TODAY’S THE DAY! Walt Disney World’s Free Dining Offer is officially coming back and will be offered to guests for select dates in August, September, November, and December 2018 (NOTE: There are no October dates this year, but if your check-in date is in late September, you can obviously take your stay into October).
Disney World Free Dining 2018 Travel Dates
Free Dining is being offered to guests ARRIVING during the dates listed below.
August 20* – September 29, 2018
November 24 – November 27, 2018
December 7 – December 23, 2018
UPDATE: The booking window — which originally closed on July 7th — has been extended to August 1, 2018!
*Canada Residents may book now for travel dates beginning August 2, 2018, and Disney Visa Cardholders may book now for travel dates beginning August 2, 2018.
(See below for participating resorts. Please note that the offer excludes several resorts this year, including campsites, 3-bedroom villas, and Disney’s Art of Animation Resort – Little Mermaid Standard Rooms.)
Disney Resorts For Disney World Free Dining Offer
If you stay at a participting Value or Moderate Resort, you’ll receive the Quick Service Dining plan for FREE. (Note that you can upgrade to the standard or deluxe dining plans by paying the difference in cost per night.)
Participating Value Resorts include:
- All-Star Music
- All-Star Sports
- Art of Animation Resort (Family Suites only)
- Pop Century
Participating Moderate Resorts include:
- The Cabins at Fort Wilderness (campsites excluded)
- Caribbean Beach Resort
- Coronado Springs Resort
If you reserve a participating Deluxe or Deluxe Villa Resort, you will receive the standard Dining plan for FREE. (You can upgrade to the deluxe dining plan by paying the difference in cost per night.)
Participating Deluxe Resorts include:
- Animal Kingdom Lodge
- Beach Club Resort
- BoardWalk Inn
- Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
- Yacht Club Resort
Participating Deluxe Villas include:
- Animal Kingdom Villas — Jambo House
- Animal Kingdom Lodge — Kidani Village
- Beach Club Villas
- BoardWalk Villas
- Old Key West Resort
- Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
Minimum/Maximum Days for Disney World Free Dining Offer
You must book a minimum stay of 4 nights/maximum stay of 14 nights at a participating Disney-owned resort. You also need to purchase AT LEAST a 4-day Magic Your Way Disney World ticket with a Park Hopper AND/OR the Park Hopper Plus Option.
Will Free Dining Save YOU Money? We Break Down the Numbers For You…
Since Disney World’s Free Dining offer generally can’t be combined with other discounts, it’s often difficult to determine how to save the MOST money: with a Disney World hotel room discount or with the free dining offer.
We break down and compare the costs and options for several Disney World discounts, including the Free Dining offer, in our fully updated DFB Guide to Walt Disney World® Dining 2018 e-Book to help you save the most money possible.
With over 650 pages of great Disney World dining advice, full color photos, and details, this book is a great deal.
Get your DFB Guide to WDW Dining here, and speaking of saving money — use code “WDW2018” to get 25% off today! With a full, money-back guarantee, there’s nothing to lose!
Ready to Book Free Dining? We’ve Got a Limited Time Offer From Our Trusted Travel Agent Partners!
The agents at Small World Vacations are ready to help you save time, headaches and best of all, money. They compare available discounts to find the best deal for you. This is why they are the preferred travel agent of the Disney Food Blog.
Book a new 2018 Walt Disney World® vacation valued at $3600 or more and get one FREE Mickey Themed insulated cooler filled with yummy treats and surprises delivered to your onsite Walt Disney World resort room. (Items may vary.)
This offer is good for check-ins August 2 through December 31, 2018. Offer must be booked with Small World Vacations April 24 through May 1, 2018. Restrictions apply. Substitutions may be necessary. Personalization not available.
Enter code DFBFD18 to qualify when you request a price quote from Small World Vacations*.
If you already booked your 2018 Walt Disney World vacation directly with Disney within the last 30 days and it’s valued at $3600 or more (without airfare and not yet paid in full) for an arrival between August 2 – December 31, 2018, it’s not too late to get the Mickey Themed Insulated Cooler with goodies! Transferred reservations qualify! Offer expires May 1, 2018. Restrictions apply. For details email Small World Vacations at guestrelations@ smallworldvacations.com and mention DFB code DFBFD18.
If you are ready to begin planning a trip, simply fill out Small World Vacations’ no obligation quote form! Small World Vacations is happy to share over 20 years of Disney expertise and firsthand experience with MyDisneyExperience, dining reservations and FastPass+ so you can sit back, relax and get ready to enjoy your vacation.
* In-room gift courtesy of Small World Vacations. Comparable approximate value at Disney Florist is $59.95. While supplies last. One tote per qualifying new 2018 Walt Disney World vacation reservation valued at $3600 or more for check-in August 2 – December 31, 2018. No cash value and void if cancelled. Non-transferable. Substitutions may be necessary. Offer valid on bookings made April 24 – May 1, 2018 for travel dates August 2-December 31, 2018.
Our handy (and portable!) ebook guides make sure you get the best deals and can plan a vacation of a lifetime.
Hi, just wondering if the free dining plan is ever offered late January?
Any news about extended dates for disney visa cardholders?
Why are passholders always excluded from the free dining plans?
Passholders aren’t excluded; they just don’t really need the tickets. You can book Free Dining, hang on to the tickets (use your pass to get into the park), then use those tickets towards an annual pass renewal when it comes up later in the year.
How to book these? I tried to book from Disney page, it didnt give me option for free dining.
I didn’t see contemporary resort on the list. Does that mean it’s excluded?
