Free Dining
Yes, it is that marvelous
time of year again, when Disney releases their Free Dining promotion. You look at the dates – yes, those are the
dates we want to visit! You look at the
resorts that are excluded – nope, don’t want any of those! So, you are all set, right? Well, not really.
Remember, Disney is first
and foremost a business. Releasing any
promotion is a calculated business move. If resort A is selling well there will
be fewer rooms available during that promotion.
If resort B is not selling as well, there ‘might’ be more room
available; but again, think of it the way a business owner would think.
A business owner says, “If
I have to give away dining to people to stay, I want to get as much money from
them as I can. I’ll make the ‘deal’
contingent on a few more expensive things (like park hopper and a minimum
number of day’s tickets) and only offer my most expensive options (like a
preferred room with a view). Then, if I
only offer a limited number of rooms for each day of the promotion, I can
create my own artificial ‘shortage’ (Remember the Cabbage Patch craze of the 80’s
or the more recent Tickle Me Elmo?)
“Then I’ll keep promoting
it even though I know all the rooms are gone!”
Like it or not, this is a
basic business principle. Get the customer
craving your product until it is gone, and keep them wanting it.
Bottom line is, just
because your dates are right and your resort is included in any particular
promotion (like Free Dining) doesn’t mean it is available for YOUR dates and
resort.
So, now you are sad. You can’t find Free Dining for your dates and
resort. Now what?
Free Dining is not always
the best deal. Let’s do some simple
Mickey Math.
Free Dining vs a
percentage off room
If you have one adult
going for four nights in a moderate resort, your savings will be $63.70 with
Free Dining
If you have two adults and
two children under the age of 10 going for four nights in a moderate, your
savings will be $692.40 with Free Dining.
If you have one adult
staying for four nights in a moderate, your savings would be $234
If you have two adults and
two children under the age of 10 going for four nights in a moderate, your
savings would be $234
If you have either of
those two scenarios staying in a Deluxe your savings would be $489.60
To complicate it a bit
more, remember that both of these promotions may be going on at the same
time. With each promotion Disney has,
there are separate ‘pools’ of rooms allotted to it.
In our hypothetical
scenario we have a Free Dining promotion where they decide to put a total of 20
rooms per day during week A, and only 10 rooms a day for week B. For the same resort. Then to break it down farther, for week A,
they allot only one standard room, and the rest are split up between various
views. While for week B, they allot no
standard rooms, only an assortment of various views.
In this hypothetical
scenario we also have a percentage off room promotion. Here they decide that for week A, they want
to put a total of 35 rooms in the pool for each day, and for week B they want a
total of 10. For week A, they are allotting
only one preferred room and the rest are standard. For week B, they are all standard.
From a purely business
standpoint, with Free Dining, they want to get you to pay for the preferred
rooms. That way they make more
money. For the percentage off rooms,
they want more standard rooms to get the deep discounts.
Keep in mind, that while
the 'pool’ of rooms may be located anywhere within its category in the resort,
they are set aside for that particular promotion and cannot be moved around.
So, even if you find a non-discounted
room available for your dates, that has absolutely nothing to do with being
available for any specific promotion!
And finding one for the percentage off room has nothing to do with it
being available for the free dining promotion.
Bottom line…it is Disney’s
party and Disney’s game. They set the
rules and they own, not only the ball but the arena you are playing in.
So now the question is,
How can I guarantee I get Free Dining?
Well, truly there is no way to GUARANTEE it, but you can greatly improve
your chances by doing a few things. 1-
Be flexible. This means flexibility in
your dates, resorts, types of rooms as well as the discount. Don’t be convinced that Free Dining is your
best bet! 2- Book the room you want at the price that fits your budget. Consider a promotion as a bonus, and not a
requirement. Don’t set the bar at “If we
don’t get Free Dining, then we aren’t going!”
More often than not, you will be disappointed. 3-Please read and then re-read this one
because it is the MOST important one- Use a Travel Professional!
Sometimes (but not always)
we might get a semi heads up that a new promotion is about to be released. When we do, we are up at ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ (literally!)
online booking, doing the math, comparing the discounts, making the changes we
can online and then calling in the rest.
Hold times on release
dates can be (and usually are) in excess of four HOURS! And once you are finally with a Cast Member,
you are limited to how many things you can do.
Sometimes it is transactions sometimes it is a time limit.
Your travel professional
works hard for you. Often times a
release day can start at 4am and does not end until midnight, when the last
email goes out.
So, is Free Dining in your
future? Maybe. But if not, your Travel Professional is here
to make sure you get the best value for your
vacation dollars.
