DDP and A Late Week Guest

[danielle782001]

We will be in Disney for 11 nights July 2009...We are getting the Basic Dining Plan....My niece is coming down for the last 5 nights of the trip and want the dining plan for her as well....

How does late arrivals work? Is it a problem?
Is it possible to her the plan even though she will not be with us the entire trip?
How would they work the credits? Give her her own credits when she arrives? Or will they add hers to my total at the beginning?

Please advise

 

[Chuck S]

The policy is that everyone has to be on the DDP for the entire length of the reservation, no matter if the arrive late or not. It is the same policy for reservations made through WDW Travel/CRO, as they control the DDP, and have made it available to DVC by an agreement. Dining credits are not assigned to individuals, they are pooled to everyone on the room, the only distinction being adult or child meals. All room the keys access all credits for the room.

Your options basically are:

1) Your niece will not be on the plan, and pays out-of-pocket for meals.

2) You get your niece (assuming she is at least 18yo) her own studio, and get the plan on that reservation

3) You divide your trip into two separate, unlinked reservations. There is then the possibility you will have to switch rooms and move in the middle of your trip. Usually reservations are automatically linked, unless you change resort or booking category. (1 bedroom to two bedroom, or standard view to BWV view, etc.) -or-

4) You pay for her credits for the entire length of your stay when you arrive

 

[mom2mizmous]

I didn't think option #1 was allowed ????(all must be on plan and must pay for entire time regardless of when they arrive- unless you mean op will pay for her ddp and use the credits themselves for the time she is not there? )

 

[Chuck S]

I didn't think option #1 was allowed ????(all must be on plan and must pay for entire time regardless of when they arrive- unless you mean op will pay for her ddp and use the credits themselves for the time she is not there? )

You are correct, the niece needs to be on the reservation and the DDP to have access to Magical Express.

I was referring to the fact that sometimes the front desk can add a person to the room mid-trip for a few days if they aren't over occupancy. In that instance, it is doubtful they would add them to the DDP. She would need to pay out of pocket.

But by all means, the front desk needs to know who is and who is not in the room for safety and emergency reasons.

It really is a gamble to rely on that , though. As officially they could require DDP payment for all days.

It is best to go all or nothing, or get the niece a seperate room.

 

[danielle782001]

Thank you for the great information...I think I may pay for her plan for the entire trip because I figured out that we will not have enough credits to do everything we wanted and we would have to pay for some meals OOP...The flip side was that it was still not worth it for us to get the DDP...So I may just pay for the BDP for her and use her credits as we need the extras.