free dining/2 week upgrade to annual pass/advice

wanye · 30 Jul 18, 03:26 PM

so we're (me and gf. no kids) no strangers to orlando, been like 8 times in the last 10 years, but we've never bought a two week ticket, stayed onsite or done any of that sort of stuff before...

we're planning on going next in oct 2020 with some friends with kids to go visit star wars land. we'll be staying at another friends villa. possibly for 3 weeks. this will include trips elsewhere, possibly a week outside of orlando before our friends arrive.

anyway, i was thinking the other day, what if we were to buy a two week ticket/stay during free dining offer and then upgrade it to an annual pass when we get there to make use of it at least one other time?

so, i'm right in saying you can only get free dining when booked onsite, right? do we need to book the whole 2 weeks onsite, or can we do a week onsite, and a week offsite? do they have an expiry? the free dining tickets will mostly be saved up and used at the posher restaurants rather than general dining.

how much is the upgrade to an annual pass likely to be? do all annual passes include parking? or should i just get one with parking, and one standard AP? can i get free dining if i buy an AP up front, or do i need to get 2 weeks for free dining, and then upgrade to AP? is the dining attached to the hotel stay, or the ticket purchase? or both?

would we be better off booking this for a different time, and then using the annual pass to just come back for the trip with friends in the villa? there aren't any restrictions on when free dining is available, right? its all about just booking at the time its on offer... if so, when do they usually do free dining? (trying to plan ahead for when to actually book this stuff)

same goes for universal - we may as well get an AP for that too. obviously no free dining or owt, but they do different levels that include free parking too, right? how much is that going to be to upgrade from a 2 week one, or should i just sign up for an AP to begin with?

plenty more questions about it all, but that should be enough to get going...

**Grumps Mrs** · 31 Jul 18, 04:47 AM

so, i'm right in saying you can only get free dining when booked onsite, right? do we need to book the whole 2 weeks onsite, or can we do a week onsite, and a week offsite? So long as you book a minimum of 5 nights on site you can get the free dining. We've often done a split stay , usually with the Disney stay at the beginning to maximise the use of the tickets
do they have an expiry? the free dining tickets will mostly be saved up and used at the posher restaurants rather than general dining. You MUST use the dining credits during the time you stay on site, they are valid until midnight on the day you leave your accommodation

how much is the upgrade to an annual pass likely to be? We paid around $400 each to upgrade last year
do all annual passes include parking? The ones you would be able to upgrade to include the free parking or should i just get one with parking, and one standard AP?
can i get free dining if i buy an AP up front - free dining is only available on package deals.or do i need to get 2 weeks for free dining, and then upgrade to AP? You can upgrade to an AP at any point whilst your tickets are valid, we tend to do it towards the end of the 14 days to benefit from the free mini golf!

is the dining attached to the hotel stay, or the ticket purchase? or both? Dining is attached to the hotel stay, not the ticket

would we be better off booking this for a different time, and then using the annual pass to just come back for the trip with friends in the villa? there aren't any restrictions on when free dining is available, right? its all about just booking at the time its on offer... if so, when do they usually do free dining? (trying to plan ahead for when to actually book this stuff) - If you upgrade to APs then it's sometimes cheaper to pay for the dining plan as the Passholder discounts on the hotels can work out better

same goes for universal - we may as well get an AP for that too. obviously no free dining or owt, but they do different levels that include free parking too, right? Universal has passes that include free parking, you just need to ensure you choose the pass that allows you to visit when you plan to as some have blackout dates
how much is that going to be to upgrade from a 2 week one, or should i just sign up for an AP to begin with? Can't help with the upgrade price as we've renewed our APs there every year since 2001

plenty more questions about it all, but that should be enough to get going...[/QUOTE]

MissFortune · 2 Aug 18, 12:03 PM

Originally Posted by Grumps Mrs

so, i'm right in saying you can only get free dining when booked onsite, right? do we need to book the whole 2 weeks onsite, or can we do a week onsite, and a week offsite? So long as you book a minimum of 5 nights on site you can get the free dining. We've often done a split stay , usually with the Disney stay at the beginning to maximise the use of the tickets
do they have an expiry? the free dining tickets will mostly be saved up and used at the posher restaurants rather than general dining. You MUST use the dining credits during the time you stay on site, they are valid until midnight on the day you leave your accommodation

how much is the upgrade to an annual pass likely to be? We paid around $400 each to upgrade last year
do all annual passes include parking? The ones you would be able to upgrade to include the free parking or should i just get one with parking, and one standard AP?
can i get free dining if i buy an AP up front - free dining is only available on package deals.or do i need to get 2 weeks for free dining, and then upgrade to AP? You can upgrade to an AP at any point whilst your tickets are valid, we tend to do it towards the end of the 14 days to benefit from the free mini golf!

is the dining attached to the hotel stay, or the ticket purchase? or both? Dining is attached to the hotel stay, not the ticket

would we be better off booking this for a different time, and then using the annual pass to just come back for the trip with friends in the villa? there aren't any restrictions on when free dining is available, right? its all about just booking at the time its on offer... if so, when do they usually do free dining? (trying to plan ahead for when to actually book this stuff) - If you upgrade to APs then it's sometimes cheaper to pay for the dining plan as the Passholder discounts on the hotels can work out better

same goes for universal - we may as well get an AP for that too. obviously no free dining or owt, but they do different levels that include free parking too, right? Universal has passes that include free parking, you just need to ensure you choose the pass that allows you to visit when you plan to as some have blackout dates
how much is that going to be to upgrade from a 2 week one, or should i just sign up for an AP to begin with? Can't help with the upgrade price as we've renewed our APs there every year since 2001

plenty more questions about it all, but that should be enough to get going...

Brilliant answer.