Late arriver with Dining Plan and Room

[molly213]

My son may join us for 4 nights of our 14 night stay. He won't arrive until the end of the first week. How will this work if we are all in one room and are using the dining plan? Will we have to get the dining plan, buy the 10 day park hopper and pay the extra $ for him in the room (he is 19) for the full 14 nights? Would he then receive the full 14 day credits on the dining plan? He would love to hit every 2 TS place for lunch and dinner. Will we have any problem checking in if he isn't there when we check in?

 

[jparc1212@verizon.co]

I have NO IDEA! I'd call Disney and I'm sure they can work something out for you. They are in the business of making dreams come true. (My dream - they offer free dining starting in August so I can afford to go this year!)

 

[bicker]

This is definitely a question that only Disney can answer. If they stick with what their published rules are, then you'd have to pay for his Dining Plan for the entire duration of your reservation.

 

[Mobed]

Well, you have to be on the same "package" for the DDP, but you could all buy the single day tickets (or whatever max your ds needs) and then upgrade the rest after you get there.

You probably need to pay for his full 14 days of DDP, though, which, if you could swing it, might be fun! You could use some of "his" credits before he gets there, leaving enough for all of you to still dine together at some nice places. Add in some extra cs and ts meals for breakfast to use them up.

The only thing that isn't clear is the extra charge for the adult. Not sure if they will charge you for all 14 days or only for the 4 he is there. ????

If $$ is an issue, I would do a split stay. Do two separate reservations, adding him to the 2nd half. Then you wouldn't have to pay for all 14 days of DDP for him, but your tickets might be trickier. Put together a spreadsheet to figure it out..... or is he coming only in the middle???

 

[beroh2253]

Last year we had the dining plan for a week in late Sept., DW and myself. My sister-in –law and brother –in –law live in Daytona and called in with our reservation number and added (2) additional people to our table, one night at Kona and one at Le Cellar with no problem. They played $ for their meals and we used dining plan for ours with now problem. Maybe you can just pay $ for the 4 days your son is along.





Dad Mom Bobby Kim

1995 Port Orleans
1996 Dixie Landings
1997 Caribbean Beach
1998 Dixie Landings
1999 Dixie Landings
2000 Dixie Landings
2001 Animal Kingdom Lodge
2003 Dixie Landings
2006 All Stars Music
2007 Maybe Pop

 

[molly213]

Thanks for all the info. I'll give Disney a call to get the "official" word.

He is coming during the middle of the trip. We are also hoping that free dining will be announced for our visit dates so we may not have to pay for the dining plan for him. We can't do a split visit if they do do free dining since the second half of our trip will be into October and we also hope to buy a 10 day hopper instead of 2 shorter tickets.

 

[Stellargirl]

Was wondering if you called? I'm in the same situation. My sister will be flying in two days later, and we don't know if we have to pay for her? And what about the extra person fee for those two nights she isn't there? Hmmmmm???

 

[lynr]

Last year my son and his girlfriend joined us for 3 nights of our 10 night stay. We did not have to pay for the dining plan (we just paid for their meals out of pocket) but we did have to pay the extra per night per person for the two extra adults in the room for the 3 nights they were there.

Lyn

 

[TravelinGal]

I asked this same question yesterday when I called WDTC.

If I arrive a week before DH for a total 2 week vacation, he would still have to be on the plan from day 1. We would have the full credits, which would give us a bunch of extra meals so we could do more TS as a family.

BUT --- If they DO offer free dining, they are quite strict about everyone being present to check in. (no making up a person to get extra free meals, I guess)

So, in our case, if we did get free dining, we could all arrive on the start date, DH could stay for 1 week and leave - and we'd still have extra meal credits for DS and me to use the following week. But DS and I could not check in without him.

 

[disney1990]

We did free dining last year and "everybody" was definitely not there for check-in. I checked everybody in -- DH, DD (21) and DD's friend (21). There would be no way that everybody could be there for check-in, we arrived several hours before my DD and DD's friend arrived.

 

[TravelinGal]

It's all about Disney policy. The policy does require everyone to be present at check in and it is enforced during free dining. It's also like any other policy at Disney. Some CM will ignore it and others will follow it to the letter - sometimes appearing rude for following the rules.

If it's during free dining, I'd be quite hesitant to risk it.

 

[bicker]

We did free dining last year and "everybody" was definitely not there for check-in. I checked everybody in -- DH, DD (21) and DD's friend (21). There would be no way that everybody could be there for check-in, we arrived several hours before my DD and DD's friend arrived.

They were far more stringent with parties that had children 3 - 9 years old. Even that may not happen this year, since it will no longer be possible for unscrupulous guests to use the extra credits for adult meals, as was the case in past years.