rickmer
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,137 
|
Post by rickmer on May 31, 2015 22:38:45 GMT
judging from many pea signatures, there appear to be some disney experts here....
we went for our first time in december, stayed at contemporary and LOVED it. i would love to go back and keep going on-line to unofficially book our next trip. went the 3rd week of december and really found it amazing with the holiday decor and themes.
i see there are deals for free dining right now, a week in december that we would be interested it in eligible. it appears that we can consider yacht club or beach club (only want deluxe and are somewhat limited due to being a family of 5). while we loved contemporary, we want to be closer to epcot and downtown disney for more/better food options.
it seems there are only a limited number of rooms eligible for the free dining plan. with a family of 5, 4 of whom are considered adults, that seems like a great deal. the problem is i am not 100% sure we can commit until we get our taxes done. if i book a room and do a deposit, how does that work? can you cancel and apply deposit to trip at a later date?
i checked disboard site but there is so much, i found it really tough to find specific info... but great for browsing around (need to print acronym list..lol!).
|
|
|
|
Post by Skellinton on May 31, 2015 23:14:59 GMT
The deposit is 200.00, I don't know if it is refundable or not though. I would book it if there was a chance you could go since you have specific restrictions on your resort.
I am super jealous! I want to go back so badly, but can't get anyone to go with me! My husband would go for a quick 4 day trio, but that is all he can handle. Tried to convince various other relatives to go, but since we were all just there 2 years ago they want to wait another year or so.
Free dining is a great deal, but since you are staying at a deluxe have you priced out if the free dining or room discount is a better deal?
|
|
rickmer
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,137
|
Post by rickmer on May 31, 2015 23:20:20 GMT
what is a room discount? how do i figure that out? disboards refers to comparing deals but don't see definitions. i assumed since ds and dd are both adults according to park admission and meal plan it would be a good deal.
when we went last year i knew NOTHING and found it all so daunting. now i think i have the lingo down but realize... this is pretty complex stuff. lol1
|
|
|
|
Post by bearmom on May 31, 2015 23:32:20 GMT
I just checked room discounts and it doesn't look like they go in December yet. A room discount gives you a % off a room, up to 30% at some deluxe resorts. Usually a better deal than free dining, depending on when you are going and where you are staying. For me, free dining was better, but we stay at value resorts.
|
|
lesley
Drama Llama
My best friend Turriff, desperately missed.
Posts: 7,295
Location: Scotland, Scotland, Scotland
|
Post by lesley on May 31, 2015 23:33:36 GMT
We had the free dining plan three years ago and absolutely loved it. We went in February and stayed in Old Key West (OKW!). You should be able to get 5 there too I think. We also got a room discount, but I don't know if that was because it was low season. OKW is just a short boat trip to Downtown Disney. For us, it was definitely worth it. We were there for 18 nights, and were in the parks many of those days. (In the UK you can buy a 21-day ticket with unlimited entry to all 6 parks for about $450, it's fabulous value.) We tend to stay in Hampton Inns or Marriotts when we visit, and on that trip, OKW was about £600 more than we usually pay for accommodation. However, we worked out that we would spend more than that on food for 4 people for 18 nights, so it was worth our while. It also meant that we could try restaurants that we wouldn't have visited otherwise. For example, we ate 'free' at the Cali Grill, where the meal would otherwise have cost $300. When you're budgeting for the trip however, remember that you are expected to tip on what you would have paid for the meal if you were paying cash. The snack credits built up over the trip, as many days we were so full of food we didn't need snacks! We went to Goofy's Candy Factory on our last day and chose about 20 packets of sweets and candy to bring home. I wish I was going back this year.  |
|
rickmer
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,137
|
Post by rickmer on May 31, 2015 23:41:17 GMT
hmmm. interesting... thank you for clarifying. i did see that referred to % discounts over the summer months but there weren't many for resorts we would be interested in or even able to consider. i seem to recall one we were eligible for was port orleans riverside but different dates than for the christmas extravaganza. i cannot imagine going back to disney studios and osborne family lights would not be an option.  i had no idea one little person (ds 3) would be sure a big deal to work around! |
|
|
|
Post by cakediva on May 31, 2015 23:53:30 GMT
We love the dining plan.
The first time we went we had free dining....it was great!
Second trip we actually paid for the dining plan. I don't think it saved us money, but it was sure nice knowing on day 5 we didn't have to worry about food money as it was all paid in advance.
We bought fruit and granola bars to have in the mornings for breakfast (with the dining plan you get a free refillable mug for the resort, so free morning coffee) and then we would have lunch around noon or 1:00. We made our dinner reservations for after 6:00, and used our snack credit mid afternoon if we were hungry.
I think it is a great deal when they offer free dining....I'd much rather pay full price for a room than full price for the dining plan!
|
|
|
|
Post by mandasue on Jun 1, 2015 0:23:14 GMT
We have a trip booked for October. The room discounts haven't been released yet & I am really hoping for one since our week was blacked out for free dining. The deposit & any payments you make our refundable. I believe it's 45 days prior to check-in/around when the payment is due in full. The exact details are on their website when you book. I would highly advise booking now if there is any chance you will go so that when your 180+ days come available to book dining you are able to first thing. There has been a lot of reports of people not being able to get any of the good restaurants booked even doing it on the first day they are eligible. We were only able to find one booking for Be Our Guest our entire stay. IMO free dining would stink if you couldn't eat anywhere good!
|
|
rickmer
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,137
|
Post by rickmer on Jun 1, 2015 0:44:47 GMT
great info, thanks very much! i think i will go ahead and book it and hope for the best (will review cancellation policy first). i agree that dining reservations are a big issue too... we aren't huge on character dining so that does offer a little more flexibility. i checked when we were there and there was no chance at all of be my guest. i didn't care about belle or the beast, just looked like a really cool venue to eat.
|
|
|
|
Post by Tamhugh on Jun 1, 2015 0:48:19 GMT
Before you book the trip based on free dining, look on the website and see what restaurants have availability. You won't be able to do it for a few weeks yet for a December trip.
A lot of WDW regulars are unhappy with the crowds created by the free dining plan. This year seemed to cause more glitches for people than ever. We are going in November (no dining plan) and we could not get any of the ADRs that we wanted. When I put in a date and a general meal time (lunch, instead of a time) there are only one or two restaurants with open tables. If you want only counter service restaurants, it won't be a big deal, but for table service, it may not be worth it.
|
|
|
|
Post by JustCallMeMommy on Jun 1, 2015 1:06:13 GMT
With 4 adults, the dining plan may be a good deal. You can book and change to a % off if one comes out later that will be cheaper for you though.
|
|
|
|
Post by cakediva on Jun 1, 2015 11:22:33 GMT
great info, thanks very much! i think i will go ahead and book it and hope for the best (will review cancellation policy first). i agree that dining reservations are a big issue too... we aren't huge on character dining so that does offer a little more flexibility. i checked when we were there and there was no chance at all of be my guest. i didn't care about belle or the beast, just looked like a really cool venue to eat. It is a super cool venue to eat - and lunch there was fantastic. We were unable to get dinner reservations, but we were able to get a lunch fast pass (an email invite came out before we went) so we pre-booked the lunch. It counts as a Quick Service, so you are not using a Table Service credit. |
|
