New Walt Disney World - 20%-30% off room rates offer

While the Free Dining Promo is probably the best offer that Disney has going on right now for most people, the following "room-only" discount could suit you if the Free Dining dates don't work for you.

In fact, even if they do, but you are staying in Deluxe category resort, this new promo might actually save you money as the room discount could conceivably be higher than the value of the Free dining...

Unfortunately, the two promos can't be combined - come on, would you really expect that?! - but we would always check and see which one works best...


Offer Details

• 20% off Value and Moderate Resorts
• 30% off Deluxe and Disney Deluxe Villa Resorts 
• Excludes Campsites
• Booking Window : September 6- December 22, 2011
• Travel Window  : October 1 – December 22, 2011

** Please note that rooms will be priced at Rack Rate for November 23 – 25 **

Free dining is back! Dates through Sept NEXT YEAR!!

After an extended silence from me - sorry about that - I wanted to ensure that you are aware of the newest Walt Disney World Offer. Like last year the Disney Travel Company is offering Free Dining for an e-x-t-e-n-d-e-d set of dates in 2011 and 2012.

And if the next year is anything like this year (and it probably will be) they won't re-introduce the free dining again once the booking deadline has passed. That means that people willing to pre-plan will get the best deals. Waiting til next year will be TOO LATE - at least for this deal (which is typically their best offer of the year)...

Here's the scoop on the dates and booking deadline... (please note that the dates have changed just a little since Disney first announced them). This is the corrected list.

Magic Your Way plus Free Dine

Booking Window : August 3 – December 17 , 2011

Travel Window (valid for arrival most nights) :

• Oct. 1-6, 2011
• Oct. 22 - Nov. 3, 2011
• Nov. 12-17, 2011
• Nov. 26 - Dec. 1, 2011
• Dec. 10-15, 2011
• Jan. 8-12, 2012
• Jan. 21 - Feb. 2, 2012
• Feb. 11-16, 2012
• March 3-8, 2012
• March 24-29, 2012
• Aug. 19 - Sept. 29, 2012

Get the Quick Service Dining Plan FREE at a Disney Value Resort (you can upgrade to the Disney Dining Plan or Deluxe Disney Dining Plan at reduced rates)

Get the (regular) Disney Dining Plan FREE at a Disney Moderate, Deluxe,  Deluxe Villa Resort or Cabin.

You should definitely consider booking early for next year. Contact me to do so...

Free dining "Memories Vacation Package"

Tentative details are emerging about a new "free dining" special for travel to Walt Disney World (in select Walt Disney World resort hotels) in late August-late September.

This offer is valid for stays for most nights between 28th August  2011 and 24th September 2011.

This new package - the "Memories Vacation Package" - includes:

• Accommodations in a select Walt Disney World resort hotel (3 nights minimum)
• Walt Disney World theme park Tickets (2 days minimum) - the Base Ticket is included in the offer, but this can be upgraded to the Park Hopper or Water Park Fun and More, at additional cost
• A Disney's PhotoPass Photo Book. Please note that this required item adds about $100 USD to the total cost of this package.

• If you stay at select Disney Value resorts you will get the Quick Service Dining Plan for FREE.
• If you stay at select Disney Moderate, Deluxe and Deluxe Villas resorts you will get the regular Dining Plan for FREE.

You must book by 8/27/11, though the number of rooms allocated for this offer is limited and many dates will sell out well before this cut-off date. No group rates or other discounts apply.

I don't seem to be very consistent with the whole blogging thing...

Kind of defeats the object of blogging if you don't blog regularly...

I have good excuses, of course - I am still primarily a working travel agent and client files have to take precedence. There are certain times of year when it is very hard to get everything done.

However, there have been a number of Disney developments that should be reported, plus one rumour which is about 98% certain to pan out regarding "FREE DINING" for 28th Aug-24th Sep 2011...

Watch this space!

Westjet Seat Sale to Orlando - silly prices for December...

I just checked some flights for clients for December. I was amazed to find the 13th or 14th December for a week, direct flights, round-trip, from Ottawa, for $350 - and that's TAX-IN... crazy!! (I just spent nearly double that for a flight to Edmonton...)

Considering that there was some (albeit extremely limited) availability on the free dining plan for the 13th-20th too, maybe you should call me and book!!

Unbelievable news about free dining at Walt Disney World

In what is a completely unprecedented move (in my 11-year memory at least!) Disney seem to have gone nuts and are offering free dining right through select dates in SEPTEMBER 2011! Yes, you read that right - more than a year of potential free dining dates to book!

We already knew that the free dining promotion was valid for arrivals most nights most dates up to the end of December this year:

•  Oct. 1-7, Oct. 22-28, Nov. 12-18, Nov. 27 — Dec. 2 and Dec. 10-21, 2010,

But here are the new dates for 2011...

• Jan. 1-5, 
• Jan. 9-13, 
• Jan. 21 — Feb. 3, 
• Feb. 11-17, 
• Feb. 25 — March 3, 
• May 27 — June 2 and 
• Aug. 19 — Sept. 29, 2011.

