UPDATE: Rumors confirmed! Free Dining is now available for select dates October 2, 2011-March 31, 2012. See Details Here!
Rumors are swirling that the Disney World Free Dining promotion will be back this Fall and extend possibly into 2012. Booking is rumored to begin August 3rd.
As regular readers know, we usually don’t publish rumors without credible sources, so please understand that this is not corroborated by the Walt Disney Company in any way at the moment, and it is truly just a rumor currently.
The Free Dining promotion offers guests booking a vacation package the opportunity to add a Disney Dining Plan on to their package for free as long as they’re booking their room and tickets at standard rack rates.
Disney World Free Dining is already available through September, but should this rumor come to fruition, new dates would start up on October 2nd and include:
October 2, 2011 – October 8, 2011
October 23, 2011 – November 5, 2011
November 13, 2011 – November 19, 2011
November 27, 2011 – December 3, 2011
December 11, 2011 – December 17, 2011
As per usual, Value resort guests would receive the Quick Service dining plan for free. Deluxe, Villa, and Moderate resort guests would receive the Standard dining plan for free.
Upgrades would be available for a fee, and a minimum stay of 3 nights as well as base tickets for the park would be required. No word about a required photopass book.
According to Disney message boards, some guests have already been able to apply the Free Dining option to their vacation packages for the Fall by calling Disney reservations and asking if there are any Free Dining codes available during their stay.
Usually these rumors are pretty legit, so if you do have plans for a trip this Fall or Winter, consider being up-and-at-’em on the phone at 7am ET this Wednesday just in case.
Wondering if Free Dining is a good deal for you? We have a detailed analysis in our DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining e-Book, available here.
Our handy (and portable!) ebook guides make sure you get the best deals and can plan a vacation of a lifetime.
I can actually confirm this. (sort of) I have been looking into going to Disney World from Dec 11 to the 17th, and Disney just sent me a thing in the mail offering the hotel discount with the free dining plan for this time but I have to book by Aug 18.
This is causing quite the stir-as usual lol. About 2 weeks ago I called just to check if any pins were attached to my address. There weren’t any, but the CM made a big point to tell me to call back in a few weeks. She actually said “Listen to me-call back in a week or 2 ok?”. Of course when it comes to Disney-you hear what you want to hear 😉 We will see….
Thanks Samantha and Lisa!
Does something like this apply to someone who already has a package booked?
Jennifer — You should be able to apply the promo to a currently booked package as long as the package fits the qualifications listed, and as long as the package is booked at rack rate. You could also call and re-book your current package as a promo package.
I know you can start your vacation at the end of a free dining plan period and end outside of it. Can you do the same at the start (start outside the period but end your vacation inside the period) and still get the promo?
I am REALLY hoping that the free dining continues into 2012 (specifically, January lol)!!! I’m taking this as a good sign 🙂
does anyone remember if last year they included January in the extension or did they extend free dining twice to include later dates in 2011? I seem to remember an early August extension that included dates in 2010, then a later August extension that went into 2011 dates. **fingers crossed**
James… i think it only works at the start of a trip…but i could be wrong.
I hate hate HATE the free dining times. Since it costs nothing to make a dinner reservation, people book in ANTICIPATION of free dining, then don’t unbook if it doesn’t happen.
Also, servers get upset because free diners don’t tip nearly as well, and as a result I have to mention I’m a “paid” dining plan member to make them a bit happier.
does this include guests already booked for trip? im going october 26-november 5. can i call and get this well?
Don’t forget to check to see if another promotion is better…discounted room or free dining! Last year, the discounted room with a paid dining plan was less expensive when just my husband and I went. This year, we can have a 40% off military rate, so I think it will still be less even though my whole family is going ,but you bet I’m going to check!
Sheesh, the initial rumor is poorly sourced…. and now throwing in 2012 pure speculation on top of it.
Can dvc members ever take advantage of the free dining plan, we are going with my parents who are members on Oct 23, and was just wondering.
Mrs. Diner – I had a 40% off room promotion at a moderate resort for 6 nights and I called just to check to see what the price difference would be for free dining. The full price room with free dining ended up being ~$100 less than the 40% off hotel promotion. This was for 2 adult guests. It’s definitely worth checking out!
I always find that room only discounts are better for me, especially with a TiW card. Fingers crossed a room-only discount for Oct comes out after this!
No DVC members, staying on points, cannot take advantage of free dining. They paid for their stay when they bought their membership, so Disney isn’t going to toss them discounts now.
I know you can apply a new promo to an existing reservation but can you keep ADRs already made???
I’ll keep an out for it. When I made a payment on my trip last month, I mentioned to the AAA agent who I booked the trip through that I was hoping for free dining. She said she already got me a good rate so I may not save a lot. But every little bit helps.
It should have no effect on existing reservations.
ugh! I’m depressed. We’re going Oct 12-19th. I will do my best to pretend free dining doesn’t exist at all! I prefer to live in blissful ignorance.
It should have no effect on existing reservations? What do you mean? They always let us apply promos as they came up. We had to cancel our vacation last year due to an emergency and the agent specifically told us we could change once the promos were released. They were very accomodating to us and our situation.
Heather,
I think Adam was referring to dining reservations that have already been made, not your vacation in general. He meant that with the Free Dining promo, guests can keep any dining reservations they have already made.
:c)
Nothing! When do they usualy post it?
I just called and got the free meal plan! Thank you for the information!
Oh good, thanks! I was a bit worried something had changed.
We called and were able to change ours! Had to change by a week but no big deal. So happy for the advanced notice–thank you!
When will additional discounts for summer 2012 be announced? Anyone hear of any rumored discounts?
I’m wondering the exact same thing – anyone hear anything?