How to split trip within family

I am trying to get our trip planned for July 2019. We plan to do 3 days at Universal and then go to either Pop or PORFQ. My husband will be able to stay with us for 5 days at Disney, but my son and I might stay longer. How would I go about booking that directly with Disney if husband only stays 5 night but we stay a few additional nights?

Book room only, not a package. Otherwise you will need to pay for DH’s extra days of tickets etc.

If you just book room only, list everyone on the reservation anyway. Unless your son is an adult, there will be no extra fee to pay. DH can then stay for as long as he likes, and could even change his mind if he wants to!

The only issue is tickets. I guess just buy him a shorter ticket. If he decides to stay, he’ll have to buy another one. You could buy them direct from Disney, just separately from the room, or from a 3rd party. Link them to MDE so you can book FPs a5 the 60 day mark.

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What @Nicky_S said, except that if DH wants to stay an extra day, you won’t have to buy an extra 1 or 2 day ticket, just go to guest services before the end of the 5th day on a 5 day ticket and have them upgrade it to a 6 or 7 day - much cheaper!

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Once you hit 4 days, the additional price per day per ticket is quite minimal, so it might not be worth the effort, depending on how many additional days you might go. Just using Undercover Tourist as a guide, the additional cost to go from 5 days to 7 days is less than $30.

Thanks - this is good to know!!

Thank you all for the information! My next question would be concerning dining. I was thinking of the Disney Dining plan, but if my husband isn’t there as long as my son and I are, that would be a waste of credits. We have always had some type of dining plan, though, because I love having it all prepaid and not having to worry about costs during the trip. Any suggestions for how to go about this if husband is there 5 nights but son and I are there possibly 2-3 nights longer?

You could always make two reservations at same hotel for the same category room if you wanted the dining plan–1 for nights all 3 of you there and 1 for the nights after DH leaves. You could then ask to stay in same room or you could even switch rooms, categories, or resorts. FWIW, you can use your dining credits until midnight of the night you check out. You could have dining plan only for one of the two different stays or for both stays purchased separately.

Love this!! This makes absolute sense to me and will be much easier to plan for everything!

Another option is simply to put the money that the dining plan would cost you onto a Disney gift card and use that to pay for all your dining. Use a sharpie to write “Dining” on it, if you use other gift cards. You could also add the tips amount to it too.

You have then pre-paid it, and you don’t have to worry about whether or not you will have to move rooms. And, if you don’t use all the money on the card on food you have some bonus spending money!

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