Late Summer/Early Fall 2013 WDW Offers: FREE Disney Dining, Late Summer/Early Fall Room Only Discount

Just in time for those of you who have already started thinking about your Late Summer/Early Fall trips, Walt Disney World just released two promotions today.  They are available right now for Disney VISA cardholders (debit or credit) for advanced booking, but both promotions will be released to the general public on May 9th.  Here’s the details:

FREE Dining Offer

“You can treat your family to a special offer: a great Disney vacation complete with meals!  Get a FREE dining plan when you purchase a non-discounted 5-night/6-day Magic Your Way room and ticket package at select Walt Disney World® Resort hotels valid for arrival most nights September 2 - September 25, 2013.”

Guests staying at select Disney Value Resorts will get the Quick Service Dining Plan for free.  The Quick Service plan will get you two Quick Service Meals and one snack per person, per night of your stay.  Staying at select Moderate, Deluxe or Deluxe Villa Resorts and you’ll get the regular Disney Dining Plan for free.  The regular plan includes one Quick Service Meal, one Table Service Meal and one snack per person, per night of your stay plus each person gets one Resort refillable drink mug.

Want a higher dining plan?  You can always upgrade for an additional charge.

Remember, this is part of a package with room and tickets so you only need a deposit of $200 to book it with the final payment due 45 days before your check-in date (and you can make smaller payments along the way if you don’t want one lump payment at the due date).

Late Summer/Early Fall Room-Only Discount Offer

Don’t need the dining plan?  Not to worry, a room-only discount was also released today.  “Be close to the heart of all the magic, from the Theme Parks and entertainment to exciting nightlife, shopping and more. Save up to 30% when you stay at a select Walt Disney World® Resort hotel for stays most nights 8/15 - 9/28/2013.”  Room-only bookings only need a deposit equal to your first night's stay and you pay the balance when you check in...though you can always make smaller payments along the way for this type of booking as well.

Here’s the breakdown:

Value Resorts-Family Suites-save 15%

Art of Animation

Value Resorts-save 20%

All-Star Sports

All-Star Music

Pop Century

Moderate Resorts-save 25%

Coronado Springs

Caribbean Beach

Port Orleans-Riverside

Fort Wilderness Cabins

Deluxe Resorts-save 20%

Polynesian

Grand Floridian

Deluxe and Deluxe Villa Resorts-save 30%

Yacht & Beach Club

BoardWalk Inn

Animal Kingdom Lodge (standard/pool view rooms)

Contemporary (standard/lake view rooms)

Wilderness Lodge

Saratoga Springs 

Old Key West

BoardWalk Villas

The Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge

Beach Club Villas

The FREE Dining discount and the Room-Only discount are not available for stays in the 3-bedroom villas, campsites or Art of Animation-Little Mermaid standard rooms; the room-only discount must be booked by 7/31/2013.  Both discounts are available to Disney VISA cardholders for advanced booking thru May 8th, then on May 9th the discounts will be released to the general public.

So, which is the better way to go?  That all depends on how you and your family eat on vacation.  If you’ll use all the meal credits and don’t want to go off property to eat, the FREE Dining offer may work better for you.  If you’re like me and do go off property for some meals or use reward certificates for those on-property restaurants that take them-like Rainforest Cafe (I use my MyPoints to get gift cards here) or House of Blues (they have certificates on restaurant.com from time to time), the room-only offer could be the better option (for more about why I don’t use the Disney Dining Plan, click here).  You’ll need to sit down and figure out the math each way to see what will work better...or just contact me and I can quote your vacation both ways for you.  Don’t worry, there’s no extra charge for my services-and if your package is $2500 or higher, I’ll  even throw in a $25 Disney gift card for your trip.

And don't forget-Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party dates start in September so you can add tickets for the party to your trip as well for a lot of extra fun.

So, which offer would you choose?