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Mom And Son Giraffe
  • On Jan 10, 2010
    Christine from IL Asked Note: This answer was provided prior to the change to planDisney and may still contain references to Disney Parks Moms Panel.     “

    If I book a vacation package with dining plan and the free dining plan comes available, do they refund you your money you have paid for the dining plan in your package? How does this work?”

    In the past, Disney has offered special promotional packages which include the Disney Dining Plan for free. Free Dining is not automatic for guests traveling during the promotional time period. There are a limited number of free dining packages available.

    If you have an existing reservation and you subsequently decide that you would like to take advantage of the free dining promotion, you would need to cancel your first reservation and completely rebook your package. When you do this, there is no guarantee that your preferred resort will have rooms available or that other aspects of your package will be the same.

    Before rebooking, you may want to consider whether free dining is really the most cost effective option for you. Guests who receive free dining are generally booked into their hotel room at the "rack rate," which is the highest price for that room. You may be able to get a better price for the same room through a different Disney promotion or through a travel reseller such as Expedia or Orbitz. The money saved on the room might possibly be greater than the money you would spend on food, making "free dining" cost more than simply paying for food yourself. There is a great discussion of this topic on the independent website touringplans.com. Look there for a September 16, 2009 article called "Free Disney Dining: Does it Always Save You Money?"

    Good luck with your planning.
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Meet the Panelist: Erin, New York

I have three teenage daughters. We're DVC members obsessed with Disney travel. We've been to Walt Disney World countless times and have visited Disneyland & Disneyland Paris. We've taken several Adventures by Disney and Disney Cruise trips. Learn More About Erin

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