things are more or less back to 2019 norms.

This is all relevant to the return of Free Dining in 2026 because the deal is not offered out of corporate benevolence, but as an aggressive move to help boost resort occupancy numbers. That wasn’t necessary for the last couple of years due to pent-up demand. However, that has changed significantly, and now Walt Disney World is pulling several “levers” to try to incentivize demand.

As always, we’d recommend requesting a FREE no obligation quote from Be Our Guest Vacations, an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner and having those travel agents book for you. They’ll assist you with the planning process, help you choose the most economical dates, best add-ons, etc.

Equally as important, they’ll help you with discount comparison shopping. There are a ton of different discounts currently available for Walt Disney World in 2026, and many of these deals are better than Free Dining for many–if not most–guests.

That just scratches the surface of what will be released throughout the year, just what’s already available. It’s likely there will be 3-4 more discounts released in the first week of January 2026, including Free Dining–but more on that below. Pointing being, what you see now isn’t everything that’ll be available for your travel dates.

On that note, here are some predictions about 2026 Free Dining at Walt Disney World…

2026 Free Dining Forecast & Rumors

We want to start with blunt words of warning: it’s difficult to make 2026 Free Dining predictions.

The reason for that is simple, which is that the biggest change with the 2026 Disney Dining Plan is that Kids Eat FREE All Year in 2026 at Walt Disney World. Throughout all of 2026, guests staying at one of Walt Disney World’s more than 25 on-site Disney-owned resort hotels will get a FREE Disney Dining Plan for their kids (ages 3 to 9 at the time of travel) when purchasing a Disney Dining Plan as part of their package for the other members of their party (ages 10 and up at the time of travel).

The Free Disney Dining Plan included in this special offer depends on the Disney Dining Plan the adults in the party purchase. The Disney Dining Plan is included for kids ages 3-9 when purchasing a regular Disney Dining Plan for guests ages 10 and older in the party. The Quick-Service Disney Dining Plan is included for kids ages 3-9 when purchasing a Quick-Service Disney Dining Plan for Guests ages 10 and older in the party.

The Kids Free Dining Plan at Walt Disney World deal can be combined with other select special offers, meaning you may still be eligible to take advantage of other deals released for 2026. Already, we’ve seen all 2026 room-only discounts eligible to stack with the Kids Free Dining Plan offer, from bouncebacks to general public discounts. Even DVC point rental is eligible for the Kids Free Dining Plan!

However, because the Kids Free Dining Plan is the baseline for 2026 and not a special promotion, it’s difficult to see how Free Dining fits into the picture. Maybe it’ll simply be offered like normal without any changes, in which case, Free Dining will be a worse deal for many guests since they’d be better off taking the Kids Free Dining Plan plus a room discount and paying for their own food.

Alternatively, there will either be changes to Free Dining to make it more attractive to families (and competitive with other promos) or it’ll be abandoned entirely as a special offer. I’m skeptical that Walt Disney World will ditch Free Dining, as it’s own of their most recognizable discounts of the year–few phrases are more powerful marketing than “free food.”

Assuming that Free Dining does return in 2026, it’s likely to be released in multiple waves once again.

The first will likely be announced in late December of this year, and bookable starting in early January 2026. Eligible travel dates will likely span from around Memorial Day through August 2026 (prior to the start of the off-season), with possible blockouts during peak weeks. However, we wouldn’t be surprised if Independence Day is not blocked out, as that has become less and less busy over the years.

Finally, the first wave of 2026 Free Dining will likely be bookable for roughly one month. This won’t be noted up front–it’ll just quietly disappear from the available offers page. It’s also likely that this first wave of Free Dining will not be targeted, but instead, available for the general public to book. These are hardly bold predictions–this is based purely on past precedent.

To address this, Walt Disney World has been releasing more discounts. They’re doing it out of necessity. This is something we’ve documented, and we’ve repeatedly pointed out that they’re pulling from the 2019 playbook for discounts. That 2019 playbook included Free Dining.

Following this first wave, we fully expect a second wave of Free Dining for dates that are later in 2026. This is likely to become bookable between mid-March and April 2026.

The main reason Walt Disney World would not release discounts all at once for May through December 2026 relates to resort occupancy numbers. The company is really good at projecting hotel bookings, but it’s just like a weather forecast–more accurate as dates draw nearer and less accurate further into the future. Walt Disney World only wants to offer discounts as necessary to fill hotel rooms, so they release discounts in phases.

