Travel Dates: August 14 – September 28, 2011

Disneyland has released a special discount for the three Disneyland Resort Hotels for the travel dates listed above, where guests can save up to $450 off of their package, plus guests receive a free character meal. The savings are a flat savings, based on your Disneyland Resort:

Disneyland Package Savings:

• Save $350 when you a stay at Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel
• Save $400 when you stay at the Disneyland Hotel
• Save $450 when you stay at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa

There are a few requirements in order to receive the savings:

• Your package must be a minimum four night stay
• The package must include at least three day park hopper tickets
• Only one “savings” per reservation, regardless of the length of your stay

One other note, guests who check in at one of the three Disneyland Resorts prior to September 5, 2011 will also receive 2 Fast Pass tickets per person as well as early admission to ride The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Undersea Adventure (you get into Disney’s California Adventure 30 minutes before the park opens).

This offer must be booked by September 24, 2011, and travel must be completed by October 2, 2011.All prices exclude taxes and any resort fees. Advance reservations required at all Disneyland Resort hotels in order to secure the discount. Discount subject to availability as the number of rooms allocated for this offer is restricted.

Character meal voucher for each person in the reservation (maximum 5 guests). Character meal voucher is valid for one (1) meal (including tax and gratuity) at one (1) of the following: Breakfast in the Park with Minnie and Friends at the Plaza Inn on Main Street, U.S.A., Disneyland Park; Surf’s Up! Breakfast with Mickey & Friends at Disney’s PCH Grill, Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel; Chip ‘n’ Dale’s Critter Breakfast at Storytellers Café, Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa; Ariel’s Disney Princess Celebration at Ariel’s Grotto,Disney California Adventure™ Park or Goofy’s Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel. Not valid for World of Color Dinner Packages at Ariel’s Grotto or Wine County Trattoria but may be applied up to its retail price at any other Disney owned and operated full-service or counter-service restaurant at theDisneyland Resort.

Update: July 26, 2011 – Disneyland has released some room only discounts for the three Disneyland Resort Hotels that have no minimun stay requirements. If you are planning on staying less than 4 nights, or longer than 5 nights, you should compare both offers to see which works best for you.

For more information about this special Disneyland Annual Passholder discount, please contact our sponsor Mouseketrips.

Travel Dates: January 1 – February 26, May 1 – June 17 and August 1 – November 18, 2012

Virgin Holidays has just released a special Free Disney Dining promotion for UK residents only. With your reservation, you will get accommodations at select Walt Disney World hotels, free Disney Dining for your family, 14 day Disney theme park ticket days (for the price of 7) plus all Virgin Holidays customers will receive $300 in Disney spending money. Flights must be included in the package as well.

Just book a reservation that includes your Walt Disney World hotel and theme park tickets for at least 5 nights during the eligible dates, then the entire party will dine for free during your holiday. A maximum stay of 21 nights is allowed. Guests staying at a Disney moderate resort will enjoy the free Quick Servicing Dining Plan. Guests staying at a Disney Deluxe or Deluxe villa resort will receive the free Disney Dining Plan. Upgrades to the Deluxe Dining plan available.

This special UK resident package must be booked by June 6, 2011, so hurry! Vacation package is subject to room and flight availability as well as check out by 19 November 2012.

You can only book this special Free Dining package through Virgin Holidays. Proof of UK residency required at time of booking.

Travel Dates: August 28 – September 24, 2011

Update May 2, 2011: Walt Disney World has released this special Free Dining promotion to the general public, there are no longer any Disney VISA payment requirements to book the packages.

Walt Disney World has announced the “Free Dining” promotion for the seventh consecutive year. Currently, the discount is only available to Disney VISA cardholders, though it will be released to the general public starting on Monday, May 2, 2011. With the “Free Dining” promotion, Disney resort guests who book a Magic Your Way package that includes both your Disney resort room and your Magic Your Way park passes, will receive one of the Disney Dining plan add-on for free for all guest three and older in their party. There are a few requirements:

• You must book at least a three night stay, and your stay cannot be longer than 14 nights
• You must include at least a two day Magic Your Way base ticket
• You must pay your $200 per room deposit at time of booking, you cannot “hold” a reservation

Guests staying at a Disney World value resort will receive the Quick Service Dining Plan for free. Guests will be able to upgrade to either the Disney Dining plan or the Deluxe Disney Dining plan by paying the price difference. To upgrade to the Disney Dining Plan, the increased cost will be $11 per adult night of your stay (there is no increase for kids 3 – 9). To upgrade to the Disney Deluxe Dining plan, guests will pay $44 per adult and $10 per child per night of your stay.

