Question about 2008 dining plan

[FeeleyFans]

We are a family of 3 adults, 1 child and 1 infant. What if we only listed 2 adults and 1 child on the room and got the deluxe plan. Is there any reason why we couldn't use all of our credits for the 3 people instead of 2?

 

[Lisa_M]

I don't really know what you mean. You wouldn't be paying for the baby. I think 2 or 3 is the cutoff. So you would be paying for 2 adults and 1 child and have credits comparable for those categories .

 

[solferino]

Because everyone in the room has to be on the same package (at least historically) and everyone will need their own KTTK roomcard (with exception to the infant).

So each adult 3 and the 1 child will need tickets. The infant isn't "counted" until 3yo.

 

[FeeleyFans]

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I have 3 adults, my husband, myself and my son. If I didn't list my son on the room because he doesn't need his own key and has an annual pass then coudln't I share the credits for 2 people between 3?

 

[Lisa_M]

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I have 3 adults, my husband, myself and my son. If I didn't list my son on the room because he doesn't need his own key and has an annual pass then coudln't I share the credits for 2 people between 3?

well, I completely misread your original post. My eyes must be a little glazed today. Anyway, I'm not sure if you can or not. It's not really the honest thing to do and I don't know if it will work or not. I'm sure you will get alot of strong opinions about this topic, it has come up before.

 

[kandmwedding]

It's not really the honest thing to do and I don't know if it will work or not. I'm sure you will get alot of strong opinions about this topic, it has come up before.

I'll be the first to give my strong opinion... it's lying to register only 2 adults when you'll really have 3 in the room. Regardless of what ticket the 3rd adult has they need to be registered if they are going to stay in the room. I certainly wouldn't want my children to learn that lying is ok when it saves you money, so if it was me I wouldn't do it. You can make your own decision.

ETA: And I believe the new plan will only allow you to use as many TS credits as you have people on the plan, so I don't believe your plan would work anyway.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

I don't think you can use more TS credits for your party per meal than you have people on the dining plan. I think you would be required to pay out of pocket for the extra person. You also would not have a KTTW card for your son to use for extra magic hours, so he would not be able to go if you had planned on utilizing early or late hours (even with an AP).

If your son already has an AP, you would need to buy him a ticket to use the dining plan (at least one day). You could probably purchase one day tickets for everyone and upgrade all but his, saving his to apply to another AP in the future. Everyone in the room has to purchase the same ticket, but you could upgrade everyone else when you get there and save his.

If the Deluxe plan at 69.99 per day per adult leaves you enough credits to share, why don't you buy the basic plan for everyone for $38 each? For most people, the dining plan has been a good value in the past - it may not be for your family given that your son has an AP and you would be required to purchase the DDP and tickets for him if you purchase DDP for the rest of the people in your room.

 

[nicolbw]

I would say it's unethical and wrong. I wouldn't see that as an option.

Karma may come back around.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

Let's not read into the OP's motives. She asked a legitimate question...one which is no different than asking if you can just buy additional days on a ticket and use them to hop instead of buying the hopper option. Please leave the moral judgements out and reply to the question.

 

[mtblujeans]

We always seem to eat much more when we are on vacation at WDW than we ever normally do....all the walking I guess. Are you sure your DS won't be able to eat 2 or 3 times what he normally would at home? I am joking, of course, but you don't want to be caught too short in the food department when you vacation in Florida. Have you tried the dining program before? Perhaps you should try the "regular" program and see how that fits with your family's needs? As far as experimenting goes, that might be a good start. It is so hard to know what is best when you and your family only get down there once every other year or so.

 

[FeeleyFans]

Not trying to be unethical. If the plan covers 3 TS or CS meals a day that's all I would expect to use. I really don't think it's stealing. We have used the dining plan before an we were very happy with it. I would prefer to have 2 TS per day as opposed to 1 TS and 1 CS or 3 TS/CS. It would make more sense for my family because we like to do 2 TS per day most days we are at Disney.

It wasn't my intention to get people excited. Thanks for all your input.