The most reliable set of second wave dates for Free Dining are usually in August to late September. Those dates are the slowest of the year at Walt Disney World, and have been the most common and consistent for Free Dining. Expect a second wave of Free Dining to encompass these dates during Fall 2026.

The second wave of Free Dining also might include portions of October, minus holiday weeks and fall break.

A scattering of November and/or December dates could be available again, and there’s likely to be a stretch in December after (but not including) the first week and running until as late as December 23, 2026.

One wrinkle with subsequent waves is that they could offer different guest eligibility. It’s possible for the second wave of Free Dining to be targeted towards only Disney+ subscribers or Disney Visa Cardholders, and have a few ‘borderline’ weeks when occupancy is reasonably high (e.g. select dates in October through December). Then a week or two later, the general public wave of Free Dining could be released that doesn’t include all of these dates.

Obviously, this is only a prediction–the actual dates and details of future waves of 2026 Free Dining could vary a little or lot, and it’s entirely possible that nothing is released at all! But we highly doubt it.

Again, we want to emphasize that this is not a rumor–it’s simply us analyzing resort bookings and past precedent on discounts, and making an educated guess. August and September usually have the best discounts of the year since demand is lowest, and we’d expect that to be true again in 2026 especially as Universal’s Epic Universe continues to make the marketplace more competitive and nothing new is opening at Walt Disney World. October through December are usually busier, hence the potential targeting of Free Dining during those dates.

Disney also likes high levels of per guest spending numbers, and no other special offer helps achieve these high per caps like Free Dining. Despite “free” being in the name, it’s an advantageous promo from Disney’s perspective because it locks guests into full-price hotels and tickets. It also keeps guests on-site for the most part, since they have “free” meals at Walt Disney World. No other discount accomplishes all of these important goals for the company.

Either way, will be closely monitoring the 2026 Free Dining situation, keeping our ears open for more news about a return of Free Dining. Should something–anything–be released or rumored, we’ll send you an alert if you sign up for our FREE Walt Disney World newsletter.

We’ve consistently notified email subscribers when Free Dining and other deals on the day they go live at ~6 or 7 a.m., which is a 2+ hour head start on Disney’s official announcement at 9 am. That makes a huge difference when booking Free Dining–you won’t have to wait on hold for hours on the phone.

Free Dining FAQ

Free Dining is Walt Disney World’s most complicated promotion, and can be a huge headache to book. Between limited availability and navigating a seas of rules and restrictions, it’s easy to make mistakes. This section of the post covers the rules, terms and conditions, and policies that generally govern the Free Dining promotion.

We always recommend that Walt Disney World first-timers (or regulars who just don’t want to deal with the hassle) request a FREE quote from Be Our Guest Vacations, an Authorized Disney Travel Planner. Most legit travel agents do not charge for booking Walt Disney World vacations (and you don’t pay a premium for them–Disney pays them commission), so that’s really the easiest way to go.

With this special offer, Walt Disney World guests booking vacation packages with non-discounted resort hotels and park tickets receive the DDP 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 Dining 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.

There are some room exclusions for the Free Dining promo: 3-bedroom villas, campsites, Cabins at Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Wilderness Lodge, Bungalows at Polynesian Villas & Bungalows, and Little Mermaid Rooms at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort.

These resorts and room tiers are all not eligible for Free Dining. Additionally, room inventory is limited across all resorts. In practice, this means that when you go to book, a particular category (standard view, garden view, etc.) may not be available for your travel dates–or your travel dates may not be available at a specific resort at all.

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 we normally highly recommend in our Walt Disney World trip planning advice. This is something to keep in mind when doing the math to determine if “Free Dining” is a good value for you.

When it comes to Free Dining, doing the math is incredibly important. 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 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. Unfortunately, booking online isn’t always possible and technical errors do happen…so you might have to call and wait on hold.

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.

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.

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 DDP, please see our comprehensive Disney Dining Plan Overview Page.

Note that the Free Disney Dining Plan promotion is always based upon arrival dates. For example, if Free Dining runs June 27 to June 28 and you arrive on June 28 and stay until July 5, you are eligible for Free Dining–even though it’s blocked out for July 5 arrivals. (You didn’t arrive on July 5 in that scenario–you arrived in June.)

