Free Dining Check In Question

[Praise2Him]

I know in the past that everyone on the reservation had to be present at check in, so here's my question.

We have a party of 7, with 2 rooms. Me, DH & DD (1 room) & DS & DDIL (2nd room) are all arriving on Wednesday, but DDIL's parents aren't arriving until Thursday.

Can they book the room for just the 2 of them the 1st night and then add her parents the rest of the nights?

OR, wait and add her parents on Thursday when they arrive? (will they still be able to get free dining?)

If not, what are their options? Thanks!

 

[dclfun]

The reservation must include everyone in the party ( as long as it's one room) even if someone is arriving later, in order to take advantage of the free dining promo ( or any other promo). You can't add someone in the midst of your stay even if it's only a day later however if they have a separate reservation then it can start the following day and include their dining too- you'd just join up with each other when everyone arrives. ---Kathy

 

[maciemouse]

We did free dining the last two years. At check in, everyone in our party had to be present to get our room and tickets. We have always gone the first week in September. I don't know how strict they are with the rules. I can say we stayed at POP the first year and Poly the second. They checked to make sure all the members of our party were present at check in. Just wanted to let you know. Ask the CM when you make the reservation. They should be able to let you know.

 

[safetymom]

Disney has the right to insist that everyone be there at check in for the free dining. Some have reported that the people who weren't there needed to check in at the desk to receive their room key and dining credits.

 

[tink fan]

I tried to find out the answer to this last year. The best I was able to find out was that first everyone needs to have the same itinery on the reservation (staying the same days, have the same park tickets). If you check in and someone is not present they could (not will, but could) modify your reservation. From what I was able to find out was those people who are not there yet wouldn't get their key to the world (and their dining credits assigned) until they arrived. But this was from a reservation CM - as far as I could find out there wasn't an actual policy and I imagine it could vary by resort and CM.

Here is what happened to us. My children and I checked in on a Saturday morning at POP on the last day of dining 2007. My husband did not arrive until Wednesday. I was not asked if everyone in our party was there and was given everyone's keys. I was also the lead person on the reservation, I'm not sure if that made a difference.

The main reason I was worried was that his arrival was after the last check in date on free dining. If it was still during the check in window, I wouldn't have been concerned. From what I understand, Disney asks for everyone to be present so there are no "fake" guests. I would bring a copy of their airline itinery so they know that the rest of the party is actually arriving.

 

[hunter1211]

Since I have never been during free dining (and haven't actually been in 12 years), I never knew about this policy.

So, if I make reservations for 2 rooms and IF we get free dining, then will all 9 people in my party need to be there when we check in? Room 1 will have dh, me, and dd(9), dd(7) and dd(2), then Room 2 will have dfil, dmil and dd(6), and dd(4). We (dh, me and our girls) are driving down Saturday and will stay at a value for 1 night without free dining. Sunday we are going to meet some other family members (that live in orlando area) at Universal. Then Sunday afternoon (around 2 or 3pm) we will switch and check into our free dining resort for the week. We are not sure what time my dfil and dmil are flying down yet, but what if they do not get in until later that evening? I know we won't get room keys or tickets for the 2 staying in their room, but can me and dh and the 3 girls in our room check in before inlaws show up?