Free Dining Recovery Deal for Disney World
Ready for some good news?! Free Dining is once again available at Walt Disney World, but there’s a catch: it’s as a summer recovery vacation package for guests who have had to cancel their trips during the months during the closure. (Updated May 11, 2020.)
In our Will Walt Disney World Offer Huge Discounts After Reopening? post, we address two common reader questions: “will Walt Disney World offer deals when the parks & resorts reopen?” and “will WDW raise prices to make up for lost revenue during the closure?”
This new Walt Disney World discount should start to answer that. Even if you’re not eligible to take advantage of the summer recovery dine package, this bodes well for a second wave of the Free Disney Dining Plan Discount for fall and winter travel dates–or potentially even a “reissued release” of the first batch of Free Dining dates. We’ll cover the promo details and offer some speculation here…
May 11, 2020 Update: Over the weekend, Walt Disney World pushed back the booking window until July 1, 2020. We covered this change at length here. There were a lot of changes and cancellations as part of that, so some news got lost in the shuffle.
One such detail was the early ending of the Summer Recovery Free Dining package, as discussed in more detail below in this post. The deal was cut short, and is thus no longer available for booking–it’s also not available for rebooking or modifications.
This means that if you previously took advantage of the Free Dining summer recovery offer and booked June travel dates, you now would not be able to change your travel dates to July and retain Free Dining. (However, some readers in the comments have reported success at doing this over the phone. Best of luck–please report back if you try this and it works for you.)
This might come as a surprise, given that we’ve continually stressed that Walt Disney World will likely be offering more aggressive discounts to lure guests back once the parks and resorts reopen. We maintain that this is likely to be the case, especially later this fall and in 2021, as travel will likely slump for over a year. The economic recovery could take a while, as could assuaging fears that it’s safe to travel.
However, things may be different in the short term. In our Will Walt Disney World Offer 2020 Free Dining Again? we noted that capacity restrictions at restaurants may be a limiting factor on the extent to which Free Dining can be offered. The same may be true with resort limitations. (It’s probably not with regard to the parks–even if the parks are operating at 25% capacity, that still would allow all resort guests to access the parks, even if the hotels are near capacity.)
Right now, cutting the promo short could be a matter of Walt Disney World leadership not having a full or clear picture of what modified operations will look like once the parks and resorts do reopen. It’s likely they do not want to tie their own hands by committing to a discount that (more or less) requires restaurants to operate at a certain capacity. In other words, we’re still expecting more discounts, but Walt Disney World itself is likely in “wait and see” mode before releasing anything else.
For those curious (or who missed it before), below are the full details of Walt Disney World summer recovery dine package. To reiterate, this is no longer being offered, and we’re just keeping it here for posterity…
Here are the official details on the Walt Disney World summer recovery dine package, from the “Resort Rooms & Packages” section of the DisneyWorld.com travel advisory page:
Eligible Guests can take advantage of a vacation package offer that includes accommodations at a select Disney Resort hotel, park admission and a Disney dining plan–valid for arrivals most nights June 1, 2020 through September 30, 2020 when you book through May 31, 2020.
This offer is valid only for Guests who booked a vacation package or room reservation to stay at a Disney Resort hotel during the dates Walt Disney World Resort is closed. Offer not valid for reservations cancelled before March 1, 2020.
Note that if you’re eligible for the Walt Disney World summer recovery dine package, you should receive an email directly from Disney. However, these don’t always go out, get caught in spam filters, etc. Calling Walt Disney World (this deal can only be booked over the phone) or having your Authorized Disney Vacation Planner do it for you should yield success.
Again, we cannot emphasize enough that this Free Dining deal is only available to guests who have had their trips cancelled by Disney, or proactively cancelled. New bookings are not eligible at this time. There are no exceptions to that. (In other words: don’t bother calling and clogging up the phone lines if you’re not eligible!)
This is the same Free Dining offer that was available earlier this year and is not the infamous “Free Dining Lite” or “Half-Free Dining” as I’ve come to call Walt Disney World’s other marketing gimmicks that trade on the name recognition of the Free Dining offer.
This means that Value and Moderate Resort guests receive the Quick Service Disney Dining Plan, while Deluxe and Deluxe Villa guests receive the standard Disney Dining Plan. Beyond that, it follows all of the normal “rules” of Free Dining, which is to say that you’re required to purchase non-discounted tickets and pay full price for the hotel.
