2026 Free Dining at Disney World Dates, Predictions & Info
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:
- Disney Dining Plan Tips & Info
- Top 10 Disney Dining Tips
- Top 10 Counter Service Restaurants
- Top 10 Table Service Restaurants
- Top 10 Themed Table Service Restaurants
- Magic Kingdom Counter Service Restaurant Rankings
- Best-Value Table Service Restaurants on the Disney Dining Plan
- Best-Value Counter Service Restaurants on the Disney Dining Plan
- Best-Value Character Meals on the Disney Dining Plan
- Best-Value Snacks on the Disney Dining Plan
- Drinking Around Epcot’s World Showcase Tips
- Snacking Around Epcot’s World Showcase Tips
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!
I can understand the excitement of people who have never visited WDW during the dree dining promo, but I think people get too caught up in the idea of a free meal. Like the advice goes, do the math versus room only discount. You may find that paying out of pocket for food works better for you.
Also, don’t forget to ask yourselves, will you really eat all that food? Too often I’ve seen people order desert during the promo, take one bite, then leave. I’m sure those people ordered everything they could just to satisfy themselves that they were getting their money’s worth, but how free is free dining when you leave entire dishes uneaten?
Thanks so much for your information. The advanced heads up that the dining was coming was helpful in sorting out last minute details so that as soon as dining became available, we knew exactly where we wanted to stay and all the details. Booked for November at Pop Century. Can’t wait—let the countdown begin!!!!
Something I just learned. Book your vacations yourself! Don’t mess with a travel agency. No one is going to look out for you BUT YOU. 1st time I ever used one and it will be the last. Not only am I getting ripped off on the Free Dining, but the cost of the airfare in the package is twice what I could have gotten if I booked myself and shopped around. So about a $700 lesson learned. I booked the vacation with the assurance that when the free dining was announced there would be no problem changing the rooms. That would have been a $400 savings on my package, so I was not worried about a few extra dollars for the freedom of not doing the leg work. Wrong!
@Jane – I don’t always agree. You can occasionally get deals through a travel agent that you’d never get booking yourself. Not, typically, at Disney, however. Before this year I swore by booking through CAA/AAA. I found their little perks to be truly worth it – especially as there was no cost involved in booking through them. In particular I loved the preferred parking they got at Disney parks. Unfortunately, those have gone away. I booked through CAA again by habit, and I’m not sure if it was a good idea. They simply cannot give you the attention you need when Free Dining comes out – the Disney phone lines are overloaded and you need to try calling nonstop every few seconds if you want to get the hotel you want. That said, she did okay. And in the end, she even helped me solve a scheduling issue that wouldn’t allow me to book the dates I wanted in the room type I wanted. I wouldn’t have solved it on my own — but at the same time, I wouldn’t have had the issue if I’d been booking on my own, because I’d have gotten through in the morning.
We have a specific travel agent that sends us regular deals on cruises and other trips, and they are spectacular. But for Disney — I think now that Disney has ended its partnership with AAA/CAA, there’s no better way to book than directly through Disney.
We were fortunate as we already had our vacation package booked for 9/12-9/20 at POR and I was able to log on our MDE account at about 0545 the 27th and used the “modify” button to upgrade our package to the FD offer. No muss, no fuss, and no hours on hold waiting to speak to a CM! Hope everyone else gets the deal they needed/wanted…keep trying if you didn’t! Thanks again Brickers for your sweet web site!
I am planning a trip to Disney World this September with my best friend and my 5 year old twins. I have been anticipating this trip and got over excited and bought my park tickets through undercover tourist at last years prices. Now seeing the free dining offer I am regretting this decision. I am wondering if you have any ideas for how I can still take advantage of the free dining? Can I sell my tickets if they have not been used? Thanks
Unless your UT tickets have an imminent expiration date, use them next trip and book the free dining promo. Otherwise, do the math on free dining vs. room only discount. You may be surprised how little, if anything, free dining saves you.
Tried to book this morning for Dec 20- Jan 1. I was told there are blackout dates and could not use the plan after Dec 21 for Wilderness Lodge. Has anyone else been able to extend free dining after the 21st?
Has Disney ever ‘added’ rooms for the Free Dining? We have a cabin reserved but would prefer a room at a moderate hotel. They are full as of today – just wondering…
Any rooms that open up will be due to cancellations. Just keep checking.
