2006 Disney Dining Plan FAQ

[jjohnson]

My Mom (my personal travel agent) just called and they just informed her that since we booked the promotional package that ended September 30th that we couldn't add it to our hopper package.
Any thoughts or tricks to add it anyway?? Is it worth the trouble?

If your talking about the free dining promotion, no, that package became available in March and has already ended.

 

[Debbie6221]

No, it wasn't free it was just an upgrade in the package and then you got a discount for using your Disney Visa. We still want to try and get it. We think we messed up by not.

 

[jjohnson]

You can still add it. Speak with another CM at Disney.

 

[MEW]

I apologize if this has been asked a million times before....My wife and I are planning a trip and I realize we both would have to purchase the plan, but once we get it can we split TS meals in order to save credits for Signature meals?

 

[bicker]

Yes, two adults should have little (Dining Plan-specific) trouble splitting meals. Do keep in mind, though, that some of Disney's finer restaurants are now serving more reasonable (smaller) portions.

 

[Debbie6221]

We have the trip all set and just realized that maybe we should upgrade to the hopper PLUS dining. We sat down and looked at all our reservations and thought "WOW, that's a lot of cash being spent on meals!" Is it even too late to do this???
Here's what we are doing. What do you guys think? We have an eight night package with hoppers! There are 5 adults, 1 child, 1 baby. Here's where our reservations are at:

Cindy's Castle breakfast
Cindy's Castle dinner
Crystal Palace dinner
Donald's breakfast
Cape May dinner
Concourse Steak house
Citricos
Garden Grill Lunch
Mitsukoshi dinnerI think that's it...YIKES!​

The pro I have already thought of was that we would have 6 months to pay off the DDP and the con I thought of was that when we did the DDP in 2005 we felt like we were always eating and looking for places to use up our plan.
Would love your guys opinions!

First off...we did get to add the DDP and are pretty sure we will come out ahead in the long run by doing so.

OK...so I hope this doesn't sound dumb but we do not have enough credits for all the meals we are attending. We are short about 3 I think? If I wanted to go to let's say the Concourse steak house with my party of seven (5 adults, one child, and one baby). Could we order 4 adult dinners and 1 child dinner and share? There is NO WAY my DD will be fininishing her meal! I hope I don't sound like I'm being cheap. No lie, my DD barely eats at meal time so her meals will being going to waste half the time. Any suggestions? We leave in less than a week. YEAH!

 

[bicker]

As long as you order a meal for your child 3-9 years old at each meal, you shouldn't encounter any problems with ordering fewer adult meals for the adults in your party.

 

[5_Kids_Mom]

You should be able to change your pkg so that all parties have 4 day tickets then upgrade 2 of the tickets when you get there to 7 days.

Just make sure when you are making the change that reservations does not cancel your existing reservation. If they have to issue a new confirmation for the package change, make absolutely sure they can do what you are asking before they cancel the first reservation.

You only need to purchase 1 day Theme Park admissions for all in your group to be eligible for the plan.

Cathy

OK, I understand that everyone in the room must buy the dining plan if any buy it. But do all of our admission tickets need to be for the same number of days? For example, 2 of us have purchased 7 day tickets, no expiry, although we are only staying 4 nights this time. Dining plan is for 4 days/nights. If we add 2 people to our reservation, can we purchase dining for them for the 4 days and purchase tickets for only those 4 days or do they have to purchase 7 day tickets, too, because we already did so?

Thanks!

 

[5DisneyNuts]

Hi Debbie! First, I hope you have a great time! 2 days - whoopie
Don't forget to ask for anniversary buttons for your parents when you check in - the CM’s love to make a big deal!

I just saw your post and hope I am not too late in responding to your question.

Anyway, if I am reading your post correctly and thinking that your entire party will be eating together, you will actually need 72 credits for your reservations. Cinderella's Royal Table will cost you 2 TS per person each time as will Citricos. I have broken down your meals:

There are 5 adults/ 1 child in your party (baby is free). That gives you 6 TS per person, per night of your trip = 6 x 8 = 48 table services. The restaurants you have selected will require 72 TS credits.