However, if it’s offered those same dates and you arrive on June 26 and stay for the same dates, 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.

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 current bookings, 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, 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.

Here are the Walt Disney World Free Dining dates that were available from 2013-2025 for historical reference…

2025 Free Dining Dates:

  • May 27 through June 26 (first wave)
  • July 7 through August 6 (first wave)
  • June 29 to September 30 (second wave)
  • October 20 to November 1 (second wave)
  • December 6 to December 22 (second wave)

2024 Free Dining Dates:

  • July 1 to September 30 (Disney+ Subscribers)
  • July 1 to July 31 (Disney Visa)
  • September 1 to September 7 (Disney Visa)
  • December 9 to December 21 (Disney Visa)

2020 Free Dining Dates (Cancelled):

  • June 27 through June 28
  • July 5 through July 7
  • August 29 through September 8

2019 Free Dining Dates:

  • July 5 – September 30*
  • September 1 through September 18**
  • November 17 through November 27**
  • December 8 through December 23**

*First and second wave of Free Dining
**Third wave of Free Dining

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

Other Free Dining Posts & Resources

If you plan on getting the Disney Dining Plan check out these other Walt Disney World posts:

Want more dining tips? Check out our 101 Delicious Walt Disney World Dining Tips. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. Planning other aspects of a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. 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

Do you think Free Dining will be released again in January 2026? Or will a rising tide lift all ships and result in Walt Disney World not “needing” to get that aggressive with deals thanks to Epic Universe? Are you a fan of the “free” dining promotion? Have any tips for free dining rookies? If you’ve booked Free Dining, what did you think about your experience with the deal? 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!

You might also like...

2,700 Comments

  1. Tom, any rumors on the room discount release dates for October and what they might be? We are booked for wilderness lodge in October. Thanks matt

    Reply

    1. There are almost never rumors about the room-only discounts. I wouldn’t be surprised if October room discounts are pretty meager, though.

  2. If we chose to stay in a value or moderate resort with the quick dining service could we not upgrade that for a fee?

    Reply

  3. If you do a search for Disney free dining 2016, it’ll display a link for it. BUT, the link is not active AND it shows the rumored dates for 2017 with the exception of the possible early CC holder dates. Hmmm.

    Reply

    1. Does that link say anything about which dining plan would be given at moderate resorts?

    2. No. It’s not active so nothing is displayed. The only info is from the search result.

    3. Thanks for posting that, Roger! I managed to pull up the same search display. For those who haven’t seen it, I have copy/pasted the text here:

      Free Dining Plan with Vacation Package | Walt Disney World Resort …
      https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/resort-stay-dine-package/
      Explore a room and ticket package offer that includes a dining plan at select Disney Resort hotels, most nights from August 21 through December 23, 2017.

      Perhaps this is Disney’s way of preparing the hopeful masses for the release next week? That is pretty strong evidence coming straight from them. It seems like they are sticking to their historic pattern as far as release date and starting date. Add to that the rumored dates that have come from this Brazilian site, I think it is reasonable to hope that the Visa card holder booking will follow last year’s pattern and begin on that rumored Aug. 13 date.

      This is good news for our family (booked POP for Aug.19-28). We have seven children and one income, so you can imagine how important free dining is for us. We are still investing a huge amount of money into this trip, but with free dining it is possible to swing a vacation of this magnitude. Best blessings to you all in your bookings/package upgrades!

    4. I hope it starts August 13 as the Brazilian website is stating we are booked starting August 15

    5. No problem. I tried to go back and add the link but it never showed up. Glad you were able to attach it.

    6. The link doesn’t work for me. Just says no offers available. I wish someone had taken a screen shot.

    7. I thought about about that, too, but I was at my PC at the time of the post, so I opted to just copy paste the text right from the Google search page. The page that comes up when you click on the link was always the “not available” page. The text was from the search results page itself, though I went back a few moments ago and saw that they have now removed that search result. Ha! Well, I guess we’ve been staying entertained in these last few days while we continue to anticipate all that we are hoping for!

    9. This showed up on Friday of last week (or at least, that’s when people first emailed me about it), and even then, it got you a “Stitch Ate the Page” link. This often occurs when Disney puts something online too early and then pulls it.

