DDP: Will we be allowed to do this?

[jsmla]

DH and I will be in the World for the first week of October. We're staying at the Beach Club Villas and purchasing the Dining Plan. DH is a much bigger eater than I and we're planning several times to use 1 or 2 TS credits for his meal and purchase OOP only an entree for me. We're not planning to share, though he will be using a few of "my" TS credits during our trip. Will this be allowed? I just can't eat such a large meal unless I'm heading straight to bed afterwards!

Thanks!

 

[pooch]

and then a separate entree for you? I would think you could order 2 full meals and then eat what you want from yours and give him the rest. Maybe you'd just like the appetizer for example. But I can't imagine you'd need 2 appetizers, 2 entrees and 2 desserts just for him! Everyone says how much food you get! Perhaps you could try it the first night and see how it goes, then plan the rest of your meals from there. Have a great time!!!!

 

[Anewman]

Yes, You can use the Dining plan for his meal and pay cash/oop for your meal. You can still share his appitizer, only thing is that if you are not carefull this could result in many extra credits left at the end of your trip(CS and TS).

I am a big eater and did not always finish all of my meals nor did I feel obligated to, but there are always menu choices that are suited for lighter eaters if they are concerned about leaving food on the table.

 

[jsmla]

and then a separate entree for you? I would think you could order 2 full meals and then eat what you want from yours and give him the rest. Maybe you'd just like the appetizer for example. But I can't imagine you'd need 2 appetizers, 2 entrees and 2 desserts just for him! Everyone says how much food you get! Perhaps you could try it the first night and see how it goes, then plan the rest of your meals from there. Have a great time!!!!

No, he's not that big of an eater! We would use 2TS at the Signature restaurants. If I ordered a complete meal I'm sure I'd leave most of it so we were hoping I could just pay for an entree and use "my" credits to have dinner at Jiko or Artist Point. He'd use 2TS for his meals there and I would just order an entree and pay for it OOP. It's just that with all the conflicting information I'm wondering if this would be allowed since, strictly speaking, we wouldn't be sharing. We're only on the plan for five nights and I've already figured out all of our dining assuming that we could use only 1 TS (or 2 at a Signature restaurant) for a few meals. If we can't work things out this way I need to redo our ADR's. This is soooo confusing!

Sooo, has anyone out there recently had one adult use the dining plan while another at the table paid OOP?

 

[Wazzo]

We are planning to do this too! Hopefully it's allowed!

 

[RachelEllen]

I'd be careful with this. The dining plan brochure (at least the one from last year!) stated that 2 credits would be deducted from everyone dining at a signature restaurant. EVen if this is rarely enforced, it would be a shame to have your plans ruined if it happens to be enforced for your trip.

 

[Wazzo]

I read this year's brochure, and it really only words it as redeeming per person for the more "expensive" meals.

For example: "Two (2) Table Service meals for each person dining at a signature restaurant will be redeemed from your meal plan balance."

I don't see how they could argue if we wanted to pay OOP for one person and only use the DDP for the other person. They can't force us to get the extra FREE food!

 

[thunderbird1]

We're planning several times to use 1 or 2 TS credits for his meal and purchase OOP only an entree for me.

Don't know about the signature (2 TS) places, since we're not planning any, but this is what we're planning to do if the credits are unpooled. We can't possibly eat 4 appetizers, 4 entrees and 4 desserts, even if 2 of them are kid-sized. Since we're planning more than one TS meal on several days, what we'd likely do is use 1 credit for dh's meal, then I'd order just an entree and pay OOP, then share the appetizer and dessert. This works well for us, because I prefer water to soda and am a vegetarian, so my entree is always the cheapest thing on the menu anyway. I hope it works out for both of us!

 

[jsmla]

I'd be careful with this. The dining plan brochure (at least the one from last year!) stated that 2 credits would be deducted from everyone dining at a signature restaurant. EVen if this is rarely enforced, it would be a shame to have your plans ruined if it happens to be enforced for your trip.

Aghhhh!!! Am I the only one having a hard time with this? What if I were dining at AP with a friend not on the plan while DH is elsewhere? Would Disney deduct 4 TS from my account and not let the non-DP friend pay for her own meal? If I can use my credits at any point during my visit why do I have to spend them just because DH is spending his? I feel like we're being penalized for sitting together! It sounds like I can treat random strangers to my dessert and appetizer or buy CS meals for the people behind me in a line but I can't let my own husband use my extra credits. The way I look at it we're planning to spend more money with Disney the way I want to do it. Disney actually gains from our desire to spend more time in the TS establishments firstly because with several of the TS credits used we'll be spending an extra $20-$25 dollars for additional entrees and secondly because we'll probably end up writing off a few of our CS credits or using them for a much less expensive CS breakfast.

I've actually been driven to doing math (ugh!) and am this close to just dropping the DP. Over the course of our trip the plan will save us some money (not tons, but some) but the savings won't be worth it to me if I just end up wasting food or if we have to opt out of restaurants we would like to try.

Thanks for letting me vent. We had a long drive home yesterday and DH has listened to about all the yakking about this that he can stand. Disney Dining is fast becoming a taboo subject in our house!

 

[Wazzo]

Jennifer!

I was having the same frustrations. I had based a lot of our plans on the fact that we could SHARE, even at signature restaurants. I emailed my TA over and over for verification, and she said you can use the TS credits ANY WAY you choose. You paid for them, they are yours. This is coming from a very reputable Disney expert travel agent who has done this herself over and over!

