splitting the check w/ DDP for pre-paid reservations

[KathyK]

OK, this is really complex. We are traveling in July with my entire family in 2 DVC villas. On one reservation, we will have 5 people who will be doing DxDDP. On the other reservation, we will have 7 people who will not be doing any dining plan.

So, all 12 of us (well, maybe not my nephews) want to eat at Cinderella's. I haven't added DDP to our DVC reservation yet, as I'm not ready to pay for it at this moment.

If I make reservations now, and pay the $640 (yikes! for breakfast?), and 5 of us use the dining plan and 7 don't, will they be able to refund my card for the 5 people? We've split the check with some on DDP and some not before, but not for a pre-paid reservation. Or would it be better to cough up the money for the dining plan now and make the reservation using the dining plan? Will it let us make a reservation for 12 people when only 5 people have the dining plan without paying up front?

Sigh. Maybe we should just forget about Cinderella's.

 

[wdwnomad]

I've been wondering about this too. I am doing the HDDR. 4 people will be on the dining plan and one won't.

I am suspecting that adding the dining plan now to my DVC reservation will enable me to book the reservation for everyone using credits with the CC guarantee. When it is time to pick up the tickets have the concierge split the charges accordingly.

 

[Celestia]

Yes, they will refund the money when the dining plan credits are applied.

However, make sure you keep track of the refund on your credit card statement. This last year I had to make changes to our CRT and HDDR reservations and the charges didn't not get credited until I called 3 times for CRT and for HDDR when I picked up our ticket I noticed it said a credit on it so I went up to the ticket window and sure enough it still hadn't been credited back to my card! The CM was surprised and processed it right then, when I checked a couple of days later it had all been credited.

Also, if you are eligible for TIW card (DVC members can get it now) you may want to run the numbers to see if it will be worthwhile for those not on the dining plan.

 

[KathyK]

I ran the numbers for the group of 5 that I'm paying for (TIW vs. DxDDP vs. DDP). The other 7 people can decide for themselves whether TIW will be of benefit to them or not. I will mention it to my sister and her husband (DVC members holding the other room reservation) because i don't know if they are aware that it is available for DVC members now. In the past, I always bought it as an AP holder.

If it took so much effort to have the money credited back, I think that maybe I should just book it using the dining plan instead. I think it would be easier to pay for the non-dining plan people when we get there than to get credited for the people using the dining plan.

Yes, they will refund the money when the dining plan credits are applied.

However, make sure you keep track of the refund on your credit card statement. This last year I had to make changes to our CRT and HDDR reservations and the charges didn't not get credited until I called 3 times for CRT and for HDDR when I picked up our ticket I noticed it said a credit on it so I went up to the ticket window and sure enough it still hadn't been credited back to my card! The CM was surprised and processed it right then, when I checked a couple of days later it had all been credited.

Also, if you are eligible for TIW card (DVC members can get it now) you may want to run the numbers to see if it will be worthwhile for those not on the dining plan.