Cindy's Castle breakfast = 12TS (2 per person)
Cindy's Castle dinner = 12 TS
Crystal Palace dinner = 6 TS
Donald's breakfast = 6 TS
Cape May dinner = 6 TS
Concourse Steak house = 6 TS
Citricos = 12 TS
Garden Grill Lunch = 6 TS
Mitsukoshi dinner = 6TS

Since Crystal Palace, Donald’s, Cape May, and Garden Grill are buffets, you will not be able to share and all members will require a TS credit. You will be able to share at Concourse, Citricos and Mitsukoshi. It is no problem to share adult meals there - just tell you server how many table service credits you want to use. I am not sure about Cinderella’s RT. That might be treated like a character dining experience and you might require a TS credit per person.

Based on the above, you might want to plan which meals to plan as out of pocket expenses and where you might like to share.

It would be a shame for you to get there and not realize what you are dealing with.

Again, I hope you have a magical trip!

Have a good day,
Marge

First off...we did get to add the DDP and are pretty sure we will come out ahead in the long run by doing so.

OK...so I hope this doesn't sound dumb but we do not have enough credits for all the meals we are attending. We are short about 3 I think? If I wanted to go to let's say the Concourse steak house with my party of seven (5 adults, one child, and one baby). Could we order 4 adult dinners and 1 child dinner and share? There is NO WAY my DD will be fininishing her meal! I hope I don't sound like I'm being cheap. No lie, my DD barely eats at meal time so her meals will being going to waste half the time. Any suggestions? We leave in less than a week. YEAH!

 

[simpsonps121]

Hi,
We are staying from Dec 2-9th this year at CSR.

Question I have - Is it worth setting up reservations since this is supposedly a slow time.

Also, how much time extra time should we plan to get to the eating places and wait? We are using Disney Transportation.

Thanks,
Matthew

 

[bicker]

There is not really a "slow" time anymore. That week is one of the most popular weeks of the year for DVC members, very savvy and frequent visitors who know that the most popular meals book-up long in advance.

 

[5DisneyNuts]

ITA.

We went during what was supposed to be one of the slowest times for the parks (according to the Unofficial Guide our theme park days were rated 4's). The parks were pretty empty with little or no wait times for the attractions, but the restaurants were packed. Most places we dined were not taking any walk-up's. Granted it was during free dining, but I think the dining plan has made the restaurants quite busy regardless. We also found that some places were staffed for the "off season" and couldn't handle the crowd they had.

The poor hostess at Le Cellier thanked me so much for having a reservation. She said she couldn't stand having to tell another person they had no openings for the night. She was getting yelled at so much she said she felt like crying. Finally the manager came out to help.

I would recommend making a few reservations so you are sure you have a place to dine.

Have a nice trip!

There is not really a "slow" time anymore. That week is one of the most popular weeks of the year for DVC members, very savvy and frequent visitors who know that the most popular meals book-up long in advance.

 

[Fintastic]

44 pages is a lot to go back and read so forgive me if these questions have been asked already.

1. We've booked our rooms at ASMo already for October 2007. Does this automatically make me eligible for the DDP?

2. Does it make a difference whether I buy park tickets from the website? Does it affect my DDP eligibility? (Not sure what the Magic Your Way package is, if that has any bearing.)

3. Our DD will be turning 4 on this trip and spending $12 a day on food for her is going to be a total waste. She's a snacker. Do they discourage adults splitting meals with children?

4. How do the dining reservations work? Do you reserve a certain time slot for your meal? Do you recommend making reservations or not?

5. Aren't reservations somewhat limiting? Or do you just plan your park schedules around your dining reservations? What if you can't make your reservation on time?


I'm sure I'll have more questions later!

