Category — e. What to Budget for Walt Disney World

TRADITIONAL FREE DINING IN 2013: WILL THEY OR WON’T THEY?

Update 5/9/13: This deal is now out! See this.

My bud Carl Trent* has taken issue with my continuing forecast that we will see some free Disney World dining in the traditional August-September period–which for reasons noted here I repeated as recently as Tuesday. His post is here.

Well, only one of us can be right, so we’ll see!  I do have to note though that when Carl and I disagree on something…he’s right more often than I am.

In my “day job,” I’m a strategist, and so deeply study how to forecast.

The basic rule of forecasting is that tomorrow will be like today unless there are differences in structure, conduct or performance that will lead the relevant actors to do something differently.

I don’t see such enough such differences to agree with Carl’s call.

We both agree that Disney is (and, from a business point of view, should be) cutting way back on free dining compared to recent years.

But I see this cutback as related to coming out of the recession–and the August/September free dining program well precedes the recession. 

So actions related to coming out of the recession can’t on the face of it be related to August/September free dining deal…or at least that’s my call in making the forecast I’ve made!

So one of us will be right, and the other wrong!  Free Dining Smackdown 2013!

(*Carl runs Dad’s Guide to WDW, which has been on this site’s list of Recommended Sites for years.  Check it out if you haven’t seen it.)

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook!

NEWS ON FREE DINING AT WALT DISNEY WORLD IN 2013…SORTA

One of my crack sources–the mysterious J–just emailed me to let me know that free dining for the fall of 2013 will be out shortly for South American and European visitors.

The booking window will open May 9, and the offer will cover arrival dates of September 2 through September 25.

At the values, the offer is the quick service dining plan for free, and at the moderates and deluxes,  the offer is the regular dining plan for free.

I refuse to read too much into the arrival dates right now, so my takeaway is that since this offer will soon be out for much of the rest of the world, we’ll see an August/September free dining deal out for US residents visitors in May as well.

Well, I hope it includes August…

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook!

NEW DISNEY WORLD SUMMER 2013 ROOM RATE DEAL

As expected, Walt Disney World has released a new deal for the summer of 2013.

The new Disney World deal covers most arrival dates from June 13, 2013 through August 14, and needs to be booked by June 14.

The deal follows Disney World’s recent pattern of different discount levels based both on starting price and demand, and also excludes what has typically recently been excluded:

• Save 30%: Animal Kingdom Lodge (standard view), Bay Lake Tower, Beach Club, Beach Club Villas, BoardWalk Inn, BoardWalk Villas, Contemporary, Grand Floridian, Old Key West, Polynesian, Saratoga Springs, and Yacht Club
• Save 20%: The Cabins at Fort Wilderness, Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs, Port Orleans Resort Riverside, The Villas at Wilderness Lodge and Wilderness Lodge
• Save 15%: All-Star Sports, All-Star Music, Art of Animation Family Suites and Pop Century
• Explicitly excluded: Campsites, 3-Bedroom villas, suites, Art of Animation Little Mermaid
• Possibly available at low (e.g. 5%) discount some dates: All Star Movies, Port Orleans French Quarter, other unlisted resorts

For more details, see Disney’s page on this offer.

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook!

DISNEY WORLD VISA DEAL LIKELY TO BE RELEASED TO THE REST OF US ON APRIL 2

Update April 2: This deal is now out!  See this for more.

There’s a new Disney World room rate deal out for Disney Visa cardholders. Multiple sources predict or assert it’ll be available to the general public next week–e.g. on Tuesday April 2, 2013.

It covers most arrival dates from June 13, 2013 through August 14, and needs to be booked by June 14.

The deal follows Disney World’s recent pattern of different discount levels based both on starting price and demand, and also excludes what has typically recently been excluded:

• Save 30%: Animal Kingdom Lodge (standard view), Bay Lake Tower, Beach Club, Beach Club Villas, BoardWalk Inn, BoardWalk Villas, Contemporary, Grand Floridian, Old Key West, Polynesian, Saratoga Springs, and Yacht Club
• Save 20%: The Cabins at Fort Wilderness, Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs, Port Orleans Resort Riverside, The Villas at Wilderness Lodge and Wilderness Lodge
• Save 15%: All-Star Sports, All-Star Music, Art of Animation Family Suites and Pop Century
• Explicitly excluded: Campsites, 3-Bedroom villas, Art of Animation Little Mermaid
• Possibly available at low (e.g. 5%) discount some dates: All Star Movies, Port Orleans French Quarter, other unlisted resorts

More next week when the general public deal comes out!

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook!

SUMMER 2013 DISNEY WORLD ROOM RATE DEAL AND FALL 2013 FREE DINING

Update 3/28:  See this for more on the room rate deal out next week.

Crack commenter J., a South American travel agent, noted earlier today two interesting points:

• A room rate deal will be coming out next week for the South American and European markets.  Since US discounts end this Sunday, March 31, there’s a darn good chance the next US deal will come out then too, or not a whole lot later. The overseas deal covers arrival dates June 13 through August 14.
• She also had a thought to offer on the possibility of fall 2013 free dining at Walt Disney World being shortened compared to usual dates for moderates and values, noting that South American spring breaks are common the third week of September…

So what we have here from J. is a report and a fact, and added to it my speculation.  We won’t really know about 2013 fall free dining–or even the summer room deal–til we see it; but J.’s comment, and our subsequent email correspondence, are intriguing…

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook!

WALT DISNEY WORLD DEAL EXPIRES SOON

Disney World currently has just one deal running, for arrival dates into mid-June.  This deal needs to be booked by March 31st!  See this for more on the deal.

DISNEY WORLD FREE DINING IN 2013?

It’s been unusual recently for Disney to have no deals out, so rumors are rife that a new deal will come out as early as April 1.

And everyone is hoping that it will be the usual fall free dining deal!

We’ve seen no free dining so far in 2013, and I expect the factors that have led to this to mean we won’t see a lot of free dining at Disney World the rest of 2013.

But I do forecast that we will see the return of the traditional fall free dining offer. It may be very different than in the recent past, and it may not be announced on April 1…but I do expect to see something, sometime soon!

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook!