Dining Plan

[KAC2005]

We are thinking about booking for this, can anybody give any advice??? Thanks in advance!

Kathryn

 

[natalielongstaff]

ive been thinking about it too but im afraid thats as far as ive got so far
sorry thats not much help to you tho

 

[KAC2005]

Just booked the dining plan today! First choice had just put it onto the computer system and our travel agent didn't have a clue about it!
When we worked it out it seemed like the ideal plan for us!!!

Kathryn

 

[tazz23]

you can get the dining plan from england? i thought you could only get it through US agents? how much is it?!

 

[KAC2005]

It is £19.99 for adults and £5.99 (i think) for kids. I got the info from the official site under tickets and packages and special offers. First Choice just had the info on Friday.

here is the link
http://wdtc.disneyinternational.com/SP2.asp?id=news4
Kathryn

 

[Frances999]

Thanks for the link, Kathryn. Has anybody "done the sums" to see if this is worthwhile? I've been trying to work it out, and at first look it seems to be quite fair value for money.

I wonder about any restrictions, though, and the choice of food on offer.

 

[Verity Chambers]

i would like to know how this comes, is it a voucher???

If any one finds out let me know! Verity.

 

[Frances999]

Okay, I've looked into this a bit more and I am confused! LOL

Firstly, how does one go about booking it? It won't let me book it via the WDW website unless I book a room at the same time. I have already booked our resort stay with Dreams Unlimited Travel -- does anybody know if they will be able to add it on for me? Because it is specifically for "UK guests" I assume not. If that's the case, do you think CRO would be able to?

Also, I see it states "must be for the entire resort stay" -- so I guess that would mean I would need to buy it for our entire 10 night duration at the Poly (total price of £580 for all of us ) I was kind of hoping I could buy it just for a few days instead. Oh well.

I guess the DDE card for AP holders would be better for me, then!

 

[natalielongstaff]

kathryn
did you book the myw tickets with the dining plan ?? can you give me a rough idea on how much the tix and dining cost
thanks

 

[KAC2005]

We already booked our hopper tickets when we originally booked in Oct, Sorry can't remember how much they cost. At that time we were given a free breakfast for Andrew (9) when we booked the dining they said that this would not be affected but I'll wait until confirmation comes through!! I booked the dining plan through the travel agents. She phoned first choice and they added it to our booking. It cost £664 us(2 adults, 1 child) ( yup it is for the whole 14 nights).

I am under the impression, from what i have read on the restaurants board, that the meal allowances are credited to your room key and you just have this swiped when you order something. You are then given a receipt to tell you how many credits you have left. We used allears.net to see how much we planned on spending and it worked out cheaper for us!! I tend to over budget!!!!!!

Another thing I found good was that you don't have to use the table service, counter service and snack in one day. You can use them how ever you want until they run out!!

It also means that we don't have to carry so much money around with us, my brother is happy I tended to "dip into" the food money to buy loads of disney stuff!!!

Hope this helps! As I said in the previous post the travel agents didn't seem to have a clue about the dining plan but our travel agent was impressed with it!! She took a photocopy of the info I had.

But then again if I hadn't been on the boards then I wouldn't have had a clue either!!!

Kathryn

 

[Candy]

I tried to book the dinning plan when i booked my holiday with Virgin this january.at that time i could not add it to my booking because i was told virgin were still working with Disney regards cost etc. but when they have the dinning plan on their system i would be able to add it to my booking.

 

[tazz23]

thanx for the information- i think though it worked out cheaper to go through US company for the dining package. i worked it out to be £15 a head instead of £20 a head. its great they have it in the uk though and still great value for money (seeing as table service meals alone can cost around £40 a head in some restaurants!)

 

[arieliwish]

Kac2005:
Just been on to first choice to add the dining plan to our reservation and the girl I spoke to didn't know anything about it. She said they can only book tickets and the dining plan has to be booked through disney! Got off phone and remembered I'd seen on here someone had booked it through First Choice -you!

Which number for first choice did you call? I tried the web support one. I actually wanted to know if they could add the tickets and FREE dining plan to our existing booking.

 

[gilld]

Sorry if I'm being a bit dense here. Can I book this as a DVC member,having already got my tickets? What I mean is, can I book it as a stand alone booking?

 

[Frances999]

No, Gill - it can only be booked as part of a package which includes length-of-stay tickets and resort accommodation.

 

[cath1954]

thanx for the information- i think though it worked out cheaper to go through US company for the dining package. i worked it out to be £15 a head instead of £20 a head. its great they have it in the uk though and still great value for money (seeing as table service meals alone can cost around £40 a head in some restaurants!)