There are also length of stay requirements and some room exclusions–all of which is spelled out in the promotion specifics that you’ll receive via email (the normal “rules” are covered in full detail here, along with comprehensive analysis and Free Dining tips).
Walt Disney World offering this discount isn’t a huge surprise. It will leave guests feeling better about having to cancel, especially after many have had to deal with long waits on hold and some reported difficulties in receiving a refund.
Moreover, this is also almost certainly a better discount than anyone with a Spring Break or Easter trip had booked. Conversely, some guests with bookings for May might find this to be a worse deal than what they’d previously booked. As always with Free Dining, “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” It’s essential to do the math.
From Walt Disney World’s perspective, it’s an even savvier move. Disney will need to find a way to fill hotel rooms and get occupancy to a respectable number once the parks & resorts resume operations. No matter what your perspective on whether or not the parks will be packed when Walt Disney World reopens, it’s safe to assume that the resorts will not be busy in at least the first month or two after the parks reopen.
A lot of guests will cancel preemptively, meaning bookings will be getting lighter for June through September 2020. Beyond that, most people cannot book a vacation on a moment’s notice for only a few days or even a few weeks later. That’s presumably the turnaround time between the announcement that the parks are reopening and the date of said reopening, whenever that may be.
When the parks do reopen, they’ll be heavily dependent–at least initially–on locals and nearby Annual Passholders. By and large, this is not the demographic that’s booking hotel stays.
Free Dining will help buoy bookings for June through September 2020, which are months that will presumably otherwise be fairly light on hotel reservations. This is a big part of why we’re expecting a slew of additional deals to be released once Disney has a more certain idea of when the parks and hotels will likely be able to resume operations.
Don’t be too upset if you’re ineligible to book Free Dining for June through September 2020 right now. It would be more surprising to us if this discount is not reissued to the general public in the near future. Beyond that, we’d expect aggressive room only discounts and aggressive offers for Annual Passholders and Florida residents.
Even then, we still wouldn’t be surprised to see some resorts consolidated, like Port Orleans or Art of Animation/Pop Century. Given the likelihood that convention business will be slow to recover, a delayed reopening of Coronado Springs Resort also seems possible. (All of this is totally uninformed speculation on my part.)
Walt Disney World has significantly increased its hotel room inventory in the last decade. That was great when business was booming and people were willing to pay a significant premium for on-site accommodations. It remains to be seen whether that’ll be a liability going forward. (I already wrote ~2,000 words on the topic in Will Walt Disney World Offer Huge Discounts After Reopening? My answer to the titular question was an emphatic yes–so now you know where I stand on that.)
One thing that should be emphasized is that this does not mean the Walt Disney World parks & resorts will reopen on or before June 1, 2020. It’s a signal that Disney has that intent, but it’s not conclusive. As we’ve noted in several other posts about the current situation, so much remains to be seen between now and then. Even with this deal, the parks could reopen earlier or later than June.
Rather, this should be viewed as Walt Disney World acknowledging the above–that having vacation packages and resort reservations booked is a necessary prerequisite for operating the parks and resorts. If hotel occupancy numbers aren’t at a certain level, it’s not practicable to operate them. In order to hit said number, Disney needs to start accepting reservations for future travel dates…even if those end up having to be cancelled as travel dates draw nearer.
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
Have you been able to book this Walt Disney World summer recovery dine package? Was it the full Free Dining or Free Dining Lite? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? 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!
My question is what if you had to reschedule but it falls after the Sept 30 cut-off? We only had time off in November to rebook. Not really fair to this demographic. There should be something for every single person that was affected. If you are going to offer it to one, offer to all.
So true. I have to wail until November to go and we were supposed to go this Saturday. I hope they extend this offer at least until the rest of 2020. We don’t even know when the park will reopen. Look at Disney Tokyo and Disney Shanghai.
Certainly suggests they are fairly confident they will be open by June 1st. You’re creating a logistical and customer relations nightmare for people if they get cancelled twice.
That said – I’m pessimistic that they will be open by June 1st. Florida’s response to the pandemic has been slow. They still aren’t taking it seriously enough. Florida May just be hitting a peek by May.
Additionally, Disney will have to be ready with procedures far greater than extra hand washing stations. Theme parks in China have started to re-open with reduced capacity, mask mandates, closed indoor attractions, temperature checks, etc.
Maybe Disney World is already preparing for those adjustments behind the scenes, but I haven’t heard any rumors of such.
But the promotion strongly suggests Disney thinks they will be open by sometime in May.
