Free Dining is Back for Fall & Christmas 2019
Walt Disney World has released a third of Free Dining for select November & December 2019 dates that include the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Here we offer info, tips & tricks, and thoughts on booking this discount. (Updated September 23, 2019.)
We’ll cover all the details of the latest round of Free Dining at Walt Disney World here, what we recommend doing, and offer some speculation as to why this is occurring. This is truly huge, as these dates include some of Walt Disney World’s most popular travel times of the year, including the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving and Christmas!
Back when the 2019 Free Disney Dining Plan Promotion was released by Walt Disney World prematurely in January, we speculated that a ‘second wave’ of Free Dining would be offered at a later date. Exactly that happened back in April, which we covered in our 2019 Discounts for Disney World, Including More Free Dining! post. While we called that one, I’ll be the first to admit that I never expected a third wave of Free Dining for 2019…
Let’s start with a look at the dates for the Fall 2019 & Christmas 2019 Free Dining Deal:
- September 1 through September 18, 2019
- November 17 through November 27, 2019
- December 8 through December 23, 2019
This offer must be booked by September 29, 2019, and it follows the normal rules of Free Dining (which are covered in full detail here, along with comprehensive analysis and Free Dining tips). Most notably, Value and Moderate Resort guests receive the Quick Service Disney Dining Plan, while Deluxe and Deluxe Villa guests receive the standard Disney Dining Plan.
September 23, 2019 Update: It’s the final week that you can book Free Dining for 2019! We’ve been monitoring the promotion and running some test dates and numbers. From all of this, we have a few takeaways to offer that might be helpful if you’re trying to book Free Dining for a last minute holiday trip to Walt Disney World this year.
First and foremost, availability is bad–nearly nonexistent for some resorts. Thinking about early December at Wilderness Lodge or one of Walt Disney World’s other best resorts at Christmas-time? Think again. In some searches, we could only find a handful of resorts with any rooms reserved for Free Dining, and even then, they were more expensive room tiers. If you’re booking last minute, you’ll almost certainly have to upgrade unless you’re able to get lucky with scooping up someone else’s cancelled reservation.
One thing to watch is whether Walt Disney World will dump a final batch of rooms into the Free Dining discount right before the offer ends. Persistence often pays off, and it doesn’t hurt to keep searching for Free Dining room availability. (Disney only allocates a subset of rooms to each promotion, meaning the resorts often are not actually sold out, just sold out of the discounted rooms.)
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge hasn’t been as hugely popular as Walt Disney World would like, and there’s the possibility that Disney will add more rooms to the deal in an attempt to push the occupancy rate to the max. We would not recommend checking multiple times per hour or even day, but giving it a try every morning around 8 am isn’t the worst idea if you’re wanting to do a Christmas 2019 trip!
Many readers who previously booked trips are reporting that you’re seeing minimal savings or, in rare cases, increased prices. While some are claiming that Walt Disney World spiked prices right before releasing this discount, that’s not true. It’s not to say prices haven’t gradually increased since you first booked your trip, though.
There are potentially two actual causes of this. The first is it’s not an apples to apples comparison–your room category or type changed. While the differences between some room types are insignificant, the price differences are not. Naturally, Walt Disney World tends to offer more promotion availability in higher priced room categories.
The second is that ticket prices increased since you booked your trip, and modifying a reservation effectively triggers paying the new prices for park tickets. This is another reason why we always recommend booking as early as possible, whether discounts are available or not. You effectively lock-in whatever pricing is at that time, and later have the option of weighing a discount against old prices. Best of both worlds!
That concludes the update–what follows is our original commentary about this round of Free Dining at Walt Disney World…
Note that this is not “Free Dining Lite” or “Half-Free Dining” as we’ve come to call Walt Disney World’s other marketing gimmicks that trade on the name recognition of the Free Dining offer. This is the real deal. Above is a look at resorts that are included in the offer, per DisneyWorld.com.
One thing we’d caution here before you get too excited is that availability for some resorts and dates is undoubtedly very limited. We’ve been harping on the reality that Walt Disney World resort occupancy is high for this December (it’s not for September), and this was and is accurate.