Guests staying at a Disney World Moderate, Deluxe or Disney Villa resort will receive the Disney Dining Plan included for free. Disney World guests at moderate, deluxe and villa resorts will also be able to book the “Free Dining”, and upgrade to the Disney Deluxe Dining for the normal price difference, which is $33 for adults and $10 for children three to nine.

Availability is extremely limited, and must be booked by August 27, 2011. It appears that all suites have been excluded from this offer, though all resorts, including value resorts are included (All-Star Family Suites are included). To receive the Disney VISA cardholder discount, you must pay your deposit at time of booking with your Disney VISA, and you must pay the balance with your Disney VISA card as well, when due. As a reminder, this exact discount should be released on May 2 to the general public without the Disney VISA requirements.

Guests will also receive a Disney Photopass Photo Book included as part of their package at the special pre-order price of $99.95. The photo book must be included in the package, you cannot exclude it.

One thing to note that while the last date of travel is September 24, you will receive free dining for your entire stay, as long as you check in September 24 or before. As usual, this is subject to availability.

To book this special Disney VISA “Free Dining” vacation package, please contact our great sponsor Mouseketrips, and ask for the appropriate code:

• I25 – Magic Your Way Quick Service Dining Plan (Value resorts only)
• Y23 – Magic Your Way Disney Dining Plan (Value resorts only)
• O2M – Magic Your Way Disney Dining Plan (moderate, deluxe and villa resorts only)
• H2C - Magic Your Way Deluxe Dining Plan

Travel Dates: October 3 – December 21, 2010

Walt Disney World has extended the existing Free Disney Dining offer to cover dates through Decemeber 21, 2010. There are many black out periods that the discount does not cover.

New Available Travel Dates:

• Aug. 15 – Oct. 7, 2010
• Oct. 22 – Oct. 28, 2010
• Nov. 12 – Nov. 18, 2010
• Nov. 27 – Dec. 2, 2010
• Dec. 10 – Dec. 21, 2010

Please note that in order to qualify for the free dining offer, your must check in during one of the available dates above. Your stay can extend into a black out period, you will still receive the free dining for your entire stay.

Guests staying at a Disney World value resort will receive the Quick Service Dining Plan for free. Guests will be able to upgrade to either the Disney Dining plan or the Deluxe Disney Dining plan by paying the price difference. To upgrade to the Disney Dining Plan, the increased cost will be $10 per adult and $2 per child per night of your stay. To upgrade to the Disney Deluxe Dining plan, guests will pay $40 per adult and $11 per child per night of your stay.

Guests staying at a Disney World Moderate, Deluxe or Disney Villa resort will receive the Disney Dining Plan included for free. Disney World guests at moderate, deluxe and villa resorts will also be able to book the “Free Dining”, and upgrade to the Disney Deluxe Dining for the normal price difference, which is $30 for adults and $9 for children three to nine. The Wine and Dine option is also available at full price to add onto either the Basic or Deluxe dining plans.

Availability is extremely limited, and must be booked by August 14, 2010. It appears that all suites have been excluded from this offer, with the exception of the family suites at All-Star Music, which is included. All Disney resorts, including value resorts are included in the offer.

To book this special Disney World “Free Dining” vacation package, please contact our great sponsor Mouseketrips, and ask for the appropriate code:

• NF3 – Magic Your Way Quick Service Dining Plan (Value resorts only)
• TF5 – Magic Your Way Disney Dining Plan (Value resorts only)
• WG7 – Magic Your Way Disney Dining Plan (moderate, deluxe and villa resorts only)

Travel Dates: August 15 – October 2, 2010

Edit: May 3, 2010 – This discount is no longer necessary, as the Free Dining has been released to the general public. For more information, head over to the Disney World Free Dining 2010 Information.

Walt Disney World has announced the “Free Dining” promotion for the sixth consecutive year. Currently, the discount is only available to Disney VISA cardholders, though it will be released to the general public starting on Monday, May 3, 2010. With the “Free Dining” promotion, Disney resort guests who book a Magic Your Way package that includes both your Disney resort room and your Magic Your Way park passes, will receive one of the Disney Dining plan add-on for free for all guest three and older in their party. There are a few requirements:

• You must book at least a three night stay, and your stay cannot be longer than 14 nights
• You must include at least a two day Magic Your Way base ticket
• You must pay your $200 per room deposit at time of booking, you cannot “hold” a reservation

A slight change from 2009. Guests staying at a Disney World value resort will receive the Quick Service Dining Plan for free. Guests will be able to upgrade to either the Disney Dining plan or the Deluxe Disney Dining plan by paying the price difference. To upgrade to the Disney Dining Plan, the increased cost will be $10 per adult and $2 per child per night of your stay. To upgrade to the Disney Deluxe Dining plan, guests will pay $40 per adult and $11 per child per night of your stay.