@ Adam, then they are fairly incompetent in their confidence to be open by June 1st. Look at the numbers, US now has the most. Logic says it will take anywhere from 3-6 months to plank it or longer when vaccines eventually become available. People will be cancelled twice, three times and four times before this is all over.
I’m in Ontario, Canada where things are not rosy but they are nowhere near where US is at the moment and yet we have tighter restrictions in place.
China enabled martial law basically to thwart this. We know that ain’t going to happen in North America, especially US. So it is going to take time . . . Do keep safe!
I have a question. I’m booked May 9-16 at POR but I purchased my tickets through Undercover Tourist not directly from Disney. Would I still qualify for the free dining since it would come as a package deal if they cancel my reservation in the future? The tickets are already linked to my account with fastpass reservations also.
Does everyone really think Disney will reopen before we all go down to our local CVS and get our Covid-19 Vaccination sometime late 2020, to early 2021???
Face the Facts People!
Your opinion is legitimate but there are also plausible reasons why it could reopen sooner. Remember that points don’t become stronger through repetition alone. Maybe consider cutting back on this type of comment unless you’re coming at it from a new angle. There are lots of things to discuss about this, other than extreme assertions about park reopening timelines 😉
Logical deduction prevents me from thinking that anything other than an effective vaccine will get us out of this crisis, and it is a crisis!
Current stay at home orders and travel bans are only in effect to help our healthcare system from being overwhelmed, Not to completely stop the spread and stamp it out! To think otherwise is foolish. This devel is spread through human to human proximity, isolation from all human contact is the only way to prevent transmission, which is an impossibility! When this outbreak started, one medical professional stated The Question Is Not How Long this Outbreak Will Last, But How Long Before We Are All Exposed !
Hmm we rescheduled our spring break trip to the last week of October and I was bummed that we wouldn’t qualify for this unless we moved the trip sooner. Now I’m wondering if we should hold out and see if they extend the dates. But then I’m worried all the value hotels would be full if they didn’t extend it and we decide to move to September…but then if we dont have to pay for food we can pay for a pricier hotel… so many factors and decisions to make!!
I agree. We will not be traveling until there is a widely available vaccination. Otherwise this virus will come back again with full force. It’s not the “flu”. I’m sad for Disney as a DVC member we go often but for now it may be a couple years before we return and that’s really a general estimate.
We currently have our Disneyworld vacation booked at a Disney resort (Caribbean), with tickets and dining for the end of May/beginning of June. We are obviously very skeptical that Disney will reopen by then. If we were to cancel our trip and rebook for September would we qualify for the free dining promotion? Also, I know with free dining there are usually only certain hotels that fit the requirement to qualify. Is that the same in this case?
Tom (or anyone else), how much more of a premium will this deal cost? Free dining is rarely ever truly ‘free’, and now with the addition of tickets too… It sounds like a great deal on paper, but is it going to be in practice? We were going cheap and staying at All Star Movies for $69/night May 10th-15th. It was a price you couldn’t beat! I’m afraid there’s no way the rooms will stay that cheap for us now going into June. Flights throughout June seem very cheap (Ohio to Florida for $28/round trip ticket WOW), but the room rates on the Disney website still reflect a normal summer price. What are your thoughts?
The way the cast member I spoke with explained it is that you will pay full price for the room, and you will pay full price for park tickets, and you will get a free dining plan based on your resort category. So at All Star you would get a free Quick service plan, but you will paying full price tickets and room. So like you said, nothing is truly “free”.
Brandon……. Wow, I got the same exact bounce-back deal! I was going to stay at the all-star movies 11-15 of May and was to fly out of Cleveland May 9th. (was staying at the Polynesian on the 9th and 10th). When I first got the email back in November I thought to myself that was just to good of a deal to pass on a Disney resort. But alas, it won’t be happening. Now even though free dining is a great add-on, I’d still rather have an all-star resort for $69 a night and pay out of pocket for dining. I’m hoping that Disney might send me an email for another deal equal to what I had.