We are booked for nov30th- dec 9th do we qualify for the free dining for just 2 days since it starts dec 7th
Hi there,
I’m contacting you from Australia where I am currently trying to book the free dining. I’ve been at it for over an hour but it just keeps glitching and telling me it’s unable to process my request right now. I imagine the reservations site is a bit overwhelmed, but will this mean we’ll miss out.
Do you have any suggestions for how to get through the reservations system?
Thanks for your help,
Christine
Just curious…I often see the Art of Animation Little Mermaid Room excluded from various offers (including this one). Why is that? We stayed there and it is just a standard room, but it seems to always be excluded from the room deals, which include other standard rooms.
I realized last night on our way home from dinner that we were already less than 180 days from our resort check in date for the free dining promotion we weren’t even able to book yet. So, I invested a few hours last night making all my ADRs for the week and I was able to book everything but O’hana! We won’t give up on that and will keep checking back but there were still a few spots available for breakfast at Be Our Guest during the week. If you book free dining remember to get booking your ADRs for September arrivals ASAP!
Thank you AJ and DFB team! Because of you I was able to snag this deal when I woke up at 6am and saw your email! Now it seems like the site is totally clogged up and I can’t even get into see my reservation so I am so thankful for your early email that allowed me to get on the offer before it went haywire. THANK YOU!
I am a Disney Vacation Club member – does it apply to me?
I see everything about free dining! Anything about room only discounts?
Website and phones crashed?
Just wanted to thank you for all the updates on the Free Dining. I was watching it all night, then when it posted, I jumped on it, and secured our reservations in September. The site has been crashed for the last couple of hours, I assume from demand.
Thank You
Where do I find the link to book the free dining with my chase card to get the earlier dates? usually there is a separate link
If you have already booked your vacation during this time – will they switch your resorts (thus gaining free dining) and still honor your standing dinner reservations?
If my hotel and dates are both listed above, do I automatically receive free dining? Do I need to call and have that added? Is there a limited number of people that will get the free dining offer?
Why doesn’t this include DVC members)
Can non-resort guests take advantage of the free dining?
Do we need to book our vacation through Small World Vacations to receive the discount? We’ve already booked our room with another person.
Thank you!
Wow. Slim pickings on moderate resorts. 2 out of the 3 are under construction with the Caribbean being the worst construction.
Don that is genius! Wish I had thought of that!
Thanks for this timely post. You’re blog is fantastic.
Thank you for the information over the night, I somehow woke up at 4 am pacific time, saw your email, and was able to book two rooms with free dining. So excited!
Are DVC members excluded?
Don says
April 24, 2018 at 5:36 am
Passholders aren’t excluded; they just don’t really need the tickets. You can book Free Dining, hang on to the tickets (use your pass to get into the park), then use those tickets towards an annual pass renewal when it comes up later in the year.
Don, could you please Elaborate in this for me please. What do we mean by use those tickets towards an annual pass renewal ?
For passholders who book the free dining stay how much towards next years renewal do the tickets get you?
So Don,
what you are saying is that passholders still would buy park tickets with the free dining package, not use them, then when it comes time to renew my annual passes, I can trade the unused park tickets in for a credit towards annual pass renewal?
Victoria, you do not need to book through Small World to get the Disney Free Dining package.
Jennifer, no, guests must reserve a room at a Disney World Resort and purchase a package that includes Park Hoppers (or Park Hopper+) for 4 or more days.
Aaron, you do need to call to add it, and the number of Free Dining offers allocated are limited.
Julie, you are able to change your hotel reservation without affecting your ADRs and/or Fastpass+. Confirm this when you call!
Sara, to book free dining with your Disney Visa, you simply call to make the reservation and use the card to pay the deposit.
Debbi, Free Dining is not offered to DVC members. To obtain Free Dining, guests must book a room and tickets package.
Jennifer, great reminder!
Julie, your guess is as good as ours!
Rich, as long as your vacation starts within the Free Dining window, it can be applied to your entire vacation!
Frances, that’s correct. If a resort is not on the official list, it is not included.
Harsh: There are two ways to book Free Dining: You can add it online to an existing reservation or call Disney Reservations to request it.
Stephanie: In case you haven’t seen this yet: Visa Cardholder Free Dining info!
Linda, DVC members can not receive the Free Dining without buying a package that includes hotel and 4+ days of Park Hopper/Park Hopper+ tickets. That said, as has been mentioned in this thread, DVC members could purchase tickets but only use their AP to enter parks — thus reserving the tickets and applying them to the AP renewal.
Looks great
if we rented points from a dvc member during that time at the hotels listes and have purchased park hopper tickets, can we qualify?
…But DVC members still have to reserve a room even if they buy the ticket, so DVC could not be used.
Cynthia, no, you would need to book a room and ticket package directly with Disney Reservations.
What a crock. I’ve been trying all day to modify my reservation and the system wouldn’t let me in. Now the hotel has no availability for the dates I wanted. I’m cancelling the trip entirely.
What about for September are they gonna have any discounts for then
Doug: Yes, there are September dates. Here are the dates we shared in the post:
August 20* – September 29, 2018
November 24 – November 27, 2018
December 7 – December 23, 2018
I have a reservation scheduled for late October into early November, my dates are flexible however and with the free dining promotion being released yesterday I called to change my reservation. I understood they were very busy so waited on hold for 60 minutes. I was looking to arrive on November 27th and the cast member kept insisting that I couldn’t book that day for check in that the dining plan dates had to fall within the the dates. Clearly it says arriving dates I didn’t have another hour to waste holding so I wasn’t able to book it. Did anyone else experience this problem?