when i booked last august for our feb. trip, they asked me if i was using the disney dining plan. i told them yes, but i wasn't (at the time i thought we were but decided to stay off property). when i called back to tell them that i wasn't using the dining plan, she told me that i found the red tape and just to pay that morning at breakfast. my credit card number was taken even when they thought i was using the dining plan but nothing was ever charged (unless i didn't show up). i paid the morning of breakfast after we ate, 2 kids and 2 adults with tip included was $130 or something close to that. the tip is automatically figured in, you have no choice but to leave that 18% tip, to which i didn't think our waitress deserved, that's another story! i have heard several ways this thing works, but we wasn't charged anything. maybe things have changed in the last couple of months.