Disney and the Free Dining Promotion
dmm3239 asked: “Will there be free dining in 2012? When will they announce, or does anyone know if they will?“
I’m no fortune teller, but it is possible to make an educated guess about these things.
My take? I believe “Fall Free Dining” will be offered again, but other Free Dining offers throughout other times of the year will probably not be seen as much as it had the past two years.
So what is Free Dining?
Free Dining promotions give all guests aged 3 and up who are booked on a package (including room, a mimimum of a 2-day ticket, and dining) their Disney Dining Plan for free. Note: even Annual Passholders have to purchase a minimum of a 2-day ticket to be eligible for this promotion.
Yep. Free food! From Disney!!
Like all Disney Dining Plans, the tax is covered by the DDP, but the guest is responsible for the gratuity at all table service restaurants. Keep that in mind and be generous to your servers — they work exceptionally hard, especially at buffets, and are very skilled.
If you’re staying at a value resort, you receive the Quick Service Dining Plan for free, while guests of the moderate and deluxe resorts get the “regular” Disney Dining Plan for free. You can always upgrade to the dining plan you want — including to the Deluxe Dining Plan — by paying the difference in normal cost between the dining plan you’re getting for free and the cost of the dining plan you want.
What’s the difference between “Fall Free Dining” and other Free Dining promotions.
“Fall Free Dining” is for vacations occurring in the mid-August through September timeframe. This has been offered every Fall since 2005.
“Free Dining” is a relatively new promotion that was done to increase bookings during the recent global economic downturn. These offers came by PINs, by emails, by mailings, by print and TV ads, and by general public announcements. They were offered for pretty much all times of year, but had specific travel dates and “book by” dates.
Important note: Since Disney announced in the Fall of 2011 that they’d be significantly reducing their promotion frequency, we’ve seen less and less offers compared to the same timeframe one or two years ago.
Basically, I wouldn’t get my hopes up for Free Dining outside of the typical Fall Free Dining travel dates.
What exactly is “Fall Free Dining”
Back in 2004, Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne came close enough to the Resort to have everyone scrambling for safety (not to mention Hurricanes Charley and Ivan and Tropical Storm Bonnie that battered Florida too.)
The 2004 Hurricane Season
By spring of 2005, bookings were way down for that September. Disney had to do something to entice guests to plan their Fall vacations.
And what better way to entice people than to offer them free food?!
Will it happen this year?
The indicators are in place to see the “Fall Free Dining” promotion make an appearance for vacations starting mid-August through September.
- There were bounceback offers made to Fall Free Dining guests in 2011 (more info below)
- The UK and Canadian market has had Fall Free Dining offered to them for 2012.
- The original reason for this promotion still exists — crowds are low during this time.
How will I know that the offer has been made to the public?
Well, you stay active on the PassPorter boards! This is a popular topic and you will definitely see the posts pop up as soon as our members officially hear about the promotion being offered.
If Fall Free Dining is offered, it’s likely Disney will offer it up to Disney Visa cardholders first, with an announcement from the promotion to the general public coming a few days later. The past few years, the promotion has been opened in April or May.
When has Disney announced “Fall Free Dining” in the past?
According to the Historical Resort Discount Chart over at Mousesavers.com, these are the dates for previous Fall Free Dining promotions, and the dates that information was “released” to the public.
8/16/09-10/3/09 – Disney Rewards Visa cardholders released 3/26/09
8/16/09-10/3/09 – general public released 3/30/09
8/15/10-10/2/10 – Disney Rewards Visa cardholders released 4/29/10
8/15/10-10/2/10 – general public released 5/3/10
8/28/11-9/24/11 – Disney Rewards Visa cardholders released 4/28/11
8/28/11-9/24/11 – general public released 5/2/10
To answer the question of ‘When will they announce in 2012?’ That’s anybody’s guess! But, they did release them in 2010 and 2011 within a day of each other, so perhaps late-April, early-May is the time for announcements in 2012.
Any other ways to get Fall Free Dining?
