Free Dining Question

[pam931]

Quick question. We are currently booked Dec. 21-29. FD last day is Dec. 20. I can get myself and DS 10 there on the 20th, but not DH and DS 13 due to final exams.

Can we get FD if just the 2 of us show up that first night?

We are not normally DP people but for that time of year, I'm not expecting room only discounts.

Thanks,
Pam

[vicki_c]

I've read in the past, everyone had to be present for free dining because they had too many phantom guests. That said, I have not heard that recently.

[Rowan]

I'm not sure how they would know other then maybe if you are using magical express. I have always went to check in to the resort alone while DH and kids get the carry one from the bus and I have never been asked if the rest of my party is there.

[Micah008]

I have also gone to check in on my own, while the others explored the building a little. Never was I asked to "show" all of the people in the group. We did have Free Dining too.

[George]

I've never heard of anyone being asked to produce all the room occupants at check-in. I suspect that if this ever happened to anyone who posts on a Board, the new would spread like wildfire. Your mileage, of course, may vary.

Disney, one could conclude, makes a ton of money on "free dining" periods that they otherwise would not, what with charging rack rates for their rooms and getting a guaranteed MYW ticket sale from each "guest." After all, they don't offer "free" dining so that their guests can get a deal.

[vicki_c]

It's "old" reports - from probably 5 years ago or when they first started free dining. I've seen it talked about enough, in historical terms, that I'm pretty sure it was true. But as I said, I haven't heard of it for a long time.

It seems to me there was some other factor at that time - like you didn't need the 2 day ticket (or even a 1 day ticket) and so people were adding extra family members up to the room occupancy to get more credits. So that issue might have been some kind of loophole that they closed, therefore not needing that anymore.

Never underestimate the crazy crap people will do to get something for nothing!

[blyday]

I think that you will be fine. As long as you are there in the room and the rest join you, it should work out. Even if you take different MEs, it should still be fine. I know that I've had clients who have had different family members come and go during the trip and have never had a problem and Disney did know about it since they used ME. Now, they aren't going to let you book on the 20th and then all show up on the 21st. Even if you paid for that night.....at least part of the party must be there or it will be cancelled.

[pam931]

Thanks for all of the replies!

I had heard/read what Vicki was saying, so that was my concern.

If we do it, I will definitely be there with DS 10. We would be taking ME. DH and DS 13 would arrive the next day, but be picking up a rental car, so no ME. Don't know if that matters.

We've never had to produce everyone either, but I've always been on a room only booking, so I wasn't sure how it would work with a package.

DS 13 will have his school schedule on Thursday. I know what final he has on the 20th, I just don't know when. If's 1st period, then we could all go together. If it's 7th period, then no way.

Thanks again,

Pam

[Gldustgirl]

If I can just add my 2 cents... For the last 2 years, and for my upcoming trip I have a friend who is only coming for a couple of days. We have the dining plan for all of us, since she is listed on the reservation, and we all are able to use the ME. You just have to make sure they have all the flight information. My friend has never had a problem. I always make sure she has the voucher with her name on it! So, bottom line, as long as they are on the reservation you should have no problem using the dining plan or the ME for all of you! Have a great trip!!

:-)

[pam931]

Thanks, everyone. Turns out we can't make it work. So it will be rack rate for us and no dining plan.

Pam

[LindaOwl1]

Back in 2007 we did have to show all the adults IDs when checking in for the FD package. I remember because there were 13 of us and it was a bit of a pain. Back then there was no ticket purchase required AND it was regular dining even in the values!! People were flying to Florida for the day just to book that bounceback.
This year I travelled with my granddaughter on 8/17 and my husband was to join us on 8/21. We had seperate Magical Express pickups. I had even asked before hand if this would be a problem for FD and was told no problem. I checked in on 8/17 and they gave me his KTTW card as well as my own and my granddaughter's. We DID receive all his meal credits for the whole trip starting 8/17. Not only that, he fell ill (he's better now) and was not able to fly to Florida at all! He just cancelled his ME pickup and his flight. So my granddaughter and I had an extra set of meal and snack credits. We did not intend or try to get extras, it just worked out that way. I think Disney is more interested in filling the rooms and getting you to the parks than in how much "free" food you eat. His 2 day park ticket will be saved for a future trip (along with mine and my granddaughter's as the 2 of us had APs this year).

[vicki_c]

Linda - oh, that explains it - if no tickets were required back then, people could have been making up all kinds of extra kids until they hit room occupancy limits and getting extra dining credits. I couldn't remember, but I knew it was something that made it very enticing for people to add phantom family members to their reservation.