      HOWEVER, I haven’t heard of a single person being able to successfully access the page (usually a handful do–and take screenshots) before it gets pulled, so I wonder if Disney was just updating an old page so they don’t have 2016 info still up.

      I wouldn’t read too much into it at this point…

    10. Thanks for staying cautious. It’s a good example to set. I think the reason the link peaked my interest is because the dates listed were followed by naming the year 2017. You are right though; it is good to keep an even temper until we know what it really going on. I have been through a lot of ups and downs anticipating this, and I do have an alternative plan in case things wouldn’t go the way we want them to, but in the end I am content to let things be as they are meant to be. Life is too full of blessings to worry about something like this! Thanks again, Tom, for doing such a great job AND letting us all share our “wishes” along the way!

    11. I read on another blog where a website engineer said that Disney more than likely got it all set up to flip the switch. That’s why the dates are there. To create the page, Disney had to put some basic info in. Hopefully it’s true.

  4. Just Curious when the offer for free dining has been released in previous years was it always on a Monday? Does it show up on the special offers page and if so was it like a midnight release, early morning or afternoon/evening kinda thing? I just work a crazy schedule and want to know when I need to pay attention. Thanks for any and all help

    Reply

    1. Last year it was released at 3:00 a.m. EST online. Phone lines opened at 7:00 a.m. EST

      I was able to successfully modify my reservation online last year.

    2. Were you able to add free dining to an existing online reservation without any issues? I have our hotel booked with tickets, i didn’t add the dining package or memory maker, and it’s standard room rate. I would really rather not take a day off of work to call and worry about this, if i dont have to.

    3. Just wondering if I should cancel existing dining package and then add again when free dining becomes available? Or just modify because I already have it booked with my package.

    4. For the last several years, it has been released on a Monday, between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. Eastern. It shows up on the special offers page at that point; Disney often doesn’t promote it via its social media channels until later in the day (presumably because there’s an onslaught of demand first thing in the morning and they don’t want to crash their own systems).

    5. Yes, Vicki, I was able to update an existing reservation. I did not have Memory Maker added at that point.

      I did end up switching resorts to get it last year. (Changed from a studio at the Poly Villas to a cabin at Fort Wilderness.) Saved about $550 for my family of 5.

      Definitely helps to be flexible. Good luck!!

  5. When the free dining promotion is finally released by Disney to the public, will that show up on the WDW Special Offers, Deals & Discounts page? Your latest update has me thinking that I better book my Pop Century visit as soon as it comes available. Can’t afford to go to moderate and especially if they are only offering Quick Service.

    Reply

  6. This newest rumor has made my stomach hurt. While I recognize that no discounts are guaranteed, I definitely was counting on the free dining to make our family of 5 trip work. Not Disney’s problem, just my reality. I guess upgrading to the regular dining plan if quick service only is offered for moderates isn’t too horrible as long as they allow us to double dip with the gift cards at cbr. If they do not allow us to get the free quick service AND the gift cards, we will most likely have to shorten our trip.

    There are bigger problems in this world, but I literally just snagged our last coveted adr and had the perfect time slots for all. I guess once we know for sure it’ll be a relief, because all this back and forth is giving me Disney pains! #firstworldproblems

    Reply

    1. Rosalie, I feel the same way. It’s me & 4 children so it’s definitely a pricey trip. We booked for 10 days hoping for free dining. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make memories with your family. That’s why Walt created Disney World. And for those of us who can afford it, but want a longer trip, we look for bargains. Still hoping the rumors are false, but I’m preparing to adjust our plans, if necessary. Good luck!

  7. For a free dining newbie, do you book your reservation first online- room and dining plan, then once free dining hits, switch the package? Or do you just book rooms only then book free dining?

    Reply

    1. You can do it either way, just make sure you go back online when free dining is available and change your reservation to the package you are wanting.

  9. Please continue to provide information on the free dining. I too booked the CBR prior to the gift card offer. I booked it in anticipation of the free dining. I hope that 1) I am still eligible for the free dining offer and 2) The moderate resorts are not downgraded to the free quick service meal only. I check daily for your updates. Thank you for the information! Keep doing exactly what you do 🙂

    Reply

  10. If true, the move to counter service for the moderates is disappointing!

    As the release of free dinning comes down to the wire, can anyone give a definitive answer weather or not one can add free dining to an existing reservation that has an arrival date that falls on the free dinning promo date by using Disneys online service, or do you have to re-book another reservation? Calling in on the phone is a poor option, as demand will be great and hold times and busy signals will be exessive.

