You can only book the dining plan as part of a package without tickets if you're booking with an annual passholder discount (which they havent released for fall dates yet) - you can't get the dining plan without tickets with rack rates (or pin codes, general public discounts, etc). The best you can do is what someone else posted - book a package with your pin right now and only buy 1 day park passes so you can get the dining plan, and hope they release passholder rates later on (which may even be better than your pin) and then you can switch to that and not have to get the 1 day pass.
If you are stuck getting the 1 day pass, you can always apply it towards renewing your annual pass.
Sort of true. AP holders can buy the
DDP (without having to buy park tickets) using
either an AP discount for the room
or paying rack rate for a room. I've done it both ways. However, to get
free dining or any of the other discounts (like the 20/30/40) deal, then yes we do have to buy one day tickets for everyone in the room. It's always been that way. If you use any of the general public codes, bounceback codes, or PIN codes then we must follow the same rules as everyone else, including buying those one day park tickets we don't need. The only ones who can buy the DDP and not have to buy those one day park tickets are people staying on DVC points, AP holders paying either rack rate or in an AP discounted room, or some of the military deals.
Last November, I booked a room at
rack rate for my upcoming May trip, telling them I had an AP, so was able to buy the DDP without having to buy a one day ticket. When I was there this past Dec I booked the 35% off bounceback deal for three dates in 2010 (including my upcoming May trip). When I asked about modifying that May ressie, the CM made a point of saying that she saw I had booked it as an AP ticketless pkg with the DDP, but in order to get the 35% off bounceback I'd have to also add one day tickets to it. I was able to get the 35% off for each of those 2010 ressies, but had to add one day tickets to each of them (even though I have an AP). A week or so after I came back AP discounts came out, so I called to once again change that May ressie. With the AP discount I was able to get 40% off the room and was able to again cancel that one day park ticket because with the AP discount I wasn't required to buy it (like I had to do in order to get the 35% bounceback deal). I currently still have trips booked via that bounceback deal for Oct 23rd-Oct 31st and Dec 4th-12th. I'm getting 35% off the room, but even as an AP holder had to buy one day park tickets to do it. However, if an AP discount comes out for those dates, I'll be able to call and cancel those one day park tickets.
The same thing happened last year. I booked a trip for Dec using a PIN that my mom got for a % off for most dates in 2009. To use it we were required to buy everyone one day park tickets, even though I told them I had an AP. Later AP discounts came out, so even though the % off was exactly the same, I switched to the AP discount, just so we wouldn't have to buy those one day tickets. Then later free dining came out for those dates, so I switched the ressie again to get that. At that time I had to again add those one day tickets I didn't need, because they were required for that deal (just like they had been required in order to use the % off PIN code that I had booked the ressie with originally several months before).
