Does everyone in room need dining plan?

[geekplusnerd]

We are planning a trip for four adult. Two of the adult may want to get the dining plan. Is there anyway to have two people in a room get the dining plan and the other two not?

 

[bdklein]

We are planning a trip for four adult. Two of the adult may want to get the dining plan. Is there anyway to have two people in a room get the dining plan and the other two not?

Not of which I am aware, but others may know more.

 

[momto3pirates]

No. Everyone on the reservation must be on the same dining plan and have the same ticket. The ticket requirement does not apply to DVC or AP reservations.

 

[mickeynut1]

We are planning a trip for four adult. Two of the adult may want to get the dining plan. Is there anyway to have two people in a room get the dining plan and the other two not?

As the pp said, everyone in the room must be on the DDP and have the same tickets (unless you are staying on DVC points, are an AP holder or military, in which case no tickets are required).

 

[Marionnette]

Yes, it is true that if you book a package for 4 people in one room, all 4 of them will need to get the same tickets and the dining plan.

It is possible to add more people to your room at check in. Many people will do this if they have family members joining them for only part of their visit. Just book the package for the two adults that want the dining plan. When you arrive, add the two who do not want the dining plan to your room. You will have to pay the "extra adult" fees for each night for each of the two adults, but you would pay that anyway if you were to have included them in your package. The adults without the dining plan will get room keys that will open the door but will not have dining credits or tickets on them.

The drawback would be that since they are not originally on your reservation, they will not be eligible for the Magic Express from the airport to the resort. And they will need to purchase tickets at some point because they will not be included, either.

 

[adrummond262925]

Everyone has to be on the plan. We took three small children and two teenagers. They did not eat all the snacks and meals and we ended up cashing out the unused items for a ton of extra snacks. It was alright because we headed to the beach after that and had tons of snacks for the kids, but we won't do the dining plan again until everyone is a little bigger.

 

[bdklein]

Everyone has to be on the plan. We took three small children and two teenagers. They did not eat all the snacks and meals and we ended up cashing out the unused items for a ton of extra snacks. It was alright because we headed to the beach after that and had tons of snacks for the kids, but we won't do the dining plan again until everyone is a little bigger.

Those sure some pricey snacks!!

 

[Kellitinkerbelli]

Yes

 

[lsenquiz]

Yes, it is true that if you book a package for 4 people in one room, all 4 of them will need to get the same tickets and the dining plan.

It is possible to add more people to your room at check in. Many people will do this if they have family members joining them for only part of their visit. Just book the package for the two adults that want the dining plan. When you arrive, add the two who do not want the dining plan to your room. You will have to pay the "extra adult" fees for each night for each of the two adults, but you would pay that anyway if you were to have included them in your package. The adults without the dining plan will get room keys that will open the door but will not have dining credits or tickets on them.

The drawback would be that since they are not originally on your reservation, they will not be eligible for the Magic Express from the airport to the resort. And they will need to purchase tickets at some point because they will not be included, either.

I need to understand this a little more. For our upcoming trip we have 6 people going (4 adults and 2 children). We are all sharing one cabin at Fort Wilderness. Three of us(2 adults and 1 child) are AP holders so we do not need tickets and really do not mind paying out of pocket for our dining. However, the cheapest route for the other three in our party was to get free dining. So we all went that way. We just got 2 day tickets as part of our reservation. My plan was to just keep our three 2 day tickets and put the value towards our APs when we upgrade them in May 2014 and then the other three were going to upgrade their 2 day tickets to 6 day tickets at GS. So are you saying we can change our reservation to just 2 adults and 1 child and then add the other 2 adults and 1 child when we check in and the two adults and 1 child added at check in will not have dining plan or tickets?

 

[Marionnette]

I need to understand this a little more. For our upcoming trip we have 6 people going (4 adults and 2 children). We are all sharing one cabin at Fort Wilderness. Three of us(2 adults and 1 child) are AP holders so we do not need tickets and really do not mind paying out of pocket for our dining. However, the cheapest route for the other three in our party was to get free dining. So we all went that way. We just got 2 day tickets as part of our reservation. My plan was to just keep our three 2 day tickets and put the value towards our APs when we upgrade them in May 2014 and then the other three were going to upgrade their 2 day tickets to 6 day tickets at GS. So are you saying we can change our reservation to just 2 adults and 1 child and then add the other 2 adults and 1 child when we check in and the two adults and 1 child added at check in will not have dining plan or tickets?

