DISNEY DINING EXPERIENCE CARD - renewal

[Mackey Mouse]

I was unclear when filling out the renewal for the DDE card. I thought if you were a husband and wife and you are renewing, you would both get a card. I received a phone call from Disney, actually two phone calls, saying that in order for the spouse, either my husband or myself, to get a card we would have to pay $25....

I will call tomorrow to verify these two phone calls, but just wanted to give you all a heads up that it does imply to spouses. Originally I thought it was for anyone extra in your family......since we always both had cards, I thought if I wanted one for my daughter I would pay the $25...seems that is not the case.

 

[cyndibelle]

well that seems kinda stupid...hubby and i both have cards and i am not paying another 25 bucks just to get a card in my name..forget it!!

 

[Jasminetigger]

From waht I understand, in the past you got the extra card for free. Starting in 2006 I know the prices for the card went up and the extra card is no longer free. You pay $25.00 for an extra card no matter who it is for.

 

[Mackey Mouse]

I agree with you... we will get one card....sorry but I think it is a disgrace to do that to people who are renewing.....grandfather us in, and charge new applicants. Does that sound harsh, I just think it is unfair to do to those who have already been participating, that in addition to the price of annual passes.

 

[yooperfan]

Did the paperwork to renew come with the original cards or do they send the paperwork when it gets close to your renewal date?

 

[Mackey Mouse]

We have a few more months on our original card, they sent us an application for renewal..

 

[Amy&Dan]

The DDE has been very popular. Like anything else Disney does, if they can make more money they will do it! We will renew but just get one card, heck DH is the one that fetches the food most of the time anyway at the food courts and the rest of the time we are together anyway. Still I had to laugh at yet another display of Disney sticking it to us, and us going along with it because what else are we going to do?

 

[Donna]

This is really ridiculous! i saw this and thought, like others, that this was for another adult in your family who wanted a card (other than spouse). I could almost see charging $5 for the extra card, for the cost of making it but $25? That is just about half the price of the entire DDE membership! Unless they're going to give ANOTHER 20% on top of the 20% discount (yeh right ), then they can forget it! I bet you can count on one hand the number of people that get that extra card. I'm usually the one that takes care of the bill so this won't be a problem for us anyways.

 

[Gymbomom]

I wonder if the new charges could be from the people who get two cards and share one with someone who is not from their household.
I know that when we there for 2 weeks using our card we only got asked for our AP once out of the countless times we used it. And it was a temp card not even the "real" card.

 

[Mackey Mouse]

What the phone call said was this: You pay the original price for one card....whatever it is, I think it went up in price as well, the second card, for whomever, in this case it would be either my husband or myself.....would cost us another $25.

We do not share our card with anyone else as it is just the two of us who go to WDW and we go together. I would think that after all these years of my family going to WDW....the past years just my husband and myself as the children, adults now, are Disneyed out, that Disney would be able to tell the renewal is for husband and wife with the same last name that we have used for all these past 23 years..

I think it is Disney getting more money for this card as they know they are not making money on it.. in fact, it works quite nicely reducing the price of food at decent restaurants...

I will post more after I call tomorrow afternoon and update you even more, but the phone call said.. one card for that price...end of story...

 

[Gymbomom]

Mackey---- JUst wanted to make sure you didn't think I was refering to you in my post about people using the "extra" card for someone other than a household family member.

I just have read some posts of people suggesting this or asking if it was okay to split the cost of the card between 2 families, etc...... So I know it has most likely been done.

 

[srfrgrl07]

Yeah, while most DDE members are in the same household and usually dining together there are some who get the additional card for a friend or sister or brother or mother, etc. When the two people aren't dining together, it almost equates to offering the second discount for "free" since the companion card was not provided for an additional fee. It really shouldn't be a problem for those that have always and continue to dine together...how many times did you show the second card anyways? For those who were sharing the membership with people that have other dining plans, it's still less than purchasing their own membership card, kinda like a buy one, get one half off, I guess. Is it only for spouses now that you can get the second card for $25.00?

 

[Mackey Mouse]

srfrgrl07, I am not sure how to answer you.... the application itself was a bit confusing....anyhow, I will know more tomorrow and will post about it probably late in the afternoon..

Gymbomom, no worries, I did not think you were referring to me personally....I know what you are saying and there are some who will always bend the rules, the rest of us have to pay the price.. oh well...

 

[cobbler]

Yeah, I read that too. It is $60 for the yearly fee and $25 for each additional card.

When we renew we WON'T be getting the 2nd card.

 

[lizanne]

I got a DDE card for the first time in November 05. When the operator asked if i wanted one (free of charge) for my husband I was surprised.

My husband and I were the only ones on this trip so we really didn't need it, but of course I said yes.

If we had been with others there was absolutely nothing to keep us from giving this extra card to someone else. At no time was I asked to show an AP or any other id. We usually used our room key to charge so maybe that was the reason.

I don't see any reason why you should be given two cards when you're only paying for one. I'm not saying anyone here would abuse the use of the card, but I'm sure there are some people who would try.

 

[Mackey Mouse]

I was never asked to show my AP either.... my husband or I would pay with American Express which clearly shows our names..

I am wondering here have you been told you have to show you AP with this card....we used it all last year and were never asked...

Just wondering and will update this afternoon when I call Disney Dining.

 

[goofy4tink]

Since we usually charged our meals back to our room, we had that card, with our name on it, that went along with the DDE card. I have been asked for ID at only one place in WDW and that was the food court at POP!!! Imagine my surprise when I got to Pop for my coffee/muffin on my departure morning and was asked for ID. I told the CM at the register that my official ID was back in my room, at which point she told me that I should always be prepared to show it, so should carry it with me at all times!! Well, I do carry it with me to the parks and such, but since I was grabbing a quick bite to eat at the food court and already had my room key, why in heaven's name would I need to carry my license?! She told me that I could have found the room key and the DDE card on the ground and be using it 'illegally'!!! Who knew!!! Never have I been asked for an ID at any other restuarant at WDW....not on any trip, and I used that card on a total of 3 trips...and one of them was at POP in August for 5 days.

 

[BCV23]

Shortly before the New Year, the additional charge for a second card was announced on this board.

Ours didn't expire until the end of Feb but I called and renewed in order to get the second card for free and to save the extra $10. Now our new ones will expire end of January so I lost a month but it is worth it for us.

Shortly thereafter I received a renewal notice. It did list the new price as $60 with an additional $25 for a second card. I forget the exact wording but it was perhaps spouse or domestic partner. I'l look around and see if I still have it.

In future years, I'm not sure if we'll buy the second card or not. We are most often together when we use it but not always.

I was so thrilled that DDE was extended to AP holders and still am. An extra charge for a second card doesn't change my feelings about that.

 

[skiwee1]

I was never asked to show my AP either.... my husband or I would pay with American Express which clearly shows our names..

I am wondering here have you been told you have to show you AP with this card....we used it all last year and were never asked...

Just wondering and will update this afternoon when I call Disney Dining.

We used it for 21 days so far and was never asked for an AP or any kind of ID.

 

[BCV23]

I don't remember ever being asked for the AP or even drivers license but others have reported being asked for id. We've now used it on four trips but that doesn't mean we won't be asked sometime.