We are going in February for our second trip to Disney. The first time we had a barely two year old and 6 and we primarily did character meals. We got free dining again this trip, but we wanted to do some different types of meals. So we are planning on HDDR. When I tried to get an ADR last night they wanted an upfront payment. Is HDDR not on the dining plan? I thought it was two credits. So confused about how that works.
When you go online to make reservations, there's a place where you click that says, "I want to use my dining plan to book reservations." http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/reservations/dining/hoop-de-doo-musical-revue/
If I remember correctly, when we had DDP and booked SoA, we were asked for a credit card as a security deposit. They never actually charged anything to our card, they just verified that it was a valid credit card. The shows are popular and seating is limited, so I think the idea is "If you show up - no problem, we deduct from your DDP. But, if you are a no-call/no-show we can still get our money." You should be fine.
The online system doesn't always recognize the dining plan on the reservation. I suggest calling the dine line.