Yes, that's pretty much what I'm saying. The other family would have to be the lead name on the reservation or else you will need to cancel and rebook with their names as the only names on the reservation. Otherwise, they can just call CRO and drop your family from the reservation. You can pretty much make any changes to a ressie that you want as long as you don't change the lead name. It's just one of those glitches in the Disney reservation system.

When your friends arrive at The Fort, they would then tell the CM checking them in that they would like to add 3 names to their cabin. Your family would get room keys with no tickets or dining credits on them. At least, this is the way it has always worked in the past.

It would be up to you and your friends as to how you will end up splitting the costs. Paying for half of a cabin at rack rate without getting the benefit of the free dining doesn't sound fair to me. Why didn't you book one resort room for your family (room-only) and one room under the free dining for your friends?

 

[Cafeen]

I need to understand this a little more. For our upcoming trip we have 6 people going (4 adults and 2 children). We are all sharing one cabin at Fort Wilderness. Three of us(2 adults and 1 child) are AP holders so we do not need tickets and really do not mind paying out of pocket for our dining. However, the cheapest route for the other three in our party was to get free dining. So we all went that way. We just got 2 day tickets as part of our reservation. My plan was to just keep our three 2 day tickets and put the value towards our APs when we upgrade them in May 2014 and then the other three were going to upgrade their 2 day tickets to 6 day tickets at GS. So are you saying we can change our reservation to just 2 adults and 1 child and then add the other 2 adults and 1 child when we check in and the two adults and 1 child added at check in will not have dining plan or tickets?

Correct. However, if you are flying (which, from GA is probably unlikely ), you will not be able to use DME upon arrival (you can use it for departure, since you'll then be a registered guest).

I've done something similar with Mom for the past 3 years. My stays were 9-10 nights on DxDDP and she would visit for 3-4 nights (and use FL resident tix). Instead of spending the extra money to add her ahead of time (or instead of deciding to go OOP for food), I simply let the front desk know that she'd be joining me for x number of nights (and the dates), and all was good. This allowed her to get a room key for EMH as well. They did tell me, each time, that she's not be eligible for my dining plan (which, of course, was the whole point in the first place).

 

[lsenquiz]

Yes, that's pretty much what I'm saying. The other family would have to be the lead name on the reservation or else you will need to cancel and rebook with their names as the only names on the reservation. Otherwise, they can just call CRO and drop your family from the reservation. You can pretty much make any changes to a ressie that you want as long as you don't change the lead name. It's just one of those glitches in the Disney reservation system.

When your friends arrive at The Fort, they would then tell the CM checking them in that they would like to add 3 names to their cabin. Your family would get room keys with no tickets or dining credits on them. At least, this is the way it has always worked in the past.

It would be up to you and your friends as to how you will end up splitting the costs. Paying for half of a cabin at rack rate without getting the benefit of the free dining doesn't sound fair to me. Why didn't you book one resort room for your family (room-only) and one room under the free dining for your friends?

Thanks for reclarifying. It gets complicated but we are paying for the whole cost of what the cabin would be at the current 25% discount rate. We also planned to put what we would normally spend on food (we never use the dining plan) toward the reservation. We are doing this to make the trip more affordable for the other family. I did run the numbers and it looks like it will still be better for them for us to just get the tickets and use them towards our AP renewal in May 2014.

 

[purple figment]

Thanks for reclarifying. It gets complicated but we are paying for the whole cost of what the cabin would be at the current 25% discount rate. We also planned to put what we would normally spend on food (we never use the dining plan) toward the reservation. We are doing this to make the trip more affordable for the other family. I did run the numbers and it looks like it will still be better for them for us to just get the tickets and use them towards our AP renewal in May 2014.

Now, I'm confused. For FD you have to pay rack rate for the room. If there is another special for 25% off the room rate, you'll have to choose between the 2 offers because you can't stack discounts. Or are you saying you're paying 75% of the rack rate and the other family is paying 25% to cover the cost of the room?

The cost of 2 day MYW tickets is $184 per Adult and $172 per child and as you said they can be used on a future trip or towards an AP renewal. Would your OOP dining expenses be less than this amount? If not, it would be worth it for all of you to do FD since you'll be paying rack rate for the room whether your family has FD or not.

