Disney World has just announced it’s free dining offer for 2016. This is one of the most eagerly anticipated discount Walt Disney World offers of the year! Free Dining can be a big saving – so what are the details of the 2016 offer?
What Do You Get With The Disney World Free Dining Offer?
The Disney World Free Dining offer simply means that if you book a Disney World Resort hotel for certain dates you will be entitled to a free dining package. This is a valuable offer and the availability is limited.
If you book a Disney World Value Resort you will be entitled to receive the Quick Service Disney Dining Plan for free during your stay. If you are staying at a Disney World Moderate, Deluxe Resort or Disney Villas Resorts you will get the standard Disney Dining Plan.
You can upgrade to a higher plan if you pay the upgrade charge. If you were staying at a Value Resort and get the Quick Service Plan but want the standard plan you can upgrade for a cost of $19.57 for each adult and $3.81 for a child per night. If you were at a Moderate or Deluxe Resort and want the Deluxe Dining Plan you can upgrade for $70.95 per adult and $16.45 per child per night of your stay. You have to upgrade for the whole of your stay.
Disney World Free Dining Offer 2016 Dates
The dates during which the offer is running are:
August 23rd through October 1st 2016
November 15th through November 21st 2016
November 26th through November 28th 2016
December 10 through 21, 2016
The important date is you arrival date at your Disney World Resort. Let’s look at a couple of examples. If you arrive on September 30th and stay until October 7th the whole of your stay is covered by the offer. However, if you arrive on December 9th and stay until December 16th your stay will not be covered by the free dining offer.
Which Hotels Are Included In The Disney World Free Dining Plan?
Not all of the Disney World Hotels are included in the Free Dining Plan Offer. The excluded hotels are:
Value Resorts:All-Star Movies, Art of Animation Little Mermaid Rooms
Moderate Resorts: Port Orleans Resort French Quarter. The Port Orleans Resort Riverside is available from August 23rd through October 1st 2016 only.
Deluxe Resorts: Bay Lake Tower.
Disney Vacation Club Resorts: Villas at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort (although the Studios are included) and the Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort. All 3 Bedroom Villas are excluded.
Fort Wilderness Campsites are also excluded from Free Dining.
What Do You Have To Purchase To Get The Free Dining?
The offer is open to anyone who books a non excluded Disney World resort hotel room. You must stay for at least 3 nights and not more than 14 nights during the qualifying dates.
However, another condition of the offer is that you have to buy at least a 2 Day Disney World Ticket which includes either a Water Park Fun and More Option, or a Park Hopper upgrade. You must buy tickets even if you have an Annual Pass. This requirement usually pretty much cancels out the benefit for those who already have a Disney World Annual Pass. You can’t book the offer through Disney Vacation Club Points either.
This is one of the most popular Disney World vacation offers and you do have to book early to get the best chance of the hotels and the dates that you need. Availability is limited and you may not get the first choice of hotel that you want. Those in the know wait for these offers and you really do have to get in early if you want to take advantage of the Disney World Free Dining Offer 2016.
Alison Meacham is the founder of EverythingMouse Disney Blog. For over 15 years she has shared her love of Disney Parks, Disney Cruises and Universal Orlando. In over 30 years of Disney Travel she has spent countless months in Disney Parks and has sailed on over 45 cruises. A British native and now a United States resident she splits her time between California, Florida and the UK. And spends a serious amount of time sailing the seven seas. She helps over 200,000 people per month follow their Disney travel dreams.