Sharing a Meal on a Dining Plan

[messyjessy]

Just wondering about sharing a meal....

Our family (Me, DH, DD5) will all be on the Deluxe dining plan.

I love food, but sometimes my eyes are bigger then my stomach. My DH and I sometimes share meals at home.
Is sharing a meal allowed at WDW?

Just to clarify, I'm NOT talking about sharing food at a Buffet.

I was wondering if I could share a TS meal or CS meal with my DH?
For example, split an entree but order my own appetizer...or dessert?
Will they allow it if we are all on the Plan?

 

[danceintherain]

Just wondering about sharing a meal....

Our family (Me, DH, DD5) will all be on the Deluxe dining plan.

I love food, but sometimes my eyes are bigger then my stomach. My DH and I sometimes share meals at home.
Is sharing a meal allowed at WDW?

Just to clarify, I'm NOT talking about sharing food at a Buffet.

I was wondering if I could share a TS meal or CS meal with my DH?
For example, split an entree but order my own appetizer...or dessert?
Will they allow it if we are all on the Plan?

They might. I believe the rule is that to share on the dining plan, everyone must be on the dining plan. I don't know what you're going to do with all the extra credits though, so it may be irrelevant. It's definitely not a problem at counter service places, because they have no idea what happens to the food once you pay and take it away.

If you get a separate appetizer and/or dessert, you'll have to pay for it separately, either out of pocket, or with credits.

Hopefully someone else will come along who has actually done it. I wish I could share meals with DH, but we have different tastes, and he pretty much always eats everything on his plate anyways.

 

[JKMJ441724]

I've asked this question before and been told here on the Dis that you

CAN

do it (as long as it's not buffet or family style). I've not tried it yet, but I'm going to try it in May. I plan to share with my small daughter who is old enough to count as an adult but not eat like an adult.

As far as the extra credits go, I'm going to schedule more meals. For example, if I get five credits times 4 people = 20 credits. But if I only use 3 credits per meal, I can schedule dinner every night plus a breakfast, too. We will all get full, but not STUFFED.

 

[RunningWithScissors]

We haven't shared TS meals but often share the HUGE CS offerings. We never have credits left either--we may share a CS burger at 11am and them something else at 2pm. The worst way you can use the DDP is to leave with credits still on your card. Our last trip, we had about 8 CS meals left so we ordered flatbreads to go for the ride home and for lunch or dinner the next day at home. It was great to have that last little bit of Disney for lunch in my own house!

My theory (and I could be wrong) is that you paid for a certain number of credits and you should use them as you see fit. If you have 24 TS credits for your stay for 3 adults for 8 days, how you use them isn't an issue if it is allowed. You may not be in the mood for your own TS meal one night, but want an extra the next day. How you ration them should be up to you.

 

[mom2of2]

You can share your DHs entree but you're drink and app would be a separate charge

 

[JKMJ441724]

You can share your DHs entree but you're drink and app would be a separate charge

oops! Didn't think about the extra drink! Thanks for the reminder.

 

[nalajms]

You just have to tell the waiter who's using the DP and who's not.
Occasionally my mom will join us for dinner. We usually get the Deluxe but she doesn't buy the DP because she's not a big eater. She'll order salad or soup and share our apps and entrees if she's interested.

To us, some of the Signature dining (2 credits) have smaller entrees. It's just right for me, but my DH will need my app as well. And when we go to signatures, we only do DP for the adults. We're lucky if DS(3.5) eats 1 chicken finger.

 

[smiths02]

Just wondering about sharing a meal....

Our family (Me, DH, DD5) will all be on the Deluxe dining plan.

I love food, but sometimes my eyes are bigger then my stomach. My DH and I sometimes share meals at home.
Is sharing a meal allowed at WDW?

Just to clarify, I'm NOT talking about sharing food at a Buffet.

I was wondering if I could share a TS meal or CS meal with my DH?
For example, split an entree but order my own appetizer...or dessert?
Will they allow it if we are all on the Plan?

You can do this at many places and it would work great with regular DDP, but with Deluxe, I see you having a TON of credits leftover. It might be better moneywise to either not do Deluxe (just pay as you go or do regular DDP) or to go ahead and use your credit in that situation and just not order an entree (it would make the tips smaller). A deluxe credit used for an appetizer, dessert, drink would be better than a deluxe credit that goes unused.

 

[sharonabe]

You can do this at many places and it would work great with regular DDP, but with Deluxe, I see you having a TON of credits leftover. It might be better moneywise to either not do Deluxe (just pay as you go or do regular DDP) or to go ahead and use your credit in that situation and just not order an entree (it would make the tips smaller). A deluxe credit used for an appetizer, dessert, drink would be better than a deluxe credit that goes unused.