We got the free DDP deal. We wanted PORiverside. Coronado Springs was our second choice. We got Caribbean Beach (fortunately it’s just been renovated – i’m kinda looking forward to seeing it now.) Doesn’t look like the moderate resorts lasted very long. Furthermore, our dates overlap the Epcot Food & Wine festival, which is a dining plan snack credit extravaganza.
Where are you seeing the info saying a minimum 3 night stay with a 2 day park hopper? Everything I’m seeing on Disney’s site is saying 6 night stay with park hopper tickets. Has anyone been able to book less than a 6 night stay?
Yes, we booked for 5 nights. The minimum # of nights is always 3 nights but Disney encourages the 6th night stay by using that in their marketing. More nights = more $ for them.
Just got off the phone with a rep. Waited 1.5 hrs. Was told that art of animation was fully booked and that I should try everyday because ppl book but don’t put a down payment and get cancelled or just cancel themselves. So I guess I will be trying everyday all day. I find it hard to believe that everything is booked by the second day. Does anyone have any ideas on an easier way?
I had this happen to me. I have been calling since 9 AM the day of the offer. Between the wait times and working I was not able to get it either.
The same thing happened to us!! Finding Nemo with free dining was sold out and they wanted to switch us to Lion King for free dining (but we don’t want that hotel :(.
However, we did get the 30% room discount which saved a few hundred $$ 🙂
So my amazing agent worked her tail off and got us Boardwalk Inn club level with free dining. Same dates and everything, plus 800 bucks cheaper than we were at WL. A little sad to miss the lodge atmosphere, but since we’re taking the kids, it’ll be nice to stay in a little bigger room that’s a walk away from two parks!
We had a reservation for November 8-13th at Port Orleans Riverside in a Royal Room with dining and our travel agent was able to switch our resort to the Caribbean Beach Resort with a pirate room for free dining. I am a little bummed that we aren’t staying at Riverside though because I’ve heard great things about that resort.
FYI – after unsuccessful finding a room yesterday (unless we wanted to go club level – we are a family of 5 so it limits us a bit in room/resort selection), I tried this morning again online and a lot more rooms with free dining opened up. We booked Beach Club. I’d recommend trying to do this online as opposed to over the phone. Good luck!
Our travel agent has been on the phone since 5:30am. Every value and moderate resort (including our already booked resort) was sold out by time she got through. So much for booking months in advance. Pretty annoyed right now.
I finally got through online and got a room with free dining! I had to switch from a moderate to All Star Music, but I kept my days and I’m happy about it. Plus, even with the meal upgrade, I will be saving money! I’m so happy. Try the website now!
I am very angry right now. Our agent said we would have no problem getting the discount if Disney offered it. I know she did not stay on the phone to get it and now our hotel is also sold out!
Keep checking as people will inevitably cancel. I was able to get Pop with free dining last year two months after the promo dates were announced. And I remember availability changing almost on a daily basis, probably when prople crunch the numbers and realize “free” dining is anything but.
I already had a pre-existing hotel/ticket reservation booked (without a dining plan) and I talked to a CM online about transferring my ADRs to my new reservation. TIP!! ADRs are not linked with your reservation, but STAND ALONE. Sorry to those who already knew this but this was news to me!! The CM recommended that I try to look for the dates of my pre-existing reservations online to see if rooms at my original resort were still available for free dining, and they were! I was lucky enough to have no trouble at all booking online, and didn’t have to keep trying to call the Disney booking lines. I am going to cancel my original reservations for a refund and the ADRs from my original reservation should still stand.
Thank you so much, Jenn. That is super helpful information. Glad that our ADRs are safe.
I’m glad my tip was helpful! And I can confirm that my ADRs are still there 🙂
Well, I can confirm we pre booked WL CL and used a travel agent Disney certified. And they are telling her no rooms are available when she tried to add it to our booking. She’s been on the phone over 8 hours trying to get it done. She says she has never had this issue in her 10 years of booking and the website has already crashed several times. I have to say I’m pretty disappointed. Now ADRs will be even more difficult to get, and we’re not even getting them free.
