Off-Property = No ADR True?

[catalexander]

Hi all!
We're planning our 2nd trip to WDW this year for Nov 26-Dec2. We were just there in Feb and stayed at AKL.. It was great, the kids (ages 7,6 and 18mo) had a GREAT time....
Anyway, for this trip, we're thinking about staying off-property (but not yet sure!). I wanted to be sure, if we are NOT staying on Disney property, we can NOT make ADR's in advance, correct?

Also, if we really wanted DDP, we would need to stay on property (obviously) at "rack rate"... i.e. we could not use any discounts available with our AP... the trip would basically have to be "packaged" (room, tickets, DDP) as one... is that correct?

We're going with 2 adults and our (now) 8, 7, 2 year olds plus a 3 month old!! this time....so, we won't be doing much TS dining (except maybe 1 character meal), and we generally just "grab 'n go" for bkfst, and my 2 oldest could easily "split" CS meals (we had LOTS of leftovers last time) so I'm thinking just because we'll need to be really flexible for our little ones, we wouldn't "use" DDP to it's full advantage, and won't be spending hours at TS dining....

Just can't decide! DDP or DDE! On-property or off! The only thing we know for sure is we want to see the Christmas decorations!!

thanks for reading my long post! Any advice?

TIA!

 

[Amyrlin]

You can make ADR's wherever you stay. The only difference is that you can only make them 180 days out from the date you want to eat, if you stay onsite you can call 180 days from your first day and then make them for up to another 10 days all at the same time.


You are correct about the DDP, you can only have that if you are staying onsite and have a package.

 

[catalexander]

Thanks for the quick response.... that's what I was thinking....

so, if we wanted a really "hard-to-get" ADR and are staying off-site, we're pretty much out of luck.

 

[Amyrlin]

Actully, with the new policy it has made a lot of the 'hard to get' ressies easier. CRT for example, does not appear to release all the tagbles ionto the system until the 180 day mark.

 

[calgarygary]

I believe that you only have to pay rack rate when getting the free dining plan. I may be wrong but I believe that if you have an AP that you could still purchase the dining plan but still must also purchase at least one day Magic My Way.

 

[Amyrlin]

Yes, that is right, you have to have the room at rack rate, and then each member fo the party have to have a MYW ticket, but it can be only a day.

We are uing the DDP during Sept when it is free, but we have AP's. We have ordered 1 day base tickets and will use them to upgrade to APs which are due for renewal just as we get there.

This is worthwhole as for this part of the holidya we are at a vlaue. The second part we will go to a delux, andnif AP rates come out the we are better using DDE an taking the AP discount.

 

[Allison]

so, if we wanted a really "hard-to-get" ADR and are staying off-site, we're pretty much out of luck.

No, not at all. You can make them at 180 days. You should be able to get most anything you would want if you do that.

 

[Aimeedyan]

You shouldn't have a problem missing any restaurants at 180 days, really.

 

[Hopefully]

I believe that you only have to pay rack rate when getting the free dining plan. I may be wrong but I believe that if you have an AP that you could still purchase the dining plan but still must also purchase at least one day Magic My Way.

Calgarygary, You must pay rack rate for your room whether the Dining Plan is free or not. No discounts are allowed on the room, every person in the party must be on the plan and have at least a one day MYW ticket and you must be on the package for the entire length of your stay.
The rules are the same, free or not.

 

[Tony Toon]

We have always stayed off site and have never had a problem getting any of our required ADRs. We also had the DDE card last year and that made such a difference.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Calgarygary, You must pay rack rate for your room whether the Dining Plan is free or not. No discounts are allowed on the room, every person in the party must be on the plan and have at least a one day MYW ticket and you must be on the package for the entire length of your stay.
The rules are the same, free or not.

You can get a AAA discount on the room with the dining plan. You have to book with AAA in order to get the discounted room rate.

IF an email discount code is released for the rooms (not AP rate), you can add dining to the discounted room.