We have a party of 9 going to the world. All Disney adults, ages 11 to mid-70s. The 11 and the mid-70s are not the biggest eaters. We have 2 different rooms, one with 5 people and the other with 4. I’m thinking of getting the DDP for the room of 5 for 5 nights. For all of our ADRs, we’d need to do some type of a split check no matter what, DDP or no. How huge of a pain is this with the DDP thrown in there?
For example, if we eat at Spice Road Table, and 4 of us get an entree, dessert, and drink, and the others get a small plate, or something, will they be able to just charge dining credits for the entree/dessert/drink and a separate check for the others? Will we have 2 checks? (One for the OOP, and one for the tips?)
We are not going to any character meals, no big buffets, just mostly sit down TS and I think we could use the snack credits basically entirely amongst us at Epcot…
Have you considered getting the deluxe plan for one room ( 3 TS credits that include an appetizer plus 2 snacks per day). You can share those credits between both rooms.
I absolutely support @PrincipalTinker suggestion of doing the deluxe plan for one room and then splitting the credits between all 9 of you. The only downside to this is coordinating meals in such a way that you are always with someone who has a magic band loaded with meals. If you are planning to do most meals together, it shouldn’t be an issue. If not, then it will take a bit more coordination but will probably be the most economical way to go.
I totally agree with the Deluxe plan for the 5 of you. I wish I could do just one deluxe plan when my husband and I go together. In fact, I’m considering just booking one of us in the hotel room so that we only have to buy one plan. The only down-side I could see to this is that his magic band would not open the door. No big deal. I have 2 magic bands on my MDE account, and I could always give him one if he was going back to the room alone. Although I don’t know why we would be splitting up when it’s just the 2 of us. Is this a really bad idea??
If I understand it correctly you get 3 meals per person per day with the deluxe plan, instead of 2 per person per day with the other plans. With the deluxe you can use the points for quick service or table service. But the benefit in your case is that you get the extra meal each day.
Splitting the check isn’t a problem. Just explain to the CM server before you order. “We would like to use 4 credits for this meal, the rest we will pay out of pocket”.
The only place this is an issue is BOG for the QS meals, and one of the Epcot Italian places - the one which does the large family pizzas. It would also be an issue at the Pizzafari buffet they now have in AK. Not sure if that is at all times or just for certain meals/times.
You would need to roughly work out the costs to see if it’s beneficial. I think most people that do the deluxe to save money have under 10’s, as on the deluxe plan all credits show as adult ones. I listen to backside of magic podcasts and they are great at taking advantage of the quirks in the Disney systems, they even add bogus children to their booking.
You could also add the deluxe plan to the 4 person room if the credits work. The children and adult credits are “pooled”. Most people add it to the room with the most children since credits are cheaper.
I listen to that podcast too— those guys go to great lengths lol! I’m not 100% comfortable with adding bogus children lol.
We have only adults so it’s really an issue of trying to see how we could maximize credits between us all. My parents will likely just pay their food OOP with cash- when we have gone to Disney before, we always split checks. I just wasn’t sure about how easy splitting checks is between credits and OOP— but I gather it’s a common practice.
When the question of DPP comes up, it’s also important to consider how many Signature restaurants (1 Signature meal = 2 TS credits) you plan to eat at.
Thanks for this discussion. We are staying in 2 rooms at Pop and I would like to add the DDP to one room (the one with a child, kids in other room considered adults now!). I wish I would have thought of adding it when we were first booking with MVT. I will check to see if it is too late to add on now. also can I book DDP in a value resort?
From what I understand you can add the dining plan up to 48 hours or so before arrival. (But they advise to call Disney for the particulars of your reservation.). I’m sure your TA could do that!!
Also I think no problem on adding the deluxe plan, but I read somewhere (?) that they are starting to crack down on kids’ credits on the deluxe plan? I don’t know how they could, though, since the credits are pooled together. It would make things very very complicated for the servers!