If you are lucky enough to get a Fall Free Dining offer in 2012, check your resort room carefully once you’re on property. Keep an eye out for something that looks like this beauty:
A Fall Free Dining Bounceback Brochure
That’s a “bounceback offer” brochure – and, in recent years, they’ve looked like the White Rabbit’s pocket watch. If you don’t see one in your Disney resort room (usually on the table), call down to the front desk and ask if there are any bounceback offers available.
To take advantage of a bounceback, all you have to do is to book the promotion for the following year by putting down a $200 deposit before you check out of the resort. You can’t dither about it and call back a week after you get home – you have to do it right then and there!
A United Kingdom/Canadian Offer
Usually, Disney offers UK and Canadian travelers a Fall Free Dining promotion months before they offer it to US travelers. (I’ve also heard that some guests from South America have received a similar offer, but I don’t know those details.)
My conclusion
Since the UK/Canadian offer has already been made for 2012 and there was a bounceback offer for Fall Free Dining travelers in 2011, it’s a fair bet we’ll see Fall Free Dining offered for 2012 too.
Fingers crossed!!
Hello, Just to let you know that Disney has just offered free Dining to Disney Visa card holders for August 25th to September 29th. As long as you book between March 1st through May 18th. According to another website called The Magic for Less that I subscribe to:)
Free dining WILL and HAS been announced! Disney rewards Visa holders can get it RIGHT NOW and it will be offered to the general public on Monday. The dates are limited, but they always are at first and then get gradually extended. Also, availability is pretty limited right now but hopefully, more rooms will open up on Monday too.
I just received an email offering free dining in August and September 2012 for Disney Visa cardholders. It is the free quick service for value resorts and regular dining for moderate to deluxe resorts with a 5 night/6 day package purchase. So, won’t be long before it is open to the public.
Art of Animation, Family Suites at All-Stars and Fort Wilderness campsites are not included in the free dining offer.
I knew that the campsites were often not part of this promotion, but I’ll never understand why the family suites aren’t — you can get a 1- or 2-bedroom room at the Beach Club and get Free Dining! (As long as you’re not paying with DVC points.)
Ain’t it grand?! I didn’t see the news until late last night (after the news had broken), but it’s pretty thrilling.
Checking the info from my favorite travel agents, the offer will be released to the general public in just a few days.
One important note: It does require a minimum of a 2-day ticket purchase for everyone in the party. Annual Passholders will have to purchase those tickets in order to be eligible for the promotion (but they can save the tickets and use them towards their renewal later.)
I wish I could take advantage of it, but I’m so thrilled it’s out there for you all to book!
Can you tell me if I already have a package booked (room and tickets) will I be able to call Disney once the Free Dining is announced and apply it to my package. I understand our travel dates must fall within the dates Disney sets on the offer.
You can certainly call Disney and see if there is availability in your resort for your dates. (See my previous blog post about understanding promotions to see why you sometimes can’t snag a promotion because the limited number of rooms for that offer have already been snapped up — even if you already have a booking.)
And make sure you get your dining reservations set up quickly! Fall Free Dining will absolutely CRAM the restaurants, and ADRs are vital to be able to dine. You don’t want to waste free credits by not being able to get into Table Service restaurants!!
Can anyone tell me if the Free Dining offer is going to be available in early Dec too? We went in Dec. 09 & want to return at this time!! Love Christmas in Disney! It’s even more magical!
Fall Free Dining should only go from mid-August through September.
“Regular” Free Dining is a relatively new promotion that Disney began offering at other times of year during the recent global economic crisis. They’ve *said* they will be reducing promotions this coming year — and have been following through on that promise. So, it’s really anyone’s guess whether they will slow down on the Free Dining offers.
That said, unless you have a large group of adults in your room, Free Dining is often not as good a deal as a juicy room discount can be. That’s why I’d always suggest you do the math to determine which promotion would save you more.
Good luck!
Traditionally does this offer usually extend through October?
Unfortunately, there’s nothing “traditional” about how/when Disney releases promotions. It’ll be a little different every year.
However, with Fall Free Dining since its inception in 2005, it ran from mid-August through the end of September. If the final Saturday of the promotion ran a day or two into October, that was okay.
The past year or so, they did extend it a week or so into October — I guess because they saw bookings were down. But, with Disney saying they were cutting back on promotions this year (and following through on that!), I wouldn’t get my hopes up.
Sorry!