Somewhat Complicated Question Re: Dining Plan

[Beatl61947]

Hey all,

I've been lurking for the past few months and have gotten most of my questions answered, but we have a unique situation and would like some advice.

We are taking my son to WDW for his 5th birthday. We are staying 7 night at Kidani; rented points for a 2 bedroom villa. It was originally going to be my wife and I, my son, and my parents. My mom is in treatment for cancer and wanted to accompany us on this trip to have some special memories. Unfortunately, she and my dad will not be able to go due to some unforeseen circumstances and an immediate surgery being planned during our trip.

We did purchase trip insurance, but not enough to make it worthwhile to cancel the entire trip. At the request of my folks, we have decided to make the best of it and have just the three of us enjoy the vacation. So, long setup, but here are the questions I have;

We purchased the dining plan for all 5 of us, which is non-refundable. Since only my Magicband gets scanned at each meal and the total number of credits comes off for our entire party, could we use my parents credits to have an extra CS and TS meal each day for use by the three of us? (We were originally planning to eat in the room each day for one meal, but I don't want the extra credits to go to waste)

We already have reservations for 5 for each night. I looked online but the only option is to cancel a reservation, not adjust the number in your party. Will I get hassled for showing up and saying we only have 3 in our party each night? I don't want to cancel reservations that were made 180 days out and risk not getting a new time for the correct number in our party.

I made reservations at several restaurants that required credit card or in the case of Cinderella's Royal Table, a pre-paid charge of $300+. If we show up with only 3 in our party, will we have to pay the $10 fee for cancellation charges?

We're not trying to scam the system by using my parents credits, just trying to make the best of a bad situation. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Mike

 

[wdw4rfam]

Yes, you paid for the dining use the credits. There's no limit per day on how many you can use, use them as you wish until they are gone. We drive to universal a few days so there are days we end up doing 2 Ts because we didn't use them the days we weren't there. No you don't have to cancel reservations. When you check in just tell them there is only going to be 3. My parents cancelled and we did that for our 10 days of reservations with no problems and no cancel fees.

 

[ses1230]

As long as the ADR is honored by some in the party, you will not be charged for those that don't show. For your prepaid ADR at CRT, I am not sure what happens if the whole group does not show. Hopefully someone else knows for sure.

You can use your parents credits for extra meals. The credits are not assigned to a person, they are pooled.

Best wishes to your family.

 

[purple figment]

The dining credits are assigned to the room for anyone in the room to use so it is absolutely okay for you to use your parents' credits.

For the reservations with the credit card guarantee, as long as at least one person shows up for the reservation, you won't be charged for the missing guests. Just let the CM at the podium know there will be 3 of you when check in.

For CRT I would call the dining reservation line and explain to the CM that you want to modify the number of guests. The easiest way for a CM to refund the money is cancel the reservation and refund your credit card. You do NOT want the CM to do this because in the brief time between cancelling and re-booking someone else might be online and take your reservation. Then you will be without a res. If the CM wants to cancel the res, ask for a supervisor or hang up and call again.

Sending good thoughts to your family.