We haven’t yet had the chance to do a bunch of test searches to get an idea of availability–to the contrary, I’m having trouble getting this to work. This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, as it’s more or less par for the course on Walt Disney World discount release day. Things will only get worse as more people wake up and try to book (which is a huge reason why we recommend just using a travel agent.)
My guess is that what I’m going to find once I start searches is that entire room categories, certain dates, etc., are already sold out from day one. (If you’d be willing to help me crowd-source this data, I’d love to hear via the comments what dates and resorts you were able–or were not able–to book!)
This is to say you will want to book ASAP for the best chance at scoring the resort and room you want, especially if you’re traveling in November or December. It’s always possible that more rooms will be added to the promo at a later date, but I’d highly recommend getting something locked-in right now.
As for why this is happening…well, by now you’re probably sick of seeing us link to the Why Are Star Wars Land Crowds So Low? post. Disneyland’s disappointing debut of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is likely the best explanation for why this is happening. While Disney sought to control crowds there to ensure a positive guest experience, the low turnout is a case of ‘too much of a good thing.’
To be clear, we love Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and think the low crowds at Disneyland have been great for guests. While there’s a lot of ‘sky is falling’ commentary online, the positive word of mouth from those who visit and don’t encounter wall-to-wall people is invaluable for the long term.
However, Disney has made itself beholden to quarterly results, and any quarter that isn’t a year over year improvement by X% is deemed a failure. Irrespective of guest satisfaction numbers, this abnormally low attendance is undoubtedly being viewed as a problem by Disney’s upper management.
Obviously, Walt Disney World is an entirely different beast, with different guest demographics and all sorts of other variables at play. However, one big demo that sat out the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in California was out of state tourists, which is borne out by low occupancy rates at Anaheim hotels, and the reality that nothing Disneyland has done to entice visitors to come this summer has had an impact–tourists can’t change their summer travel plans on a moment’s notice.
If you look at literally any post about Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge on this blog, specifically the Opening Date for Star Wars Land Announced and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance Opening Date posts, you’ll see that a ton of readers are upset about these debuts coinciding with their travel dates, and the anticipated crowds they’ll bring with them. Many commenters have openly contemplated canceling their trips because of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. It should go without saying that this is not Disney’s desired goal with Star Wars Land.
Speculating a bit, I’d say this release of Free Dining is being motivated by these two things. There’s the desire to make the last quarter and beginning of the next quarter as strong as possible from an occupancy perspective. Disney does not want Wall Street using the word ‘flop’ when it comes to its blockbuster Star Wars additions.
Second, while occupancy rates have been high for (literally) months for November and December, it’s entirely possible that new bookings have stagnated since the announcement of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. I’d be downright shocked if Disney has seen a net negative in terms of occupancy for the holidays since announcing the opening of Star Wars Land, but it probably has not moved the needle nearly as much as they projected.
Consequently, we have another Free Dining offer, to ‘pump up the numbers’ just a bit more and give the appearance that bookings are stronger than normal for September through December due to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Even if these new promos have incredibly limited inventory and only result in a ~5% bump in occupancy numbers for next year’s first fiscal quarter (beginning October 1), that’s a big deal for Walt Disney World’s metrics. It also gives Galaxy’s Edge a greater perception of success in the eyes of analysts.
I know this is entirely unrelated to a post about Free Dining, but my personal take is that all of the speculation about Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge being a flop is overblown and misses the point. By and large, people are avoiding Disneyland–and wanting to avoid September and beyond at Walt Disney World–for fear of crowds, not due to the substance of Galaxy’s Edge.
There are some people, mostly those who haven’t been to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and want to advance their own narrative about Disney’s use of Star Wars, who point to this being substantive failings of the land, its use of the original trilogy, etc. This might explain low numbers a bit, but it’s not the main explanation.
Fear of crowds is the biggest explanation by a long shot. Following that, the perception that Galaxy’s Edge is mostly retail and the reality that the flagship Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is not yet open are also valid explanations. In the long term, once people experience the full land for themselves, I think most of this will fade away.
