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FREE DINING AT DISNEY WORLD FOR THE REST OF 2013

Crack insider the “Mysterious J” emailed me last night to let me know that a free dining deal for the rest of 2013 at Disney World for visits booked from Europe and South America will come out on August 1st.  

This deal will have book-by dates of November 15, and will cover arrival dates of

• September 29 to October 2, 2013
• October 18 to November 2, 2013
• November 11 to November 23, 2013
• December 12 to December 22, 2013

At or near the same time, a room rate deal will come out as well.

The “Mysterious J” has given me the heads up on such items weeks before they appear before, and has never yet been wrong.

Moreover, what typically happens is that these deals come out outside the US first, and then soon get released for the North American general public.

So this news bodes really, really well for general public free dining to come out in early August as well!

I’ve been frankly skeptical about such a deal and am oh so glad that it appears that my forecasts of no more general public free dining in 2013 might be wrong!!!

Walt Disney World has now released prices for the key components of 2014 visits–tickets, resort hotels, and the dining plan.

Prices have generally gone up–but not all of them, and less so than last year.

DISNEY WORLD 2014 PRICE INCREASES IN CONTEXT

Disney World ticket prices went up (effective immediately) in June.

The actual increase varied by which ticket type and number of ticket days you are targeting, but for the most commonly bought options, prices went up about 6%. Last year, these same prices went up about 9%.

In later June, Dining Plan prices went up–also, in a change from past practice (when plan increases went in effect the next January) effective immediately.

Prices again vary by plan, but the “regular” dining plan prices went up about 6.5% for those 10 and older, and 10% for those younger than 10.  Last year, the prices went up 14% and 8% respectively.

Wednesday, resort hotel prices for 2014 were announced. These are more complicated–but the story is the same–generally, less of an increase than last year.*

Last year value resort prices went up (as an average across all the seasonal prices) about 7.5%.  But at the same time, mini-fridges, which had been a $10 optional upcharge, became standard and built into the price, so that for those who would have paid to get the fridges, prices actually went down.

This year, with a couple of minor weekend exceptions in one or two price seasons, value prices are unchanged–that is, not increased–at the four older value resorts (Pop Century and the All-Stars).

Art of Animation is a different story–Little Mermaid room prices are up across the board, from 3-5%, and so are Family Suites, up 4.6-5.3%

At the moderates, prices are also largely unchanged compared to 2013, except for the fall season, up 2.5% on weekdays and 5.6% on weekends. (By the way, the combination of these last two points–moderates unchanged, and standard Little Mermaid rooms at Art of Animation going up, is bringing Little Mermaid prices awfully close to moderate prices–see the chart here.)

Last year, moderate prices went up on average 3.5%.  So this year’s no price increase–for most seasons–is a big deal.

Deluxe resort prices in 2014 are up across the board–but again less than last year, when prices went up ~3%.  For 2014, prices are up in every season, but only 1.4% to 1.9%.

So the net effect is that while a Disney World vacation is now more expensive–no surprise there–many components didn’t go up at all, and pretty much everything went up less than last year.

WHY THE MODERATION IN DISNEY WORLD PRICE INCREASES COMPARED TO 2013?

“Moderation” is kind of a funny word to use for Disney World’s grab at your wallets, but for comparisons with 2013 prices announced in the summer of 2012, it is fair.

My guess is that there’s a couple of thing behind Disney World’s relative restraint (another funny word to use…) in pricing, and both are related to changes in the competitive terrain.

When Disney set prices last year, it knew New Fantasyland was opening, and hoped Fastpass+ would be in place for much of 2013.  It both expected these to create value for guests and needed to recapture its return on investment in them.

So prices were bumped accordingly. Moreover, none of its major competitors was opening anything nearly as significant, creating no competitive reason to moderate price rises.

In 2014, the competitive terrain is very different.

Universal Orlando will be opening its first new hotel in years, and Harry Potter will see a major expansion sometime in the summer. While Disney World will be opening the last elements of the Fantasyland expansion and implementing Fastpass+, both of these are largely already priced in, given the increases for 2013.

So that’s my take–moderate price increases because of increased competitive pressures in 2014…

What do you think?

*Resort price conclusions are based on standard rooms at a sample of 8 resorts covering 8 or so major price seasons each.

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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: JULY 13, 2013 TO JULY 21, 2013

The material below details operating hours, Extra Magic Hours, parades, and fireworks.

The same stuff is in the table, but organized by park, not by topic.

(And for more on July 2013 at Walt Disney World, see this.)

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2014 RESORT PRICE SEASONS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

The material below shows the different resort price seasons at Walt Disney World at different times of the year in 2014.

Resort prices, however, are almost twice as high during some periods as they are at others.

(For 2015 prices, see this, and projected 2016 prices, this.)

2014 DISNEY WORLD PRICE SEASONS

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Yesterday’s post about how to increase your odds of getting a Be Our Guest reservation got tons of comments and responses, both on this site and on the many Facebook pages that shared it (and thanks to all those who shared and/or liked the post and/or commented!!).

Rather than respond to each comment, let me group the key points into one place here, in no particular order.  (The links are to example comments on the point.)

• Some people do have no trouble getting a booking for 180 days out. (I saw this in particular in comments on the various Facebook shares)
• Many people do have success with the recommended strategy
• People do cancel their reservations, so rechecking closer to your dates—even the day before—can really pay off!
• It’s simply not true that Disney World holds back some reservations to guarantee 180 day availability—although it does sometime have technical difficulties that have a similar effect!!
• Walking up to the (counter service) lunch is an option—aim to arrive 1.15p or a little later

Thanks again to DisneyDiningAgent whose original comment kicked all this off!

Any key points I missed?

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GETTING A RESERVATION AT BE OUR GUEST

Among this site’s more than 4 million visitors are a lot of Disney insiders, who sometimes send helpful notes about various items.

One of the best is DisneyDiningAgent, who posted an important comment yesterday covering a lot of topics.

One of his (or her!) topics was why it’s so hard to get a table service reservation at Be Our Guest.

BE OUR GUEST IS BOOKING UP AS FAR OUT AS 190 DAYS OUT

Dining reservations at Disney World open at 180 days out, except for Walt Disney World resort hotel guests.  For these guests, bookings open at 180 days, but the window for booking extends from their arrival date through the next ten days.

This means they can book Be Our Guest up to 190 days out. And, according to DisneyDiningAgent, they are.

Now obviously not everyone is staying for ten days.

But what happens is that the people staying 5 days book it 185 days out, those staying 6, 186 days out, etc.  So when people call 180 days ahead and try to book Be Our Guest for the date 180 days in advance, the capacity 180 days out is often gone, so, if they are a WDW resort hotel guest, they then book it for later in their visit…and then people calling the next day have the same problem, and respond the same way.

There’s no great answer to this.

If you really want to do dinner at Be Our Guest (right now, until Fastpass+ emerges, the only reservable meal), your odds will be best if you stay at a Disney resort, aim to do Be Our Guest on the last day of your visit, and be on-line at 6a eastern the first day you can book.  If the on-line system isn’t working (all too common–more on that later), then start dialing the phone just before 7a.

What’s your Be Our Guest story?  Were you able to book 180 days out, or, if you stayed in a WDW resort, did you pick–or get stuck with–a date later in the reservations window?

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