Hi, Janice! Let's assume your arrival date is Aug. 1, 2011. As of this very moment, you would be 197 days away from your vacation. Write this next part down: Feb. 3 would be the first day you could make dining reservations for your upcoming trip.
You can make dining reservations up to 180 days prior to your visit. It doesn't matter if you're paid-in-full or even staying on property. That means (given our assumptions) you would have 17 days until you can make your dining reservations.
It's really easy to make dining reservations too. You can
book online or call 407-WDW-DINE.
By the way, congrats on the free Disney Dining Plan! It's likely that there are many others taking advantage of this promotion. That means a lot of people will be making advance dining reservations as well. As soon as you're 180 days away from the start of your vacation, start making your reservations so that you have the greatest likelihood of eating when and where you prefer. If we can help in any other way, holler back!