Paying 2x for one person on DDP

[DMGeurts]

I didn't know how else to word the title of this thread.

This is NOT a "trying to get around the system thread" - please don't think that. I have a genuine concern that I have not seen addressed before, and I have no experience with the DDP, I just want to make sure that I am doing this the legal Disney way.

Please bear with me for a minute while I explain...

My BFF entered into a "competition" at her work - they are sending 10 people to WDW in Oct for the Disney training seminar that they do... She is narrowed down to a group of 21 right now, so she has a good chance of going on this trip.

Where do I fit in? Well, she wants to bring her 12 y/o dd and needs someone to "watch" her while she is in meetings for 3 days.

So, I need some help;
Cast:
BFF
BFF's dd
Me

BFF gets a free room for her stay while at the conference - we could stay with her for 4 nights (with us on her reservation, of course), and then pay for all our meals OOP and an extra 2 nights in another hotel (moderate). Total cost per person (not including airfare - but including everything else) is $588 per person.

Second scenerio...
BFF gets her free room to stay in while at the conference. We book another room at a moderate hotel for the entire week with free dining (BFF, BFF's dd, and I on the reservation). We are not cheating the system - I don't think - because technically we'd be paying for an extra person for the entire week. BFF still has to pay for her meals while she is down there - so then she could use her free dining meals while at the conference, but not eating with us - correct? Total cost per person, using this scenerio is $566 ($22 cheaper) and we don't have to worry about going over budget.

So, I guess, what I am wondering - Can BFF be on 2 different reservations and use the DDP with one of them?

Otherwise, maybe we can just add her to our reservations once she is done with the conference? Worst case scenerio - we'd do it this way and she would have to pay OOP for her meals while she is at the conference.

Obviously, I will be calling Disney to get a definate answer, but I was hoping to have some idea in my head of the outcome before I call.

Thank you for giving me a chance to explain, as I am not trying to cheat anyone, just making sure I am doing this right.

D~

 

[TDC Nala]

Does she need park tickets? You'd also have to buy her park tickets on the free dining room.

If she doesn't need park tickets, just stay in the free room for 4 nights and then go to another resort for a couple of days.

Make sure the rack rate at the moderate for the entire trip won't cost you more than staying in the free room for most of the trip and paying for dining. You might even be able to get a room-only discount for the last two nights.

 

[DMGeurts]

Does she need park tickets? You'd also have to buy her park tickets on the free dining room.

If she doesn't need park tickets, just stay in the free room for 4 nights and then go to another resort for a couple of days.

Make sure the rack rate at the moderate for the entire trip won't cost you more than staying in the free room for most of the trip and paying for dining. You might even be able to get a room-only discount for the last two nights.

She won't "need" the park ticket for the for 3 days she is there... But again - it is cheaper to to buy the free dining package (with hotel, ticket and ddp) than it is to take the 4 nights free and go to another resort.

The first scenerio was to:
Free room for 4 days
Pay for a Moderate room for 2 additional days
I qualify for the Military discount tickets being offered
Pay for food OOP
Total cost per person is $588

The second scenerio was to:
2 adults 1 child (adult age) book free dining package with tickets, room and ddp
Total cost per person is $566

Scenerio #2 ends up being the better value, even though in the end we pay twice for one person re: hotel and park tickets.

Does that make better sense? Sometimes trying to explain things is not my forté.

D~

 

[TDC Nala]

I can't believe free dining at rack rate is cheaper than a free room plus military tickets and military room discount. But I guess it is in this case.

Are you considering possibly a military room discount for the last two nights? I don't know if there is a 3 night minimum on that either.

But it does sound like you should go for the free dining.

As for her being registered in two different rooms I really can't answer that one. Make sure you, and not her, are the primary name on the free dining reservation. Buy tickets on the free dining room for as many days as your friend needs...then upgrade yours and the kid's when you get there. That way you are not paying twice for her park tickets.

 

[DMGeurts]

I can't believe free dining at rack rate is cheaper than a free room plus military tickets and military room discount. But I guess it is in this case.

Are you considering possibly a military room discount for the last two nights? I don't know if there is a 3 night minimum on that either.

But it does sound like you should go for the free dining.

As for her being registered in two different rooms I really can't answer that one. Make sure you, and not her, are the primary name on the free dining reservation. Buy tickets on the free dining room for as many days as your friend needs...then upgrade yours and the kid's when you get there. That way you are not paying twice for her park tickets.

Thank you for anwering so quickly.

I did look into the military room discount - but it looks like there are minimum stay requirements... I can ask Disney when I call exactly what those requirements are.

Thank you for the info on the tickets. So, we can just upgrade her dd's and my tickets when we get there to add days- or do we need to use them first?

D~

 

[TDC Nala]

I'm not sure. I have an annual so I've never done it. I know you can do it...but I am not sure if you can do it at the resort or you have to go to Guest Services at a park or DTD. They do have guest services located both inside and outside of all the parks.

 

[DMGeurts]

OK - thanks so much for all of your help.

D~

 

[Cafeen]

Thank you for anwering so quickly.

I did look into the military room discount - but it looks like there are minimum stay requirements... I can ask Disney when I call exactly what those requirements are.

Thank you for the info on the tickets. So, we can just upgrade her dd's and my tickets when we get there to add days- or do we need to use them first?

D~

For the bolded, if you book the trip before prices go up (and take the trip after), then it's best to use them first. Otherwise, since you're buying them straight from Disney, it doesn't matter.