In the meantime, there will be growing pains and a lot of online handwringing. Nevertheless, I think we’ll look back on this period years from now, when Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is crowded, and wonder how this anomaly ever happened. Of course, I could be wrong…it’s happened before!
Circling back to the topic of Free Dining, take advantage of this promotion as soon as possible if you’re thinking about a fall or holiday 2019 trip to Walt Disney World. While there should be a decent amount of September room inventory, we’d expect November and December to go fast.
You can request a FREE quote from our recommended Authorized Disney Vacation Planner and have them do the work for you, so you don’t have to wait on hold or struggle with the online system at all. Once we have more time, we’ll spot-check availability of the various promos released today for Fall & Christmas 2019, but our assumption is that inventory for these promotions is pretty limited!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
What do you think about these new Walt Disney World discounts? Surprised to see Free Dining return? Think we could see even more discounts–possibly for early 2020 dates–if Disney is fearful about the ‘performance’ of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge? rHave you booked any of these new deals? Do you agree or disagree with our analysis? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I booked my trip in April for Sept 22-28 and have been waiting for some sort of promotion to come up and we were sadly left out of free dining 🙁 and room discounts (staying at pop century). Did we already miss promotions for that week?? Thanks for all you do!
Lynn
I also think that what people need to realize with free dining is that gratuities are not included when you go out for a meal in Disney. My family and I were there there a little while ago during free dining and we got talking to a family that was sitting next to us who was on the free dining package. They told us because they got free dining they felt like they didn’t have to tip for their meal and also I will mention that we were at one of the most expensive restaurants in Disney. I just feel that if people are going to purchase free dining make sure you select restaurants that you can afford a tip at. A lot of those servers work extremely hard with their minimum wage being around $6.
We are staying at CBR November 12-17. I won’t say I did a fully exhaustive search, but spent a good enough amount of time to say it seems like the deal is pretty limited/lame. I could trade out my current reservation, and pay more with a discount for a pirate room than what I booked a ways back. No thanks.
Free dining isn’t offered in November until November 17 check-in dates. If your trip is November 12 – 17, you can’t get the free dining offer no matter how you set up the package.
Port Orleans Riverside does not seem to be a part of the promotion. It is not even listed as an option to try.
I replied to the wrong post. My comment was about the room only discount, which is available during those dates and in my opinion is lame for CBR. Apologies for the mis post, too many tabs!
Availability for 11/24-11/28: (low to high $)
All Star Music
All Star Sports
Pop Century
Coronado Springs
Caribbean Beach
Cabins at Fort Wilderness
Art of Animation
Animal Kingdom Lodge
Saratoga Springs
Boardwalk Inn
Thanks for sharing!
Hi, is this for guests from the UK too? Fingers crossed. Thanks
Hi Debbie
Free dining is currently available for UK dates for 2020. In the UK they are released a year in advance, so 2019 dates were on sale with free dining from April-July 2018.
Oh dear. Thanks Emma. Our son is in a wheelchair so we like the deluxe villa resorts but they wasn’t releasing any free dining for those until 6 months before going and then the free dining offer had finished. I find the Disney hotel rooms very small and we always stay for 3 weeks so our son doesn’t get to tired. That way he can have lots of rest breaks too. We are flying out in November but staying at Lake Buena Vista Resort and Spa. We love it there too.
3 weeks sounds fabulous I’m sure you’ll have a great holiday, also stayed at lake buena a few years ago and love it too! Enjoy your holiday 🙂
Wow bookings must be not meeting expectations at Disney. In my opinion Disney having to practically beg people to come doesn’t speak well for GE. Sure it looks well done but it’s not enticing people to come damn the crowds like they expected. Harry Potter franchise always brings in the crowds but that is possibly because they resonate better with teens and young adults that don’t mind crowds while Star Wars doesn’t as much. I like Star Wars as much as any regular fan and I’m not willing to stand in huge lines and stand shoulder to shoulder with people to see it. Cost is likely another big factor in crowds. Disney has priced themselves equal or more with trips to Europe and such. I think many people are realizing that and choosing travel over a theme park. We are. We have shaved our 10 day over the top Disney World trip down to 2 park days and a Halloween party and going to Italy next spring instead.
