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Mom And Daughter; Magic Kingdom; Cinderella's Castle; AA; Mickey Balloon
  • On Jul 29, 2011
    Alisa from MS Asked Note: This answer was provided prior to the change to planDisney and may still contain references to Disney Parks Moms Panel.

    Experiences, policies, pricing and other offerings are subject to change and may have changed since the date of this answer.

    Heard a rumor Theoretically, if I booked ADRs before booking my trip because I was waiting on free dining to be released and then found out FD starts the day after our planned check in & day of our 8:30a.m. ADR at Tusker's. How can I make it work?

    Good question. This is a scenario that would make your trip planning rather tricky, as you need to run a few sets of numbers to see what would be your best value.

    The short answer would be that you must check in during a free dining promotion to receive free dining. In the scenario you outlined, that would mean making 2 separate reservations - a one night resort stay, then you'd check out and immediately check back in on your second reservation, thus receiving the free dining promotion.

    Where this gets complicated is in ticketing. Typically, when free dining is offered it is in conjunction with the purchase of a vacation package, including park tickets and a resort reservation. So if you wanted to visit the theme parks on the first day of your trip, you'd have to purchase a single day ticket. That can be cost prohibitive - a single day ticket costs much more than adding extra days onto a ticket package. So you'd have to do a cost analysis to determine if you'd come out ahead financially by purchasing those single day tickets, or if you'd be better off skipping the free dining promo.

    Another alternative is to plan to visit Downtown Disney on your first day, where no park ticket is required.

    Hope that helps!
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Meet the Panelist: Heather, Kentucky

I'm a member of the original 2008 Moms Panel and am happy to be back again to help you plan! We are DVC members who visit 2-3 times per year with our 3 young daughters, and I am only one visit away from being able to say I've stayed in every Disney resort! Learn More About Heather

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