CRAZY!!!

Booking window is from today through 20th December, but, as always with the Free dining promos, the number of rooms is limited, so it is better to book earlier. There is no down side to booking early...

And that's not all.

In subsequent posts, I'll summarise a couple of more limited offers also announced today, that also may appeal to you. Although these other offers cannot be combined with the free dining, they fill in some of the dates that are not offered with free dining.

Free Dining - dates extended!

Hello again, Disney Fans!

Just announced: the "Free Dining promotion" has been extended for many dates right up to Dec 21st 2010. There are blackout dates, and the number of rooms are limited. (Yes, I know they are always limited, but the agent I spoke to today explained that there are fewer rooms available on this promo than other similar ones, so it sounds like it will be worth booking early.) Today it took well over an hour on hold to even get to speak to a Disney reservation agent, so people are already booking for sure...

The extended dates are:

• Aug 15th-Oct 7th
• Oct 22nd-Oct 28th
• Nov 12th-Nov 18th
• Nov 27th-Dec 2nd
• Dec 10th-Dec 21st

So let's get booking!!

Free Dining is Back at Walt Disney World!

Well we've been waiting for a while to see if Disney would put the "Free Dining" offer back on - and they just did!
As usual, I'll be changing over my clients' files (those that qualify) - just as soon as I get through to Disney! For the first time that I can remember I have only been able to get a busy signal on the Disney Travel Company phone lines!

For more details of this year's offer...

Buy this Walt Disney World Resort vacation package with hotel and Theme Park tickets and get a Disney Dining Plan FREE!

• If you prefer to purchase a 5-night, 6-day Magic Your Way Package with accommodations at a select Disney Value Resort you would get a free Disney Quick-Service Dining Plan.

Booking and Travel Window:

• Booking Window: May 3 - Aug. 14, 2010

• Travel Window: Valid for stays most nights Aug. 15 - Oct. 2, 2010

Sample Pricing:

• US $1,843 for a family of four*, staying in a standard room at a select Disney Moderate Resort. That's like paying US $77 per person, per day! 

• US $1,440 for a family of four*, staying in a standard room at a select Disney Value Resort. That's like paying US $60 per person, per day!

Ask about packages for other lengths of stay and accommodations at other select Walt Disney World Resort Hotels.
For more details download this flier (Adobe PDF - 1MB)
* Price based on 2 Adults, 1 Junior and 1 Child. The number of packages available at these rates is limited. Savings based on the non-discounted price for the same package. Tickets are for 1 theme park per day and must be used within 14 days of first use. No group rates or other discounts apply. Offer is nontransferable. Advance reservations required.

** Excludes gratuities and alcoholic beverages. Children ages 3-9 must order from the children's menu if available. Some table-service restaurants may have limited or no availability at time of package purchase.

Free dining plan has expired. Long live the NEW FREE DINING PLAN!!!

One day after the much-vaunted "Free Dining" promotion ended, the Walt Disney Travel Company have announced another "Free Dining" promotion at Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida!

The new promotion includes the less-expensive, "Quick Service Dining Plan" - not the regular dining plan - but you will be able to pay the difference to upgrade to the regular plan (which is significantly better value in our opinion) if you so desire.

• New travel dates are most nights Sept 29 - Nov 24th, and Nov 29th - Dec 17th 2009.
• The new "book-by" date is Sept 26th.
• Please check out this flyer for details.
• If you are not familiar with the Quick Service Dining Plan, you can find out more about it with this flyer; you can compare with the "regular" Disney Dining Plan by referring to this flyer.
  

Please note that the number of packages available at this rate is limited.

We will be swapping over all "Let's Take the Kids Travel" clients that already are booked in these dates and whose package qualifies...

Last few days on the "Free Dining" promotion for Walt Disney World

Hello dear reader,

Just another quick reminder - there's now LESS THAN TWO WEEKS LEFT TO BOOK the FREE DINING promotion at Walt Disney World - click for flier

It's a great deal, and well worth considering. Nobody knows how long these kind of specials will continue to be offered, but it surely won't be forever...

CALL ME & BOOK IT (613-594-5633 x103)!

What did I find out from the head of Disney Travel Co in Toronto yesterday?

Well, dear reader, 10 hours on the train later... I am back!

Was it worth the trip? Sure!

First up, Mr Garfield came over as a really nice guy, especially considering he runs a company that controlled over $10 billion of business last year... (I was half-expecting a Donald Trump) but was pleasantly surprised!

It was great to meet some of the other sales managers from the Disney company too, as I know have a better idea of who I am dealing with. I also met a number of other Disney specialist travel agents, and we bounced some ideas around.

So, did Mr Garfield give us any bombshell insider information?

Weeeell, no, not really! The Disney Travel company likes to keep things up their sleeves a little bit so that they can make their big announcements when they want to...!

But, without adding any detail, we were told a bit more about the two new Disney cruise ships that are coming on line in 2011 and 2012...

