Dining Plan - Credits - I'm confused!!

[tanmar]

I have read a lot about the Dining Plan but am rather confused....

We are two adults, a 4 yr old and a 17 mth old. We have bought the Dining Plan, are staying for 7 nights. As I understand it, we have to get the little one to pick off of our plates - which is fine.

Do you get a card for the Dining Plan? Something that they swipe or whatnot? I believe if I am correct that the entire meal plan gets put together onto the one - so therefore we have 21 CS, 21 TS and 21 snacks.

I'd like to optimize my meal plan as many have mentioned that you can.

I'm trying to understand the benefit of paying for some meals (say the kid one) so that you have more credits to use elsewhere. If someone can please explain the benefit of doing this - this is where I'm fuzzy

 

[HayGan]

The way the dining plan is now credits are on your room key. All credits are pooled together and there is no distinguishing between adult credits and child credits. As the plan stands now there is nothing to stop you from paying out of pocket for your child's meals and using the credits for another meal later. By doing this you pay out of pocket for a lower cost meal and possibly using the credit for a more expensive meal later - whether it be for a child or adult. (A very few people have reported having trouble in paying out of pocket for a meal but quite frankly I find that ridiculous as there is no rule in the dining plan for everyone having to use their credits at a meal. I can't imagine them adding that rule as you may have people not on the plan dining with you or you want to use a credit for your child at another meal for them- but back to the topic.)

Personally, we will be paying out of pocket for several of our kids meals and using those credits at other times. I'm not going to use a credit for a $5 plate of chicken nuggets when I can use it at a $10+ buffet


I will warn you that this is a very heated topic with people on both sides with very strong opinions. I hope that my explanation has helped you

 

[DW mouser]

I don't know when you are going but if it's 2006 you may not be able to pay oop for your kids meals while savings credits. I remember getting something about that in my packet they send every month. It stated something like everyone on the dining plan would need a meal credit for a set down meal or some such thing. They are making so many changes it's just hard to tell how it will be in 2006. We will have one 7 year old on our plan but I have decided it's too much hassle to ask about paying out of pocket and figuring it all out!! I'm afraid she would see the 2 older kids dessert's and want those anyway so we have decided to just use her credits for her. There are 7 of us and the way I get things screwed up I'd probably pay oop and then have meals left!!!

 

[tanmar]

I'm sorry but my husband and I still don't get it!!!!

You did answer my question, the trouble is in our understanding somewhere along the line.... we must have a link unplugged in our brains with the whole plan that makes us miss the equation !!!

I get that it would make sense to pay for a $5 nugget to get a $10 buffet....

But how does this work? Gosh, not even sure what my question is......!!!

Are the credits numbers? As in 1 = snack, 2 = CS, 3 = TS? or whatnot?

Yikes, I still don't get it!

I do hope no one bashes me for this - It's just wanting to understand and know what my options are - I think we're all like that with everything in life - just wanting to "get it"

 

[HayGan]

I'm sorry but my husband and I still don't get it!!!!

You did answer my question, the trouble is in our understanding somewhere along the line.... we must have a link unplugged in our brains with the whole plan that makes us miss the equation !!!

I get that it would make sense to pay for a $5 nugget to get a $10 buffet....

But how does this work? Gosh, not even sure what my question is......!!!

Are the credits numbers? As in 1 = snack, 2 = CS, 3 = TS? or whatnot?

Yikes, I still don't get it!

I do hope no one bashes me for this - It's just wanting to understand and know what my options are - I think we're all like that with everything in life - just wanting to "get it"

The credits are each in their own category so you get 1 - snack, 1 - counter service and 1 - table service credit for each person each day you are on the plan. Every meal/snack is 1 credit from that category except for a few signature table service restaurants which require 2 credits per meal. So if you get a snack it reduces your number of snack credits by 1. If you eat at a table service restaurant and you order 3 meals, 3 credits would be taken from your table service total (unless it was a 2 credit restaurant then it would be 6 credits subtracted.)

Does that help?

 

[HayGan]

Here are links for the 2005 and 2006 plans:

2005 MYW dining plan

2006 MYW dining plan

 

[tanmar]

Wow I'm frustrated! Normally I like to classify myself as an intelligent person but whew!....

Ok - get the credit part.

Trouble is in understanding how and why for a benefit of paying for a child meal..... I get the money side of it, just don't get the credit / benefit / how that would work part.... (I guess

 

[HayGan]

Trouble is in understanding how and why for a benefit of paying for a child meal..... I get the money side of it, just don't get the credit / benefit / how that would work part.... (I guess

The benefit is that you save that credit and can use it for a more expensive child's or adults meal at another meal. There is no distinguishing between adult and childrens credit. A credit is a credit no matter who uses it. You can use a TS credit for a $5 plate of chicken nuggets and sundae or a $45 adult meal with appetizer and dessert. It would still only be one TS credit.

 

[tanmar]

Can you skip your snacks to use more credits for Signature Dining?

 

[tanmar]

Re: The benefit is that you save that credit and can use it for a more expensive child's or adults meal at another meal. There is no distinguishing between adult and childrens credit. A credit is a credit no matter who uses it. You can use a TS credit for a $5 plate of chicken nuggets and sundae or a $45 adult meal with appetizer and dessert. It would still only be one TS credit.

But if you always dine together, 2 adults and 1 child, is there still a benefit of paying for a child cheap meal?

 

[HayGan]

Can you skip your snacks to use more credits for Signature Dining?

