How do I book DME?

[drinkme]

I'm going to be at WDW for a week with a friend. My teens are going to fly down for the weekend I'm there. How do I book their DME trip? We'll be staying at Port Orleans.

 

[goofy4tink]

Are you doing a room only reservation? If so, you can add them at any time. But, if it's any kind of package, then you have to wait until just before they arrive. You can go to the front desk (lobby) and make their DME reservations a day or so before they are due to arrive.

 

[drinkme]

Are you doing a room only reservation? If so, you can add them at any time. But, if it's any kind of package, then you have to wait until just before they arrive. You can go to the front desk (lobby) and make their DME reservations a day or so before they are due to arrive.

I'm on a dining package with the kids from Thursday through Sunday. They are flying in Friday night after school and leaving Sunday night. Then I booked a room only for myself Sunday through Tuesday.

So it seems like when I go to check into my resort on Thursday, I need to tell the checkin person to get my kids their DME reservation? Is this something that you think the checkin desk does regularly?

 

[goofy4tink]

So you're there for just the one night before they arrive? And they are already booked for the ddp? If that's the case, you can add them to dme at any time. You can call and have them added now.
The reason for doing it the day before they arrive would be if you were doing ddp, but the kids aren't. If you reserve DME for them, the day before arrival, they wouldn't have to be on the pkg with you. But since they are already on the pkg reservation, they can get dme added at any time.

 

[drinkme]

If the kids are not on the dining package with me, I could still have the DME pick them up? I didn't know that. I thought everyone had to be on the same package. If I could just have myself on the package for the week and the kids just come up for the weekend & then I would get them their own tickets that would be easier.

 

[goofy4tink]

It's confusing, isn't it? Many people have guests arriving later than check in day...so don't want them to have to pay for a package that they aren't going to use. SO....they leave those late arriving guests off the reservation. Then, the day before they are due to arrive, the guest can go to the lobby, to the front desk, and have them added to the reservation, and get them on DME.
My thing would be if it's even worth it to change the reservation....the kids are only going to have Thursday that they aren't using the ddp....what would the savings be if you took them off the reservation? And you have a room only for the days the kids aren't there, right? After they leave.
I don't know...I would be very tempted to just do a room only for the entire time, and then pay oop for dining. I seldom to the ddp anymore...it just doesn't save me money. But, others like the convenience of having it....it's all paid for so no worries about what you're spending.
I would use Undercover Tourist to get a small discount on tickets, pay for dining oop, and get just a room, maybe with a discount of some kind. But, that's just me, and that wasn't your question!!!! Sorry.

 

[drinkme]

Yes. This is very confusing. The trip isn't until December so I have time to figure out what I'm going to do.

I still am not clear on something. If I had a dining package booked for the entire trip just for me, and I ended up buying my kids' park tickets through UT, can I still get them a ride on the DME? Both ways? If I add them to the reservation once I get to WDW won't I have to get them added to the dining plan too?

UGH. And I don't even want to start looking at the FP+ info. It wasn't around on my last trip and I know NOTHING about it.

 

[goofy4tink]

Yes. This is very confusing. The trip isn't until December so I have time to figure out what I'm going to do.

I still am not clear on something. If I had a dining package booked for the entire trip just for me, and I ended up buying my kids' park tickets through UT, can I still get them a ride on the DME? Both ways? If I add them to the reservation once I get to WDW won't I have to get them added to the dining plan too?

UGH. And I don't even want to start looking at the FP+ info. It wasn't around on my last trip and I know NOTHING about it.

From what I understand, yes, they have to be on the reservation. BUT...if you add them to the reservation, the day before they are to arrive, they don't have to be on the same pkg as you. Many people discuss this over on the resort board. They have family/friends that are arriving for just a few days, so don't want the whole pkg deal. I would go over to the Resort board and ask them...just to be sure nothing has changed.
The only thing with booking them the day before they are to arrive is that they won't get the yellow luggage tags, and will have to get their own bags, but that's not a huge deal. And yes, you can book the round trip DME at the same time.