I found out at 9am which dates were being offered for the free dining promo. I started calling then while simultaneously trying to modify my reservation online. We had rooms booked at a qualifying resort for a week in October, but not for the dates offered. I attempted calling and changing via the website for THE ENTIRE DAY. I wasn’t going to give up easily, because as Tom suggests, I ran the numbers and we would be saving between $550-$600 by taking advantage of this promo.
Between the website crashing or giving me “Server is Busy” messages and getting the old school busy signal every time I tried calling Disney (using 4 different numbers), I was ready to pull my hair out. Finally, around 4pm, I was able to get the website to respond, but the “Modify Reservation” link was removed from my reservation. I lieu of it, there was a message to CALL Disney to change or modify – ha!! What a joke!
I decided to keep trying the number and then finally got through. I went through the automated system and was told the wait was over 90 minutes. Despite that, I stayed on the line…meanwhile, I decided to try making a new reservation and cancel my previous one, if I could get what I wanted. After plugging in numerous alternative dates, I finally was able to find a 7-night stay with the free dining promo at the resort of our choice (two weeks after our original vacation dates). That worked for me, because the 180-day ADR mark opens tomorrow morning – woohoo!!
Oh, and if you’re wondering about holding on the phone, after 2 hours, I finally threw in the towel and hung up. Hopefully the website will be working properly tomorrow so I can cancel my first reservation.
Good Luck to all of you trying to get the promo for the dates and resort you want. May the Force be with you!
Was the room discount also unavailable or just the DP? I’m just curious because next year we plan to stay at WL in the fall and wondering what the chances of getting either discount will be. Thank you.
Shannon,
The discount was still available for certain rooms for certain days of the month. But some hotels did not go into October and none have the discount for November, which are the dates I am staying. So I didn’t ask about the 30% discount. Sorry. Good luck!
I was so bummed to learn that free dining is not available to DVC bookings thru points. I only learned this AFTER purchasing DVC. I also learned that the deferred payment option from the Disney Visa Card is not available because you have to pay for a room reservation which I wouldn’t since I have DVC. It gave me the feeling that purchasing DVC isn’t in my best interest after all. 🙁 I will be using my point in WDW for the first time, so I hope it will be worth it.
You’re typically getting huge savings using DVC points to book versus rack rate. Why are you fretting about free dining? With the savings you are getting through DVC, just pay for the dining plan yourself.
Anyone know why this was not first offered to Disney Visa Cardholders? We have been waiting for that announcement from them, but it looks like they opened free dining/room discounts to everyone…at the same time.
I know! So much for that “perk” of having the card
I would think its becasue there are alot of Canadian people that go to Disney world each year that are not eligible to get a Disney Visa just becasue they live in Canada, I called and complained about that last year and yay for Canadians they didn’t offer it to only Americans and I GOT MY FREE Dinning this year finally!!
Just a question on Free Dining *hot topic lately* I already have a room booked at a qualifying resort for qualifying dates and have the basic dining plan. My question is, since I have my room rsvp, do I still have to worry about the Disney Dining plan selling out? I understand there is an upgrade cost for this from my current selection of the quick service plan, but does my current room rsvp guarantee that I can call and request the discount be applied. Or do they actually sell out of Dining plans for these specific resorts as well! Thanks! I am a bit worried, but hoping that my room will reserve my spot and that I can just call to have the discount applied.
Hopefully someone else can chime in here but from what I have read from other commenters I think you do need to call Disney because I do think it sells out per resort.
My understanding is that you still need to call to get the discount applied. And you should do so soon since others have commented that the discount has sold out at the resort they are staying at.
You will have to call and see if they can apply Free Dining to your existing reservation. Each resort has a fixed number of rooms allocated for Free Dining, and when those rooms are gone, there’s no more Free Dining at that resort. Already having a reservation at a hotel does nothing to help you get Free Dining. I would call ASAP to see if you can still get it.
You shouldn’t have too much of a problem adding it to your existing reservation, especially since you are already booked at one of the qualifying resorts. But you do need to call and have it applied. I did it last year for a family trip, 12 people, 4 reservations total and I think it was a day or two after the initial release of the promotion. Good luck!
Phew. We used DVC points to book our honeymoon in early December! Good to know the free dining will be after our vacation so I will have a shot at getting into my “must eat” restaurants!