“I like Star Wars as much as any regular fan and I’m not willing to stand in huge lines and stand shoulder to shoulder with people to see it.”
I think you’ve made the point right here. Pretty much every Disney site has been reporting for months (this one included) how the ‘crush of crowds’ could make things miserable. That has undoubtedly scared away a lot of people who are only casually interested in Star Wars.
“Cost is likely another big factor in crowds. Disney has priced themselves equal or more with trips to Europe and such. I think many people are realizing that and choosing travel over a theme park.”
Honestly, I think this is the far more fascinating point of contention/discussion. We’ve been saying for years that there will be a tipping point with Disney’s pricing…and that has yet (or perhaps, had yet?) to happen. I’m very curious as to whether we’re starting to see that occur, or if this is a temporary blip due to crowd-avoidance.
I guess we shall see!
Yeah it will be interesting to watch for sure. We just realized that wow we are spending as much as a trip to Italy to stand in lines at Disney World. Disney may be fun but it can’t compete with the beauty, history, and experience of visiting Italy. When Disney was more affordable than international travel it was an easy choice because it provided a fun trip for the price but now that they have priced themselves equal or greater than international travel they just don’t measure up. Reading your post about France was a great example of the amazing experiences that come from traveling the world.
It is amusing that Iger bragged he could tweet that GE was open and the crowds would descend. They clearly didn’t understand their target market and the amount of Star Wars fans that would come no matter how crowded. They want the wealthy but their loyal fans have always been the middle class.
I think price has to be a big factor. Summer is less crowded and the thought has been everyone is waiting for GE to open but bookings are low for Fall too. Christmas will be busy with it being the holiday and with ROTR opening but after that I’m guessing it goes down to lower crowds again.
Disneyland will be more crowded once AP blockouts are lifted but that doesn’t make GE a success because APs are always there when they can be. APs don’t spend the big money though that tourists do. We very rarely ate anything at Disneyland when we were APs. We brought a picnic and drinks and had a crockpot waiting for dinner. That’s pretty common for APs. Disneyland needed the big crowds of tourists coming in to see GE.
I’m having the exact same conversations with myself right now re: my next Disney trip (or lack thereof).
I spent the same amount on (1) week in WDW this year than I did on (2) weeks abroad in Berlin + London at Christmas. !!!!! And that’s factoring in an international flight that cost me 2.25x what it takes to fly to Florida!
I was just talking to a friend yesterday and they are spending less on a week and half in Portugal as a couple than 4 days with the kid in Disneyland.
I am pricing out next year’s trip and deciding between (2) weeks in Japan and (1) week for WDW. I’m pretty certain what the answer will be, TBH. As much as I love the nostalgia and the amazing bubble feeling, I’ve also done so much of what Disney has to offer. There is something to be said for actually going to a place and experiencing it new, rather than going to the Japan pavilion every year.
Or so I tell myself…as I read about WDW every night 😉 #addicted #comfortblog
Go to Japan. No question about that one whatsoever.
Seriously.
I have never been so excited in my life! Was just about to go to bed (it’s nighttime here in Sydney, Australia) quickly checked my emails and saw your email saying “THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!” Freaked out with the family for a few minutes trying to tell them what I was screaming about….logged in and managed to modify my reservation for Christmas and YAYYYYYYYYY!!!!! WE GOT IT! Thank you SO much Tom. Couldn’t have done it without you.
Travelling from Australia, and with 2 teenaged boys, this is going to make such a huge difference to our overall budget. This is my son’s graduation trip and we are staying 14 nights so it’s extra, extra special.
Thank you again for the heads up. TOM YOU ARE AWESOME!!!
Glad it worked out for you–enjoy your trip! 🙂
I am sure were the Bible teaches about the plague of locusts they actually meant teenaged boys 😉 good for you snapping up the dining plan.
