Disney Dining credit use for those not on plan

[kamgen]

If we have the plan and friends come dine with us who are not staying on the plan, can we use credits for them? Thanks!

 

[bicker]

So far, AFAIK, that hasn't been a problem, as long as there are no children involved.

That may or may not change, so check again just before your trip.

 

[hoov]

The problem is there is no official policy for this issue. Disney must be aware of the issue but they seem to be leaving it the hands of the servers, which is not fair to the server. One CM on the phone says no problem using your credits for guests not on the plan and the next one says no way. Some one should step in and decide one way or the other on the issue. I would much rather know in advance that I can or can't use my credits to pay for everyones dinner then to find out when i am being seated at my table.

 

[bicker]

Assume the worst; hope for the best.

 

[jonimce]

Our trip in 2004 11 of us had the dinning. Oldest daughter booked her family of 5 and at the last minute her step son decided to go. She added him at check in but they did not add him to the dinning plan. He had no problem using brothers and sisters. My in laws joined us and they were not on the plan but used my son's. DS is a pickey eater so he went off on his own and payed oop for CS meals.

We have free dining this time with three of us. We plan to use DS's TS's and he will use some of our CS's.

 

[bicker]

Check out some other recent threads, jonimce. There are some significant indications that you won't be able to do some of those things any longer.

 

[jonimce]

Please don't get me wrong. We made sure we were allowed to do this before we did. We were told they were our dinning points and we could use them any way we choose. Ofcorse there were much fewer people using the dining plan then. It was twice the money. And I have been reading the posts and from what I have read everyone that has recently returned, they have had no problem with this. I think the problem Disney is having is when adults use points that were meant childrens. A big price difference.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Wasn't it a different dining plan in 2004? I thought the Magic Your Way Dining Plan started in January 2005, at the same time as the Magic Your Way tickets?

 

[Luv2Roam]

As far as I know the MYW Dining is a different plan than what was in 2004.
I agree it makes sense guests can use their credits any way they like. But we have been reading this is not always the case. So just have a plan B if you are wanting to share your DDP credits with others not officially on your plan.

 

[jonimce]

The plan has changed. On that note, it changes everytime we use it. The only difference from 2004 is you get 1 TS and 1 CS instead of both being TS's. Oh yea, it's about half the price also.

 

[Sammie]

Actually it has been a problem. Someone tried to do this and they were told no. If you have 2 adults on your plan, which is listed on the card then I don't think you will be able to feed 3 adults or 4 adults at a TS using the plan.

The reason was given as the plan was not transferable to others not on the plan.

 

[jonimce]

Then they must have changed the cards. Ours was always on our resort card witch also was our passes for the parks. It just told you how many points were available and deducted points each time you used it. If 4 of us shared 2 meals they took off two points. When 8 of us went to California Grill it took off 14 points. (DS just had one of our apps for his meal) We go in August so I will let you know what the new cards say.

 

[Tiffany]

If we have the plan and friends come dine with us who are not staying on the plan, can we use credits for them? Thanks!

The plan is not transferable so you should not be allowed to do this.

 

[jonimce]

I'm having trouble understanding this. Then again I'm not always quick to get things. If we buy the DDP for 10 days for 3 people we get 30 TS and 30 CS. Why would Disney care who we used them on. We are not stealing anything and they are not loosing anything. We are only using what we payed for. If I went to a park and bought 5 Mickey bars and gave 4 away, who cares as long as I payed for all 5?

 

[Luv2Roam]

That was a long discussion not long ago by another poster who had trouble at Yachtsman Steakhouse.
I don't know the answer -- but playing De Ville's Advocate -- I am wondering if this could or has happened:
Say a guest has 3 adults in their party. They are at a restaurant and they use 3 of their credits and treat a friend. (4 credits used.)
Later, the party of 3 complain at Guest Services that they are only 3 adults, but 4 credits were used and insist a credit be returned to them.

I don't know if this has happened or could happen. Just wondering if that is part of the reasoning.
The DDP is non transferrable. So they are well within their rights to say 3 adults on the plan -- 3 adults are honored.
Nice gesture on your part though.

 

[RachelEllen]

I doubt it's even anything that involved. The design of these plans normally assume that a certain amount of credits will go unused. Allowing people to treat others can interfere with this margin. I'd guess that if Disney cracks down on that use, it is for that reason.

 

[bicker]

Why would Disney care who we used them on

Because Disney could be making profit off of those other people paying for their meals.

 

[jonimce]

Then why would the CM's tell us it was OK.

 

[RachelEllen]

Then why would the CM's tell us it was OK.

Most likely because they thought it was ok

I don't think it's a matter of rule breaking or a moral issue, but the best answer to 'will this be allowed' is really 'maybe, but don't count on it'

Disney may allow it (I don't read the nontransferable part like the last person to mention it in this thread) or they may not allow it. But either way, yes, it does affect their bottom line, so if they decide to not allow it, they have a good reason.

 

[bicker]

CMs are rewarded for making guests happy, and punished for upsetting guests. Generally speaking, unless you keep very detailed records of which CM told you what, and then when you find that one gave you bad information pursue punitive action against that CM, there is very little danger to a CM to tell you something that you want to hear. I know sometimes when I overhear conversations between customers and customer service agents, you can tell that this customer will have a very bad reaction to any information contrary to what they want to hear. Human nature is such that many customer service people will rather defer that bad reaction to when some other person has to deal with it. I bet that happens a lot.