Special offer to guests whose trips were canceled - meh?

[Sydnerella]

So I already rebooked (through Dreams) my SB trip which would have began today March 29th for Thanksgiving week - fingers crossed. But I received the email from Disney Destinations with the Special Offer and I must say it does not really excite me at all, am I the only one? Now, I rebooked, without any discounts to speak of, and I dont feel Disney owes me a discount for closing the resort to be responsible just like every other similar business. But let’s face it - the discount is really to get people to come back to WDW as soon as it’s safe. And this free dining offer, with no other discount isn’t really that exciting. Or is it just me?

How many families want to eat quick service only everyday?!?! At WDW! If it were DL maybe... Why is the Quick Service Dining Plan the only thing offered for Value AND Moderate Resorts now that they have this option... So disappointing. Like people who stay in these less expensive resorts only eat fast food.

I think they would fill up more rooms with a package discount! And I know Free Dining is always popular, but is this QS option too? And using two QS credits for TS isn’t worth it to me, for every other day.

It’s just not my jam...

From Disney Destinations:

Get a FREE dining plan
when you purchase a non-discounted Walt Disney Travel Co.package that includes Theme Park tickets and accommodations at a select Disney Resort hotel.

Valid for arrivals June 1- Sept 30
Book thru May 31

This offer is valid only for Guests who booked a vacation package or room reservation to stay at a Disney Resort hotel during the dates Walt Disney World Resort is closed. Offer not valid for reservations canceled before March 1, 2020.

Guests receive the Disney Quick-Service Dining Plan
with stays at a select Disney Value Resort or select Disney Moderate Resort
Dine at a Quick-Service locations where you can simply order and find a seat. No reservations required! With this plan, everyone in your party ages 3 and over receives the following:

• Two (2) Quick-Service Meals (per night of stay)
• Two (2) Snacks / Nonalcoholic Drinks (per night of stay)
• One (1) Resort-Refillable Drink Mug*

Guests receive the Disney Dining Plan
with stays at a select Disney Deluxe Resort or select Disney Deluxe Villa Resort
Delight in classic dining options and plan your meals for the day. With this plan, everyone in your party ages 3 and over receives the following:

• One (1) Quick-Service Meal (per night of stay)
• One (1) Table-Service Meal (per night of stay)
• Two (2) Snacks / Nonalcoholic Drinks (per night of stay)
• One (1) Resort-Refillable Drink Mug*

We hope to see ya this summer!

 

[KayaWildfire]

This offer would be really exciting for us, but we do upgrade our dining plan though from QS freebie to the table service one(we are value resort people) and we have enough people to max out our room capacity(we travel as a group of 8). There is no room discount on earth besides about 80% off that would entice me to do a room only reservation. But of you aren't big on the dining plan, I can see it wouldn't be that exciting.

 

[brockash]

So I already rebooked (through Dreams) my SB trip which would have began today March 29th for Thanksgiving week - fingers crossed. But I received the email from Disney Destinations with the Special Offer and I must say it does not really excite me at all, am I the only one? Now, I rebooked, without any discounts to speak of, and I dont feel Disney owes me a discount for closing the resort to be responsible just like every other similar business. But let’s face it - the discount is really to get people to come back to WDW as soon as it’s safe. And this free dining offer, with no other discount isn’t really that exciting. Or is it just me?

How many families want to eat quick service only everyday?!?! At WDW! If it were DL maybe... Why is the Quick Service Dining Plan the only thing offered for Value AND Moderate Resorts now that they have this option... So disappointing. Like people who stay in these less expensive resorts only eat fast food.

I think they would fill up more rooms with a package discount! And I know Free Dining is always popular, but is this QS option too? And using two QS credits for TS isn’t worth it to me, for every other day.

It’s just not my jam...

From Disney Destinations:

Get a FREE dining plan
when you purchase a non-discounted Walt Disney Travel Co.package that includes Theme Park tickets and accommodations at a select Disney Resort hotel.

Valid for arrivals June 1- Sept 30
Book thru May 31

This offer is valid only for Guests who booked a vacation package or room reservation to stay at a Disney Resort hotel during the dates Walt Disney World Resort is closed. Offer not valid for reservations canceled before March 1, 2020.

Guests receive the Disney Quick-Service Dining Plan
with stays at a select Disney Value Resort or select Disney Moderate Resort
Dine at a Quick-Service locations where you can simply order and find a seat. No reservations required! With this plan, everyone in your party ages 3 and over receives the following:

• Two (2) Quick-Service Meals (per night of stay)
• Two (2) Snacks / Nonalcoholic Drinks (per night of stay)
• One (1) Resort-Refillable Drink Mug*

Guests receive the Disney Dining Plan
with stays at a select Disney Deluxe Resort or select Disney Deluxe Villa Resort
Delight in classic dining options and plan your meals for the day. With this plan, everyone in your party ages 3 and over receives the following:

• One (1) Quick-Service Meal (per night of stay)
• One (1) Table-Service Meal (per night of stay)
• Two (2) Snacks / Nonalcoholic Drinks (per night of stay)
• One (1) Resort-Refillable Drink Mug*

We hope to see ya this summer!