Crowdsourcing update – 12/8 – 12/15: only availability is Theme Park Club Level at Poly, Garden Wing 1 BR Suite Access at Contemporary, and Gran Destino Tower Deluxe Suite w/ Club Access. That’s it.
12/14 – 12/20: All Star Sports is available, Caribbean Preferred, 5th Sleep, and Pirate rooms are available, All Star Music for Preferred and Standard rooms, Coronado Springs for regular Standard, Water View, Preferred, and 1-bedroom suite, and Art of Animation Family Suites.
What’s interesting on this one is that when I first searched, only All Star Sports and Caribbean came up available. Between when I went in to look at specifics on All Star Sports and backed back out, All Star Music, Coronado, and Art of Animation then became available.
Thanks for the feedback.
For what it’s worth, we’d recommend Gran Destino Tower Deluxe Suite w/ Club Access. Review with more nuance will be coming soon, but if you’re looking for value, that’s a great option.
I’m curious about Gran Destino. I have only looked a little bit at some of the pictures and videos released, but it does look really nice. If they’d have added there in as a Skyliner resort, I think that would have been huge.
It also highlights the need to come up with new resort categories. From what I’ve seen, it sure looks like a deluxe, and it seems to be priced more in line with a deluxe – at least for the few dates I’ve looked. However, this promotion highlights that it is not since you only get the Quick Service Dining. While it may be more complicated, particularly for the Free Dining promotion, it’s definitely time to re-visit the categories and find a different way to assign what level of dining plan gets assigned to which resorts.
“However, this promotion highlights that it is not since you only get the Quick Service Dining.”
Ah shoot, I totally forgot that. Scratch that recommendation.
So when is that review coming?
I ask because we were booked for 4 in a standard view club level but for whatever reason that room wasn’t eligible for free dining so we upgraded to the Deluxe Suite which will probably work out better anyways in terms of space for two adults and two 16 year old girls.
Not really saving any money per se since we upgraded. Hopefully the space and room is worth it.
Tom I have a question.
We are doing 10 days between Xmas and New Years. Two adults and two sixteen year olds.
The price difference between two water view tower rooms and a deluxe club level suite at CSR is a little less than $1000. Is the club level deluxe suite worth the $98 a day more than two separate rooms? The deluxe suite has 1.5 baths and is roughly twice the size of a normal tower room correct?
Originally I was going to do a single double room club level but free dining isn’t offered for that room. I looked a a single double with free dining but I’ve started having doubts and think a single standard sized room may be to cramped for four more or less adults for 10 days.
Thanks.
Adding 12/21 to the search, so 12/14 – 12/21 adds availability at Animal Kingdom Lodge for Standard, Pool, and Savanna views and Savanna view Club Level.
Ok, it was just that and Saratoga Springs, I went back out, and now there are half a dozen more resorts when I backed out of AKL. Sorry, too much to into all, so here’s the list of availability without room specifics for 12/14 – 12/21:
Animal Kingdom Lodge
Art of Animation
Coronado Springs
All Star Sports
Boardwalk
Animal Kingdom Kidani Village
Pop Century
Yacht Club
Boardwalk Villas
Animal Kingdom Villas Jambo
Wilderness Lodge
Polynesian
Grand Floridian
Beach Club
Boulder Ridge
Contemporary
Saratoga
Old Key West
Ft. Wilderness Cabins
Polynesian Villas
Caribbean Beach
*sigh*
More were added, I think, after going in and looking at Grand Floridian rooms then backing back out.
Thank Tom as always for the coverage – getting it all put together and out and an ungodly hour too. I was actually up until almost 5 am ET working (yay to a motion response due tomorrow!) – so it might be the lack of sleep or more just realizing you were up doing this out in the middle of the night your time – so I especially appreciate the effort right now!
I’ve been getting up super early every Tuesday for the past 3 weeks in anticipation of this.
This time, my 3 a.m. wakeup was nicely assisted by jet lag!
Well, I can’t say that I don’t envy the reason you were up as opposed to why I was!
