Who Knows The Answer To This Question?

[disney's daughter]

We are arriving Monday, February 19th late at night...around midnight...and leaving on Monday, 26th in the morning. That means we will be staying seven nights total. I am responsible for 7 out of the 10 of us going in our group as far as paying for the meals. ( 5 adults (including one 10 year old..and two children). I have an annual pass and the DDE card, which entitles me to 20% off the sit down meals. I have made reservations each day for one sit down restaurant...all of which average around $27.00 per adult. We usually stop at a grocery store on our way in and buy breakfast foods and snacks for the week. Everybody's park tickets have been paid.

Here's my question...My sister (her group makes up the other three people coming along) has thought about purchasing the dining plan ..which would mean buying one extra ticket for each of them ( I don't know how much a one day ticket is) instead of benefiting from my 20% of the dinners. I am wondering if I would do better doing the same thing...or just leave well enough alone? Also, because we are arriving very late at night...we are still spending seven nights at Pop Century....Would that mean I would have to purchase the dining plan for seven days?

Thanks for any input.....I thought I had everything all "wrapped up" until my sister talked about the dinning plan.....

 

[ppiew]

A one day base (one park only) ticket is $71.36 for an adult and $59.64 for a child age 3-9 yrs. The dining plan can only be purchased with a 'package' plan unless you are a DVC member. So your sister would have to purchase some kind of package to be eligible to get the DDP. Here is the explanation from the allears.net website.

"If you are a non-Disney Vacation Club member, you must purchase a Magic Your Way vacation package at a Disney resort for your entire party with at least one day's park admission. The number of days for the Dining Plan will equal the number of nights you have reserved your room on the package. It has nothing to do with the number of days of park admission you have."

 

[disney's daughter]

Ahhh...Thank you...you sure answered my question...I am sticking to what I had originally planned.... I am so less stressed now.

According to my sister...all she had to do was to purchase a one day park ticket for each person and then purchase the dinning plan...She'd have to give up her annual pass discount on her room in order to do that.

Well..at least I know what I will be doing about my plans...NOTHING...I am not changing a thing!

THANKS

 

[ppiew]

Another Michigander up at the crack of dawn!! (can't sleep) Actually, we will be in WDW next week and I have been tossing the DDE vs DDP around a lot (we are DVC members so could get the DDP). It almost seems to be a toss up in many ways. I am going to keep judicious records of $$ spent on food/snacks etc. this week to see if it WOULD make a cost difference. Then can make a somewhat informed decision for any future trips.

 

[disney's daughter]

Yes..I don't know if it is the cold weather or economy woes keeping me awake at night...Regardless...Disney is a great distraction for me! Please let me know what you find out after your trip...

 

[ppiew]

If I forget (as I have been known to do) please PM me. We are leaving Monday the 5th and will return Feb. 12.

 

[disney's daughter]

Thanks...I will try to remind myself!

 

[5DisneyNuts]

Ahhh...Thank you...you sure answered my question...I am sticking to what I had originally planned.... I am so less stressed now.

According to my sister...all she had to do was to purchase a one day park ticket for each person and then purchase the dinning plan...She'd have to give up her annual pass discount on her room in order to do that.

Well..at least I know what I will be doing about my plans...NOTHING...I am not changing a thing!

THANKS

Your sister is somewhat correct - you would change your reservations to the Magic Your Way Plus Dining Package - that would include rack rate room cost, at least 1 day MYW base ticket (as ppiew said $71.36 A $59.64 C inc tax), and the cost of the dining plan (38.99 A per person per night, $10.99 C per child per night)..

You said your tickets were already paid for. Do you have an AP room only reservation or were the tickets included in your original reservation? If they are, you might have a MYW package without dining already and could call to add the dining plan. The dining plan has to be added before you arrive (not sure how long before).

Each person assigned to a room reservation has to have the same package, so if your families are split up it could get confusing.

Another thing to consider is that you are within your 45 day canc period so if you have a package booked make sure you won't run into any penalties for changing the resv.

If you plan a lot of sit down meals, the dining plan is great for big eaters
(38.99 for a 10yr old is a lot to spend though IMO).

Hopefully I didn't confuse you more than necessary! It sounds convoluted, but really isn't once you get the concept.

All that being said, if you have AP discount on your rooms and purchased tickets separately, I think you are correct and would be better off sticking with your original plan of discounted rooms and DDE.
Have a great trip

 

[disney's daughter]

In my case...I have the annual pass...My husband, kids, and grandchildren will all be using the remaining tickets left over from the 10 day non expiring ones I had purchased for them last year. I reserved the rooms (only) with my annual pass discount.

 

[5DisneyNuts]

In my case...I have the annual pass...My husband, kids, and grandchildren will all be using the remaining tickets left over from the 10 day non expiring ones I had purchased for them last year. I reserved the rooms (only) with my annual pass discount.

Yeah, stick with what you have...If your sister and her kids have a seperate room booked (diff conf #) she might be able to switch to a package with dining just for her family. Might be more trouble than it's worth now..

Last trip we were on the dining plan and the family with us used the DDE card. We told the servers we had 5 on dining plan and they seperated the checks for DDE. Not a problem at all.

 

[disney's daughter]

Yes...That is what I think I will do...My sister also has an annual pass and booked her room with the annual pass discount, too....She had purchased the six day park passes for her husband and granddaughter...

If she wants to change hers, she can do it..I am just waiting for her to make up her mind...I was planning on purchasing a Disney gift card to use for paying for all the meals...It depends on if her group will be included on my 20% on how much I get the disney gift card for...Her husband would reimburse me after the trip...If they are going to get on the dining plan, I wouldn't purchase as much ( for the gift card)........Hopefully, she will decide over the next few days...