I decided to take a closer look at my Disney vacation packaged that I booked with the buy 4 get 3 free deal from Disney after a comment to my last blog entry where Amy posted a comment saying she didn't get free dining with her package and was told it's not part of the buy 4 get 3 free promotion. And she's right!
The day I called to make my reservation was the first day the announcement was made and I do remember the cast member who made my reservation was just learning of the promotion as he navigated me through the reservation process. He offered dining with my package and I asked if that too was part of the buy 4 get 3 free promotion. He said it was and continued booking my package. When I got my reservation confirmation and my 10 pages of documents that went along with it, I was a bit surprised that the price wasn't broken down but I didn't think much about it.
Last week I called Disney reservations and asked if the dining plan was part of the deal and they confirmed it wasn't. After learning that, I decided to change my reservation to the quick service dining package which is less expensive and doesn't include table service dining. Because Disney's Dining Reservation system is being changed, most restaurant reservations after March 2009, cannot be made right now. With all the people waiting to make their dining reservations and no clear date when that will occur (though it's rumored to be Dec. 21), I believe there will be a lot of chaos when the flood gates finally open.
Since I've already done table service dining twice, I want to try the quick service plan. And just know that if you book quick service dining, you're not limited to hamburgers and hot dogs every day for a week either. We usually eat at the food courts at the resorts and in the parks and have had great meals including salads, wraps, and hot meals such as stuffed turkey with gravy, spaghetti and roast chicken!