question about dining plan

[grumpy&princess]

Ok we are looking to stay on site at one of the value resorts. I want to get the dining plan but we were gifted tickets. So if I get the room with one day tickets how many days of the dining plan would we get? I have never stayed onsite and wanted to stay onsite to do the dining plan but not sure how it would work since we already have tickets.

 

[purple figment]

The dining plan is based on the number of NIGHTs you are staying and it has to be for the length of stay. For the paid dining plan you would have to purchase one day tickets for everyone in the room 3 years old and up; for free dining it would be 2 day tickets.

If you have an Annual Pass or qualify for a military rate you could do a ticketless package. If you are DVC staying on points you could add the dining plan without tickets. If you fit any of these categories you could add the dining plan and use the tickets that you were given. Otherwise you'll have to purchase tickets, but you could save the tickets and as long as they are unused they could be used on a future trip.

 

[grumpy&princess]

thanks. I know that when we go they will not have free dining. wish we could pull the kids out of school to go another time other than summer. We can only go between early june to the end of august.
So we could buy 1 ticket for each of us and have the dining plan for the whole time we are there then right?

 

[sharonabe]

You're going to want to do the math on this one. If you figure in the cost of a ticket (which you don't need, but could use on a future trip), and the cost of the plan, you may find you would be better paying OOP. If there is a room discount offer when you go, you'll need to figure that in to the cost as well.

 

[grumpy&princess]

we could actually use the extra ticket for an extra day. we have 5 day passes and would love to go more than just the 5 days so buying an extra ticket wouldnt be so bad.

 

[Cafeen]

we could actually use the extra ticket for an extra day. we have 5 day passes and would love to go more than just the 5 days so buying an extra ticket wouldnt be so bad.

It would be much (MUCH) cheaper just to upgrade the 5 day tickets to 6 days and then save the new tickets for a future trip. (Well, in the long run). Adding a day between 5 and 6 costs about $10 plus tax (6.5%) per ticket, whereas the new ticket's value is ~$95.

If not used, tickets do not expire, so you can just hold on to them as long as you need, and eventually save the price of a 1 day ticket when you aren't booking a package.

But than again, all of this depends on the types of gifted tickets. If they are special tickets (YES, Comp, etc), they may not be upgradable and all that I just typed is moot . If they are normal Make Your Way (MYW) tickets, then it should apply.

 

[havoc315]

People will often buy an unnecessary ticket to qualify for free dining. But to buy a ticket, just to get the privilege of buying a dinng plan?

The basic ddp is about $52 per person, per night. At best, you may get $55-$60 of value, per night.
If you had to buy an extra ticket per person, then you are upping your nightly ddp cost to (assuming 5 nights) to around $70 per night.
Why pay $70 to get $60 worth of food?
You can get the exact same food and beverages, for less money.

Even if you are going to use the 6th day ticket -- you can upgrade a 5 day ticket to 6 days for around $11 per person. Much much cheaper than buying a separate 1 day ticket.

If you were primarily interested in the benefit of prepaid meals, think about just charging up a Disney gift card.