You’re our hero, Tom! We have a stay in November and while it did not qualify for free dining for our dates, we were able to upgrade from moderate to deluxe for not much more a night (Yacht Club too–so prime walking access to Hollywood Studios!).
I was able to upgrade my Nov 24 – Dec 1 stay at Pop Century to include Free Dining. I was able to keep my Preferred Room selection that I booked earlier in the year, and there was availability for all room types except Preferred Pool View. Took me about 3 minutes through MDE and I owe it all to you! Your Facebook post was the first place we saw the announcement! Thank you!
What did you go to on MDE to add this to tour already existing vacation?
so If I already have a Disney Vacation reservation for Nov 24-29, Do I get free plan if we are staying at one of the hotel listed? or do I need to cancel and re do the whole process in order to get free dining?
asking for a friend please…
You will need to cancel and rebook. I wouldn’t cancel until you have rebooked as availability is limited. You may have to change resorts in order to qualify for free dining.
You need to call. If you do not already have a package with tickets, then you will need to cancel and rebook.
We were already booked at Caribbean Beach with DDP for Nov 18-23. I called right at 7 this morning, was on hold for about 15 minutes and they were able to modify our booking to include the new free dining special offer for those dates. Saved us $500!! Hurray!! Thanks Tom and Disney Tourist Blog community!
Also, the reason we booked the week before Thanksgiving was because it was within Tom’s recommended “sweet spot” range in blog posts earlier this year. Worked out great! Now adding the free dining offer for those same dates makes it a super-sweet spot 🙂 Thanks Tom!
I didnt need to cancel our Dec 24-Jan 1 booking, I could (Change) update our dates to Dec23 to Dec 28 to qualify for this package. I did it online and it was so quick.
I hope they offer free dining for 2020. We are already booked lol!
Agree. Went last year, first week in January and we had free dining. Want to do it again this January. Any idea if they will offer free dining in January again Tom?
So, if my dates are November 16-24 at Caribbean, I’m not actually eligible, right? I have to check-in on the 17th to be eligible? Trying to call at this time, but I’m pretty sure the entire world is calling Disney World right now, and can’t get through. I’d like to save something!
This has happened to us before. We ended up staying 1 night at another resort, and then we started our Disney package our second day to get free dining. However, that means you do NOT have park tickets your first day!
So, you could stay 1 night on November 16 at a value resort to save money, or you could stay for 1 night at a deluxe resort to try it out and enjoy the amenities.
Then, on the 17th, have your package with free dining and hop to your free dining resort for the rest of your trip.
Luckily, we don’t need park tickets on our very first night, since we are getting to the resort after 3 PM, most likely. I ended up making a new reservation, although only pirate rooms were available. I still saved over $1,800, since we want the middle dining plan.
I haven’t made a reservation for our 1-night stay yet. Since we’re spending the 17th at Epcot, how difficult/time consuming will it be to switch resorts in the middle of the day? Will most likely end up spending the $350 for a 1-night stay in another pirate room and hope for the best. lol. I’d rather enjoy myself in Epcot than have to worry about transferring resorts.
This does not surprise me at all, but not for the reasons most people talk about – resistance to booking after Star Wars opens. Disney’s constant price increases, multiple times a year on just about everything, is taking its toll. A Disney trip is becoming a luxury. It used to be where you could afford a trip every year or two. We live in Canada and this was the norm for us – a trip every year or so, usually in September or late August. However, this is no longer the case. We also have to deal with an unfavourable exchange rate, so on top of that is the constant ways Disney is adding to the cost of a trip. From parking at the resorts to snack prices that are ridiculously high, we can no longer afford to go often. In fact, I do not know if we can afford to go again. I love Disney, but my loyalty does not come with a black cheque.
Yay! I just booked a Christmas trip, so thanks for the email this morning with the tip. I was hoping this would happen. When I was looking around the other day for dining reservations for Christmas Day there were piles of places and times available, which is not usually the case this long after the booking window has opened.
