Originally Posted By AutoPost This topic is for Discussion of: <a href="http://www.laughingplace.com/w/news/2013/08/01/free-dining-extended-at-walt-disney-world/" target="_blank"><b>8/1/13: Free Dining Extended at Walt Disney World</b></a>
Originally Posted By Disney Joy So Happy covers most of the days on my already planned trip. I have to split my days... with 2 reservations BUT heck worth it.
Originally Posted By 999HAUNTS I was on hold yesterday for just under an hour, but I got a refund of $1,900 so it was well worth it! LOVE free dining!!
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I heard that some travel agents were on hold yesterday for over 4 hours. I'm glad your wait wasn't so bad (though still hardly great)! I'm still waiting for them to release room pricing for January. I'm trying to book a trip for Marathon Weekend (Jan 8-12), and they still haven't opened their online reservations. I really don't like that they release the entire year at the same time, so people going in December have about 18 months to book, while people in January much much less time. And don't they know that runners are typically type-A planners? Most training plans for those races already have you building mileage right now, yet there aren't any hotel room. Grrr! (okay, rant over!)
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub Have you tried googling for discounts ? From what i just looked at <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.rundisney.com">http://www.rundisney.com</a> or Call 1-407-938-iRun for reservations. I guess WDW Marathon weekend is Jan 8-12 and Disneyland's is Jan 16-19 with a different number to call. !-407-939-iRun Don't forget Hilton and the Swan Dolphin Hotels on property too. I know DVC properties are already booked up for that timeframe but you might want to try the mouseowners.com website. They have members that rent out their points in the section: rent trade or transfer points... Good luck getting a room and with your run fun!
Originally Posted By Disneymom443 FerretAfros, have you looked on WDW page today? I must not understand on the January booking 8-12. I did a mock book and it let me. For the runners are you only able to use certain resorts? Sorry I just didn't understand, I hope you are able to book your resort.
Originally Posted By Disney Joy Well Free Dining did not work for me. I would have had to add a day, make a couple different reservations and different ticket purchases. BUT I didn't know they also have discounted Room Only Deals .. which fix my dates and I save about $200.00 So for those who dates don't fit . Check out the discounted rooms special. You must book under special - or the same room same date will be higher.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>From what i just looked at <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.rundisney.com">http://www.rundisney.com</a> or Call 1-407-938-iRun for reservations.<< Yep, I have that information, but I'm not sure how big of a discount (if any) it will actually be until WDW releases the general prices. The discounted travel agent still hasn't posted park ticket prices, which will definitely factor into things. I'm also assuming that NextGen will roll out by that point, and I'd like to have total control over my reservation, so I can do FP reservations and such, so I'm trying to weigh the risks of it all >>FerretAfros, have you looked on WDW page today? I must not understand on the January booking 8-12. I did a mock book and it let me. For the runners are you only able to use certain resorts?<< I just checked again and it's still not up yet. When you search the dates, hotels come up with base prices, but when you click on them to compare with the other hotels (and other prices for various room types) it says that they're unavailable. Since Marathon Weekend is so big, all of WDW's hotels are 'host' hotels with transportation to the expo and races, so that's not a huge concern. It's just kind of annoying that they haven't released them yet. Or there's that highly unlikely scenario where all of the 30,000+ hotel rooms are already booked to capacity, but I have a hard time believing that...
Originally Posted By FerretAfros On deeper investigation, it looks like they have released the rates, and for whatever reason all of the 'standard' rooms at the various hotels are booked to capacity. When you click on the 'compare' option, it shows the prices for standard views, but doesn't let you know that there are other views available or what those prices are My guess is when they went and redid all of the room types in the last ~6 months (as part of NextGen 'personilization', no doubt), they added all sorts of categories like "Garden View", "Water View" and "Preferred Location" (all of which cost extra, of course) they did it in a way so that there are hardly any standard rooms left Searching through all of the Moderates individually (which is frusteratingly slow on Disney's oh-so-slow website), only Caribbean Beach is showing standard views (though it didn't come up in the 'compare' option) and they're about $20-30 more than they would be at the other Moderates. Looks like I'll be booking through the third-party agent!