Perhaps I could see not being able to share EVERYTHING, but I can't imagine the restaurant refusing to let one person PAY OOP!!!

Breathe deep, relax... and know that you're NOT ALONE!!!

 

[gigi1313]

i truly do not think you will have any problem w/this plan at all whatsoever... if you are truly concerned, call the actual individual restaurant and ask them the question "if two of us are traveling together and are both on ddp but i do not wish to order three full courses, can i pay oop for what i want to order and my dining companion dine on ddp credit?"

here are some of the restaurants' direct numbers:
Biergarten 407-560-7292
Akershus 407-560-7292
LeCellier 407-560-7292
Boma 407-938-7117
Nine Dragons 407-560-7292

hope that helps...

 

[Wazzo]

Good idea! If you call, let me know what they say!

 

[lyzziesmom]

I've used the DDP twice in the last year, and it's really not as difficult as many people try to make it. You have paid for meals, they are yours to use as you wish*. Of course you can buy a meal OOP, then Disney gets paid for the meals you prepaid, AND another meal. Your DH can use all the credits, or you can each use one at each meal, or you can use them 2 at a time for signature dining. When the rules state that 2 credits will be used per person, it means per person using the DDP. You can use the DDP to pay for friends' meals if you wish, or even for strangers. Disney doesn't care who eats the food*, just use it as if it were a coupon for a free meal. If you have the credit, you can use it however you want to. I have been to WDW with others who were not on the DDP and we simply tell the server who is on the DDP and who is not, and they split the bill accordingly. It's really very simple.

*Of course, I'm not talking about the kids credit/adults credit thing. Don't even get me started on that one.

 

[pixiechick]

Aghhhh!!! Am I the only one having a hard time with this? What if I were dining at AP with a friend not on the plan while DH is elsewhere? Would Disney deduct 4 TS from my account and not let the non-DP friend pay for her own meal? <snipped some in the middle here!>

I've actually been driven to doing math (ugh!) and am this close to just dropping the DP. Over the course of our trip the plan will save us some money (not tons, but some) but the savings won't be worth it to me if I just end up wasting food or if we have to opt out of restaurants we would like to try.

Thanks for letting me vent. We had a long drive home yesterday and DH has listened to about all the yakking about this that he can stand. Disney Dining is fast becoming a taboo subject in our house!

We are a similar situation. We are paying for the DDP-including a 10 year old "adult". We would like to use 4 TS credits for a signature restaurant while paying for the third entree OOP. But if it turns out that will be restricted, I'm cancelling too. I'm paying $700 for this plan (at the same time many others are getting it "free"), using it honestly- all adult credits in our group, and still throwing extra $$ down in the form of the third entree and drinks, etc.

I'm frustrated by this and my DH is tired of my yakking as well. What annoys me the most is that it seems the only reason we won't be allowed to do it is because of Disney looking for DDP violators. I guess we'll all have to wait for the reports from people there currently.

 

[Wazzo]

I've used the DDP twice in the last year, and it's really not as difficult as many people try to make it. You have paid for meals, they are yours to use as you wish*. Of course you can buy a meal OOP, then Disney gets paid for the meals you prepaid, AND another meal. Your DH can use all the credits, or you can each use one at each meal, or you can use them 2 at a time for signature dining. When the rules state that 2 credits will be used per person, it means per person using the DDP. You can use the DDP to pay for friends' meals if you wish, or even for strangers. Disney doesn't care who eats the food*, just use it as if it were a coupon for a free meal. If you have the credit, you can use it however you want to. I have been to WDW with others who were not on the DDP and we simply tell the server who is on the DDP and who is not, and they split the bill accordingly. It's really very simple.

*Of course, I'm not talking about the kids credit/adults credit thing. Don't even get me started on that one.

THANK YOU for this!! It makes me feel SO much better!!

 

[jonimce]

Yes, we have done this also. What Disney means by 2TS is for each meal ordered and not 1. Some people miss this. We have done this at AP and CG and a few others. Our son dosen't eat much, very picky, so most of the time he will just have an app. or dessert.

 

[Lizziejane]

not to sound like a total blonde (which I am, by the way!), but I just want to be sure I have this straight. We have 2 rooms reserved, one for me and DH, another for our 18 and 20 year old sons. I was thinking of only adding the DDP to our sons room - they're the big eaters. But then I wondered if for example, all 4 of us were eating at Le Cellier, could 4 TS credits be used to cover everyone's meals? I realize of course this cuts down on their available TS credits, that we'd have to pay for additional meals later on (but hopefully at less expensive restaurants). What I'm reading here is that yes, it is do-able.

 

[Wazzo]

Le Cellier is a 1 TS restaurant, so 4 TS would mean 4 appetizers, 4 entrees and 4 desserts.

You get a snack, counter service and table service credit for every NIGHT of your stay FOR EACH PERSON. So, if you used 4 TS at Le Cellier, that would only be one day's worth of TS credits. TOTALLY do-able!!

 

[Lizziejane]

wazzo...I'd only be adding DDP to one room...so the snack, counter service and table service credit per night is only for 2 people. What I"m asking is, if 4 dine together, can 4 TS credits be used from the pool? Or could only 2 TS credits be used, and 2 of us pay cash?

 

[Wazzo]

Oh sorry, I thought by "adding" you meant you already had the DDP on the one room!

I've heard that you can share your credits and use them for whoever you choose, but I'm not 100% sure. There is a lot of different information out there! But, I've read that you can use your credits towards guests. Good luck!