    Reply

    1. My family and I are scheduled for 10 days at the Caribbean Beach from the 1st-10th of September. We booked in January, about 5 weeks before they announced the major construction and the closure of Old Port Royal. We are eligible for the $75 per night gift card, which is nice, but in no way a replacement for the free dining. We chose CBR because it has always been a part of the free dining promotion, and has historically allotted the regular dining. We have used it the past 4 years we stayed there specifically for this reason.
      Putting the 2 moderate resorts and value resorts on the same meal plan is like being blindsided. If this is something that Disney is planning on doing, they should make an announcement prior to releasing the free dining plan, to give those people who booked in moderate resorts, the ones who will be effected by this sudden change, a chance to either downgrade to a value resort and save money , or to upgrade to get the table service plan. Being prepared and booking in advance of the promotion, which ANY travel agent, INCLUDING DISNEY’S own cast members, advise you to do, should not be a punishment when drastic departures from normal are going to take place.
      After spending about 3 hours on the phone with Disney cast members yesterday in reference to this newly leaked information, no one could confirm or deny the rumors. What I did discover though, was that if you are eligible for the free dining, you will most likely have to call and have your reservation modified for 2 reasons. First, if you have trip insurance or pre-purchased the memory maker or similar things, you can not modify your reservation online, it has to be done through a cast member. Secondly, by canceling the reservation and creating a new one (not simply modifying it) any money you have already paid will be refunded to you, which I was told could take up to 2 billing cycles.
      Sorry for belaboring the issue, I just wanted to pass along what I had learned. I hope it helps.

    2. While I understand that people feel blindsided if the rumour about free quick service for mods is true, I think it’s a little ridiculous to expect Disney to announce ahead of time what their upcoming promotions will be. Free dining is NOT a guarantee. People really should not book a trip EXPECTING that they will receive free dining. Disney has every right to offer different promotions every year and to change up the offerings and requirements. Even when someone’s dates and resort is eligible under a promotion, there’s no guarantee that there will be availability. Disney only allots a certain number of rooms for promos and not everyone will be able to get what they want. It’s not like everyone can just apply free dining because their dates and resort are included- if the number of rooms allotted for the promo book quickly, then you’re out of luck. Also, regardless of whether you have a reservation currently booked or not, everyone is on the same footing when free dining is released. If it turns out that it will not work for what you have booked, you can book a new reservation just as easily as everyone who doesn’t have something booked. So no, you are not being punished for having a reservation already booked, you just may have to change your resort, room category, or dates- just as you might have to do even if CBR receives the regular dining plan. You could actually be hurting your chances for free dining by having your resort booked because they only offer the promo to increase bookings when they are low. If enough people book in anticipation of free dining, Disney has no reason to offer the promo because from what they can see, the resorts are filling up just fine without it. A promotion is not guaranteed and people need to stop treating it like it’s something that always has and always will be offered.

    3. I am fine with paying an upgrade for a dining package if that is what it comes down to. My only concern is being able to add it to my existing reservation online, rather than call. I work an 8-5 M-S job and can’t spend hours on the phone to modify. If this is the case, I will lose out on any hopes of getting a Free Dining package.

      Has anyone successfully upgraded to a free dining package with a base, existing reservation, without any issues? No existing dining plan, memory maker, full rate.

    4. I am sure Free Dining will be more in demand and could be a different story but I was able to change an existing reservation for this past February from a standard package to the reduced dining promotion easily. I logged onto My Disney experience, went to modify/change my reservation and was offered the choice between the dining promotion and a room discount. Took two minutes and did not have to call.

    5. Perfect, I am hoping it’s this easy. I don’t mind waking up at 3am and then going to work, but having to spend the whole day on the phone…yea, not so much, lol.

    6. Lindsay, when you modified your reservation, did you have the dining plan on your existing reservation already, or just a room only or a package reservation with just room and tickets? I ask because last year, I booked the entire package – room, tickets and dining plan, hoping to just “remove” the dining plan when free dining came out. I ended up having to make an entirely new reservation as I could not modify it to add free dining. Hoping to do what you did this time! Thanks for the advice!

