Any information on Free Dining?

[ransam]

I'm going in september with 3 adults, one child for 6 nights at the Movies all-star. if they offer free quick service dining to the value and free normal dining to the Moderate it would come out like this.
In order for us to stay at the value and upgrade to the regular dining it would be basically be $32 dollars a night or $192. if we went to the moderate with the free dining it would add about $50 a night (according to my travel agent)) or $300 total. that's just a difference of $108, and to me that's worth it for the room we will have, and the fact we can go to POR and use the trundle bed for the child as opposed to getting a cot.
I may be wrong w/ my calculations, but that's how it added up to me.

[Figment78]

I see where you're coming from, but yeah, I think the plan as you laid it out is definitely blurring the line. You want to say he's 3 for purposes of free dining, but that he's under 3 for purposes of using his park ticket this trip.

In regards to discussions here on INTERCOT, the rules are the rules. If you want to tell them he's over 3, then you should purchase and use the appropriate park ticket for him as well.

I know that the rules are the rules and I'm definitely not trying to break them - just understand them. I guess I was approaching this question from the perspective of an Annual Passholder who was told that I could get the "free dining" package and not use my tickets on that trip, but get the no-expire option, save them and use my annual pass instead. Other than the fact that he is not yet 3, I think this would fall under a similar situation, no?

[magicofdisney]

I know that the rules are the rules and I'm definitely not trying to break them - just understand them. I guess I was approaching this question from the perspective of an Annual Passholder who was told that I could get the "free dining" package and not use my tickets on that trip, but get the no-expire option, save them and use my annual pass instead. Other than the fact that he is not yet 3, I think this would fall under a similar situation, no?

Unless the rules have changed, you can get just a one day ticket with your package. You can save that for whenever (since it's a one day ticket it doesn't ever expire). You can then still use the AP. We're a passholder family and we've done this every year for the last 4yrs.

[Strmchsr]

Unless the rules have changed, you can get just a one day ticket with your package.

Under the last "free" dining package that was released the rules had changes. Disney had cut out that loophole of buying a 1 day ticket and required multiple day tickets. I know there was still a way for AP holders to get in on the discount, but can't remember what it was. That said, no one knows what the rules will be if "free" dining is released this year since it will probably be the CS version.

[TammiMcMan]

I know that the rules are the rules and I'm definitely not trying to break them - just understand them. I guess I was approaching this question from the perspective of an Annual Passholder who was told that I could get the "free dining" package and not use my tickets on that trip, but get the no-expire option, save them and use my annual pass instead. Other than the fact that he is not yet 3, I think this would fall under a similar situation, no?

I'm not sure what the current AP policy is with free dining, but I think that my understanding of the rules would be the same. If you are going to state your childs age as 3 for free dining, then you should also use whatever applicable park pass is needed for a child aged 3 and older .

[DizneyRox]

Correct... If your child is not three, they they don't get the dining and they don't need a ticket. If they are three, they would get dining and would need a ticket. If you are talking about APs then the three year old would have an AP as well. If you use the tickets that come with the package or not is of no consequence.

To put it bluntly, they are either three or they are not. Follow the rules (for dining AND park tickets) for the age you decide they are, consistantly.

Also, you DO NOT need no expiration for tickets you don't plan to use immediately. The 14 day countdown doesn't start until their first use.

[Daisy'sMom]

Wait a minute....So if you are a passholder, you can't buy the package with the one day ticket for free dining? That's what we did last year, then we used the one day ticket for our AP renewal. They have changed that? Darn, Darn, Darn!!! That's what we were going to do.

[Strmchsr]

Wait a minute....So if you are a passholder, you can't buy the package with the one day ticket for free dining?

There is no way of knowing what they might or might not do this time. Last release of "free" dining they changed the requirements, but we don't know if they will do it this time (or even if they'll release it). Just hang tight and we'll see what happens. Rumors seem pretty consistent that we'll see some news by next week. That's hardly confirmed, but it would make sense.