DVC dining upgrade

[ruthma]

Dining Plan benefits from system upgrade
WRITTEN BY TIM KRASNIEWSKI | SEPTEMBER 30, 2010

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On October 14, 2010 Disney Vacation Club will be updating its core software systems to add a number of new features.* Many new features have already been revealed such as emailing of reservation confirmations.* But it turns out members will also gain significant flexibility in relation to the Disney Dining Plans.

One of the planned enhancements involves linking multiple segments of a vacation plan (resorts, room sizes, views, etc.) to a single reservation number. For instance, if a member reserves two nights in a Studio at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort followed by five nights in a Two Bedroom villa at the Bay Lake Tower, those two bookings will soon be consolidated under a single reservation number.

With this enhancement, members have questioned whether it will still be possible to add a Dining Plan purchase to just one segment of a trip which spans multiple resorts, villas or views.* In the example above, the member can currently purchase the Dining Plan for the 2-night Saratoga Springs stay while omitting the Dining Plan from the Bay Lake Tower stay.

According to a Disney Vacation Club representative, members will still be able to purchase the Dining Plan for one of the two resort stays.* In fact, members will gain even greater dining plan flexibility under the new system.

DVC's system upgrades allow Member Services representatives to sub-divide single resort stays into separate "accommodations."* Each accommodation can contain a unique number of guests as well as different purchase options relative to the Disney Dining Plans.

To illustrate:

Accommodation #1:* Sunday and Monday in Studio at Saratoga Springs.* Four occupants.* Disney Dining Plan is added to this reservation.* The guest will receive 2 nights' worth of dining credits for the 4 occupants.* Dining credits are valid from Sunday through 11:59pm on Tuesday.

Accommodation #2:* Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in Two Bedroom villa at Bay Lake Tower.* Family is joined by 2 other family members for a total of 6 occupants.* Quick Service Dining Plan is added to this accommodation.* The guest will receive 3 nights' worth of dining credits for the 6 occupants.* Dining credits are valid from Tuesday through 11:59pm Friday.

Accommodation #3:* Friday and Saturday in Two Bedroom villa at Bay Lake Tower.* Other family members have departed leaving just 4 occupants.* No dining plan is purchased.

In this example, the 5 nights at the Bay Lake Tower have been split into "accommodations" #2 and #3.* These accommodations will be fully linked together guaranteeing that the guest will remain in the same physical room (assuming the same view is reserved.)* There will be a single front-desk check-in and a single set of room keys issued.* However, the member is permitted to alter not only the number of guests in the room over that 5-night stay but also the Dining Plan purchase intentions.

Ideally members should request that their reservation be split into multiple accommodations at the time of booking even if the Dining Plan is not immediately added.* All accommodations can be booked a full 11 or 7 months in advance of arrival for a trip of 7 nights or less.

Existing reservations under a single accommodation can later be split into separate accommodations, but it is a complicated process and there is some risk of the inventory being lost.

As previously reported, effective October 14 members will be required to pay for the Dining Plans when added to a Disney Vacation Club reservation.* The Dining Plan can be added up to 48 hours prior to arrival.* Some Walt Disney World dining locations like Cinderella's Royal Table and the Spirit of Aloha dinner show require that the Dining Plan be added to a reservation before Advance Dining Reservations (ADR) can be secured.* In those instances, the member will be required to add and pay for the Dining Plan before securing an ADR--up to 6 months prior to arrival.

Acceptable payment methods include Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, Diner’s Club, JCB, Disney Gift Cards and Chase Disney Visa Reward cards.

Dining Plan payments can be split over multiple funding sources.* For instance a member can use a Disney Visa Reward card to pay for a portion and the rest charged to a credit card. Or the payment can be spread over multiple credit cards.

DVC does not currently have plans to implement an on-line payment system for Dining Plan credits.* These transactions must be handled through Member Services.

Full payment for the Dining Plan must be made in a single conversation with Member Services.* In situations where multiple family members are sharing a villa and wish to pay for their own dining credits, the DVC member will have to gather all of the payment information and relay to Member Services.* Member Services will not accept Dining Plan payments from non-members.


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[TDC Nala]

So you still have to get the same dining plan for everyone in the room for each separate accommodation. You can't have three people in a room with a dining plan and one person with no dining plan at all for the same accommodation (unless someone is under 3)

 

[Deb & Bill]

I don't see this as an upgrade at all. It's about the same. But they are just glossing it over based on member feedback. Hah!

