Just back - latest on the dining plan

[Dale-Not-Chip]

That's not right. According to the plan they Diseny resturants are not supposed to impose limits. I did not eat ther when we were last there. but we found no limitations at any of the resturants we ate at.

 

[disneymom727]

That's not right. According to the plan they Diseny resturants are not supposed to impose limits. I did not eat ther when we were last there. but we found no limitations at any of the resturants we ate at.

I was told when making our reservations for Coral Reef that the only exclusion, while on the dining plan, was lobster. That may be an across the board rule now since lobster tends to be a bit more expensive.

 

[DisneycrazedX6]

Thanks for all the great reply's. SOOOOOOOOOOOOO......The waiter does not distinguish if you are using an adult credit or a child credit. Could I then pay out of pocket for my kids meal and save their credits for more expensive meals like buffets? If my card says 2 adults, could I redeem more if I have others joining us that are not on the plan? This seems awfully confusing! Thanks for the help!!!

 

[Dale-Not-Chip]

shhhhhh - if you figure that out don't mention it. we are now about to get into a 4 pages worth of right and wrong posts.



I can see that on the lobster. I wonder if it's only +dining and not Premium that has that restriction?

 

[biggroofy]

Thanks (especially to Disneymomx7 and beth_cam). Yes, I was told that for my 2-year-old kid, we can feed her at all-u-can-eat buffets, or have her to share our plate at menu order. I guess we will pay out of our pocket at Chef Les France (Ecpot) to order something from child menu.

A question on disney plan coupons. I heard it is the same as your room key? As our booking number is for 2 rooms (my parents in 1 room, my wife+daughter+myself in another room), will the dining plan be combined? Each each room will have dining plan for 2A?

Another question - when you go the restaurant, did you give your last name, booking number (given by the 407-W-DINE staff), or any information to retrieve your reservation?

 

[Pedler]

Your Meal coupons are actually in the Disney Reservation System. Your Key to the world cards access these coupons. Therefore every card you have will be able to acess the coupons. If you went into the resturant with 10 credits left. 5 min before you ring out your evil friend buys himself and 9 strangers Dinners you would be paying cash. I do not know if you can take away access to the meal plan from others, I didn't ask. Every receipt will have how many credits used and how many are left. So if you forget your next receipt will remind you. And it will unless changed in the future total credits and will not seperate child and adult.

That is the best explination of how the credits are handled that I have heard yet! I think most people don't get that the credits are not on the card itself. The card is just a means to access to pooled credits on the central computer.

 

[beth_cam]

We just gave our name at the restraunts. The number is just proof...which we did have to pull out at one point and find out they had misspelled my name on the reservation. And they will (especially for credit card reserved or precharged) get your first and last name. They then expect the person named to check in with the credit card used to book. Not the spouse or another member of the party. We had trouble with this once since I forgot about it (our first meal). We had put everything on the Disney card then put it aside and started using a 5%cash back card. We couldnt do anything else at that time with disney's one percent. Anyway I almost forgot and left the cards at home. I dont know what would have happened If I had. But they told me repeatedly I must check in with the exact same card. I'm not sure I remember if they ever checked the card but that one time my hubbie went to check in and they told him no reservation. then I went to find out what was going on and they said They had me down so I had to check in. Whatever. We got in. Just remember who is supposed to check in and with what card.

I dont know about pooling credits from both rooms. I would think each room would have their own. but then sometimes the second room is all children so I just dont know. Are the two rooms in different names/reservations? If they are I think that would force it to be seperate.

 

[Dale-Not-Chip]

I dont know about pooling credits from both rooms. I would think each room would have their own. but then sometimes the second room is all children so I just dont know. Are the two rooms in different names/reservations? If they are I think that would force it to be seperate.
__________________

If all the same reservation it will be one big pool. Dive in and have Pun.




Sorry

 

[Hollyster2]

So, when a family of 5 order meals...it is ok to say to the server"We want to pay for 4 meals with our dining plan, and pay cash for one kid meal"? They then bring you a ticket listing the one kid's meal and any alcohol you may have ordered only?

 

[Hollyster2]

I already have reservations for Cinderella's Royal Table. they said they were charging my card right way. NOW if I add the dining plan, can I call them back and inform them that I now have the dining plan and still use the credits? Do they subtract the dining credits ahead of time also?