You and DH will be paying $100 per night EACH for the DxDDP. If you think you will share at most places, you'll probably be better off OOP. Think about it, you have $200 to "spend". I'd check out the menus of the places you want to go to see if having a dining plan is even worth it for you.

 

[VillianDiva]

I always share with my son. We have been on the dining plan the last couple of times and he cannot eat that much food. I've never run into a problem. We have used the leftover TS credits for a breakfast. But, if you are on DxDDP then it sounds like you will have many leftover TS credits if you decide to share meals.

 

[TDC Nala]

They're on DXDDP, they'll have loads of credits to use if she shares at most meals.

Personally if I were going to share meals I would not have selected the deluxe plan unless I had a LOT of restaurants booked.

 

[JKMJ441724]

They're on DXDDP, they'll have loads of credits to use if she shares at most meals.

Personally if I were going to share meals I would not have selected the deluxe plan unless I had a LOT of restaurants booked.

Good catch Nala. I didn't even realize they were on Deluxe. With 3 meals per day - sharing would generate a lot of left-over credits. In my opinion, not economically feasible.

 

[messyjessy]

Thank You all for the input - these boards have been very helpful and quite addicting during the planning process.

Yes, we are planning on eating at a lot of different places to maximize the plan. I'm also ensuring that there will be no credits left behind; just trying to spread them around in a different fashion.

I've done the math (because I'm ocd and an over planner) and the difference before gratuity between OOP and being on the DxDP is under $40. I don't see an advantage to paying OOP based off the places I've chosen. It will make it easier to have everything prepaid instead of getting sticker shock when the bill arrives.

We are used to resort style vacations and cruising which includes meals...a lot of meals. Sometimes large, sometimes small. We like to snack on vacation. Its the few weeks out of the year that I don't worry about if it's organic, genetically modified or antibiotic or hormone free.

Anyway, I thought the dining plan would accommodate us with the style of dining that we are used to while on vacation.

I'm looking forward to our First Trip to the World! Only 25 days!

 

[messyjessy]

I've done the math (because I'm ocd and an over planner) and the difference before gratuity between OOP and being on the DxDP is under $40. I don't see an advantage to paying OOP based off the places I've chosen. It will make it easier to have everything prepaid instead of getting sticker shock when the bill arrives.

Oh my goodness, I never added in the price of snacks!

So, adding in the price of snacks...I would more than break even. Cool.

Cool cool cool.

 

[mb_uh]

We do this. Usually at lunch we split so we do not eat too much and we do Sigs or shows which require 2 credits. Since we do plenty of character breakfasts we have never had trouble using credits.

I have read numerous times that Via Napoli and Beaches and Cream do not allow sharing on dining plan.

We have shared at Le Cellier, Yachtsman, Sci fi, and many others.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

I think it would be tough to use all the credits on the DxDP if you were also sharing. We really were stuffed the whole time - while we normally eat 3 meals a day, we never order 3 appetizers and 3 desserts in real life. We order 1 app and 1 or 2 desserts, at most.

If I ever do DxDP again, I will plan on early breakfasts and late signature dinners with snack credits used mid-day for something to tide us over.

 

[englishrose47]

We do this. Usually at lunch we split so we do not eat too much and we do Sigs or shows which require 2 credits. Since we do plenty of character breakfasts we have never had trouble using credits.

I have read numerous times that Via Napoli and Beaches and Cream do not allow sharing on dining plan.

We have shared at Le Cellier, Yachtsman, Sci fi, and many others.

I find that strange seeing as they offer HUGE pizzas, plus I have heard of people posting what they shared at Via Napoli??? Can't speak for Beaches and Cream though!!

 

[TDC Nala]

No sharing at Via Napoli (except for kids under 3) and you cant get the larger pizzas on the dining plan. Individual pizzas only. Children 3-9 must order from the children's menu.

Sharing is allowed for guests who are NOT on the dining plan, but they are very strict about the dining plan because they don't want people using 2 credits to feed a family of 4-6.

 

[nkereina]

We did DxDP and did NOT share meals and had a ton of credits left over, especially snack ones. If you still intend to go with DxDP, my best advice would be to space your meas well! We canceled a few dinners because lunch was so big and filling.

 

[Ro Z]

We share all the time. On the regular DP or OOP this works for us but on the Deluxe we would never be able to eat anywhere near that much food and use all the credits. IMO all you will be doing all day is eating. But it looks like you know what you are doing! Hope you have a great time!!