  11. This free-dining stuff takes up way too much space and time over the interwebs. I can’t even begin to afford to stay on-site, not even at the “values”, and don’t have the green to pay for the over-priced food at Disney, whether ‘free’ or otherwise. Give me more DISNEY!!! Give me more on the dirt of why the muckety-mucks do what they do. Or do more trip reports with the nitty-gritty on each day – what exactly went wrong and why. Maybe reviews of other websites and podcasts. I love trip reports – do more and more detailed ones. Maybe some of those suggestions aren’t your jam, but this free-dining obsession shouldn’t be. Along with the rankings of the on-site hotels, dining, blah blah blah………. I think there is a time and place for those posts, but there is too much about that stuff and that stuff is for those that make a lot more money than this full-time employee and mother does.

    Reply

    1. Disneys free dining is a massive deal that stretchs from fall through the end of the year and it is something that many people, myself included, take advantage of. It is also the only way many are able to go and still be able to afford dining at the nicer locations. The web is massive and there are a million sites with Disney content. If you do not like the format or material of one just leave and find another.

    2. Understandable, free dining has become an obsession for many. However you are free to read whatever you please. You do not have to read the articles about free dining. There are PLENTY of articles on all areas and categories of WDW.

    3. I also agree. I cannot afford Disney, so I do not like anyone talking about it on their personal blog targeting ‘Disney TOURISTS’ as I am the only person in this world that matters. Instead, this site should speak only about native americans, because THAT is what I care about.

  13. How frustrating! I switched from Caribbean Beach to Port Orleans Riverside because we had to change our dates & there weren’t rooms. I will be extremely annoyed if POR isn’t included. Plus, getting quick-service will force us to shorten our stay if we have to upgrade. I realized that the predicted free dining dates weren’t concrete, but I hope the rest of this proves false.

    Reply

    1. I wouldn’t be frustrated quite yet. It’s an unsubstantiated rumor at this point, and may not turn out to be true. If this does happen, you really might want to crunch the numbers to see if a room-only discount will save you more money.

    2. I took a chance about 2 weeks ago and already booked a trip for November at Coronado Springs. I
      The last time we went in 2014, I just waited until free dining came out to book at all. In other people’s experience is it going to be hard and lessen my chances to get free dining if my trip does not fall within the correct free dining dates once released and the Disney authorized agent has to rebook entirely new dates? I’m just afraid with my dates being so iffy 11/4-12 that I should change dates sooner than the day the real dates are released. We are a family of 5 so free dining is huge for us. We have another possibility of going in late Sept as an alternative..??? Any thoughts ?

  14. If staying at a Value or Moderate Resort during the (rumored) free dining promotion in Nov./Dec. 2017 & they only provide the Quick Service Plan for free, do you know if you can pay the upgrade charge to get the Standard Dining Plan?

    Reply

    1. You can pay to upgrade. It should be somewhere in the area of $19 per adult (which is ages 10+) and $4 per child (ages 3-9). Those prices are per person, per number of nights of your stay.

  16. Hello. A travel agent here in Brazil recently posted in her Facebook page that they got the dates for free dining . She claims they will be as such: August 13th through September 30th, November 14th through 20th and 25th through 27th and December 8th through 23th. Value and Moderate Resorts get Quick Service Dining Plan, Deluxe get standard. Excluded resorts are All Star Movie, Art of Animation -Little Mermaid rooms, Port Orleans Riverside and French Quarter, Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary and The Villas at Grand Floridian.
    Now I don’t want to cause undue uproar since I have no idea whether this is an offer only to those booking through brazilian agencies (hers isn’t listed as an official one at the brazilian version of the disney site – so perhaps some kind of independent one? In this case, do they work with the offers in the brazilian site or the USA one?). Her site seems legit enough, so I don’t think it is some kind of scam.
    Thought I’d share anyway for those obsessive planners like me, who like to have a plan for every scenario. Especially since this means CBB will qualify, but it will only get Quick Service. Oh, she’s also claimed reservations start at Apr 24th.

