******Official 2017 Free Dining Plan Watch, Wait, and Dream

[ENJDisneyFan]

Any thoughts on late breakfast vs pre park opening ? I'm leaning more towards 11am and just getting a quick grab and go on the way out of the resort to get the family in the park.

Depends on the restaurant. Some PPOs will give you an advantage to get on a popular ride early (BOG - SDMT, GG - Soarin, Tusker House - Safari, Akershus - FEA). Other PPO reservations, like Crystal Palace, could take awhile and put you behind the RD crowds.

 

[JackieO]

We do! They'll even give you an extra empty cup so you don't need to keep passing the cup back and forth.

Then you're a better woman than me!

 

[nae26]

I don't agree or disagree completely with your saying, but what I do think Disney has done is hurt people with larger families. As a family of 5 we don't have many options. We choose mod hotels because we can all be together. If I go to a value and get 2 room, which usually cost more, I still run the risk of not being in a connecting room or even in the same building which then splits up my family. Considering it's a family vacation that option is off the table for me. There are no standard rooms in a deluxe resort that sleep 5. The least expensive room I found is approximately $2000 more then my current reservation and my kids wouldn't even get an actual bed. They would get to sleep on a pull out couch for our entire stay. If the cost to upgrade to a deluxe hotel was similar to the cost of upgrading the dining plan it would be something to consider but it just makes no sense to me to pay that much more to upgrade to a deluxe. I would rather just keep what I have, there is no way I would spend $2000 on food for my family while we were there. Disney might be pushing smaller families to the Deluxe hotels but they are forcing larger families to value resorts or off site. I wish Disney would start considering adding murphy beds to their standard rooms in the deluxe hotels and even the value resorts so I would have the opportunity to actually have more options and make decisions that are best for my family.

 

[CrazyPhillyDisneyFamily]

I don't agree or disagree completely with your saying, but what I do think Disney has done is hurt people with larger families. As a family of 5 we don't have many options. We choose mod hotels because we can all be together. If I go to a value and get 2 room, which usually cost more, I still run the risk of not being in a connecting room or even in the same building which then splits up my family. Considering it's a family vacation that option is off the table for me. There are no standard rooms in a deluxe resort that sleep 5. The least expensive room I found is approximately $2000 more then my current reservation and my kids wouldn't even get an actual bed. They would get to sleep on a pull out couch for our entire stay. If the cost to upgrade to a deluxe hotel was similar to the cost of upgrading the dining plan it would be something to consider but it just makes no sense to me to pay that much more to upgrade to a deluxe. I would rather just keep what I have, there is no way I would spend $2000 on food for my family while we were there. Disney might be pushing smaller families to the Deluxe hotels but they are forcing larger families to value resorts or off site. I wish Disney would start considering adding murphy beds to their standard rooms in the deluxe hotels and even the value resorts so I would have the opportunity to actually have more options and make decisions that are best for my family.

If you have more kids than adults and you call Disney, I believe they can often offer guaranteed connecting rooms. The trick is that there must be more kids than adults.

 

[karaintn]

I don't agree or disagree completely with your saying, but what I do think Disney has done is hurt people with larger families. As a family of 5 we don't have many options. We choose mod hotels because we can all be together. If I go to a value and get 2 room, which usually cost more, I still run the risk of not being in a connecting room or even in the same building which then splits up my family. Considering it's a family vacation that option is off the table for me. There are no standard rooms in a deluxe resort that sleep 5. The least expensive room I found is approximately $2000 more then my current reservation and my kids wouldn't even get an actual bed. They would get to sleep on a pull out couch for our entire stay. If the cost to upgrade to a deluxe hotel was similar to the cost of upgrading the dining plan it would be something to consider but it just makes no sense to me to pay that much more to upgrade to a deluxe. I would rather just keep what I have, there is no way I would spend $2000 on food for my family while we were there. Disney might be pushing smaller families to the Deluxe hotels but they are forcing larger families to value resorts or off site. I wish Disney would start considering adding murphy beds to their standard rooms in the deluxe hotels and even the value resorts so I would have the opportunity to actually have more options and make decisions that are best for my family.

