What to do if only 2 of 3 members of party want dining plan

[jenncsw]

My mother and I (both adults) and my seven year old son are going to Disney World, staying at Pop Century this June. I want to buy the dining plan for myself and my son, but my mother won't participate. We are sharing a room, and booked together.

I know my mother will not change her mind, but my husband and I have done the dining plan before and found it to be an excellent value.

I have discovered that the official Disney policy is all or nothing on this (I called the resort and asked). My mother is only sharing a room with us, so she won't even be touring or eating with us.

We would appreciate any ideas or suggestions on how to get the dining plan for just my son and I. (No, convincing my mother will not work...)

Thanks,
Jennifer S.

 

[YCFAN]

The only way to do it is have your mother book her own room. You might want to tell her since she's not willing to participate in the dining plan to help you save money then she'll need to pay for her own room.

 

[DonnaSue]

Gosh! That is a hard one!

If, after explaining to her that you two want to do the dining plan - and that it has proven to be very economical to you - explain to her that by sharing your room and refusing to participate keeps you two from being able to use the dining plan (The all or nothing rule!), the only logical answer is for her to get her own room - maybe an adjoining room. Although I am sure it would be much more economical for her to just do the dining plan. You do have to eat anyway!!!

Maybe someone else has a better solution.

Donna

 

[RadioFanatic]

is she going to the parks at all? if not, why don't you just take her off the reservation?

 

[rrkman]

Is there a way to not 'register' your son (or put him on the room at under 2 years old) and use your mother's DP for him? Then just buy another park ticket for either you mom or son.

 

[aubriee]

Is there a way to not 'register' your son (or put him on the room at under 2 years old) and use your mother's DP for him? Then just buy another park ticket for either you mom or son.

Several things wrong with this idea (besides being illegal). A seven y/o could not pass for a two y/o. If she gets the dining plan for her and her mom the key would read 2Adults and a 7 y/o could not pass for an adult at a TS restaraunt (kids must order off the kids menu remember). If a CM saw the room key that said 2A, they might wonder why the kid isn't listed on the room key, deducing correctly that a seven y/o who didn't pay for the dining plan nor bought the same park ticket as the two adults is staying in a room with two adults who did. If a CM heard this kid call the lady "mom" she might have some explaining to do.

As far as the OP question: if you were to go to the menus on Deb's site, write down what your mom might order, and then show her on paper what a good buy the dining plan is, might she not change her mind. Or how about figuring how much the dining plan would cost for her and then go halves with her. Surely she would agree to pay half. Maybe play up the angle of how convenient it is to have everything paid for ahead of time, how she can order anything on the menu without even looking at the price, not having to worry about figuring tips, being able to try restaraunts that she might not normally try or foods she might not regularly try, etc. Otherwise I'm afraid you are out of luck. Last Sept I had an AP, but my son and D-I-L did not. My plan was to just stay in a different room, but my D-I-L really wanted us to stay together 'so we could have some good bonding time'. I talked to several CM, including someone at guest relations, but was told the same thing by each one: that everyone in the room had to buy the same park ticket and everyone in the room had to be on the dining plan. I round up buying a park ticket I didn't need. Of course all you have to do is buy each of you a one day base MYW ticket and then upgrade the tickets to what you need when you get there. You each must buy the dining plan however.

 

[rrkman]

I was unaware that I was dealing with lawyers. I just tried to book rooms on disney's site using 1 adult, then 1 adult/1 child, and then 2 adults/1 child. The cost does not change for the room....so it doesn't look like you are cheating disney out on this if you only register/pay for 2 adults. Also, you will be buying an adult DP for a child...so you are certainly not cheating disney on this. Your mom does not want to buy or use the DP...either way, you are not cheating disney on this.

As far as the CM's checking the tickets, I never said to tell them that he is 2...I agree that they might not believe that. And, are you saying that if my son calls me dad in the park, or at the hotel, I will have to show the CM our ticket to prove that we paid for him?

And, I agree that you should follow disney's guidelines (not laws), but if I were to read the OP, it says (No, convincing my mother will not work...), so I was only trying to brainstorm some ideas to help the person out.

 

[traviesojmt]

I was unaware that I was dealing with lawyers. I just tried to book rooms on disney's site using 1 adult, then 1 adult/1 child, and then 2 adults/1 child. The cost does not change for the room....so it doesn't look like you are cheating disney out on this if you only register/pay for 2 adults. Also, you will be buying an adult DP for a child...so you are certainly not cheating disney on this. Your mom does not want to buy or use the DP...either way, you are not cheating disney on this.

As far as the CM's checking the tickets, I never said to tell them that he is 2...I agree that they might not believe that. And, are you saying that if my son calls me dad in the park, or at the hotel, I will have to show the CM our ticket to prove that we paid for him?

And, I agree that you should follow disney's guidelines (not laws), but if I were to read the OP, it says (No, convincing my mother will not work...), so I was only trying to brainstorm some ideas to help the person out.

