Dining Plan, can you share or not?

[susan4]

Sorry if this is a duplicate thread. Could someone who has been at WDW recently let us know what the current policy is under the dining plan. Can 4 people dine and use 3 TS credits, with the 4th person sharing or just buying an appetizer? Whatever the rules, it would be nice to know what they are. I notice that in the brochure it specifically says that for Signature dining 2 credits are required per person (not per meal). It does not say anything about non-Signature restaurants. Thanks for any help.

 

[BBGirl]

I don't know but I'm going to bump this post because I want to know too. Disney Dining says "no sharing".

 

[Lewisc]

You can't share at buffets or restaurants that offer all you care to eat. That basically includes all the character meals.

Other than that guests have generally had no trouble sharing.

 

[d-r]

We have an aunt joining us mid-vacation. We can't add her to the dining plan without adding her for the days she won't be there. If we haven't used all of the other people's dining plans, can she use some of them? Say four or five of us go to eat, can we put her meal on the others' dining plans? Say that someone else doesn't go to that meal, for example. I don't think that is "getting away with anything" because there are only so many meals, and they are paid for anyway. We usually travel to wdw with lots of family, with some coming and some going.

I'll edit this to explain some more: we are staying two weeks in a two-bedroom; the first on cash, the second on points, so we got the dining plan the first week when we pay cash. So we have to use all the meals before the second week. We also had to buy a one-day ticket for each person, which wasn't a big deal because we have to buy new APs and we will just trade them up.

 

[dismom03]

I just called Disney Dining with this exact question yesterday. The girl very pleasantly asked a supervisor and the answer was "yes...you can share at ala carte restaurants but not at all you can eat ones". I then asked about the dining packages (like Fantasmic or CP) and they said that with those packages, even if at an ala carte resaurant, you could NOT share because it's a package of dinner (per person) with a special advance seating package.

Hope that helps!

 

[Twende]

Yikes!.....
"Signature dining 2 credits are required per person (not per meal)."

I had not seen this. We are planning on sharing a meal at the Yacht Club Steaksman. Does this mean that we cannot share a meal? Or does it simply mean that for every meal ordered they will deduct 2 credits from our dining plan?

 

[Lewisc]

Sorry if this is a duplicate thread. Could someone who has been at WDW recently let us know what the current policy is under the dining plan. Can 4 people dine and use 3 TS credits, with the 4th person sharing or just buying an appetizer? Whatever the rules, it would be nice to know what they are. I notice that in the brochure it specifically says that for Signature dining 2 credits are required per person (not per meal). It does not say anything about non-Signature restaurants. Thanks for any help.

The brochure says 2 credits are required per person dining at a Signature Restaurant. I'm not sure if a person sharing counts as a person dining. I haven't read that many people even trying to share a signature meal. The portions generally aren't sized for sharing and guests looking to "stretch" their meal credits tend to skip the signature restaurants.

 

[michellex2]

I plan on sharing 2 different meals with my elderly Mom at signature restaurants (Jikos and Citricos). She is frail and has a very small appetite. I've posted about this re: other's experiences and have received back replies from those that have shared without problems. However, the responses also indicated that unless you have light appetites that sharing one meal at the Signature Restaurants would probably not be enough for most people. I'll be there Dec. 7th thru 14th, so will know more after that time.

 

[Hollymom1229]

In September we successfully shared at Concourse Steakhouse, Brown Derby, GF Cafe, and Les Chefs de France. 4 grown women and we used two credits at the regular and four credits at the signature.

 

[Pooh Girl 71]

Me, my sister and my DD (14) shared 2 meals at Jiko with no problems. WE also shared at other TS restaurants with no problems.

 

[bhoffman]

we called in today about this very thing and were told you can share any meal OTHER THAN a signature place (ie castle, etc.) or buffet...we are hoping to share and save credits for castle breakfast since it is worth two. Besides, way too much food with a three course dinner for us!

