Disney Dining Plan

[lt90]

Please can someone help me?! We are planning an Escape wedding in October 2012 so therefore would get free AP. But we really want to make use of the disney dining plan but Ive just read that we are only eligible for the plan if we book as a package e.g. book park tickets as well.
We are booking with a travel agents in the UK as we can get a family discount so my question is - can we utilise disney dining? If we ring disney up and explain can they add it on? Is there anyway we can gift our APs to someone else and just book tickets ourselfs?

Sorry for all the questions but were on a very tight budget and if we cant work this out we will have to forgo our disney wedding and get married elsewhere Please help!!

 

[leonix8238]

You only receive a voucher for the AP's, which you then exchange for an AP at Disney. Therefore you don't have to use the voucher on your wedding trip but wait and use them at a later date.

If you want to use them during your wedding trip I believe you can still add the Disney dinning plan by making a room only reservation with Disney and then adding the dining plan on seperatly.

Personally, with being from the UK I would book the whole package through your travel agent including the free dining plan and use the AP's on a later trip.

I found a couple of other threads which you may want to take a peek at:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2168418&highlight=annual+passes+gift

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2411553&highlight=annual+passes+gift

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2686754

I hope that helps a little and I've not just confused you more!

 

[neener3]

When you go to the passholder part of the Disney website you can book your trip using your Annual pass and there is an option to add dining on there; it's what my DH and I are doing when we take our trip this coming fall. You don't need to add park tickets then.

However, for FREE dining, you need to add a two day ticket in order to get it. We did that for our wedding trip, and then just didn't use the two days because if you don't use them, you can use them on an upcoming trip. Except DH "forgot" and used his to get into Magic Kingdom even though we had TALKED about it and he KNEW, and I'm not bitter about it at all...

Another option would be to save your APs for a different trip...you don't HAVE to use them this trip if you don't want!

 

[Tiggeriffic79]

You didn't say but are you booking the wedding through the travel agent too? If so you wont be eligible for the AP's. I would've suggested the tables in wonderland card... But as dining is free not an add on it wouldn't save you any.

 

[girli565]

When you go through the passholder section of the wdw website and book through there you can get the current AP discounted room rate and add the dining plan without buying a park ticket. I just did this a few days ago for our trip in May.

 

[lt90]

thanks for all your answers! Im booking wedding seperately with disney and the holiday with a travel agents.
the only problem is we dont have APs now and we need to book in May 2011 so wont have APs by then and therefore cant take advantage of AP discounts etc.
also we wont be able to return to florida for about 5-10 years due to work etc - would the APs still be valid if we didnt use them for our wedding?
Its such a shame you cant gift them - my FPIL go frequently and would really benefit!!

 

[pezaddict231]

Do you have the vouchers yet? If so, you can enter the number at the bottom on the passholder website. They don't need to be activated yet for you to book the room. When you get to Disney you can activate them.

If you don't have them yet, you can always book your package now and ask the TA to change it once you get the vouchers and if the discount would be better.

I'm pretty sure they are in your name, and I don't know if you can gift them to anyone. I don't remember seeing an expiration and since unused tickets are good basically forever, I don't see why the unused vouchers wouldn't be as well. But then Disney, you never know.

 

[lt90]

thanks to everyone that helped but DF cant see a way around this and our budget cant strecth anymore so im going to have to give up my disney wedding

Well have to stay off property and get married somewhere else - any ideas?????

Just a quick question - my mum is stiill staying on property - anyway we can use her reservation number to have a disney wedding?! I know, probably very very cheeky but I dont want to give up my dream just yet...

 

[Tiggeriffic79]

I don't think they would let you have a dftw on your mums reservation.

There are a few other options though. The swan and dolphin hotel do weddings (an epcot resort hotel) there is a sticky at the top of this forum with details. You can get married at a couple of locations in downtown Disney (foultons crab house and the characters in flight balloon). They do weddings at the buena vista hotel too.

Could you do a split stay? Do the min. days on site on then stay off site?Could you do a Memories ceremony instead of escape?

 

[JessnRich225]

You can get annual pass discounts and passholder dining before activating your AP. We saved roughly $600 by removing park tickets,and just a few weeks ago got about $400 removed from our stay due to annual pass room discounts. the only stipulation is that the AP MUST be activated before check in. We are planning on actiating in DTD, which we were told can be done now. Hope this helps!

 

[JessnRich225]

Forgot to add, we booked our rooms back in October before we signed our contract. We were told to just call back frequently until the AP rates had been released. I called twice a week from January through about 2/3 weeks ago. As soon as the dates for our stays were released, they removed the the extra cost immediately

 

[tinkerbell 766]

Hello from another UK (VR) bride!!
Another shameless plug for Swan and Dolphin weddings here. I am having a VR at the Swan in May and have so far been delighted with their service. You can get a wedding with more flexibility, right there at WDW for approx. half the price of a DFTW!!!! You don't need to stay on property but if you do, you can book a package and pay for the DDP or, if they are offering it for your dares, take advantage of the free DDP. Feel free to ask me anything about S/D weddings. I am more than happy to help!!!

 

[leonix8238]

Have you considered staying on property by renting DVC points? You could then use your AP's to get hold of the Tables of Wonderland card to reduce your food bills.

You also only need stay on site for a few days and the rest of the time you can stay somewhere else. Shop around with travel agents and see what you can get. Booking online also reduces the cost.

I hope you don't have to give up your dream - there are always ways and means.

 

[Jilian]

We're doing the swan/dolphin vow renewal too, and it is quite a bit less than the DFTW. Like others have suggested you can use the number right on the bottom of your AP paper and log onto the Disney trip planning site and enter it in and you'll be eligible for the discounts and a dining plan when you book through Disney. I just did this a few months ago for a trip I'm going on later this week so I assure you it is possible - we booked through Disney for a hotel and dining plan because we have the FL seasonal passes (not yet activated though).