Hi Tammy wich travel agent was that pse as I thought you had to book park tickets and dining together to get it Thanks cath

 

[jana]

i would like to know how this comes, is it a voucher???

It's coded into the room keys. You can use any of the room keys that are allocated to that room booking (you don't have to provide 4 room keys for a meal for 4).
The dining plan is an excellent option for anyone that's able to purchase it. In simple financial terms, the cost of it ($34.99 per day for an adult and that includes your tips and taxes) is what it would cost you to have one meal at say Park Fare 1900 ( all but 14 cents if you assume tipping at 18%). This means that you are getting a free counter service meal and a free snack for your money. You can mix and match your options. You don't have to have one counter, one full service and one snack one each day. If for example you were going off property for one day you can save up those unused portions
for later in the trip ( although they have to be used up by the end of the day you check out). There are a few of the VERY upscale WDW restaurants that "cost" two full service meals , if you want to spoil yourselves at times.

If you're staying on WDW property it's almost certain you are going to be eating the majority of your meals at WDW. Which ever way you look at it this provides GREAT value. You can view it that you're spending what you would on a full service meal and are getting the rest free, or that if you'd usually eat counter service two times, for the same money you get to enjoy a slightly higher quality experience for your usual $$ spending.

By the way, has everyone seen that the dining plan is being included free for package bookings for late summer this year. Anyone going around September should check out the offer that is outlined here http://www.wdwinfo.com/discounts/discounts-current.htm#package . For a family of 4 that could be as much as a $140 per day value

 

[arieliwish]

I've now had several calls to First Choice who don't appear to know anything about the dining plan, at least not the people I'm talking to! Also called Disney US yesterday who were extremely nice and said I should tell my tour operator to cancel the room only booking(WDW CBR) to a package of room, tickets and dining plan (which I hoped would come through as free!). Made several more calls to FC today resulting in them leaving me a message as I was at work, to say they've added on park tickets to my res. and have spoken to disney who don't know anything about the dining plan free offer either!
Aaaaahhhhhh! Do you ever feel like you're banging your head against a brick wall??!!
How do I make these people just do as I ask? Someone please tell me what language to speak to them in!!
So it looks like I'm left with park tickets at over inflated prices and a dining plan that won't be cheaper for us than paying as we eat in disney - DD is 10 so paying adult prices but eats mainly from kids menu and very little at that!!

 

[jana]

How do I make these people just do as I ask? Someone please tell me what language to speak to them in!!

I'm more than a little confused, you say that FC doesn't have any idea of what the dining plan is and how to apply it, then at the end you say you've been left with a dining plan that is costing you more money than you'd spend if you paid as you went. Either you're now on the dining plan or FC hasn't been able to apply it, but I don't understand how both those situations could have come about. While each family is different, I think that is unlikely, even if your daughter did only eat from the kids menu, you'd still probably spend close to $30 a day for her ( 2 meals and a snack plus tips plus taxes) and I'm certain you would be saving more than $5 per day having two adults using the plan so even if someone is paying "full price" for the dining plan ($35 per day includes taxes and gratuities) IMHO it's a great value for most families.

There are some limitations on this "free dining" package. As with all Disney packages the dining plan is only available for bookings of up to 10 nights in a WDW owned hotel. If you want to stay for longer you need to have two room bookings (God only knows why). Also you need to be buying at least a one day MYW themepark ticket and your room rate DOES NOT have any discounts (i.e. AP or Fl resident) being applied to it. The dates for this offer are from August 21st through October 4th, if you booking is inside these dates then adding the dining plan should have a zero cost.
You shouldn't be paying "over the top" for themepark tickets, the price of the tickets should be the same as you would pay for them from anywhere.

 

[arieliwish]

Hi, I've got it sorted finally! First Choice have added 14 days ultimate tickets (UK versions) to our booking and the disney dining plan for the 14 days. This is costed out at £20 per adult per day (inc DD as she is 10) and £6 per child per day. The park tickets are £706 from first choice where as I could have purchased them online from Orlando ticket deals for £588, so thats costing us a bit more. The free dining offer is not available through UK tour operators, but we have kept this on our booking as it will save us having to think about travelling out of WDW just to eat.

The 2 call operators I spoke to did not know anything about the dining plan, and it was only after them speaking to their marketing dept and manager that we were able to add it. So how come we all know about it and they don't?? Wouldn't life be easier if there was one central booking office where all visitors/tour operators could book - regardless of country of origin??