"treating" someone?

[headoflife]

We are going to WDW for a week, but my DM may come from Fort Lauderdale to meet us for a couple of days. We are thinking of doing the dining plan, but I wonder if it is ever possible to use 5 credits at a meal and treat her? If not, could we share with her and just add some items a la carte? I would prefer to just treat her because she will always want to pay otherwise!

 

[aubriee]

You can not order more meals than you have people listed on your KTTW card. At one time you could, but Disney put a stop to it and according to some dining CMs who post here, it could mean their jobs if they were to allow it.

You are also not supposed to share with anyone not on the dining plan.

sorry!

 

[septbaby]

How many days is she staying? If she stays with you she is supposed to be part of your reservation, thus she would have the DP if you decide to add that to your reservation. You are allowed to use those credits for anyone in the party. So if youa are staying 5 nights and she'll be with you for 3 then you'll have two days worth of extra credits to use. Her park ticket only has to be as long as she needs, it doesn't have to match yours.

Tricky stuff, but take your time, do the math and feel comfortable in the decision.

 

[headoflife]

The problem is that she is staying off site. She would make us a party of 5 and since we are at a value she could be in our room. That would make it 2 rooms or a suite and this is a real budget trip. Any other ideas? If need be we will just pay for her in cash, but as I mentioned that is less than ideal.

 

[JimMIA]

You can pay cash for her, but "treating" has always been prohibited.

You have to remember that DDP was originally designed as a lodging promotion, not a dining promotion. That's why it carries those mandatory features of everyone in the room being on DDP for all nights of the stay, etc. Treating someone staying offsite is precisely the opposite of the intent of DDP.

In the first few years, there was so much abuse of this aspect of DDP (much of it actively encouraged by servers in order to enhance their tips) that Disney Dining had to re-do their accounting software to stop the abuse. Now, the system supposedly won't permit more meals being billed at a particular serving than there are participants in DDP from that room. So if you have 2A/2C on your card, that's all they'll let you bill to DDP -- two adult meals and two childs meals.

And no, you probably can't share. The servers have been threatened with termination if they let people abuse DDP, and it's doubtful they would risk their jobs to allow you to do that. If you're at a buffet, it definitely would not be allowed, because everybody has to pay in some form for buffets.

If it's not feasible to have her stay in your room and pay for DDP for the whole time, I'd take her to a couple of nice meals offsite on the nights she's there. There are a ton of choices offsite for any budget. Then use the TS credits you save those nights to buy yourselves a couple of 2-TS Signature meals.

If you want to have her enjoy a character meal with your family, etc...then just pay the freight. It's not THAT expensive.

 

[JimMIA]

Incidentally, I know you are NOT looking for a way to abuse anything -- you're just asking whether you're allowed to do certain things. Unfortunately, the answer is no.

But there are at least two good options -- eating offsite and just biting the bullet and paying cash.

 

[headoflife]

Your right Jim. I'm not looking to scam anything, and I guess I don't see why it matters if we have 2 meals with 5 people or 5 with 2 people, but if that is the way it is, I will figure something out. As I said, it is really the desire to have everything prepaid, so she can't fight with me over the bill, so if anybody has any ideas, let me know. It will be the same issue off site so the fact it would be cheaper is not really going to help. I just don't want to fight for the check or let her pay!

 

[Rapunzel]

Headoflife-

Why not add charging to your KTTWC and tell the server you'd like to charge her meal, and use your table service meals for yourself and the others that have them in the party? That way your mom can't try to pay, it'll already be covered!

 

[Tricia1972]

As others have posted, the CM's are ultra strict with the regulations regarding TS dining. You would not be allowed to use more credits than guests shown on your KTTW card.

I agree with Rapunzel. Use credits for those in your room and charge the balance to your room. Your parents won't need to know the difference.