Switching up the Dining Plan

[AthenaB]

Hello everyone!

This September will be our 4th year in a row going to DW . I had a question about the dining plan though- I'll give you the scenario and perhaps you can see why I added it under the budget section of threads:

Traveling: Husband, Myself and 4 year old daughter. We booked the free dining (1 Quick/ 1 Table) package with Value resort and park tickets for 3. (Since my daughter is 4, we have to pay everything for her now . Here is the twist; I decided (after booking) to take my cousin with us for her Graduation gift. She is 17. Can I potentially give her my daughters "Key to the World" card and use the dining plan that my 4 year old would have used? We are staying in a room with 2 beds, so lodging is taken care of and as for tickets, well, we are military so I can buy her the 4 day pass for $138 and just add an additional day. My 4 year old can eat off of our plate OR I can just BUY her a kid meal (much cheaper) .
Are the dining plans specified that only kids meals can be purchased with the 4 year olds "Key to the World"? Or is a dining meal "un-biased" ?

Any adivce or tips would be very much welcomed. Thank you!!

 

[deegack]

no, you can add her to your reservation and then get free dining for her. How are you going to order for your cousin at a TS meal? She is obviously over 10.

 

[girli565]

A child on the dining plan will have to eat off the children's menu at the TS or CS restaurant, I don't think a 17 year old will be satified eating a kids meal.

 

[Marionnette]

Hello everyone!

This September will be our 4th year in a row going to DW . I had a question about the dining plan though- I'll give you the scenario and perhaps you can see why I added it under the budget section of threads:

Traveling: Husband, Myself and 4 year old daughter. We booked the free dining (1 Quick/ 1 Table) package with Value resort and park tickets for 3. (Since my daughter is 4, we have to pay everything for her now . Here is the twist; I decided (after booking) to take my cousin with us for her Graduation gift. She is 17. Can I potentially give her my daughters "Key to the World" card and use the dining plan that my 4 year old would have used? We are staying in a room with 2 beds, so lodging is taken care of and as for tickets, well, we are military so I can buy her the 4 day pass for $138 and just add an additional day. My 4 year old can eat off of our plate OR I can just BUY her a kid meal (much cheaper) .
Are the dining plans specified that only kids meals can be purchased with the 4 year olds "Key to the World"? Or is a dining meal "un-biased" ?

Any adivce or tips would be very much welcomed. Thank you!!

What you are thinking of doing is against Disney's policy. The rules are that everyone in the room needs to be registered and if you are on a package, then they must purchase every part of the package as well. That would include the tickets and the dining plan (if applicable). And meal plans purchase for children are not interchangeable with adult credits. Just add your cousin to your room, get free dining for her and pay for her ticket as a part of the package. To do anything else would be dishonest.

 

[stitchlovestink]

Hello everyone!

This September will be our 4th year in a row going to DW . I had a question about the dining plan though- I'll give you the scenario and perhaps you can see why I added it under the budget section of threads:

Traveling: Husband, Myself and 4 year old daughter. We booked the free dining (1 Quick/ 1 Table) package with Value resort and park tickets for 3. (Since my daughter is 4, we have to pay everything for her now . Here is the twist; I decided (after booking) to take my cousin with us for her Graduation gift. She is 17. Can I potentially give her my daughters "Key to the World" card and use the dining plan that my 4 year old would have used? We are staying in a room with 2 beds, so lodging is taken care of and as for tickets, well, we are military so I can buy her the 4 day pass for $138 and just add an additional day. My 4 year old can eat off of our plate OR I can just BUY her a kid meal (much cheaper) .
Are the dining plans specified that only kids meals can be purchased with the 4 year olds "Key to the World"? Or is a dining meal "un-biased" ?

Any adivce or tips would be very much welcomed. Thank you!!

I hate trying to post from this stupid phone!!!!

Posted from Disney Forums Reader for Android

 

[stitchlovestink]

Hello everyone!

This September will be our 4th year in a row going to DW . I had a question about the dining plan though- I'll give you the scenario and perhaps you can see why I added it under the budget section of threads:

Traveling: Husband, Myself and 4 year old daughter. We booked the free dining (1 Quick/ 1 Table) package with Value resort and park tickets for 3. (Since my daughter is 4, we have to pay everything for her now . Here is the twist; I decided (after booking) to take my cousin with us for her Graduation gift. She is 17. Can I potentially give her my daughters "Key to the World" card and use the dining plan that my 4 year old would have used? We are staying in a room with 2 beds, so lodging is taken care of and as for tickets, well, we are military so I can buy her the 4 day pass for $138 and just add an additional day. My 4 year old can eat off of our plate OR I can just BUY her a kid meal (much cheaper) .
Are the dining plans specified that only kids meals can be purchased with the 4 year olds "Key to the World"? Or is a dining meal "un-biased" ?