But the note about booking CRT and other types of dining that require payment in full to book the meal will be a killer for members renting out their points. If a non-member renting a reservation wants to book these, they will have to add the dining plan at that time. The member will either have to have full payment for the plan at that time to give to MS or somehow get the credit card of the non-member and I don't think that is going to work at all.

One more way of "enhancing" our membership.

 

[Dean]

I don't see this as an upgrade at all. It's about the same. But they are just glossing it over based on member feedback. Hah!

But the note about booking CRT and other types of dining that require payment in full to book the meal will be a killer for members renting out their points. If a non-member renting a reservation wants to book these, they will have to add the dining plan at that time. The member will either have to have full payment for the plan at that time to give to MS or somehow get the credit card of the non-member and I don't think that is going to work at all.

One more way of "enhancing" our membership.

It would allow you to get the DDP for part but not all, for the guests while there without having to pay for them when not and different dining plan types for different days even in the same unit. If it works, I see it as a major advantage to many. As a min, you could drop the first and/or last day as I read it.

 

[disneymath]

I am kind of excited this actually. For the planners out there, it offers some interesting options with mixing up the different plans for different parts of the trip. (It would definitely take managing, but totally doable.)

 

[Tinker74]

So I want a 6 night stay at BWV...I'll have 2 nights deluxe dining and 4 nights regular dining. I ask for the "split" when I call at 7 months but I will add the dining plans some months later as I now have to pay in full when I add it.

So can I add and pay for the deluxe at one time then call back months later and add and pay for the regular?

 

[erionm]

So I want a 6 night stay at BWV...I'll have 2 nights deluxe dining and 4 nights regular dining. I ask for the "split" when I call at 7 months but I will add the dining plans some months later as I now have to pay in full when I add it.

So can I add and pay for the deluxe at one time then call back months later and add and pay for the regular?

Based on every thing that DVC has announced, yes. You can add the dining plan to a room reservation up to 48 hours prior to your arrival date.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Based on every thing that DVC has announced, yes. You can add the dining plan to a room reservation up to 48 hours prior to your arrival date.

Unless you want to book CRT or something else that requires payment to book.

 

[Be1021]

and how will that work with the credits on the room key. Say book the quick service dining plan for 1 night and the regular dining plan forthe next night. There is one overlap day because there are 2 nights and 3 days. for the day in the middle will I need to specify at the counter service that I am using a credit from the quick service dining plan?

 

[Deb & Bill]

and how will that work with the credits on the room key. Say book the quick service dining plan for 1 night and the regular dining plan forthe next night. There is one overlap day because there are 2 nights and 3 days. for the day in the middle will I need to specify at the counter service that I am using a credit from the quick service dining plan?

And therein lies the rub. How are they going to separate the plans? Will you have to check out and check in again?

 

[dvcdisney]

and how will that work with the credits on the room key. Say book the quick service dining plan for 1 night and the regular dining plan forthe next night. There is one overlap day because there are 2 nights and 3 days. for the day in the middle will I need to specify at the counter service that I am using a credit from the quick service dining plan?

I don't think it would be too complicated to have a system that adds your credits on the effective date and it will expire after 11:59pm of the last day of the plan. Also, I would assume that the system would be set up so that the previous credits are to be used before the new ones added on that day. So you would not need to specify.

For instance, if you have 7 nights (Sat-Sat) and you want the first 3 nights under DxDP and the remainder at regular DDP. Then I would assume that on Sat at check in your 3 nights worth of DxDP credits will be deposited into your account. These credits will expire on Tuesday after 11:59pm. But at 4pm (or whatever time the policy states) the same day, your 4 nights worth of DDP credits will be deposited into your account and will expire after 11:59pm of the Sat you checked out.

I think it's a simple system. Hopefully my explanation is clear.

I do like the idea of this new "upgrade" since it allows more flexibility. I'm just concerned that it will cause problems with booking each day or sets of days separately and possibly causing certain days to become unavailable before the whole trip is booked. I would hope that it would be possible to book or hold onto the days until each set is booked separately.

 

[smacky1]

I would love it if worked out this way. We like using the DP's but its too much food over the course of the week. If I could use it for just a few days that would be great. I DONT want to "check out" and check back in again so if thats the only option, we just wouldnt bother.

 

[DebbieB]

One part I noticed:

Ideally members should request that their reservation be split into multiple accommodations at the time of booking even if the Dining Plan is not immediately added.* All accommodations can be booked a full 11 or 7 months in advance of arrival for a trip of 7 nights or less.