Guests staying at a Disney World Moderate, Deluxe or Disney Villa resort will receive the Disney Dining Plan included for free. Disney World guests at moderate, deluxe and villa resorts will also be able to book the “Free Dining”, and upgrade to the Disney Deluxe Dining for the normal price difference, which is $30 for adults and $9 for children three to nine. The Wine and Dine option is also available at full price to add onto either the Basic or Deluxe dining plans.

Availability is extremely limited, and must be booked by August 14, 2010. It appears that all suites have been excluded from this offer, though all resorts, including value resorts are included (All-Star Family Suites are included). To receive the Disney VISA cardholder discount, you must pay your deposit at time of booking with your Disney VISA, and you must pay the balance with your Disney VISA card as well, when due. As a reminder, this exact discount will be released on May 3 to the general public without the Disney VISA requirements.

One thing to note that while the last date of travel is October 2, the free dining will extend past that date, as long as you check in October 2 or before. As usual, this is subject to availability.

To book this special Disney VISA “Free Dining” vacation package, please contact our great sponsor Mouseketrips, and ask for the appropriate code:

• QD4 – Magic Your Way Quick Service Dining Plan (Value resorts only)
• UE9 – Magic Your Way Disney Dining Plan (Value resorts only)
• EF5 – Magic Your Way Disney Dining Plan (moderate, deluxe and villa resorts only)
• UXQ - Magic Your Way Deluxe Dining Plan

This was originally meant to be a quick post on our facebook page, but there is too much information fit, so I decided to expand it a bit and post it here.

We have been getting a ton of questions about the free dining discount at Walt Disney World for 2010. To be blunt, no one knows at this point. In fact, I’m not even sure if Disney knows right now. If I had to venture a guess, I would say there is a 90% chance we will see free dining for 2010. I’m not sure what form it will take, but would gess it will be similar to the late 2009 free dining discount (free quick service at values, free Disney dining at moderate and deluxe resorts). Things are lining up pretty well for a 2010 free dining discount, bookings are still a little soft for the year, discounts have been available for every day so far in 2010 (including normally discount-challenged months in the summer), and we have seen the free dining discount every year since Disney released the dining plan. In short, it would be a surprise not to see free dining released again for 2010, but at this point there are no guarantees.

We usually do not know exactly what the discounts will be until they are released, or sometimes a day or two ahead of time if we are lucky. If we see free dining again in 2010, we probably won’t know what form it will take or the dates that will be covered until the actual discount is released.

So, when will we know?

The booking window for current WDW discounts expires on March 27, 2010, and those discounts are good for travel through August 14, 2010. We anticipate the next round of discounts to be released following the closure of that booking window.

Please note the following dates for discounts that were released in 2009:

• March 30, 2009 – Free Dining released for travel from August 16 – October 3, 2009
• July 27, 2009 – Free Dining (quick service at values, free Disney Dining at moderate and deluxe resorts) extended for travel from October 4 – December 17, 2009
• August 16, 2009 – Bounceback offer for WDW guests for Free Dining for 2010 travel dates  (travel from August 15 – September 30, 2010)

I would expect similar timing for the release of any 2010 discounts as well as the initial travel dates. Initial travel dates should be August 15 – September 30, 2010. If it’s released, expect to see free dining made available for August/September first, and then possibly be extended to cover more dates later in the summer and fall.

Update – April 27, 2010 – We are nearly a month past the expected release of Fall discounts for WDW, as Disney World continues to heavily discount summer travel. Rumor has been spreading we may see discounts for August 15 – October 2, 2010 released as early as Thursday, April 29 for Disney VISA cardholders, and on Monday, May 3 for the general public. The prevailing feeling is that we will see free quick service dining for value and moderate resorts, and free Disney Dining for deluxe and villa resorts. I hope to have further information soon.

Update April 29, 2010 – Disney is currently offering the Disney Dining plan free for Disney VISA cardholders. Soon to be released for the general public. Travel dates of August 15 – October 2, 2010.