    Reply

    1. So calling Disney they would still say it’s unavailable as of now? Until the 24th

    3. Thanks for posting this! Someone emailed me this as well, and I haven’t had a chance to follow-up with any sources yet, but my first take is that this rumor actually seems *plausible.*

      I think this could very well be accurate, but I want to talk to a couple of people first to see what they know (if anything) before posting an update in the main text of the blog post. 🙂

    4. I had the same information and, as Moderate resorts will only get Quick Service plan, will be possible now to exchange 2 quick service credits for 1 table service credit.

    5. Hello, I have a week booked at Port Orleans Riverside during dates that would work for free dining if the above rumor is legit. But, I had booked there because I was under the impression that moderates would get the regular dining plan. Should I switch to Coronado or even a value resort since Riverside looks to not be included? Riverside is the most expensive moderate, so maybe I can get the quick service dining and just upgrade? I want to take my 4 year old to all of the character dining spots but cant afford it without the free dining.

    6. Hi there,

      Fellow brazilian over here, I didn’t get a chance to see this post on Facebook, but I was looking for hotels to book in september at Latam Travel site (brazilian travel agency) and I notice that they took all Disney Hotels out of the search, maybe they are updating the site for the promo?
      Let’s wait and see, but thanks for the infos Tom.

  17. It’s been 8 years since we have been to Disney World and taken advantage of their free dining promotion. In the past, it was good for any resort, you just had to book a room and ticket package. But I understand that there are now certain restrictions. Like you have to be staying at certain resorts (Value, for example, you only get the counter meal dining plan). But I read on a few sites that now you even have to have certain tickets also. That you have the park hopper and water park added onto the ticket as well. Is this true? Or can you qualify for the free dining if you have, say, a 4 day base ticket?

    Reply

    1. The past several years you have needed to book at least a three night stay at a qualifying resort. Also the room type you booked mattered as not all room types were eligible. You also had to purchase park tickets (again at least three days) with the park hopper or water park fun package to qualify. The base ticket option has not qualified for free dining in recent years. They just recently did away with the water park package and now have a park hopper and park hopper plus ticket. So it will be interesting to see if they require this addition for the free dining promo…I know, so many stipulations it can be confusing. Basically they mostly make up for the cost of free dining with all of these requirements. This year they have changed a lot of things in their tickets and pricing so it’s hard to say what the promo will look like this year. This site is awesome though and Tom Bricker is a WDW expert! He will keep you in the know for sure. Thank goodness we have Tom (and other bloggers) to help us navigate this complex and ever changing process.

    2. Thank you so much Steve, I really appreciate it! So I guess I will have to see if it’s worth it to try to get the dining promotion, as opposed to just paying for dining on our own. Because I already reserved a room for 5 nights at All Star Music, with 4 day base passes for myself, husband and two teenage children. I’m willing to pay the approx. $320 to upgrade to the regular dining plan rather than the counter meal plan (since a Disney rep told me this resort only offers the counter option if they do the dining promotion), but I don’t know if it’s worth it to get the park hopper on all 4 of our tickets as well. We’ll have to see when this promotion comes out, I guess!

    1. I may have answered my own question as I did a little more research – looks like maybe this is just for UK residents?

    2. I believe that’s the European deals … I’ve read elsewhere people saying they received free breakfast and they were from overseas .. which makes sense because their deals are released before ours… just read on another page possibly the 24th. Fingers crossed…. good luck to you !!!

  20. Please help! I recently made reservations at the Caribbean resort for the end of Sept. If Disney offers a free dining plan, how does one get that added to a reservation or better, how has someone in the past been able to do so. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

    Reply

    1. Your reservation should have a “change reservation” option where you can modify your dates and add offers (if eligible) on My Disney Experience. However, many users are currently having issues with this tool and I have heard that it can be a problem when the free dining is released.

      You can also call Disney directly to modify, or book a separate reservation and pay another $200 deposit with the offer, then cancel your previous reservation.

    2. If you booked through disney and you meet the requirements then all you do is the morning the promotion is said to start call disney and tell them you want to see if you can get free dining. I would also check and see if you would benefit more from the room discount in most cases it saves you more money.

    3. Did you book it through Disney, or an independent travel site? Because if it was through Disney, you can simply call them up and add it if the free dining comes out. That’s what they told me themselves yesterday when I booked. Unrelated however…were you aware the Caribbean Beach Resort is going through a huge 2 year renovation? Their food court, gift shop and pool will be completely closed down during the time of the your visit.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *