A few questions for DDP experts????

[willis37862]

I have a couple of questions. We did DDP last trip but none of this came up. Thanks for your help.

1. We have a few more ADRs than we have credits. So we know we will be paying for these out of pocket and thats fine. The question is do they give me the choice of which I want to pay for and which I want to use DDP for?

2.If one of us wants to use DDP and the other just wants something small( like an appetizer or dessert) can we do this? At some TS there is just too much food for us.

3. Are they letting you share at the TS that are not buffets?

This is all for 2 adults no kids. Thank you so much for any help.

 

[Aimeedyan]

1. Sure, they won't even know you are on the DDP unless you tell them! If they ask if you're on the dining plan, just tell them no - you're paying cash. Now, if you want to charge to your room, then you might hit a snag if they get confused and run it as a DDP and not a room charge but if you're whipping out a Visa card when the check comes, there is no issue.

2. Many people have been able to use credits and pay cash for items at table service spots without a problem. Just tell the waiter upfront that you will be using a dining credit but that your DH only wants an entree and you'll pay out of pocket. They do this mix of payment all the time when people order alcoholic drinks with dinner.

3. There has not been one report of NOT being allowed to share at a TS spot yet that I have read or heard about. That was speculation awhile back but no one has had any issues once they got to Disney. We have plans to share once or twice at places where portion size is huge and I don't envision an issue.

HTH some!

 

[Aimeedyan]

OP - It looks like we're going at the same time!

 

[bicker]

You should very explicitly tell the server when you plan to use the Dining Plan when you're ordering, so that the server can help you get the most out of the plan, and should explicitly remind the server when it comes time for the bill that you are paying for a specific meal out-of-pocket. As Aimeedan mentioned, the servers can tell that you are on the Dining Plan, even if you don't tell them, if you try to charge the meal to your room, so be explicit.

Sharing is a very confusing issue, because some folks are using the word to mean something specific -- something which most folks aren't intending when they talk about sharing. The brochure says the Dining Plan is non-transferable; it doesn't say no sharing. There is a difference. We cannot discuss what that difference is here, but you can get full details about it by calling WDW Dining directly.

Any questions regarding the use of the plan that are not answered specifically in the WDW Dining Brochure cannot be accurately answered on these boards and should be addressed to WDW Dining. Interpretation of the rules has led to a tremendous amount of debate on these boards. To avoid further conflict, we will close any threads that ask for interpretation of the rules and encourage the poster to contact WDW Dining.

 

[smartestnumber5]

We just got back yesterday from free dining. While (1) didn't apply to us, (2) and (3) did. At California Grill and Artist Point we used one person's credits (2 TS credits because they are signature restaurants) for an appetizer, entree, and dessert and then we paid OOP for another appetizer or two and an extra drink and shared all of the food. The servers were very accomodating and had no trouble understanding what we wanted to do. We even indicated exactly which items we wanted to count for the DDP and which we wanted to pay OOP for. For instance, one night at CG we got the following appetizers: Yoshi Deluxe Sushi Sampler--$24, Romaine Salad--$9, and Flatbread--$10. Clearly we wanted the Yoshi platter to be taken care of by the DDP credit since it cost so much more than the other two items. We asked for this and the server happily obliged.

One thing to watch out for if you do this type of mixing the use of credits and paying OOP is that on your receipt for the OOP items, the server sometimes automatically adds in 18% tip. This happened at California Grill our first night and I didn't look closely enough at the receipt to realize it and I ended up tipping on the total listed which already included an 18% tip--so the server ended up getting about a 40% tip (which wasn't actually that much since the bill wasn't very high). At Artist Point and our second night at CG the servers did not automatically add in tip for OOP items.

We also had an issue at Artist Point. While our server seemed to understand that we only wanted to use 2 TS credits and then buy soup OOP, we realized the next night that we were short 2 TS credits. We assumed she had accidentally charged us for 2 people's credits--4 in total. My gf went to the conceirge at Pop, explained it, and showed them our receipt. They printed out a list of all the credits we had used and sure enough that was where the other 2 TS credits went so they happily credited them back to us. So keep your receipts and look at them carefully in case of mistakes like this.

 

[willis37862]

So keep your receipts and look at them carefully in case of mistakes like this.

Great advice. Will be sure to do this.

THANK YOU everyone for all the help. You all helped me a lot. It's getting close and I am getting nervous about all the details.

 

[melomouse]

smartestnumber - just want to give you big!!! - and thanks for sharing your experiences at AP and CG. It really helps me a great deal.

 

[smartestnumber5]

smartestnumber - just want to give you big!!! - and thanks for sharing your experiences at AP and CG. It really helps me a great deal.

Sure thing, glad it helps!