No

snacks have to be used for snacks, CS for CS and TS for TS

 

[robinb]

tanmar:
Welcome to the DIS!!!

All of your questions are answered in the Dining Plan FAQ:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=820709

It's long, but worth the time to read.

 

[tanmar]

But if you always dine together, 2 adults and 1 child, is there still a benefit of paying for a child cheap meal?

This, I guess, is the main part that I still don't get...

 

[Frantasmic]

Rather than start a new debater, I suggest searching for "dining plan" in the forums and read the recent posts on the topic.

There are actions one can currently do that may or may not be ethical to you, but can be accomplished using the dining plan. There have been instances recently reported where people weren't allowed to pay out of pocket for a children's meal (supposedly with the assumption of saving that credit for a later adult meal.)

Some DISer's advocate using the plan to its full advantage (i.e., "maximizing it") by paying out of pocket for child's meals and using their credits to purchase more adult meals. Since a child's daily cost is $10.99 and an adult's is $35.99, their are ethical considerations that some evoke in doing this.

Since Disney seems to be closing this "loophole" it is apparent that they understand that the loophole is being used and they do not like it.

So, currently you apparently CAN make a reservation in many areas, use the child's credits for adult meals, but you are up to your own ethicial standards about whether you SHOULD do this.

I WAs going to do this for my upcoming trip, but the more I thought about it and the more complicated it became, I just decided that there were two TS meals where I would need to pay Out of pocket for ALL of us and save the TS credits for later to use on more expensive events like a Fantasmic dining package.

I have 6 nights of TS credits upcoming, but 8 TS ADRs. So, I will just pay OOP for my entire party for two of those TS ADRs and use 4 credits at each for the remaining TS events. I will choose to pay for the 2 events that will cost the least amount for the entire bill for all 4 of us.

 

[HayGan]

Re: The benefit is that you save that credit and can use it for a more expensive child's or adults meal at another meal. There is no distinguishing between adult and childrens credit. A credit is a credit no matter who uses it. You can use a TS credit for a $5 plate of chicken nuggets and sundae or a $45 adult meal with appetizer and dessert. It would still only be one TS credit.

But if you always dine together, 2 adults and 1 child, is there still a benefit of paying for a child cheap meal?

Look at it this way:

4 table service meals:

Plan 1: you could use credits for everyone at each meal
cost = $0
credits used = 12

Plan 2: you could pay out of pocket for 1 childs meal at each meal (~$10 with tax and tip) and use credits for adults meals
cost = ~$40
credits used = 8 (4 additional credits to use at other meals which at adult prices could equal more than $150 that doesn't need to be paid out of pocket.)

It is all about how many credits you plan on using. If you plan on doing more than 1 table service/character experience a day or eating at a signature restaurant (2 credits each) then it pays to pay out of pocket for kids meals and use the credits at another time.

If you only plan on one TS meal a day and no signature restaurants, then paying out of pocket does not make sense.

Is this helping?

 

[DW mouser]

Tanmar, if you are going in 2006 I don't think there's any reason to try to figure it all out because I think the loophole will be closed!! If your going in Dec. you may still get away with paying for your child out of pocket and saving those credits for you and your husbands meals another time!!

 

[tanmar]

I have read on "dining plans" in the forums, and well this is where I became confused.

It's not a matter of ethical or not ethical not at this point anyways for me since I had yet to completely "get it". I hope no one has decided that I am trying to "cheat the system" or whatnot... I just wanted to understand what everyone was talking about.

Thanks for your info.

 

[HayGan]

I have read on "dining plans" in the forums, and well this is where I became confused.

It's not a matter of ethical or not ethical not at this point anyways for me since I had yet to completely "get it". I hope no one has decided that I am trying to "cheat the system" or whatnot... I just wanted to understand what everyone was talking about.

Thanks for your info.

I can completely understand why you would be confused by all the bickering and morality debates. Then throw in all the hypothisizing about what Disney may or may not do is enough to make anyone's head spin.

Plain and simple, as it stands now all credits are pooled into one account, there is no such thing as an adult credit and a child's credit, and Disney reserves the right to change this at any time.

I hope you have a wonderful trip no matter how you use YOUR credits

 

[tanmar]

HayGan

Yes, there is a lot of bickering going on, isn't there - Funny when the site is based on such a magical place.

I haven't been to WDW since 1990. We were at Disneyland 2 yrs ago but went with family and didn't stay on site so none of the details were a necessity.

I did come to this site to learn as much as possible about things that I need to know before going on our trip - for resorts, attractions, restaurants etc. Things are always different when you've been somewhere - or at the end of a trip with a bunch of "Oh, if we would have known...." or "Next time......" I did want to go in as informed as possible.

With what I have stumbled upon re morality and bickering during my searching, I knew I was taking a bit of a risk asking about this, but again, just wanted to understand things better.

I want to thank you for all of your help and explanations - I'm feeling as though the loose cable in my brain is finally sending some info thru

Thank you

 

[kaytieeldr]

Okay, tanmar, really, there's nothing to 'get'. Simply use the MYW Dining Plan in the spirit in which it was intended.
Use one snack credit for each person's snack.
Use one Adult Counter Service credit for each Adult's Counter Service meal.
Use one Child's Counter Service credit for each Child's Counter Service meal.
Use one Adult Table Service credit for each Table Service meal, or two Adult Table Service credits for each adult's Signature Table Service meal or Dinner Show.
Use one Child's Counter Service credit for each Child's Table Service meal, or two Child Table Service credits for each child's Signature Table Service meal or Dinner Show.