Dining Plan Rack Rate Room?

[Merriwind]

Hi all-

Quick question. Planning mania and a lack of sleep have my brain a more than a little mushy today.

We are booked into WL for seven nights next month with a AAA discount. I am doing the math to see if adding the dining plan is a good idea for us. Here's how I am walking through this:

I know that in order to get the dining plan, we have to add a package. Those of us with APs can get a one day base ticket. Those of us who sadly neither live in Florida nor have APs can get MYW passes for the seven nights. We would add dining at a cost of $35 per adult and $10 per child and we must purchase that for each person and for each night of our stay. (If I have any of this wrong, please let me know!)

My $64,000 is this... in order to add dining, do we have to pay rack rate for the room and lose the AAA discount, or was that only for free dining?

If we don't have to pay rack rate for the rooms, I think this could be a great deal. If we do, probably not.

Many thanks!

 

[scanne]

I'm not sure if I'm 100% correct on this, but I think this is the answer...

You have to book the room/package at rack rate to get the dining. BUT, if you go through AAA and book the package with them, they have discounted packages.

At least that's what my TA told me.

Hope this helps and I hope you get more clarification.

BTW, I'm going through the same thinking as you are for our next big trip. Hopefully the dining plan will still be available then.

 

[thelionqueen]

YOu are right and wrong...here is what I know from personal experience..

You DO have to have a package with park tickets...but you CAN book through AAA and get a discounted room rate with tickets AND add Dining plan.

Here is another cost saving tip.....

Buy EVERYONE a 1 day park pass (this is allowed to add on the dining package). When you get to the park, you can UPGRADE the tickets that need upgrading and apply some of the tickets to the upgrade. You can also apply the tickets to a Water Park annual pass or regular Water park tickets if you have unused tickets (that couldn't be upgraded) OR, just bring the extra 1 day passes home and sell them on ebay. I sold them for MORE than they can buy them for at Disney....shocked me. (BTW started tickets at just 9.99 I didn't gouge people just bid like crazy)

In any event, go to AAA and inquire about package discount (usually about $100 or so over web site rates) and again, only buy 1 day passes for everyone. You can add later, but for now, this sound like the best for you.

Good luck...

 

[gigi1313]

yes, you do pay rack rate for the rooms of those using the dining plan...

it sounds like you have a large party travelling... you may be able to have the best of both worlds if you split the guests up/mix&match who's staying where based on their needs... i.e. guests 1, 2, 3, and 4 all need tix... guest 5 does not... you want two rooms for all the guests but guests 3 and 4 are children of guest 5 but you book guests 1, 2, 3, and 4 in one room with tickets and dining... guest 5 gets the discount on the other room w/no tix/no dining... where you all sleep at the end of the day is your choice... kwim?

we're going down w/another family and possibly an add'l adult (a g'ma) who will want her own room... but dh already has tickets so we will book one family in their own room (they need room/tix/dining) and book me/kids/g'ma in our room (we need room/tix/dining) and book dh in the third room (he needs room and would like dining but it's not worth paying rack rate for) but then when we get there, dh/kids/i will stay in one room, giving g'ma her own room...

not sure if it's clear but basically group those that need the same components together and leave one person out of the rooms w/a package to avoid paying rack rate on all rooms...

 

[rifamtrav]

Yeah, what GiGi1313 says!
It sounds confusing but I was thinking the same thing. Throw in the idea that you will get some discount by booking the package with dining plan through AAA vs. Disney website, buying only 1 day base tickets with the package then upgrade when you're there, and the possibility that if someone in the party is from Florida they may even be able to get a discount on the package, and I think you've got several ways to pay less than rack rate.
When they offered the free dining package, they offered a slightly better deal for Florida residents - basically it included a slight discount on the ticket too (It was a different discount code, got it on the website by clicking on florida resident, I think its on the first page??). Not sure if that's the case when paying for the dining plan but it might be something else to consider.

 

[rifamtrav]

One more thing, remember that there's alot of food with the dining plan. So not everyone in the party needs to be on it, you just decide how many credits you want to use for a meal. If you put the kids age 9 and under, on the plan you'll pay $10/day for them but you can choose to pay out of pocket for their food and use the TS or CS credit for another meal. Sharing is also a great idea, i.e. 4 adults might only order 2 or 3 ts meals and if needed pay out of pocket for an extra appetizer, believe me, you won't need to order an extra dessert - HUGE at most places!

 

[jann1033]

if you do try to sell the passes be aware names will be on them so you might be selling something the buyer can not use.( if they ask for id since passes are not transferable)

 

[SB in KY]

If you book the package through AAA you can keep your room discount and add the tickets and dining (only a 1 day ticket is needed if you have AP's, then you can trade in the 1 day tickets for something you would rather have as a previous poster stated).

When you book a room only you can book the AAA discount through Disney directly, however for some unexplained reason if you book the MYW package with dining and want the AAA discount on the room you must book it through AAA.

We are doing our Nov trip that way....booked through AAA....6 nights at CR tower plus 1 day MYW passes for 4 (we have old hopper tickets we can use for the rest of our days) and dining. The dining portion is not discounted, but we got the AAA room discount and a slight AAA discount on the tickets (pretty nominal savings on the tickets)....so it saved us slightly over $200 over booking at rack rate and we got the dining plan....made it worth my trip to the AAA travel agency to do the booking....although several people have posted 800 numbers of good AAA travel agents that they used to book over the phone.

You basically get to keep your room discount and add the dining at regular price if you go through AAA.

 

[Merriwind]

Thanks all for the info. Lokks like AAA is my next call/stop. Thanks!

 

[hegs65]

Can you book a package with just resort, dining, 1 day pass but no airfare through AAA?

 

[gigi1313]

yes you can

 

[RaineinMD]

AAA sounds great, but what happens if you book thru AAA and by some wonderful chance Disney offers the free dining? Since you are already getting a discount on your room and tickets will you need to cancel AAA ressies and rebook for the free dining or what?

 

[indigoxtreme]

For the Sept dining many people called their AAA and were able to add the free dining or change to the free dining. No problems. Same as with reg res with Disney could add the free dining or change to free dining with no problems. No res cancelation req.

 

[steery1]

I've booked BCV for 9 nights next Jul direct through Disney. I haven't bought my park passes yet. Can anyone tell me if I can get the dining plan without buying my passes from Disney? Also I thought everyone staying in your party had to buy into the dining plan for every night of the stay. Is this correct?

 

[whacked]

I have a package through AAA in December. I have the MYW hopper tickets for our party through the package. The rooms are discounted. There is a TINY (a couple of bucks) discount on the tickets over the Disney cost for the same thing.

The rooms (moderates) are discounted 20%.

The dining plan adds $35 per adult and $10 per child and DOES NOT CHANGE THE OTHER DISCOUNTS IN ANY WAY. I believe the dining plan went up a buck or two since we booked.

You do still get the room discount with the dining plan. the rack rate stuff only applied to the free dining plan promotion.

Yes everyone in the party has to have the same tickets and dining plan.