Another Dining Plan Question

[sklimuck]

i READ ABOUT THE DINING PLAN THAT CAN BE PURCHASED THROUGH PACKAGE DEALS, BUT CAN i JUST BUY IT SEPERATELY. IS THERE A WEBSITE OR OUTLET WHERE i CAN JUST PURCHASE THE VOUCHERS? i ALREADY HAVE HOTEL AND AIR BOOKED FOR jUNE- WOULD LIKE THE PREPAY VALUE OF THE MEAL PLAN. tHANKS

 

[hlbtimes2]

Someone on another board said she got them thru her AAA agent with out buying a package. You might give that a try. If you are planning character meals you can prepay for them thru www.getawaytoday.com If you are just looking for a way to prepay while you have some money, you might consider ordering some disney gift cards or if you are near a disney store you can get disney dollars. That way your money can't be spent before you go, and they are easy to spend while you are there. The advantage would be that you could use them for food or merchandise.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

I wasn't sure from your post if you are thinking the dining plans at Disneyland save you money? If you already know that they don't, skip the rest of this post.

They are just prepaid meals. You will have to pay any extra amount over the voucher amount, and forfeit any unused voucher amounts. Also, the vouchers are good only in the park (and possibly at the Disney hotels, I'm not sure?) They are not good in Downtown Disney restaurants, which limit your dining options.

 

[sklimuck]

Thanks all- I already know they don't save money from reading these forums- (I used the quick & casual vouchers in WDW 2 years ago- they were great) I like to prepay as much as I can. I'm a waitress in a very seasonal resort and I like to get as much paid for as I can for vacations. That way I have no hidden suprises on the credit card come August.
That is a great idea about gift cards, I can pay for them or Disney Dollars and spend them. Because I DO like to spend money. I already have ordered a Rain Forest Cafe card- should just about cover one dinner.
I called Disney and they saod they changed their policy- You can just order the meal vouchers. I just went through Disney Online and then got the number from there.

 

[hlbtimes2]

I called Disney and they saod they changed their policy- You can just order the meal vouchers. I just went through Disney Online and then got the number from there.

That is great to know!

I, too, like to prepay for as much as I can before we go. I like to know that we have the basics covered. We are horrible at saving money. If its there, we spend it.

 

[dpayne1969]

HELLO,
can u explain the voucher thing? We too used quick & casual & i loved the idea of having meals prepaid. I am very interested in learning how to go about just getting vouchers & the cost of them. How do they work?

 

[hlbtimes2]

Disneyland's dining plan is different from WDW. Its is a prepaid meal voucher system. You get vouchers for various dollar amounts ($15, 10, 5 and character meals around $27 ). The plans are based on number of days, and I highly recomend buying less days then the length of your trip. The vouchers are not good in downtown disney, only in the parks and onsite hotels. If you bought day for day, you would more then likely either have vouchers left over or feel like you were limited in your choices. The plan really offers NO money savings at all. Its more a way to budget and prepay then anything. If budgeting and having it taken care of in advance are not an issue for you, I would skip the dinning plan. We've used it a couple times and like it, it works for us. Many people dont like it.

If you do go with the plan I have a couple tips: carry a small amount of cash. They do not give change on vouchers. You'll want to spend more then the voucher value and make up the difference with cash. You may combine vouchers from various books to make the up the total (so say you get a $5 kids meal and 2 $12 adult mealsand a drink- for a total of $32.00 you would want to pay with 2 x $15 vouchers-one from each adult book and $2 cash). Read the fine print! Some of the vouchers ($5 snack) are only good in the parks, not the hotels, and include a few cents for tax. Your character meal voucher includes tip and tax. Dont rip them out of the book before you get to the register- do it in front of the cm.

Here is a link to the options/ details. http://dlr.reservations.disney.go.com/DisneylandIBC/Descriptions/2006/disneydining.html

 

[sklimuck]

I had recently bought 3 3-day meal packages. Whwn I called they I had no problem purchasing just them. Well, a week ago I needed to add one more because my sister wants to go with us now. When I called this time they said it had been a mistake and they weren't allowed to sell only meal plans. If I bought Park Hoppers they could. It only cost a few dollars more than going down and buying from AAA, so I went ahead. I hear this so much from all different venues. If you don't like what you hear- call again and someone will eventually tell you yes.
So anyway- we have the Hoppers, meal plans, and one the confirmation it says we get a Passport Plus Fun Book & Collectible Keepsakes ??? Whatever those are-