Disney’s FREE Dining Promotion Starts Today ( + Free Disney Character Autograph Pages)
If you are planning a Disney trip, now is time to consider making reservations as Walt Disney is offering up their very popular FREE Dining promotion. This limited-time promotion allows you and your room-mates to eat completely free with the purchase of a non-discounted 5-night/6-day package that includes a room at a select Disney Resort hotel and theme park ticket with Park Hopper or Water Park Fun & more options on select dates.
To take advantage of this FREE Dining, purchase a non-discounted Walt Disney World Resort and Ticket Package at select hotels during the following dates: August 23-October 1, 2016, November 15-November 21, 2016, November 26-November 28, 2016 or December 10-December 21, 2016. Your arrival date must fall within one of these date ranges above to qualify for FREE Dining; the remaining days of your trip can fall outside of these dates and you will still receive the Free Dining for your entire stay.
* This offer excludes the following room types: 3-bedroom villas, campsites, Disney’s Art of Animation Resort – Little Mermaid Standard Rooms and Bungalows at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows. Also excludes gratuity and alcoholic beverages. Children ages 3 to 9 must choose from the children’s menu if available.
Headed to Disney this summer? Be sure to request your FREE Disney Parks Vacation Planning DVD – just fill out the short form. Your FREE Vacation Planning DVD will include a complete tour of the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and a tour of the Disneyland Resort in California, affordable ways to play and stay during your Disney vacation, planning tips and more!
Add some fun to the days/weeks leading up to your Disney trip! Head over here to print a free Countdown to Disney image (use cardstock paper if you have it on hand!). Then just cut the sides of the paper to fit into an 8×10 photo frame. Each day, use a white board marker and write on the glass frame to indicate the number of days left in your countdown.
Also be sure to check out these FREE Disney character autograph pages designed especially for Hip2Save readers to print. They can be used to make a fun autograph book to take along with you on a Disney vacation or for scrapbooking your favorite Disney photo memories!
I am the Laura above that gave Collin a head’s up about the deal. As an Authorized Disney Travel Agent (with an Earmarked Agency), I would love to help you save as much money as possible on your next Disney Vacation. I’ve worked with many Hip2Saver’s in the past & would love to answer any questions you may have!
https://www.facebook.com/EnchantedMemoriesByLaura/
Hi Laura,
If I just booked my stay about a month ago – non-discounted – can I still use you and get this special added on? I am in sales, I’m not sure if a travel agency works the same way, so I’m not sure if you can still get the credit since I have already booked or not?
Hi Raquel,
Yes it is possible to transfer your existing reservation over to me and still add on the dining plan. Feel free to contact me privately via Facebook (or I can send you my email if you prefer) and we can get the ball rolling on this ASAP. Free dining bookings are going FAST!
please email me! raquel_knobloch@hotmail.com !! Thank you!
We have never been to Disney so this is all new and overwhelming to me!
I’m with you. We are planning on going December 2017 and I am already overwhelmed at all of the planning there is to do. I want to get the best deals while still letting my girls experience Disney to the fullest. I’m exhausted just thinking about it.
Holly, don’t stress too hard! You’re going to have a great time. We planned a lot and things always go wrong. Once you’re there you wind up going with the flow more than you think 🙂
I had no idea what I was getting into!!! I feel ya 🙂
Check out disboards.com. There are hundreds of people on there who will help you and they have so much information there. Have fun!
From what I’ve heard, you should be able to call and have them apply the new deal to your existing vacation as long as it fits with the trip you have ordered; same dates, same hotel.
Laura, you should know that you cannot use the “Authorized Agent” title unless you are the OWNER of your agency. tisk tisk.
We have Florida resident passes. Does this meam we can’t take advantage of the deal by booking a Disney hotel?
Florida residents get a much better deal than the free dining. Your room rates will be discounted soon enough. We visit Disney at least 5 times a year and are pass holders/residents. We always book when the room discounts come out and usually get up to 30% off the rates other people are paying. We have used the dining plan in the past and even when it was free for us, after comparing with other trips – Florida residents are better off just paying for food and using the room discount.
Hi Laura just wondering if u know how cheap the Disney cruises go. We are not set on dates just trying to get the best deal for our family of 4
Andrea – we did the Wonder last year, 5 nights out of Miami for around $500 per person. I would play around with the website, look at the older ships. Fares for the summer were quite high though, so you may want to wait for the off-season dates to be released….
Thank you Katie
Katie- we did the Wonder for last spring break (April) out of Miami & paid a similar price. Disney cruises vary in prices very much but tend to be best priced as soon as they’re released (which just happened!). Feel free to email or message me preferred ports so I can take a look for you. Thanks!
I am one of the crazies that was up all night to get this deal. Did not get the resort I wanted, but I am still saving $2000 worth of savings!!!
How did you know they were coming out with this last night?? Did you know the dates beforehand or wait to book it last night?
Some information was leaked beforehand 🙂 Many travel agents knew to be up at the crack of dawn this morning so we could score free dining for our clients before the phone lines opened.
Me too 🙂 got what we wanted, woohoo!! We only go when we can get free dining. Now we have to decide on which places to eat this time. I am so addicted to planning Disney trips 😉
Can I ask you the details of your stay? How many people? Hotel? Length of stay? Price? You don’t have to answer if too personal. Thanks
SIGH. I wish we could go during this time but, we have to save up our money again. We went in February and had an absolutely AMAZING time! All your hip2save deals, Collin, help me to save all our extra money (HA, as if there is such a thing) for our next trip!