So I just called and because I did a room-only reservation for my trip and purchased the park tickets separately, I don’t qualify. I even read the CM the website that said “vacation package OR room reservation” which to me means exactly that, either we did a package or not and it didn’t matter. We did it that way because we were supposed to go on a Carnival cruise for Spring break and I decided a month or so ago to add 2 nights at Disney so I just did the hotel to have one and was going to sort out tickets after because I knew they were non-refundable and wanted to be sure. The CM said she would have to book it as a vacation package with NEW park tickets (more $ for me) then cancel my room booking and that the tickets I previously bought I could use until Dec. 15th 2020 (providing I didn’t use them for the newly booked July trip). Then the hotel room type I have is no longer available for my dates, so to switch from a Sun & Fun promo price for an ordinarily cheaper room type to a more expensive room type I don’t need (5th sleeper @ CBR) at regular price didn’t seem worth it to me PLUS extra park tickets for the QS dining plan. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen people today in FB groups say they just had to pay the different between their room-only promo price and the regular rack rate to get the free dining plan. Seems like it depends on what CM you speak to?
@Brandon – It depends upon the number of people you have and how much you want to eat. For a party of 4, this Free Dining deal would likely be better. For a couple, your current room discount will almost certainly be superior.
I’d expect plenty more room-only discounts like that one before this is said and done.
So, what’s the possibility that I won’t have to pay above the $69/night for a new room in a new month when they reschedule me? A little bump in price, sure, but If I have to pay summer fun $140 for All Star Movies I am going to flip out. That isn’t right! We had a deal!!!!!
We have military Disney tickets so our package doesn’t include the tickets. Would we not be eligible for free dining?
“Would we not be eligible for free dining?”
Correct, you would not be eligible.
From a Canadian healthcare professional, the number of comments I see on Twitter and social media about “I hope to go on my Disney vacation in April/May” is astounding. It unfortunately shows that people don’t really get it at this point. I am a huge Disney fan as much as the next person, and I would love to go to Disney World soon, but to think that this will die down within two months is extremely naive.
THANK YOU! I think it’s foolishly optimistic to think widespread travel will be possible/encouraged in June, even through the summer. Bums me out, I LOVE travel, I love Disney. But even though I’m holding out hope to travel this summer, there is a part of my rational brain growing stronger each day that travel is just not going to happen in Summer 2020. I am also not big into the idea of paying rack rate for things (room and tickets even if food is “free”) and having a very limited experience if that’s what the parks will look like upon opening after this crisis.
Mike and Cynthia, it definitely does stink for DVC members.
Hi! Do we know if this is only for people with WDW reservations? We had a trip to Disneyland Paris planned for this week 🙁
Amanda,
It may be a longshot but I would call and give it a try. Have a screenshot/image of your original booking and cancellation to share with the Castmenber. It certainly cant hurt…Disney would rather have you spending $ somewhere within the company than not at all. Good luck!
We live in Florida and just became annual passholders in mid February. We had a resort stay scheduled for end of March and another for end of May. I spoke with a castmember tonight about how I should handle my May reservation and he advised I should keep it. If you decide to rebook for the eligible dates you have to cancel your current booking. Since we don’t have a finite date of the reopening he said to wait it out until more details are available. Also, it’s important to note that he said this offer for eligible guests includes tickets to the parks-so as an annual passholder he said I would be paying more money to rebook than I would be paying to just wait for the Fall release of passholder room discounts.
It includes tickets? But if we had a room-only booking and already purchased tickets we’d be moving them over to the new dates. I really have to call them.
It’s essentially a “vacation package”, so it’s room, tickets and dining. The dining would be free, but if you’re an annual passholder like myself you’d have to purchase the full package which includes additional tickets. This is how the cast member explained it to me, at least.
Darn, I booked a backup to our April 13-20th trip last week for early July and only canceled the April trip last night after the announcement that they were extending their closure. Does this mean I should have only booked July AFTER canceling the April one to qualify? I also booked the Sun & Fun promo…I guess I should call them.
Based upon my interpretation, you should be eligible–but you definitely need to call to confirm. Good luck!
Thanks! Just tried calling and they’re closed despite their recording saying they close at 11pm EST! I’ll try calling on Monday.
And I had not moved over our park tickets to July yet, was going to wait until the 90-day marker and also work out where I wanted them during the new dates. Just tried doing it to see and I keep getting the error message: “Due to a system error, we were unable to update your ticket.”
In case anyone is wondering, I just called Disney about my inability to change my April park ticket dates and got through right away when I said that I was calling about tickets and the CM said that if your dates fall within the closure they are in the process of changing them to flexible tickets to use before Dec. 15th 2020, that’s why we can’t make any changes. He said it should take a few days, we’ll just go into our tickets in MDE and see the change (ie no specific date on them).
