Best Way to Pay When on the Dining Plan

[John-ManchesterUK]

Hi All

Been a lurker and Dis Unplugged fan for many years now.
Decided to dip my toe in and get involved with the boards.

Away in September staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge - Just me an the wife, no kids this time as they are grown up, waiting for my Grandson to be old enough to experience Disney.

Anyhoooo.

I have never used the dining plan before and always took a currency card & cash.

I have decided to potentially use my credit card and cash for tips and drinks or would you recommend just doing this via the magic band linked to my credit card, just trying to think of the best way to do this.

Any ideas / recommendations?

Thanks in advance, better late than never diving into the forum!

 

[John-ManchesterUK]

PS we are on the deluxe dining plan.

 

[londontime]

Welcome mate. I tend to use my Magic band rather than cards, as then you are only being charged one transaction fee, as it will come off in one big lump at the end of your holiday. If you have a UK credit card that charges by the transaction, thats gonna end up being a few quid, esp if you are on the Deluxe, as you will be eating sit downs more. Obviously cash is cheaper, but I don't like carrying a ton of cash around the parks.

Enjoy AK!

 

[Jon84]

If you are taking a currency card I would not link it to MB.

I take cash to do tips, speeds it all up.

Thanks

 

[John-ManchesterUK]

Like both ideas there, had a few issues with currency cards on previous holidays not reflecting the costs of the meals.
Why would you not link a card Jon - too easy to spend? as it would make things easier. Hate the way you write the tip on the receipt then they take that off your card later but never had anyone take advantage of that.

 

[Nicnic]

This year we charged all extras and tips to our magic bands and paid the room bill at the end of our stay, part cash and part with a Halifax clarity credit card.

 

[Jon84]

Like both ideas there, had a few issues with currency cards on previous holidays not reflecting the costs of the meals.
Why would you not link a card Jon - too easy to spend? as it would make things easier. Hate the way you write the tip on the receipt then they take that off your card later but never had anyone take advantage of that.

The pre paid cards sometimes get blocked out due to the pre authorisation made when you check in, at the deluxe resorts this can be over $1000, you don't want to stop being able to spend elsewhere

 

[elaine amj]

I would use your magic band to pay and then the day before checkout, go to front desk to settle all outstanding up to that point (to make sure all charges go on your preferred card). If everything is just going to your CC, they will charge your CC somewhere in the early hours of your checkout day.

MB makes everything sooo easy and less stuff to carry into the parks.

When going over your receipt after each meal, make sure you understand it well. We had a group of 7 so auto gratuity and several times I insisted my server explain the bill to me as it was sometimes pretty confusing what I was signing for. A couple of times (many meals over two weeks), they forgot something or didn't give me the right bill or I filled out the wrong part. I always took the time to ensure my bill was accurate (mostly focusing on whether I was ONLY signing off on charging the tip to my room).

 

[UKDisneyJoe]

Corrent me if I am wrong then but if you link your Credit Card to Magicband it will take everything off at the end of the holiday rather then whenever you use it (which is how i thought it worked)
Never had DD before and last trip in 2014 we just used cash for everything but was going to use card more this time.
Thanks

 

[John-ManchesterUK]

Thanks some good ideas, Will take some cash for when I want to make a quick getaway but will link my card that sounds like a plan, just make sure I don't get carried away. Was thinking to taking pics of the receipts to tally up at the end, check what tips I assigned etc. only 9 days to go now!!!! hope that hurricane has passed over by then.

 

[elaine amj]

The MDE app now shows your room charges. So you can check your dining plan credits AND your room charges continually from your app. Sooooo much better! This update happened near the end of my trip and allowed me to catch a charge incorrectly applied to my room after checkout. I wouldn't have known for ages...and may never have caught it since I had so many charges to my CC at the end of the trip. (I like to think I would have caught it since I did eventually figure out a mistake made by a CM in the beginning of our trip - unfortunately too late to do anything about it).

 

[Shazzie B]

If you pay tips with cash write on receipt 'paid cash' we left a cash tip once and it was also charged to band. Hotel sorted it out, but been wary since.

We leave a credit card on our account and then use a pre-payment card to settle account - different hotels have different charging limits- value resorts are $500 I think, moderates & deluxe higher. Doing this we avoid credit card charges & 'ring fencing' issues with pre-paid card.

Using charging on band is the easiest when using 'free' dining plan; friends who we travelled with last year used a card at each restaurant and it took ages at most meals.- and loads of receipts.

Like the idea of using the app to keep an eye on charges; I used to ask front desk for a print out every few days to keep an eye on charges & also spending

 

[londontime]

Corrent me if I am wrong then but if you link your Credit Card to Magicband it will take everything off at the end of the holiday rather then whenever you use it (which is how i thought it worked)

You're right. If you stay for a couple of weeks, sometimes they charge at the end of the first week and then the balance, but generally its at the end of your stay.

 

[starry_solo]

When they charge your card: It depends which resort you stay at. Value, moderate, and deluxe have different levels at when they charge.

 

[Elise79]

Personally, as you have to sign for the DDP credits and room charges I always charge everything back to my room when staying onsite.

We use a fee free credit card and that is linked to our room. We have a very small amount of cash but nearly everything goes on card or MagicBand in Florida (which is what I do at home - almost never use cash here either).

 

[disneyholic family]

we're just back from 3 weeks at WDW...
i wasn't sure about linking my MB to my credit card, but in the end i did it...
it makes everything so much easier..

just be sure to tell them that you're on the dining plan....so that they use your dining credits for the food and money just for tips..

we made sure of this for EVERY charge...

whatever you buy - snack, quick service, table service - every single time tell them "we're on the dining plan"...or "this is a snack credit"...etc..

and then when they hand you the receipt, check to make sure it has "0" as the charge so that you know they only charged a credit..

the table service receipt will be a bit more confusing....as the copy they give to you will have "0" plus the amount of the tip you charged..
but the restaurant copy will actually have the amount of the meal...
don't worry...that's correct..

and in any case, you can check your bill at the resort to make sure everything is being charged accurately..

but having the credit card on the magic band was wonderfully convenient...

it's great not having to get out a wallet, but just put that MB against the machine and charge it (you have to key in a PIN code - so no one can use it if they get hold of your MB)..

.

 

[pickers1982]

would charge to the room but as others have said double check what gets charged (both for cash and number of credits taken). mistakes seem quite frequent but disney always seem very obliging correcting this