I have a family of 5 (2 adults, 12 yo and two 8 yo) and we always stay in a standard room at the Poly, so there is at least that standard room in a deluxe that sleeps 5. It has 2 double (maybe queen?) beds and a day bed type thing that my son says is fine for him. I will agree with you that there aren't a ton of options for 1 room for 5.

 

[JennJ84]

If you have more kids than adults and you call Disney, I believe they can often offer guaranteed connecting rooms. The trick is that there must be more kids than adults.

Yes this is accurate. We have 5 kids and 2 adults and a CM told us that since the kids were young and not considered adults they would guarantee connecting rooms.

 

[JackieO]

For those with a Disney Visa - I FINALLY found the way to get to the offers page - It constantly kicks you back to Chase Visa which gives you ZERO info - but I assume if we had free dining early it would be here:

https://disneyrewards.com/offers/

Thanks! I had found that page once before, but with my brain being addled from all this FD watch I haven't been able to find it again. I'll book mark it now.

 

[agassizsmile]

Well, with four Disney adults in our family, a moderate makes zero sense for us at this point. The difference between a standard room at CSR with a dining upgrade and a standard room at WL with regular dining is only $300. Right now, WL does have availability for our dates and it's even showing rooms available in the summer RO offer, so I'm assuming they have plenty of space!

Still debating the whole BC with no dining versus WL with dining, but at least it's definitely narrowed down to those two! Final decision I guess will come when I see if I can actually get the FD at WL or not.

Well, with four Disney adults in our family, a moderate makes zero sense for us at this point. The difference between a standard room at CSR with a dining upgrade and a standard room at WL with regular dining is only $300. Right now, WL does have availability for our dates and it's even showing rooms available in the summer RO offer, so I'm assuming they have plenty of space!

Still debating the whole BC with no dining versus WL with dining, but at least it's definitely narrowed down to those two! Final decision I guess will come when I see if I can actually get the FD at WL or not.

I don't agree or disagree completely with your saying, but what I do think Disney has done is hurt people with larger families. As a family of 5 we don't have many options. We choose mod hotels because we can all be together. If I go to a value and get 2 room, which usually cost more, I still run the risk of not being in a connecting room or even in the same building which then splits up my family. Considering it's a family vacation that option is off the table for me. There are no standard rooms in a deluxe resort that sleep 5. The least expensive room I found is approximately $2000 more then my current reservation and my kids wouldn't even get an actual bed. They would get to sleep on a pull out couch for our entire stay. If the cost to upgrade to a deluxe hotel was similar to the cost of upgrading the dining plan it would be something to consider but it just makes no sense to me to pay that much more to upgrade to a deluxe. I would rather just keep what I have, there is no way I would spend $2000 on food for my family while we were there. Disney might be pushing smaller families to the Deluxe hotels but they are forcing larger families to value resorts or off site. I wish Disney would start considering adding murphy beds to their standard rooms in the deluxe hotels and even the value resorts so I would have the opportunity to actually have more options and make decisions that are best for my family.

I totally agree. Families of five. Need. More options.

 

[OlafSchmolaf]

Here's a question: I currently have a room at CBR with the $75 GC. If we have to modify for free dining, will we lose the gift card offer? What do you all think? I am really bummed about the QSDP instead of DDP, but can rationalize the $616 to upgrade 4 adults and 1 child if I'm getting $525 in gift cards back.

Especially when eating two character meals (1 Mickey for DS (infant), 1 princess for DD) would cost $386 and I could get 7 full TS meals for all of us for just 230 more.

OK - This has probably been answered but there are so many pages on this thread to see if this has been asked - if I have the CBR book and am receiving the gift card, it free dining is available for my dates, can I change it on-line and keep the gift card, instead of calling? Does anyone know?? Thanks.

We had these same questions in our house. Here is our experience. There was another poster on here who has the GC offer who verified that they added a day/changed dates online and still kept the offer. We also called and the CM said that we could add a day or even change our dates by modifying a reservation...without losing the GC offer as long as it was still at CBR. We were told that we could do it online or over the phone. We are not sure if we added a night if they would give us the GC offer for the added night though (maybe just the original # of nights but don't know this for sure) Unfortunately for us, we just wanted to add a day to the beginning of our trip but there wasn't any availability online or when we called for that night at the moment.