Get 2 day MYW tickets for everyone and the other family can upgrade their tickets to whatever number of days they need after they've used them once to enter a park.

 

[Marionnette]

Thanks for reclarifying. It gets complicated but we are paying for the whole cost of what the cabin would be at the current 25% discount rate. We also planned to put what we would normally spend on food (we never use the dining plan) toward the reservation. We are doing this to make the trip more affordable for the other family. I did run the numbers and it looks like it will still be better for them for us to just get the tickets and use them towards our AP renewal in May 2014.

I see. Basically, by paying all but 25% of the room costs and then kicking in whatever you would have spent on food, you're pretty much paying for everything except the adults' 2-day tickets. Of course it's better for the other couple! It's always less expensive when someone else is footing most of the bill!

It's very nice of you to do this considering that you could do the trip for so much less on your own.

You might be better off in an AoA ($269/night weeknights) or ASMu ($224/night weeknights) family suite vs. the FW cabin ($289/night weeknights). There would be 2 bathrooms for the 6 of you, which would be very convenient. And even though you wouldn't have a full kitchen, you would have a kitchenette. Just something to think about since you're paying for it.

 

[lsenquiz]

I see. Basically, by paying all but 25% of the room costs and then kicking in whatever you would have spent on food, you're pretty much paying for everything except the adults' 2-day tickets. Of course it's better for the other couple! It's always less expensive when someone else is footing most of the bill!

It's very nice of you to do this considering that you could do the trip for so much less on your own.

You might be better off in an AoA ($269/night weeknights) or ASMu ($224/night weeknights) family suite vs. the FW cabin ($289/night weeknights). There would be 2 bathrooms for the 6 of you, which would be very convenient. And even though you wouldn't have a full kitchen, you would have a kitchenette. Just something to think about since you're paying for it.

I wish we could get into AoA but unfortunately there is no free dining available for our dates. I do not like staying at ASMu so would not consider the family suite.

 

[lsenquiz]

Now, I'm confused. For FD you have to pay rack rate for the room. If there is another special for 25% off the room rate, you'll have to choose between the 2 offers because you can't stack discounts. Or are you saying you're paying 75% of the rack rate and the other family is paying 25% to cover the cost of the room?

The cost of 2 day MYW tickets is $184 per Adult and $172 per child and as you said they can be used on a future trip or towards an AP renewal. Would your OOP dining expenses be less than this amount? If not, it would be worth it for all of you to do FD since you'll be paying rack rate for the room whether your family has FD or not.

Get 2 day MYW tickets for everyone and the other family can upgrade their tickets to whatever number of days they need after they've used them once to enter a park.

Sorry to be confusing. It does get complicated. However, I simply ran the numbers to see what I would pay for the cabin if I used the 25% discount. Then I figured out what the value of the tickets will be when we put them toward our AP upgrade, then I figured out how much we would spend on food if we did not have dining plan. I added that all up and deducted it from the reservation total and the other family will pay the different between the reservation total and what I am willing to kick in. It is a very small amount for them that includes lodging, tickets & food. Bottom line is it is the only way they can afford to go and we like vacationing with them so we do not mind pitching in more than our share.

However, you are correct in that we have decided that it is better for the other family for us all to get free dining and tickets with this reservation. Under normal circumstances free dining is not a good deal for us because we do not eat much. We often split meals or just do appetizers for dinner and absolutely never eat dessert.

 

[Marionnette]

I wish we could get into AoA but unfortunately there is no free dining available for our dates. I do not like staying at ASMu so would not consider the family suite.

Try again and add a day to your stay. According to your Pre-TR, you're staying at FW Cabins from 9/22-9/28. If you extend your stay to 9/29, then there is availability right now in the Cars and Lion King Suites at AoA. Book it with those dates. Then call back later and drop the last day (9/29) from your package.

 

[lsenquiz]

Try again and add a day to your stay. According to your Pre-TR, you're staying at FW Cabins from 9/22-9/28. If you extend your stay to 9/29, then there is availability right now in the Cars and Lion King Suites at AoA. Book it with those dates. Then call back later and drop the last day (9/29) from your package.

Wow thanks so much for checking on this for me. I will make the change!