 

[beth_cam]

no they dont subtract the credits ahead. I booked it when I didnt have a ressie yet and told them I would be on the dining plan and they just noted that but still took my cc number for no show. When we were talking about it I got the idea that they charge your card and you change to dining plan that they would credit back your card as soon as you let them know.

 

[puddleduck]

So, when a family of 5 order meals...it is ok to say to the server"We want to pay for 4 meals with our dining plan, and pay cash for one kid meal"? They then bring you a ticket listing the one kid's meal and any alcohol you may have ordered only?

Yep. When we went in Dec., I would tell the server when we sat down that we were on the dining plan, please use 2 credits to pay for the 2 adults and I will be charging the kids meal to our room. Never had a problem. As long as we weren't ordering more than 2 adult meals at a time they didn't care. Sometimes my dh and I would share an adult meal and order an adult meal for our kids to share. It wasn't a problem.

 

[redman group]

I just wanted to mention that there is ALSO a gratuity added to table service meals not on the dining plan. My hubby noticed that right away, checked with our server and confirmed. We used the DP for ourselves and ds12, and paid oop for ds7 at every table service. The wine/beer was on the bill with ds's meal and the 18% gratuity is clearly marked on the bill as well. I don't imagine the servers care to point that out to people but its true. of couse if you had amazing service and want to tip beyond 18% that's entirely up to you.
We loved Boma's and Le Cellier.
The lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express (in the marketplace at Downtown Disney) was excellent too.(counter service)
I got alot of good advice about meals on this board. It really helped when choosing places in a hurry.
thanks everyone!

 

[Dale-Not-Chip]

I already have reservations for Cinderella's Royal Table. they said they were charging my card right way. NOW if I add the dining plan, can I call them back and inform them that I now have the dining plan and still use the credits? Do they subtract the dining credits ahead of time also?

CRT was not a downpayment place when I went, and I was on premium. but when i went to Prepay places they took my Credit Card number but did not charge it. Just held it in case I was a no show.

We really need a person who has the Dining plan before they reserved the CRT. and find out if they charged off the card or just held the number.

 

[beth_cam]

I even checked my credit card last night to be sure. I booked and told them I'd be on the dining plan although I had no room reservation yet. I cant even remember at this point if they asked for my cc. Anyway After reading this thread last night, I checked my cc and no charges had been made. I was thinking that I had given her my card as a guarentee (you know so they can charge for no shows) but I'm just not sure I did. She definitely did tell me I WOULD NOT BE CHARGED AHEAD if I was going to be on the Dining Plan. We kind of went around and around about it discussing cancellation policy, the new pay ahead policy etc, till we settled on the fact that I would be on Dining plan and did not have to pay ahead.

 

[Hibernians]

We've got a trip booked in Oct, my wife, 4 kids and the 2 IL.; so thats a total of 8 people, 4 adults and 4 kids. If we go with the Dining Plan can we split up the group and will we still be able to use the plan ?
For example, if the in laws want to have a quiet meal away from the kids, can they have access to the DP cards/coupons (whatever they are) or do we as a group get only one card/coupon that must be used together ?

 

[magnetgirl]

Hello,
My husband and I are leaving for WDW in 2 days and reading alot of older stuff about the DP. Do you know if we can order just one meal , using one credit, and share it between us? Even if we go to a nicer table service restaurant? Just asking because I hate to waste food. Thanks for your help.

 

[tinagirl]

To answer two questions
1.) All dining credits are attached to all room keys. If you go with a large group and separate for meals, it is no issue. As long as they have a room key with dining associated, they will not even be asked for ID. It is incredibly easy. This was very handy when the dear bf wanted one thing and I wanted something else. We would go grab different counter service or snacks and then come back to eat together. Also, all cards have access to ALL credits. This was good after I finished the half marathon and was really pooped, as he was able to go down to the food court and buy lunch for both of us and bring it on up to the room.
2.) You CAN share credits, but some places will give you a hassle about it. It is easiest to share at counter service. We had intended to share, but all the food was just so good that we just elected to eat smaller portioned food (i.e. we would both get the filet of beef, as opposed to sharing a giant 15 ounce steak). We knew after the first day that if we shared credits we would have tons left over.

 

[DisneycrazedX6]

Just some information:

I called DVC the other day since we will be allowed the plan starting in April. She told me that each person in the party will be getting their own card with their own credits on it, no pooled credits. I'm not sure if this is correst but that is what I was told!

 

[Hibernians]

thanks tinagirl. I know the inlaws will be happy to know they can "escape" to a quiet meal.