OP - you sound like you have some bad information if I'm reading your posts right.
You can book a room with the dining plan if you are an Annual Passholder WITHOUT purchasing tickets. The stipulations are that the room rate must be either (1) an AP discounted rate or (2) rack rate.
If you have another type of room discount (like AAA) and want to keep that and purchase the dining plan, then you would have to buy tickets (minimum of a 1 day ticket for all in the room for a paid dining plan). Your AP would not come into play.