Existing reservations under a single accommodation can later be split into separate accommodations, but it is a complicated process and there is some risk of the inventory being lost.

So you better know up front which days you want which dining plan.

 

[brookelizabeth]

I think this is a great perk. There are some meals on property that are quite expensive, utilizing this gives us a small discount.

I do wish we could add the plan just for certain people in the room though. It would be an excellent value for my 3 year old and husband, but with me food goes to waste and I'm not a big dessert eater - and we don't like to do a sit down every single day. Generally, because we have a child, the cost does come out about even right now, DDP versus OOP since some meals he eats off our plates still, but, it will be nice to sprinkle the plan in throughout our trip to serve our dining needs.

The part about how the inventory might be lost has me a tad nervous! I look forward to the actual news release from Disney and what they have to say about that.

 

[tjkraz]

So I want a 6 night stay at BWV...I'll have 2 nights deluxe dining and 4 nights regular dining. I ask for the "split" when I call at 7 months but I will add the dining plans some months later as I now have to pay in full when I add it.

So can I add and pay for the deluxe at one time then call back months later and add and pay for the regular?

Yes to both questions. Ideally you want to set up these separate "accommodations" during the initial booking. Let the agent know that you will be adding a dining plan later. I'm sure they will all be familiar with this sort of booking pattern very quickly.

Then you can call as little as 48 hours out to pay for the dining plan.

and how will that work with the credits on the room key. Say book the quick service dining plan for 1 night and the regular dining plan forthe next night. There is one overlap day because there are 2 nights and 3 days. for the day in the middle will I need to specify at the counter service that I am using a credit from the quick service dining plan?

My understanding is that everything will be tied to one key. Computers should be able to handle it. I specifically asked if there would be any reason for a guest with multiple "accommodations" to check-in more than once or receive more than one set of keys. I was told that as long as both "accommodations" were for exactly the same type of villa (same resort, room size and view) guests would just have one set of keys/one check-in.

Overall I think these changes are a plus for members. I'm not a big fan of pre-paying for things when it isn't necessary but the vast majority of members can do it as little as 48 hours in advance. I know a lot of international members will be thrilled with the pre-payment because it allows them to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for their dining plans when exchange rates are most advantageous.

Only those who want to book ADRs at the deposit locations will have to pay sooner. I think the only locations which require a deposit are CRT and the dinner shows.

The other drawback is more hassle for those involved in rental transactions.

In return for folks in those two categories being inconvenienced, members get almost unlimited flexibility in terms of buying the various dining plans. That's a pretty decent trade-off, IMO. If you aren't renting points or dining at CRT, Hoop-De-Doo or the Poly Luau, this seems like a clear "win".

 

[Sandisw]

One part I noticed:



So you better know up front which days you want which dining plan.

Yes, that is going to be important for those times when it is very busy. I do like this, however, as it may allow us to do the DDP for just our first night and our last night. This way, we could get our two TS meals in and have them spread out as that was the part we didn't like with adding it to just part of the reservations.

We are already booked for next summer for 6 nights so I may decide as soon as this opens up to call and have them break my reservation into the segments and just hope I don't lose my SV BLT room.

 

[twooley2]

so could you technically do every other day deluxe plan for all members and the other days in between book the regular plan for a total of 7 days thus having a carry over each day?

 

[Sandisw]

so could you technically do every other day deluxe plan for all members and the other days in between book the regular plan for a total of 7 days thus having a carry over each day?

It sounds like you can as there have been nothing posted to suggest that you can't do it day by day.

Of course, until it actually gets up and running and the glitches are worked out, it will be interesting to see how things play out.

I know for us, if we can do it this way, we will go with the DDP for two of our 6 nights. If we can't, then we will forgo it next year and just pay OOP and possibly get the TIW card.

 

[jandbmom]

I was on the phone with memeber services yesterday regarding our split stay in April. We have a 1bdrm in BCV and a 2bdrm at AKV. The MS rep informed me that my DDP will be linked to both reservations. She said when we check out from BCV our credits will not expire until we check out of AKV and we will use the same key for both resorts. I am not sure how this is going to work Especially since the first part of our trip consists of my husband and 2 sons. Then when we move to the 2bdrm at AKV my parents check in with us. Does this information sound correct? I am not really sure how we will use the same key at 2 different resorts. I am also not sure why our credits on the DDP would not expire at 11:59 when we depart the BCV.

 

[mybabesuz]

So we can do the DxDP a drop a day in the middle and save $200?...
We would just have 3 less credits to use for the week.