I feel like it'd be more exciting if you could pick any dates and/or not need to purchase theme park tix etc...something different/better than the regular free dining offer.

 

[Sydnerella]

I really miss the days of the regular DDP - I think the QS is just their excuse to make more money, so they can charge for the upgrade to not eat FF for every meal! I see where this is a huge benefit for you @KayaWildfire, even with the upgrade charge, but wish it was not necessary to add it!

 

[emonade8]

How many families want to eat quick service only everyday?!?! At WDW! If it were DL maybe... Why is the Quick Service Dining Plan the only thing offered for Value AND Moderate Resorts now that they have this option... So disappointing. Like people who stay in these less expensive resorts only eat fast food.

We actually prefer to do quick service as a general rule because it lets us be way more flexible. There are so many great QS options anyway and we'd rather not be tied to reservation times. Honestly, we usually go without a dining plan because we tend to eat at lounges more than anything else. That said, this trip we opted for free dining and upgraded to the DDP because we have a first-timer traveling with us and want to take him to some of our favorite TS places.

 

[Moms]

We’re not big dining plan fans (too restrictive for our preferences) and frankly, the thought of a trip in summer is not appealing. Will wait for next year’s Spring break!

 

[Timothy02359]

I really doubt Disney will even be open this summer.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Definitely meh. Free dining numbers don’t work out for us because of the rack rate and hoppers so it’s not even a discount in our case. Which if I were able to book again this year, I world find annoying. But nothing really works for us for this year so I’m glad Disney is doing something that at least works for some people.

I also feel bad for the 3rd party ticket sellers. Some are working with people to refund under circumstances in which they normally wouldn’t. Some are family businesses. Because of this offer, now people who bought through them are going to switch to packages through Disney for this.

 

[westie55]

This offer saved us about $400... But we were going to buy the dining plan since we do a lot of table service and character dining. I just hope disney will be open by late July!

 

[smallworldnh]

I actually rebooked last week, changing my May 17 trip to September 6 I originally had a pin code for a discount but lost that since I rebooked, so I'm being charged rack rate. I checked MDE to see if I could add FD to my package, but it wasn't offered there, so I called last night. I was on the phone for over an hour and a half and finally went to bed. I dialed immediately this morning at 7 am, got cut off after a half hour, called back and have been waiting for exactly an hour now. Since I'm paying full price now, the FD is definitely worth it for us. This is so frustrating! (but worth it)>

 

[Disneylover99]

I actually think it’s a decent deal.

We go for two weeks and eat quick service all the time. Tons of great options!

Plus only needing to purchase two day base tickets is a huge bonus! FD has required four day hopper tickets for years now. If I had an AP, I’d be taking advantage of this.

 

[djs7685]

Just depends on your exact situation I think.

We moved our April trip to mid-June and planned for All Star Music, standard room, deluxe dining package using the room discount (only thing available to us at the time). I switched to POP, preferred room, upgraded "free" dining to deluxe, and saved $230.

Of course if we have to move June even further away that's fine, but I'm happy with what I'm paying now for POP w/deluxe. YMMV! Good luck!

 

[Pumbaa_]

Unless something significantly changed over the last week, you cannot use 2 qs credits for a ts meal

 

[DisneyWishes14]

So I already rebooked (through Dreams) my SB trip which would have began today March 29th for Thanksgiving week - fingers crossed. But I received the email from Disney Destinations with the Special Offer and I must say it does not really excite me at all, am I the only one? Now, I rebooked, without any discounts to speak of, and I dont feel Disney owes me a discount for closing the resort to be responsible just like every other similar business. But let’s face it - the discount is really to get people to come back to WDW as soon as it’s safe. And this free dining offer, with no other discount isn’t really that exciting. Or is it just me?

How many families want to eat quick service only everyday?!?! At WDW! If it were DL maybe... Why is the Quick Service Dining Plan the only thing offered for Value AND Moderate Resorts now that they have this option... So disappointing. Like people who stay in these less expensive resorts only eat fast food.

I think they would fill up more rooms with a package discount! And I know Free Dining is always popular, but is this QS option too? And using two QS credits for TS isn’t worth it to me, for every other day.

It’s just not my jam...

From Disney Destinations:

Get a FREE dining plan
when you purchase a non-discounted Walt Disney Travel Co.package that includes Theme Park tickets and accommodations at a select Disney Resort hotel.