 

[kaw1218]

It won't let you use more than the amount of credits per meal that you have on your KTTK card.

Last year we had a group of 8 in 2 rooms. My mom came to dinner with us one night. We had extra credits on our room, so we told them to use all the credits on ours. They would only allow 2 adult credits and the 2 child credits.
So she used the credit on her room. For us it wasn't a big deal since we HAD everyone listed between the 2 rooms.
I would hate to see you find out at last minute that it couldn't be done. Those meals can be expensive if you have to start paying for them out of pocket if you weren't planning on it.

 

[Frantasmic]

Let's not read into the OP's motives. She asked a legitimate question...one which is no different than asking if you can just buy additional days on a ticket and use them to hop instead of buying the hopper option. Please leave the moral judgements out and reply to the question.

I suppose you mean that when one asks a legitimate question without knowing that it is not allowed, the group should just state: "It's not allowed," like the park-hopper scenario above.

So, to answer OP's original question. Sharing of the Disney Dining Plan's credits with other's not on the Disney Dining plan is not allowed per the brochure that comes with the dining plan.

The plan is purchased as part of a room package and it is based on prices per person per room. Since the scenario described would not meet the package requirements, it is not allowed.

 

[nicolbw]

I'm not trying to be mean or anything. This is the way I see it. You want to purposfully not tell the hotel about your son so that you won't have to purchase the dining package for him. To me that is lying. (It would be like saying your 3 year old is 2 so you don't have to buy a park ticket.) Plus you are wanting to use the dining plan you purchase for 2 people for 3 people. Sharing your credits is not allowed. So again it's wrong to do.

I concider these things wrong to do because they are against policy. That is why I answered the way I did. I wasn't trying to be all mean about it and am certainly not getting upset about it.

 

[nicolbw]

I also want to add, that if the dining plan doesn't work for your family, then concider other options. You don't have to purchase it to be able to sit down to eat at any restaurant.

I hope you are able to find something that works for you and your family.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

Let's not read into the OP's motives. She asked a legitimate question...one which is no different than asking if you can just buy additional days on a ticket and use them to hop instead of buying the hopper option. Please leave the moral judgements out and reply to the question.

Sorry! Not listing a third adult on the reservation to avoid buying tickets required under the dining plan seemed an attempt to skirt the rules. Just trying to point out the reasons behind it being against policy.

 

[Kellydelly]

So the deal is that you can't just order the dining plan for half of your party, if one person has it everyone has to have it, no matter if you definately could feed 5 people on two or three plans? You aren't allowed to share meals? I didn't realize it was an all or nothing thing. I could see why someone would want to purchase enough food plans to cover their party, not necessarily enough food for everyone to gorge on and waste.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

So the deal is that you can't just order the dining plan for half of your party, if one person has it everyone has to have it, no matter if you definately could feed 5 people on two or three plans? You aren't allowed to share meals? I didn't realize it was an all or nothing thing. I could see why someone would want to purchase enough food plans to cover their party, not necessarily enough food for everyone to gorge on and waste.

Everyone in the room has to be on the same package - tickets, DDP or no DDP. I think you can buy everyone one day tickets and upgrade each individually after you arrive. If you wanted to do DDP for only part of your party, you would need two rooms to allow for different packages.

The alternative is just to pay out of pocket and forgo the dining plan entirely. If it is not a good deal to get the DDP under the rules of the program (e.g. each person has to have the DDP, 10 year olds pay the adult price, etc.), then don't get it. The OP would be spending $160 per day plus tip (69.99 for each adult - not including the son they were not going to mention, 19.99 for the child) for the deluxe plan to share credits if that was allowed. They can get a lot of food for that much money for their family - they don't have to get the dining plan for that. If the OP doesn't want to spend an additional $70 for their son because he won't each $70 worth of food, the DDP is probably not right for them.

The basic plan (1 TS meal, 1 CS meal and one snack per day) is still a lot of food and we had credits left over the one time we used it (and one DD was under 3 and wasn't even on the plan!). I can't even imagine eating three TS each day for the Deluxe plan!