In a similar way that the first two Disney ships were very ground-breaking with the new things that they did first (some of which have been copied by other cruise lines in the meantime) - things like:

• "Broadway style" shows
• full-on kids programming
  
• split bathrooms with mini-tubs
• their own island with a real dock - no need to tender
• old-style ocean-liner retro look

the new ships, we were told, will offer design and programming that will be just as groundbreaking compared with what the other cruise lines are offering now. Tantalising - but don't ask for more details, cos they aren't forthcoming!!

For those of you that didn't know that Disney even had more ships in production - you can go here for more details (including all the details that Disney HAS seen fit to announce at the time!)

We also found out that there will, of course, be some type of special celebration in 2011 to commemorate Walt Disney World's 40th birthday, but there will also be a new twist on the "What Will You Celebrate?" theme for 2010... you're just going to have to keep reading, and waiting...!

Disney have also bought property in Hawaii - and in Washington DC - so there are bound to be some interesting developments in the years to come.

So, a long day, but a good one.

Oh, and another quick reminder - there's only TWO WEEKS LEFT TO BOOK the FREE DINING promotion at Walt Disney World - click for flier - so CALL ME & BOOK IT (613-594-5633 x103)! And then once you realise what great value the promotion tell all your friends and get them all to call me and book it too...

Ongoing Disney Specials - Part 3 - Walt Disney World

The super-popular "Free-Dining" Promotion is back fro 2009. This has arguably been Disney World's most popular promotion over the last few years, and always gets lots of attention. As I mentioned earlier, many dates are now sold out, so if you are hoping to have Disney pay for you to eat, then you need to contact us as soon as possible, and you may need to flexible with your dates.

Here's the full info:

Note, that although they mention a 5 night package below, you are not limited to 5 nights, and you simply get even more value if you stay for longer (right up to the maximum 10 night stays...)

Free Dining Offer - (MYW + FREE DINE)

Buy this Walt Disney World Resort vacation package with hotel and Theme Park tickets and get the Disney Dining Plan FREE!
Are you hungry for some fun? At this affordable price, you can celebrate any magical milestone – with meals and a snack included for every night of your visit! What a delicious way to enjoy their Walt Disney World Resort vacation!
Offer Details:
A family of four can save US $654 when you purchase this 5-night, 6-day Walt Disney Travel Company package for the Walt Disney World Resort, with accommodations for five nights at a select Disney Value Resort and a 6-day Magic Your Way Base Ticket, you’ll get the Disney Dining Plan FREE!
Booking and Travel Window:

• Booking Window: Now – July 26, 2009
• Travel Window: Offer available for stays most nights Aug. 22 – Oct. 3, 2009. (Block out dates for Disney Value Resorts: Aug. 22-26, 2009 and Sept. 21-27, 2009; Disney Moderate Resorts: Sept. 21-26, 2009)

Pricing:
US $1,390* for a family of four, staying in a standard room at a select Disney Value Resort. That’s like paying US $58 per person, per day!
Ask about packages for other lengths of stay and accommodations at other select Walt Disney World Resort Hotels.
Download this flier (Adobe PDF - 921kb)

Click here for new Passport requirements for Canadians travelling to the USA.
*Price based on 2 adults, 1 junior and 1 child. The number of rooms allocated for this offer is limited. Savings based on the non-discounted price for the same package. Tickets are for one Theme Park per day and must be used within 14 days of first use. No group rates or other discounts apply.

Update long overdue...

Hello to my loyal fan - are you still reading?!!! I have to admit that there hasn't been much here for a while, as the promised posts have still not materialized. Those that are still relevant will be completed very soon, I promise.

The main thing to tell you, right now, is that the FREE DINING promotion at Disney World has been extended. The new booking deadline is July 26th. I have to tell you, though, from personal experience, that availability is now proving to be a problem for many dates in the booking window. This promotion is just so popular, that many room types at many resorts, are SOLD OUT for many dates, so you're probably going to need to be flexible...

Still, as the economic slowdown continues to leave travel sales pretty sluggish, there are still "deals" to be had. Not just the opportunity to have Disney pay for you to eat (typically a value of around $700 US per week for a family of 4), but also some very decent airfares... contact me, to see if this could be the time for you to make your Disney dreams a reality...

You can check out the flyer for this offer at the following link - Walt Disney World Dining Offer (PDF - 920kb)

Deals!! Much more info coming... I'm working on it...

Here's a summary of some of the Disney news that I feel that I owe my reader(s?) and have not had a chance to post yet. Sorry.

• The "get 7 nights, pay for 4" promotion has officially ended. Oh well, it was great while it lasted!
• There is a new 35% off "room-only" special for dates in the Spring, which can be booked with passes and dining, which in effect is a very similar price to the "7 for 4" anyway, so all is not lost! However, it's not for the summer, though... Boooo...
  
• FREE DINING is back! For travel dates from 16th August through 3rd October. Must book by June 21st.
  
• Notes on "Celebrations" and free admission on your birthday.

I also have some news re the Disney Cruise line - see another post on that one.

Watch this space...