 

[bicker]

1. No. You need to be on a qualifying package. Deep discounts on your hotel generally disqualifies you for the Dining Plan.

2. It does make a difference. Until you're staying on DVC points, you must purchase admission as part of the qualifying package.

3. The most applicable rule is, "Child meal entitlements cannot be used for adult meals." Forum rules are that if you want more information about that, you need to contact Disney Dining directly. Sorry.

4. Dining reservations secure a time at which you will get the next table that becomes available for your party size. You do need to make reservations for any of the most popular meals.

5. We tend to base our touring on our dining reservations, since nothing else really matters in terms of driving our touring.

 

[Fintastic]

Thanks for getting back so fast!

1. No. You need to be on a qualifying package. Deep discounts on your hotel generally disqualifies you for the Dining Plan.

Does this mean I can go to the website and book my park passes and meal plan together? I booked the hotel by calling Disney directly, so no deep discounts there.

4. Dining reservations secure a time at which you will get the next table that becomes available for your party size. You do need to make reservations for any of the most popular meals.

So (correct me if I'm wrong) this means that making a reservation puts me ahead of any walk-ins, but I don't need to schedule a specific time when I want to eat. Is that right?

Another question: can you purchase as many or as few days as you want, or is there a mandatory number? We’re driving, so we’ll be arriving late to our hotel. We won’t need any meals on the day we check in. Same for when we check out – we’re hitting the road early. Will we be required to pay for meals for those days?

 

[bicker]

I don't know if you can switch to a package on the website... I suppose it cannot hurt to try -- if you see Dining Plan as an option available to you then you're golden. I suspect, however, you would be better off calling Disney directly to work these issues out.

Regarding Dining reservations, yes you do reserve a specific time. You must be there within approximately 15-20 minutes of that time to take advantage of your reservation. THEN, having the reservation puts you ahead of any walk-ups. (That is assuming that walk-ups are even being accommodated. It is very common at the most popular meals that no walk-ups will be accommodated. We saw this happen all over the MK, in the middle of January, one of the slowest times of the year. So in cases like that, having a reservation means you get accommodated, while not having a reservation means you may end up taking a bus to some remote moderate resort to eat dinner at the restaurant there.)

You must purchase the Dining Plan for the entire duration of your reservation (it's based on the number of nights) and for your entire party. You won't be paying for both the day you arrive and the day you leave, but rather for one or the other, if you choose to look at it like that. Rather, if you're staying five nights, you'll have 5TS, 5CS and 5 snack credits per person. You can use them however you wish. If you aim to use TS credits for dinner, and you only need four dinners, you can use the extra TS credit for a lunch, or you can have one of the dinners at a signature restaurant (which requires 2TS per person).

 

[Lewisc]

You can't change from room only to a package on the web. You can book a new package and then cancel your room only reservation. You have to call if you're within the 6 day cancellation window. Disney won't charge you a cancellation fee since you're upgrading.

I don't know how many days in advance you can change, I called on a Tuesday for a Saturday arrival. I was on hold for a while, the CM had to call someone in customer service to approve the change.

 

[maleficent_man]

Hey - sorry if this has been answered already....but I always book room only (I'm an AP holder) - does this mean I can't apply for the Dining Plan?

Thanks

 

[bicker]

Unless you're staying at a DVC resort on DVC points, the Dining Plan is only available as an add-on to a qualifying vacation package. Currently, the admission purchase requirement is for one day passes (which you presumably can apply to the purchase of your next Annual Pass).

 

[youngj7]

Bicker -
Question for you. In your last post, you said that if you're staying at a DVC resort using DVC points, you don't have to book as a package. We're doing just that, staying at OKW on points next month. We've already reserved DDP and I'm wondering, do I have to buy our park hopper passes when I get down there (with all 9 of us in the group buying the same type & length) or can we get them on our own at the Disney Store before we go? Is there an exemption from the "package rule" for DVC?
There is just so much to know and I don't want any unfortunate surprises once our group gets there!! Thanks for the help!