I was under the impression that to get the dining plan that you had to buy a package. That includes tickets. If she said her 7 year old was 2, he wouldn't be buying tickets into the park. They would have to purchase them separately. I'm not sure that would help them save money. I'm not a lawyer, not by a long shot. But I do know basic right from wrong. You can't post something so obviously dishonest and not expect some sort of response. I have to ask. What is really different about lying to the resort about his age and the CM taking tickets?

 

[molly2004]

Would it be worth it to you if you went ahead a bought a dining plan for her but used it for extra meals for you, DH and DS? Your mom would have to eat at some point, I presume. If she just wants to stay at the hotel, she could use the CS credits and you can apply the TS for nicer meats for the 3 of you. If in the end, she does change her mind and want to eat at nicer places, she's got the option.

Just a thought, since you want to go ahead a get the DDP for her anyway.

 

[rrkman]

That is why I said that they would have to buy another ticket. I never said that this is morally correct....just passing along ideas. They will have to look at all of the options to see what is the best choice for them. This is a business, they try to make money off of you and you try to get products or services for the lowest price...I believe this is called capitalism. And before you question or ask about right and wrong, how about you go back over your life and see if you have ever taken advantage of a system...maybe charged the wrong price, didn't finish your food from a buffet - which is about the same as this - we're not talking about sneaking a child into the park for free.

As for me, I would probably use molly2004's idea and buy the extra DP to use for more meals and/or better meals.

Feel free to reply but I don't want this to turn into a discussion about cheating, stealing, etc so I am done with this....I was just trying to give the OP some ideas, sorry if you are offended.

 

[Conservative Hippie]

Last Sept I had an AP, but my son and D-I-L did not. My plan was to just stay in a different room, but my D-I-L really wanted us to stay together 'so we could have some good bonding time'. I talked to several CM, including someone at guest relations, but was told the same thing by each one: that everyone in the room had to buy the same park ticket and everyone in the room had to be on the dining plan. I round up buying a park ticket I didn't need. Of course all you have to do is buy each of you a one day base MYW ticket and then upgrade the tickets to what you need when you get there. You each must buy the dining plan however.

I am so glad I read this! We want to get my brother an AP (he lives in FL), but the rest of us do not have one. So we should just buy our regular tickets, and then we can upgrade his? Do you know how much it costs to upgrade? (As in, is it going to cost more than buying the AP to begin with?)

 

[newchic99]

Book the room and dining plan for you and your son. Add mom when you get to the hotel. Mom will just have to get her park tickets seperately and pay the extra person fee.

 

[pezpam]

I am so glad I read this! We want to get my brother an AP (he lives in FL), but the rest of us do not have one. So we should just buy our regular tickets, and then we can upgrade his? Do you know how much it costs to upgrade? (As in, is it going to cost more than buying the AP to begin with?)

It doesn't cost extra to upgrade. You'll just hand them the ticket he has and they will credit that towards the purchase of the AP. You pay the difference between the original ticket and the AP, but not any extra for the service.

Another option would be to go ahead and buy the tickets you need for the package, plus the AP. Don't let your brother use his package ticket, though. Save it for another trip and let him use his AP on this trip.

 

[jbdreamer]

I was under the impression that to get free dining that you had to buy a package. That includes tickets. If she said her 7 year old was 2, he wouldn't be buying tickets into the park. They would have to purchase them separately. I'm not sure that would help them save money. I'm not a lawyer, not by a long shot. But I do know basic right from wrong. You can't post something so obviously dishonest and not expect some sort of response. I have to ask. What is really different about lying to the resort about his age and the CM taking tickets?

OP is going in June, not durring free dining.

 

[traviesojmt]

OP is going in June, not durring free dining.

Your right. I should have said the Dining plan in general.

 

[Zoemakes5]

When you say that your mom is "not touring or eating with us", does this mean she's not going into the parks?
If so, I'd simply remove her from the reservation, myself. She won't be in need of tickets, and won't be in need of dining plan. I'd just get two room keys and give her one.
If she is doing disney, though, I think your only options are to tell her she either has to get the dining plan or pay for her own room. The DDP would cost her $38 per day, I doubt she can get a room for cheaper than that. You could offer to pay a portion of hers, say 1/2 or 1/3 and then have some sort of agreement on a number of points that you would use. Unfortunately, while I like the idea of simply purchasing it for her, I doubt you'd be saving much money with the DDP if you had to spend an extra $38 per night! Also, if you did purchase some of her points, your DS could order adult meals and use adult points instead of child meals those days. I know my 11 & 9 y.o. would want to do that on occasion.

 

[Letsbgoofy]

I don't think it would be cheating Disney to take your mother off the reservation. You only have one other adult, so she would not have to pay any extra adult fees. If she is going to the parks, she could purchase her ticket separately. If she won't be eating with you or using any of your credits, that covers the reason why Disney wants everyone in the room to purchase the plan (I'm assuming they do this so that you can't purchase one plan and then share all the meals)

You have a unique situation. Only you can make the decision about whether you feel taking your mom off the reservation would be right or wrong.