 

[susan4]

Thanks for the replies, but there seem to be recent changes to the dining plan. For example, adults using child credits is no longer allowed. (Probably was never planned that way, but we won't get into that discussion.) and some have reported trouble using their credits for dinner guests not on the plan. Has anyone shared a meal on dining plan recently?
I guess this is not really such a big deal to me, but I find it strange that the rules, whatever they are, are not clear. Even calling Disney dining does not seem much help, as different operators have different answers. Maybe it does depend on the restaurant.

Susan4

 

[Lewisc]

I've yet to see any definitive information regarding the child/adult credit issue. AFAIK they are still pooled. There have been rumors since July that Disney will be changing their policy.

It does depend on the restaurant, many of the restaurants are either buffet or all you care to eat. I'd assume you'll be able to share.

Thanks for the replies, but there seem to be recent changes to the dining plan. For example, adults using child credits is no longer allowed. (Probably was never planned that way, but we won't get into that discussion.) and some have reported trouble using their credits for dinner guests not on the plan. Has anyone shared a meal on dining plan recently?
I guess this is not really such a big deal to me, but I find it strange that the rules, whatever they are, are not clear. Even calling Disney dining does not seem much help, as different operators have different answers. Maybe it does depend on the restaurant.

Susan4

 

[InstImpres]

I asked the same question yesterday on the TA line. I was told the unofficial answer is "no problem" on sit downs and the written policy is "no". She said that when it came to advising clients to tell them many wait staff are nice about it and it could be acceptable but that they could crack down on it at any point and no one should count on sharing.

 

[Twende]

Two in our party are elderly and do not really eat much. In fact when we normally eat out, we order an appetizer for my mom and maybe a salad.

We really wanted to try Yachtsman and share meals there but I would hate to get turned away. Why couldn't someone just order a salad or something small and share the rest of others meal. We had planned on buying the extra beverages and two of the party normally order alcoholic drinks anyway.

I can understand at buffets and family style places and we have planned accordingly at these places but what is the deal here?

 

[cottontail]

Hi: What does everyone mean by sharing. Two people share one entre, or does one person get the entre and the other just orders an appetizer and the desert?

Deb.

 

[Rneighh]

We are going to use 3 TS credits for 4 people on our trip -- I hope this in not a problem.

Renee

 

[budbeerlady]

Hi: What does everyone mean by sharing. Two people share one entre, or does one person get the entre and the other just orders an appetizer and the desert?

Deb.

Hi Deb, my version of sharing is 1 of everything (app, entree, dessert) but two plates is how we do it when we do it. And of course tip as if two ate full meals and order seperate drinks. I wanted to share with DD 5 who eats like a bird! I am glad if I get three bites of steak and 4 green beans into her!

 

[kristen17]

We had no problem sharing meals on the dining plan when we were there in September. Only problem was at Alfredo's in Epcot where we tried to treat my brother-in-law and pay for the kids OOP. They saw this as using a child's credit for an adult (we had 2 adults & 2 kids on the plan, and wanted to use 3 credits for 3 adults). I would argue that even if child and adult credits are separate, I had 14 "adult" credits available to use as I liked. Got nowhere. At nearly every other TS restaurant, we bought 2 adult meals and shared with the kids or bought the kids child meals OOP. We did use TS credits for the kids at CRT lunch, LTT and Ohana. We ended up eating, I think, 10 TS (instead of just 7) meals by splitting them this way. We always split CS meals, because we simply weren't that hungry, which allowed us to use some CS credits for breakfast. At breakfast, the "desserts" would often serve as breakfast for my daughter and I. We loved the dining plan. Even splitting meals this way, it was more than enough food. I'll add that I'm not sure I'd buy the plan if I wasn't allowed to split meals. It would be so wasteful for our family.

 

[goofyfordisney]

Just made my adr's for our upcoming Feb. trip--When I asked a CRO CM if my mom and I could share our meal at Brown Derby (signature restaurant) and use 1 person's credits (2)--she said "no problem...you can do that if you want to"...

I'm hoping that's true. My mom is really a lite eater so this should work out better for us.