Do they have this offer every year at the same time?
Nothing is ever guaranteed with Disney but my family has been going to Disney with this deal since 2011 and you can almost count on a September vacation having free dining. October dates are iffy & Disney keeps cutting back November & December. Also, remember that you only need to CHECK IN on one of the free dining dates. This means you can check in on October 1st and have free dining for your entire stay (I believe there are limits on length of stay…up to 10 days or 2 weeks). This will help avoid some of the free dining crowds.
We’ve done Disney many times over the years. The free Dining plan is definitely worth it. You can eat at some amazing table service restaurants that would otherwise be out of the question due to cost.
We actually went in October and paid for the dining plan. It wasn’t offered during our stay. It’s completely worth it and if you can get it for free that’s great! We were able to eat at places we normally wouldn’t just because we had the dining plan. We ended up with a ton of credits at the end of the week. I really wish we could go back this year but unfortunately it’s just not financially possible for us right now. Maybe 2017!!! I would recommend the dining plan though, plenty of food, great choices, and honestly if you can get some dining experiences (like Cinderella’s castle, Be our Guest, Chef Mickey’s) it’s definitely worth it, and you don’t have to wait in line to get autographs in the park if you’ve already gotten them at a restaurant… just saying AC and food or hot park line…
When we went to Disney we got this plan. So with the help of a Disney travel agent we made reservations at all the places we could have ever wated to go…. My kids HATED Disney… We had so many reservations and such a busy and set schedule that they were exhasted by the second day… We had to save up so long and wanted to make this a “onced in a lifetime trip” that we really ruined the vacation for ouselves…Then to make matters worse I twisted my ankle geting off the toy story ride trying to help my son off since it doen’t stop. That was in 2011 and I now would love to go back but my kids really don’t want to. I know that id we do go back that we will take it slower…maybe take a day off completely from the parks. We had a beautiful pool just steps away from our room and the kids only swam once… The dinning plan is amazing but DONT OVERBOOK yourself. Getting from one place to another takes time at Disney so keep that in mind too… We are thinking that we really want to go to Germ,any to see my family so we may just head over to Disneyland Paris for a day. If any Disney agents have any info on that park please email me at michellehabegger@yahoo.com
This is what we did last year. We rented a condo in Kissimmee for two weeks and bought Disney tickets for 10 days. Our son was just five and we knew that we couldn’t be running around from one place to another all day long.
It was a wonderful experience and we visited all parks , rode every attraction and had some character dinings. But there was also still enough time to just hang out at the pool, relax and visit Orlando.
If you have small kids and it is your first time to visit Disney , I would definitely recommend to take it slow 😃
Wow! This deal used to be a lot better! You didn’t have to add that park hopper option which is pricy! We went 3 years ago and went for 10 days for the same price as 5 days now! Yikes!
Megan, you’re right! It used to be a way better deal than it is now. I don’t get too upset about missing out on it every time we go. We don’t do the dining plan anyway. I don’t like all the restrictions and rules on it.
It also used to include the speciality restaurants and dinner shows as one credit, but now they make you use up 2 credits for those experiences. Really cut the value of the plan down!
I’m over the dining plan. Generally most of the food isn’t the best anyways and then you end up having to schedule your whole trip around reservations…. Just got back from Disney, love it
We just booked for this Christmas and are paying about $425 per month until then. Each kid gets one present on Christmas morning and one to pick at the park! I’m on the watch buying thrift store stuffed animals and t-shirts and I may make some tshirts for our family of 8. It will be a bit pricey, but we’ve decided we would rather spend money on a Disney memory (since only my 2 oldest have ever been to Disney) than more toys!
Yes I love making memories too! We just got back from a 1 day Disney trip ( the rest was beach). My son and husband didn’t care for it but my daughter did. I just don’t understand the Disney hype.
I have found cute small Disney stuffed animals at my Walgreens before. Just FYI on your hunt! 😉
I have been trying to get my hubby on board for a non beach vacation for years. This post is literally the reason he caved n I just called AAA. Thanks so much again Colin for changing our lives!
I’m one of those agents that was up at 4am to modify reservations for my clients. I then spent three hours on the phone. It’s such a joy being able to deliver the news that I was able to save them money 🙂 Free Dining is crazy but I love it. I’ve been able to take advantage of it for my own trips as well.
I was wondering if anyone could recommend an Armed Forces Vacation Club resort near Disney World? Also we wanted to take our preschooler to Disney when the holiday decorations would be up but avoid peak times. How many days after Thanksgiving and before or after Christmas/New Years should we wait?
Shades of green is the military resort at Disney world 🙂
And they have a shuttle!
Do you recommend any that are off site? I was looking at the Sheraton Vistana Villas since it has good reviews and seems middle price range
I stayed at the Wyndham lake Buena vista. It’s a Disney hotel but not the kind with perks. You can see the room on YouTube. There’s a $20 resort fee and $8 parking with a Disney park shuttle. My total was about $100 a night.
Just got back from Disney 2 weeks ago love it dining plan might have you running around but it beats the price any day with paying out of pocket
Been waiting for this to happen! Going in August. I waited an hour and a half on the phone yesterday to get it added to my package, but so worth it! Got the standard one, which works for us. Two quick meals, a snack and a refillable cup for each person, score! Excited to go. Thanks!! 😀