Any adivce or tips would be very much welcomed. Thank you!!

I understand what you are trying to do and no you can't do that. you are basically trying to add your cousin to your trip for the cost of a military ticket of $138. and then pay oop for your daughter's food since it would be cheaper because you had to pay to upgrade your dining plan. But on the DDP then recognize your daughter as a child and she will have to order from children's menus accordingly. so trying to skirt your way around the system isn't going to work the way you had hoped. The honest thing would be to add her to your reservation and pay the upgrade fee and then she will have the free dining with the rest of you. Or buy her the $138 ticket and pay for her food OOP. But keep in mind, she will NOT have her own room key card and will not really be entitled to onsite benefits such as extra magic hours (and you need to show you room key card to access rides in pm emh or show it to enter the park for am emh). Each person must show a room key card including your 4 y.o. so you can't give your cousin hers. just some food for thought.


Posted from Disney Forums Reader for Android

 

[cvjw]

OP, your key to the kingdom cards will show which dining plan you are on, and the number of adults/children that are on the plan. This is marked on EVERYONE's key. When you go into a TS restaurant, your server will ask for your key card to verify which dining plan you are on, and how many adult/children's meals you are entitled to. The server will know that a 17 year old is not considered a child at disney, and your 4 year old will only be allowed to eat off the kid's menu.

Add your niece to your reservation, paying any additional fees, and purchasing the same ticket for her that your family has. Hopefully, she can be legally added to your reservation, and receive free dining. If so, she can eat the right way at all of your TS ADR's. As other posters noted, if you plan to use magical express, or attend any extra magic hours, your niece will HAVE to be listed in your room to get a key card from Disney.

 

[Allison]

Did you upgrade your dining plan? I thought the free dining at the value resorts was the quick service plan.

 

[Leleluvsdis]

just a tip... if you are using the special military ticket which I assume since you specified the 138 one, you cannot add a day to it. It only comes in 4 day with PH or WP opt, no adding days to it. If you wanted a 5th day you would have to buy a one day ticket.

 

[auralia]

Also you can't add days to military tickets and Disney could kick you out of your room and off property if you don't declare her.. Not that they would but they reserve that right you will have to pony up and pay if you want to bring her with since it's free dining it's just the cost of the ticket and the dining plan up grade at least other wise she couldn't use extra magic hours and things like that

 

[hsmamato2]

I'd think it's doable if you do buffet meals only...otherwise it's child meals only..and my kids won't even eat those! Wouldn't it be the same cost just to add your niece to the room and get her dining for 'free' too?

 

[Sagginit]

as others stated you could get kicked out and forfeit your entire trip if they feel you are trying to scam them. also they will know she is not the child on the plan and questions will start to arise at some point. i would just try to add her to the reservation, i am sure if you can add a day or upgrade they let you add a person to an existing room that is not at capacity.

the thing is they will check at the start of your meal who has what. if they don't what may happen is let's say it slips at the start of the meal, the four of you go to a buffett and they then take off 3 adult TS credits and only one of the child's, shorting you meals. or they will not let her sit at the table as a 17 yo and order a child's meal so she will never be able to use any of these TS credits. also i believe you will all end up hungry and the OOP cost will equal what it would have been to just add her.

have you tried to add her to the room yet? is this because you can not do so or because you think it will be more budget to do it this way?

 

[AthenaB]

I appreciate everyone's feedback and although after reading what I had initially written, I can see why some think I am trying to "scam" the system. That was not my intention at all, that is exactly why I ASKED the question in the forum because I was not sure about it. I had plans to call Disney and ask what my best option was in order to include my cousin on the reservation. Now that I think about it, the extra magic hours and having a key for everyone on the reservation, make sense. I also did not want to ensure any conflict during dining and so having questions being asked about who this "4th person" is, is not something I want to deal with.

As for the person who asked about the upgrade in dining, yes, I upgraded to One table meal and One quick service. We like to take advantage of the great experiences like Akershus with the Princesses.

Thanks again everyone, I will be calling Disney and adding my cousin to the existing reservation.

 

[mco65]

I know that we had a late add on to our trip one year and my wife simply went to the front desk at GF and added our guest to our package.. ddp and park tickets.. quick and easy but not cheap.