I then asked about the dining plan offer and he said the resort department would be able to help me with that. So I called the number he gave me (which had the same welcome message as the other one!) and said to the automated message that I had a question about the dining plan and after dealing with that keying in my phone number, re-saying my name, etc, it said it was a 2hr wait so I hung up. 8 am on a Sunday fyi I was in the bathroom hiding since we never told the kids we were going. No way I can hide out from them in the bathroom for 2 hrs (though I’d like to 😛 )
I just received the offer in my email and it is the full dining plan! I’m definitely hesitant to re-book at this time though.
Yeah, I can see how it’d be tough with so much uncertainty right now. For what it’s worth, I’m expecting a ton more details (including a potential re-release of this same offer to the general public), so you’ll likely have several more opportunities to book good deals!
I’d definitely feel more comfortable booking for later in the fall, especially coming from out of country (Canada).
When did you receive the email? I have a room-only booked in late May and I haven’t received anything in my email yet. I guess I’ll have to call, but it’s hard to do with the kids home all of the time now. We hadn’t told them yet and I want to make sure we can reschedule before getting their hopes up. Thanks!
@Jen did you have tickets attached to the booking? Someone in a Disney FB group said they called and were told they had to have park tickets attached to the room booking. They just had a room and it couldn’t be done.
Hi Jen,
I received the email yesterday. Our trip for mid-March was cancelled as the park closed a few days before we were scheduled to go on vacation. Maybe the offer is only currently being offered to those whose trips have already been cancelled? Good luck- I know it’s disappointing.
By Full Dining plan, do you mean that it is the Disney dining plan and not just the quick service?
You only get the regular dining plan if you stay in a deluxe. The mods and values get the quick service.
I don’t qualify for this offer and have not had to cancel my September reservations. My fear is that I will suffer through the 100 degree days for less people and it will be mobbed. Saying they reopen mid June what do you think September will be like. Because if it’s that hot with huge crowds it would be awful.
We have a trip booked for September too. I haven’t cancelled in the hopes that this will be over by then. But, I have been wondering about crowds then as well. If everyone cancelling now is rebooking for Fall, I have the sense that September is going to look a lot more like the summer crowds.
Man, I can’t wait until we get a good, hard set date of when Disney World will open. The last two and a half weeks have dragged.
Do anyone have any idea why every date in May is currently showing zero room availability? I have plane tickets for early May but hadn’t booked a room yet … yesterday there were still tons of room options available to book and now today shows zero. Even for a 1 night mid-week stay. Is this a glitch or is the entire month actually sold out?
Because they’re closed and the soonest you can book is June 1st
They haven’t announced anything about being closed in May yet though so I just think it’s strange… I was hoping they’d reopen before June 🙁 🙁
Just my opinion, but no one should be flying to FL in early May. That is possibly the time when this pandemic will be reaching its peak. FL is already telling travelers from some states to either stay home or if they must come, they have to self-quarantine for 2 weeks. Believe me, I can’t wait to return to the parks. I already had to cancel my spring trip, and I probably won’t feel safe by August to bring my family then either. However, saving lives is more important than a vacation.
Our late July trip is going to be wall to wall people now. The summer months have never been uncrowded as people claim and now will be insane. Trying to get my patience dusted off now…
“Our late July trip is going to be wall to wall people now.”
I would be absolutely shocked if this is the case.
I agree. We have a late August reservation and with as aggressive as this virus is, I cannot imagine taking my kids into a crowd, even then. The state of Kentucky is on lockdown and we are told to expect that for up to 8 weeks. All our scouting activities have been closed through May 10th. I think this virus will be here for quite a while.
Seems like a really good idea.
I’d imagine that most families that booked over Spring Break are biased towards having to visit when kids are out of school.
After losing all that traffic if you can’t recover some of those guests over the summer they could be lost forever, or until next year.
Thanks for keeping us in the loop!
“I’d imagine that most families that booked over Spring Break are biased towards having to visit when kids are out of school.”
Yep. And this is probably an easy deal to offer, using the exact same details of the promo that expired fairly recently. We saw them do the same thing by extending the room-only discount–no surprise to see this, too.
It is a start for sure. However, hope they realize that it may not open until July. Maybe they should frame it as we are offering free dining for 3 months from the day we actually open. Things in the US are declining with the political going show going on. Do take care!
I think Disney does realize this, and is framing it this way intentionally so that people are more likely to book it. Fewer people would jump at this if told there’s a chance their reservation will need to be modified or cancelled yet again.
Hi Tom. Does this free dining include DVC members that had a reservation with points? Thanks
DVC reservations are never eligible for any discounts.
And doesn’t that just stink.