Valid for arrivals June 1- Sept 30
Book thru May 31

This offer is valid only for Guests who booked a vacation package or room reservation to stay at a Disney Resort hotel during the dates Walt Disney World Resort is closed. Offer not valid for reservations canceled before March 1, 2020.

Guests receive the Disney Quick-Service Dining Plan
with stays at a select Disney Value Resort or select Disney Moderate Resort
Dine at a Quick-Service locations where you can simply order and find a seat. No reservations required! With this plan, everyone in your party ages 3 and over receives the following:

• Two (2) Quick-Service Meals (per night of stay)
• Two (2) Snacks / Nonalcoholic Drinks (per night of stay)
• One (1) Resort-Refillable Drink Mug*

Guests receive the Disney Dining Plan
with stays at a select Disney Deluxe Resort or select Disney Deluxe Villa Resort
Delight in classic dining options and plan your meals for the day. With this plan, everyone in your party ages 3 and over receives the following:

• One (1) Quick-Service Meal (per night of stay)
• One (1) Table-Service Meal (per night of stay)
• Two (2) Snacks / Nonalcoholic Drinks (per night of stay)
• One (1) Resort-Refillable Drink Mug*

We hope to see ya this summer!

This has been Disney's standard FD promo for the last few years - deluxe gets DDP and Mod/Value gets QS. You can pay the difference between QS and DDP (DDxP) if you'd like an upgraded plan. It isn't worth it for our family as we are AP and I will get a much better value with any AP rate that is released, but, for some families, this will work well for them, particularly as WDW seems to be allowing the booking of anything that is available in room inventory and will apply the promo (they have not set aside a specific room inventory for this promo). No, it's not the best deal for some, but at least it's something and FD is an incredibly popular offer, so I'm sure it will be helpful to many. For your own rescheduled trip, I would bet fall discounts will be released, so hopefully you will be able to take advantage of discounts if they come out.

You cannot use two QS credits as a TS credit.

 

[sharonabe]

And using two QS credits for TS isn’t worth it to me, for every other day.

Two other people have already said this, but thought I'd answer to your quote just in case you missed it. You CANNOT use 2 QS credits to purchase a TS meal.

As to your other thoughts, this is the way free dining has worked in regard to where you stay for at least two years. The Mods used to get the regular dining plan, but they cut them to the QSDP about two years ago. The dining plan money does come out or go to the resorts, so it does make sense that the higher priced resorts get the higher priced plan.

I feel like it'd be more exciting if you could pick any dates and/or not need to purchase theme park tix etc...something different/better than the regular free dining offer.

This isn't exactly the regular free dining offer. They've reduced the required days to only two; it's been four for a few years now. They are also not requiring the park hopper option which has also been the requirement for many years. So it is a little better than regular free dining.

 

[brockash]

Two other people have already said this, but thought I'd answer to your quote just in case you missed it. You CANNOT use 2 QS credits to purchase a TS meal.

As to your other thoughts, this is the way free dining has worked in regard to where you stay for at least two years. The Mods used to get the regular dining plan, but they cut them to the QSDP about two years ago. The dining plan money does come out or go to the resorts, so it does make sense that the higher priced resorts get the higher priced plan.




This isn't exactly the regular free dining offer. They've reduced the required days to only two; it's been four for a few years now. They are also not requiring the park hopper option which has also been the requirement for many years. So it is a little better than regular free dining.

Pretty darn close and minimal though. Sure only needing to purchase 2 instead of 4 days, but that's a very minimal difference in price, especially considering for most; if they're having to purchase tix; it'll probably be more than for only 2 days... the issue is purchasing new tix. Don't get me wrong, certainly better than nothing, but I agree with OP that it's really nothing to be excited about, especially for those on the boards who follow Disney and already had an opportunity to book free dining if they wanted. Could appear to be exciting for those less educated about Disney though.

 

[sharonabe]

Sure only needing to purchase 2 instead of 4 days, but that's a very minimal difference in price, especially considering for most; if they're having to purchase tix; it'll probably be more than for only 2 days... the issue is purchasing new tix.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. Right at $300 difference (don't forget you have to add on the park hopper too) per adult ticket is a lot. And for those who have AP or have purchased tickets elsewhere, that $300 difference is huge.

 

[Flamingeaux]

I had a May trip booked for me and DS. I also had a trip scheduled for late September with DW, DD and a friend. I went ahead and used this offer to upgrade our trip to FD. It really doesn't help me much but it helps DD and friend. I was making them pay for just their tix and meals and now they get FD.

 

[Flamingeaux]

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. Right at $300 difference (don't forget you have to add on the park hopper too) per adult ticket is a lot. And for those who have AP or have purchased tickets elsewhere, that $300 difference is huge.

For this FD offer you can get a base ticket. No PH required.

 

[40ariel]

I originally had a pin code for a discount but lost that since I rebooked

Does anyone know if you can use your original pin code with this or do you have to pay full price for the room?