 

[DMGeurts]

For the bolded, if you book the trip before prices go up (and take the trip after), then it's best to use them first. Otherwise, since you're buying them straight from Disney, it doesn't matter.

Thank you... Have prices gone up yet? Or do I have a deadline to book?

TIA

D~

 

[Cafeen]

Historically, they go up at the start of August, this year it was in June. So you should be good to go for awhile.

In the end, just keep track of prices, if they've gone up by the time you're there, use them, if not, don't .

 

[mwmom]

I am not quite sure why having her name on 2 reservations is a problem since it is possible to have 2 different people with the same name staying at Disney at the same time (like John Smith).

I don't know the answer to your question officially, but it appears to me that you are paying for her so it shouldn't be a problem and you are not cheating the system in any way.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

I am not quite sure why having her name on 2 reservations is a problem since it is possible to have 2 different people with the same name staying at Disney at the same time (like John Smith).

I don't know the answer to your question officially, but it appears to me that you are paying for her so it shouldn't be a problem and you are not cheating the system in any way.

I agree.

 

[DMGeurts]

I am not quite sure why having her name on 2 reservations is a problem since it is possible to have 2 different people with the same name staying at Disney at the same time (like John Smith).

I don't know the answer to your question officially, but it appears to me that you are paying for her so it shouldn't be a problem and you are not cheating the system in any way.

I agree.

This is what I was thinking - I just really wanted to double check - thanks for all the input As long as she's paid for the room/dining/tickets - we should be OK.

D~

 

[vinotinto]

It should not be a problem to have her listed on 2 reservations, as long as the "lead" (main) person on the reservation is different - BFF on hers and you on yours.

Having said that, the two options are very close in price and the DDP has restrictions. I would not get the DDP if I'm saving less than $100 since you give up flexibility on what to order (for example, having 1 counter service per day, which is not the favorite of many, getting an entree for dinner, instead of 1-2 apps, etc.). If you have done the DDP in the past and love it, then, yes, I would go with the free DDP option. If you have not done it, I would look into the plan restrictions before booking that option.

Edit to add: where is her conference? Will it be convenient for her to use her DDP credits there?

 

[DCDisney]

I totally agree with the PP the $20 savings is not worth the restrictions of using the ddp. Especially since the conference attendee may end up with some or all breakfast, lunch, and snacks included in the conference. For the 12 year olds they probably can't even eat 2 full adult meals the ddp provides. If you pay out of pocket you may find that sharing meals, desserts, etc works really nicely and sometimes if they want to order a kids meal you'll save even more.

 

[DMGeurts]

I totally agree with the PP the $20 savings is not worth the restrictions of using the ddp. Especially since the conference attendee may end up with some or all breakfast, lunch, and snacks included in the conference. For the 12 year olds they probably can't even eat 2 full adult meals the ddp provides. If you pay out of pocket you may find that sharing meals, desserts, etc works really nicely and sometimes if they want to order a kids meal you'll save even more.

She will be staying at the Beach Club... So, she would have options there.

OK - so another question... If she has meals included in her portion of the stay, and we decide to do free dining. Does that mean we will have extra meals as a group - and when she is with us - we could use the extra credits?

Maybe I am explaining this wrong... Say her meals are paid for while she is at the conference - so she will have 3 days worth of meals extra - when she joins up with us, can she use her credits to pay for our meals - or is this illegal? Not trying to get around any system... but I was under the understanding that all of the meals allocated to each person are on our cards, so theoretically, we could use any of the meals on our cards at any time? Obviously, I would not use them, if she wasn't with us. Does that make sense?

D~

 

[TDC Nala]

If your friend is on your reservation for free dining your room will include a full set of dining credits for a third adult. Whether she is with you or not, you can use those credits.

 

[nkereina]

Read through this thread fast but if I'm reading correctly, the cheaper package also includes dining while the already more expensive package has them paying OOP for meals. So factor in another 4-5 days of meals OOP on top of the already more expensive price. So, the price difference is actually going to be greater than $20. I personally would choose the free dining package.

 

[kinphilly]

Are you 100% sure he can't use the receipt from your moderate room and expense it at the same rate he would have paid for the conference hotel room?

 

[vinotinto]

She will be staying at the Beach Club... So, she would have options there.

OK - so another question... If she has meals included in her portion of the stay, and we decide to do free dining. Does that mean we will have extra meals as a group - and when she is with us - we could use the extra credits?

Maybe I am explaining this wrong... Say her meals are paid for while she is at the conference - so she will have 3 days worth of meals extra - when she joins up with us, can she use her credits to pay for our meals - or is this illegal? Not trying to get around any system... but I was under the understanding that all of the meals allocated to each person are on our cards, so theoretically, we could use any of the meals on our cards at any time? Obviously, I would not use them, if she wasn't with us. Does that make sense?

D~

My understanding is that the only thing you would have to make sure of doing is having all 3 of you check-in at your Free Dining resort. I just learned that by reading another thread that indicated that Disney had cut down on "phantom" guests by making sure everyone is in at check-in. So, yes, you would all have acces to each other's dining credits.

Read through this thread fast but if I'm reading correctly, the cheaper package also includes dining while the already more expensive package has them paying OOP for meals. So factor in another 4-5 days of meals OOP on top of the already more expensive price. So, the price difference is actually going to be greater than $20. I personally would choose the free dining package.

I understood that the $588 included the OOP meals budget, it just did not include airfare. But, you are right if the $588 did not include any budget for meals, then the FD is a no-brainer.