As someone who only used the DDP once it seems to me that when they do these deals for free dining, the package rates/room rates increase significantly. Is that just my observation or does it hold true?
No, the cost is the same, but most people have to increase their package to get free dining. For example, they might have to add on a park day or add on a hopper to their original package to then get free dining. That will increase the package cost before the free dining discount.
That’s why, for some people, the room only discount is a better deal. They won’t have to add on all the extra bells and whistles to get the promotion.
However, if you have a larger sized family, the free dining discount is probably going to be a better discount than room only.
I am already booked for Sept 1-8 at Saratoga Springs and purchased a dining plan. Am I able to call and take advantage of this still?
Yes you should be able to
Yes, as long as it’s still available for those dates at that resort. There are limited number of rooms per resort per day. You’ll want to call and see if it’s still available. Some people end up having to switch resorts, switch room types, or move their trip back a day in order to get the discount.
It’s always a bummer when they release dining discounts late because all of those dates are within the 180 window so good luck to all at getting any popular advanced dining reservations.
Exactly. Going in September. Booked dining reservations at 6 am 6 mo prior to arrival and still didn’t get everything we wanted. Good luck trying to get a high demand reservation.
Thats why you book when you need to and then hope your booking is eligible for the promotion. Which can be tricky if you resort gets fully booked.
I made reservations 180 days out and just rebooked this morning to take advantage of the offer.
Actually, I just booked for Dec 28-Jan 4th and there was plenty of dining availability. Even CRT had several available times. Plenty of room choices too. This was not the case when we went during this time in 2017. Shows bookings are really down.
We’ve been booked for a long time for Nov 30-Dec 8th (we’re DVC so free dining doesn’t affect us) but my in laws recently thought it would be nice to join us. I was trying to find a room for them and the only availability was at deluxe resorts and this was before the big SW ride was announced to open on Dec 5th. Seems to me that if the other weeks are anywhere near as busy that the free dining may only benefit those who have already booked. There doesn’t seem to be much room for new bookings.
I checked a few dates, September at CBR for a family of 5 appeared to be booked (it had a note that availability could not be checked at the moment). Week before Thanksgiving was wide open, week of December 8th was booked, and Dec. 15th-21st was wipe open!
I was one of those families that almost pulled the plug on our August 26-Sept 1st Trip. Not because I dislike Star Wars or feel SWGE won’t be amazing but simply because of crowds. Disney opening the parks early after the 29th will help us enjoy the low crowds we expected when originally booking our trip, though getting my kids up and out the door by 6am (we do full costumes and hair everyday) is going to be a major pain, but a trade-off I’m willing to make.
I really hope we’ll see ghost towns like Disneyland, but I just don’t see how we can compare the two. Disneyland blocked out its AP holders which makes up most of Disneyland’s crowds. If they did that at Disney World it would make a tiny dent in the attendance as most ppl who visit Disney World are out of state and country. Capacity is so low at Hollywood Studios that I can see it truly being a nightmare, and my family already has a duck-and-role strategy for Sept. 1st. We will arrive at 5am and if we are not through the gates by 6:30am we will take a Minnie Van to AK or MK.
I think everyone should avoid Disneyworld in September at all costs… because I’ll be there and I’d love extended hours and low crowds 😀
We booked a September visit in January, before the star wars opening dates were announced. We booked specifically in low season because the crowds have been getting too big over the past 20 years. We love Star wars and we were sort of happy when it was announced it would be open for our visit, but yes, we were very worried about what that might mean for crowd levels. I don’t appreciate Disney trying to bulk up crowds during our low crowd visit, lol! Stop adding promotions! Or maybe we just need to not buy any park tickets and only visit after hours events to avoid crowds??
No great deals at all for Passholders. I have a better deal when I booked my room in the spring for September. Disney raised the rates of all the rooms then offered a discount. I checked and I couldn’t find any deals for me.
Once again disney messes with us Passholders. They’re not offering anything.
The AP discounts are not working correctly right now–post coming very soon about that!
Availability for Pop Century the week before Thanksgiving and the week before and off Christmas. Otherwise it seems booked.