Update May 3, 2010 – Disney is currently offering the Disney Dining plan free for everyone. Travel dates of August 15 – October 2, 2010.

To keep up to date on the free dining progress of 2010, follow us on twitter or facebook, or subscribe to our email updates here on MouseMisers.

Travel Dates: September 27 – December 17, 2009

Walt Disney World has announced an extension of the the “Free Dining” promotion for 2009. With the “Free Dining” promotion, Disney resort guests who book a Magic Your Way package that includes both your Disney resort room and your Magic Your Way park passes will receive one of the Disney Dining plan add-ons for free for all guest three and older in your party. There are a few requirements:

• You must book at least a three night stay, and your stay cannot be longer than 10 nights
• You must include at least a one day Magic Your Way base ticket

There is one small change with this promotion, from past free dining offers.

• Book a minimum three night stay at at Disney Value resort, and receive the Quick Service dining plan included for free with your stay.
• Book a minimum three night or longer stay at a Disney Moderate, Deluxe or Villa resort, and receive the Disney Dining plan included for free with your stay.

As it was in the past, this year Disney World guests will also be able to book the “Free Dining”, and upgrade to the Disney Deluxe Dining for the normal price difference, which is $32 for adults and $10 for children three to nine. The Wine and Dine option is also available at full price to add onto either the Basic or Deluxe dining plans. If you book your stay at a Disney Value resort, you have the option to upgrade to the Disney Dining plan by paying the difference, which is $10 for adults and $2 for children three to nine, or you may upgrade to the Disney Deluxe Dining for the prices difference, which is $42 for adults and $12 for children three to nine.

Availability is extremely limited, and must be booked by September 26, 2009. There are some black out dates, November 25 – 29, 2009. It does not appear currently that the black out dates block you from booking  travel during those dates, but more of a warning that availability is extremely limited. It appears that all suites have been excluded from this offer, though all resorts, including value resorts are included. The family suites at All-Star Music are included in the discount, though you will receive the Quick Service dining plan.

One thing to note that while the last date of travel is December 17, the free dining will be included for your entire stay, including dates past December 17, as long as you check in December 17 or before. As usual, this is subject to availability.

To book this special Walt Disney World “Free Dining” vacation package, please contact our great sponsor Mouseketrips.

Travel Dates: September 27 – December 17, 2009

Please note the Disney VISA free dining discount is no longer needed, as Disney World had released an identical Free Dining discount that does not require any special payment requirements.

Walt Disney World has announced an extension of the the “Free Dining” promotion for 2009. Currently, the discount is only available to Disney VISA cardholders, though it will be released to the general public starting on Monday, July 27, 2009. With the “Free Dining” promotion, Disney resort guests who book a Magic Your Way package that includes both your Disney resort room and your Magic Your Way park passes, will receive the Disney Dining plan add-on for free for all guest three and older in their party. There are a few requirements:

• You must book at least a three night stay, and your stay cannot be longer than 10 nights
• You must include at least a one day Magic Your Way base ticket
• You must pay your $200 per room deposit at time of booking with your Disney VISA card, you cannot “hold” a reservation

There is one small change with this promotion, from past free dining offers.

• Book a three night stay at at Disney Value resort, and receive the Quick Service dining plan included for free with your stay.
• Book a three night or longer stay at a Disney Moderate, Deluxe or Villa resort, and receive the Disney Dining plan included for free with your stay.

As it was in the past, this year Disney World guests will also be able to book the “Free Dining”, and upgrade to the Disney Deluxe Dining for the normal price difference, which is $32 for adults and $10 for children three to nine. The Wine and Dine option is also available at full price to add onto either the Basic or Deluxe dining plans. If you book your stay at a Disney Value resort, you have the option to upgrade to the Disney Dining plan by paying the difference, which is $10 for adults and $2 for children three to nine.

Availability is extremely limited, and must be booked by September 26, 2009. It appears that all suites have been excluded from this offer, though all resorts, including value resorts are included. To receive the Disney VISA cardholder discount, you must pay your deposit at time of booking with your Disney VISA, and you must pay the balance with your Disney VISA card as well, when due. As a reminder, this exact discount will be released on July 27 to the general public without the Disney VISA requirements.

One thing to note that while the last date of travel is December 17, the free dining will extend past that date, as long as you check in December 17 or before. As usual, this is subject to availability.

To book this special Disney VISA “Free Dining” vacation package, please contact our great sponsor Mouseketrips.