 

[staceycrouton]

I am not sure what your budget is, but check out Animal Kingdom Lodge. If the Visa offer does cover our dates, the Animal Kingdom Lodge will include the Regular Dining Plan and we won't need to upgrade. If it's $500 more, it may be worth it for you.

Wish we could stay at AKL but we are traveling with my sister and her family of five so we need to stay somewhere that can accommodate their family as well. Thinking Boardwalk because they still have standard rooms available for our dates. Decisions, decisions...

 

[DisLoverExtreme]

I have a family of 5 (2 adults, 12 yo and two 8 yo) and we always stay in a standard room at the Poly, so there is at least that standard room in a deluxe that sleeps 5. It has 2 double (maybe queen?) beds and a day bed type thing that my son says is fine for him. I will agree with you that there aren't a ton of options for 1 room for 5.

Yes. There are many deluxe resorts that sleep 5 with the sofa converting into a slide out bed. We are a family of 5 also and most deluxe will accommodate all of us in one room.

 

[sharonabe]

OK - so right now i have availability to book a separate RO for my resort - do I need to do this? Or would I be able to change my current reservation that includes tickets and dinning for a RO if we don't opt for FD?

You need to do what you most want WITHOUT free dining. Take it out of the equation and book your vacation, then go from there on Monday.

 

[JackieO]

The 30-ounce iced drinks. The Venti iced drinks are 26 oz.

Do they have this size at Disney? Is it included as a snack?

 

[VillainFavs]

Actually, there are a lot of options at deluxe for a family of 5, even in standard rooms. I know they're more expensive, but deluxe hotels just are in general! But Beach Club, Yacht Club, Boardwalk, and Poly I know for a fact all have standard rooms that sleep 5 with a day bed (which is just a twin mattress).

 

[Lisa J]

I've been working and haven't been able to keep up on every page, sorry. Have we heard anything else from Dirty Steve or Black since we heard the possible release coming soon?

 

[agassizsmile]

If a resort is not showing certain room types or no rooms at all for my dates (going in August), does that also mean for FD it wont have them most likely? Or does Disney open up certain rooms only for FD? Im trying to crunch numbers but when I check certain room types aren't available for my dates.Hard to crunch when I dont know the price.And trying to crunch on monday at 4am is not gonna help LOL

 

[Icicles]

We had these same questions in our house. Here is our experience. There was another poster on here who has the GC offer who verified that they added a day/changed dates online and still kept the offer. We also called and the CM said that we could add a day or even change our dates by modifying a reservation...without losing the GC offer as long as it was still at CBR. We were told that we could do it online or over the phone. We are not sure if we added a night if they would give us the GC offer for the added night though (maybe just the original # of nights but don't know this for sure) Unfortunately for us, we just wanted to add a day to the beginning of our trip but there wasn't any availability online or when we called for that night at the moment.

Good to know I'm getting the same info as someone else's about the GC! I have also been told that if I add a day, I will not get the extra GC.

 

[DisLoverExtreme]

Actually, there are a lot of options at deluxe for a family of 5, even in standard rooms. I know they're more expensive, but deluxe hotels just are in general! But Beach Club, Yacht Club, Boardwalk, and Poly I know for a fact all have standard rooms that sleep 5 with a day bed (which is just a twin mattress).

Grand Floridian has them also in standard rooms. We used one in 2015 and again last year. Both had the daybeds.

 

[LovingDisney2012]

If a resort is not showing certain room types or no rooms at all for my dates (going in August), does that also mean for FD it wont have them most likely? Or does Disney open up certain rooms only for FD? Im trying to crunch numbers but when I check certain room types aren't available for my dates.Hard to crunch when I dont know the price.And trying to crunch on monday at 4am is not gonna help LOL

If there is no availability showing, it is very unlikely that rooms would open up unless there are cancellations.

 

[ThistleMae]

I've lost the other thread...

*******?