MYW w/Dining - ticket question

[DznyGrlSD]

I searched and I can't find the answer, unless I'm searching wrong..

I'm debating on buying a 10-day ticket w/no expiration when I go in September and trying to save some $$ in December, just using the non-expired days.

Didn't I read that in order to add the MYW + Dining you have to buy at least a 1-day ticket for everyone in your room? I'm just trying to figure out what's more cost efficient.

 

[Monty]

If you want dining on both trips, you have to buy tickets separately for each trip.

You'll have to sit down and work out the math based on your eating habits to know which is cheaper.

 

[Rob562]

Another option to consider would be to purchase an Annual Pass, and book the Passholder plus Dining Plan option. It's exactly like the regular Dining Plan, but it removes the requirement of needing a park ticket.
If the separate park ticket requirements of your two trips added together is more than an AP, it might be your better option.

Or, if you already have your package booked for September, you can just upgrade that ticket to an Annual Pass by paying the difference, and then book the Passholder + Dining for December.

-Rob

 

[Sunshine8]

I thought you only had to buy one one-day ticket regardless of how many people were in the room. Then by doing that all the people could participate in the dining plan. Can someone confirm this?

 

[ypcat]

A 10 day hopper ticket with no exp will cost $487. An AP costs $469. Since you plan the 2 trips in the same year, there is no reason not to get an AP. It also opens up potential resort discounts and the chance to purchase DDE. If you want to get DDP, you can do that too with an AP. There is a code that will let you add on the DDP to a room only without the requirement to buy a ticket.

 

[BuzzFan76]

Regarding the park tickets..depening on your duration of stay and multiple trips annually...I'd purchase the AP.
You may also want to toy with the idea of the Disney Dining Experience card ratehr than the Disney Dining Plan...the discount with rhe DDE card may be a better deal than the DDP...I recall doing the math, comparing the two.

 

[Rob562]

Regarding the park tickets..depening on your duration of stay and multiple trips annually...I'd purchase the AP.
You may also want to toy with the idea of the Disney Dining Experience card ratehr than the Disney Dining Plan...the discount with rhe DDE card may be a better deal than the DDP...I recall doing the math, comparing the two.

I agree about the DDE. If you compare the same meals, same menu items, the only time that the Dining Plan beats out the DDE is when the Dining Plan is free under the Free Dining promotion. The DDE also lets you get discounts on alcohol with your meals, meals in the Value resort food courts (and French Quarter's), and any extra menu items above and beyond the DDP like soup, salad, appetizers...
Plus, you might get lucky with an AP discount on the hotel room, and you get to save there, too.

I'm one month away from my trip under the Free Dining package (first time on the DDP!). I'll be upgrading my ticket to an Annual Pass when I get there. I'll also be buying the DDE membership. It won't get much use on this trip other than alcohol, breakfasts or extra items on meals, but as I'll be going back at least once within a year, it'll get it's use then so why not have it on this trip, too?


-Rob

 

[Monty]

I thought you only had to buy one one-day ticket regardless of how many people were in the room. Then by doing that all the people could participate in the dining plan. Can someone confirm this?

Each person in a room has to have the same package. If there are four in the room [other than under 3yo], the minimum is four one-day base tickets to qualify for Dining.

 

[DisneyJoe]

Each person in a room has to have the same package. If there are four in the room [other than under 3yo], the minimum is four one-day base tickets to qualify for Dining.

The only exception to this is the AP with Dining package.

 

[SANDKRUSER]

I'm one month away from my trip under the Free Dining package (first time on the DDP!). I'll be upgrading my ticket to an Annual Pass when I get there. I'll also be buying the DDE membership. It won't get much use on this trip other than alcohol, breakfasts or extra items on meals, but as I'll be going back at least once within a year, it'll get it's use then so why not have it on this trip, too?


-Rob

I haven't been able to do this the last 3 years during the free dining (I don't think you can anytime) - there's some glitch about using your ticket after it's been issued (because of the dining plan attached) and you cannot get an annual pass upgrade at the resorts - it has to be done at the theme park guest relations or Downtown Disney. So, what I've done is to not use my new ticket for park entry (because this will use the one day on there) and then redeem it as a credit at the end of my stay (or after all the dining credits are gone) at one of the theme parks to get a new annual pass for the next running year. For example, last year I used the annual pass issued in Sept., 2006 for our visit. Then I used the one day ticket issued last year (Sept., 2007) to put towards the purchase of my annual pass for this year. When I go this year, I use my annual pass I purchased Sept., 2007 until the last day, then go get my new annual pass with the ticket credit left on my Key to the World.

I tried the first year to upgrade it before it was issued and the resort would not let me do it. I've asked every year and I'm told the same thing - they don't upgrade them at the resorts, and, once your ticket is issued, you can't upgrade it until all dining credits are gone. That's about as clear as mud, right?

I hope it's not too confusing, but I don't think you can count on using your one day ticket to get an annual pass for this trip. I had an annual pass to begin with so it was never a problem for me.

When I booked, I purchased a one day for all of us and then when I get there, I upgrade my son's and husband's to a length of stay pass and leave mine as is, using my annual pass to get into the parks and keeping the credit from my ticket to use towards my new one.

 

[DisneyWall-E]

as far as i know the dinning plan works on the number of nights you will be staying and not the number of days you have on your theme park tickets. but in order to get the Dinning package the next time around i do think everyone in your party has to be on the same plan and they do have to buy at least a one day ticket.

 

[Monty]

as far as i know the dinning plan works on the number of nights you will be staying and not the number of days you have on your theme park tickets. but in order to get the Dinning package the next time around i do think everyone in your party has to be on the same plan and they do have to buy at least a one day ticket.

That's right. DDP is calculated by the number of nights you're booked at the resort. You have to purchase tickets for everyone, but they don't care if the tickets are one-day or multiple-day, just that everyone books the same. The AP DDP plan is different. Once you're there, you. Can upgrade some or all the tickets.

 

[Rob562]

I haven't been able to do this the last 3 years during the free dining (I don't think you can anytime) - there's some glitch about using your ticket after it's been issued (because of the dining plan attached) and you cannot get an annual pass upgrade at the resorts - it has to be done at the theme park guest relations or Downtown Disney.
[snip]
I tried the first year to upgrade it before it was issued and the resort would not let me do it. I've asked every year and I'm told the same thing - they don't upgrade them at the resorts, and, once your ticket is issued, you can't upgrade it until all dining credits are gone. That's about as clear as mud, right?

I hope it's not too confusing, but I don't think you can count on using your one day ticket to get an annual pass for this trip. I had an annual pass to begin with so it was never a problem for me.

It's been discussed here on the forums about upgrading during your current stay, even with the Dining Plan. There have been mutliple posts by a park Guest Relations CM that they *can* upgrade a resort ID's ticket to an Annual Pass without killing the dining credits. Though apparently there is a wrong way and a right way to do such an upgrade, and you have to make sure to tell the CM at Guest Relations about the dining plan so that they do it the right way.

The alternative would be to get someone at the resort (it might have to be a manager, as I don't know if many front-line CMs know how to do it) to "strip" the admission from your room key and issue it on a separate piece of media. You could then give the ticket on its separate media to a park ticket window or Guest Relations CM to upgrade.

The one constant is that the resort can't do the upgrade to an Annual Pass, whether you have the Dining Plan or not. They don't have access to the ticketing system required.

I'll let you know in a month and a week how my upgrade went.

-Rob

 

[SANDKRUSER]

It's been discussed here on the forums about upgrading during your current stay, even with the Dining Plan. There have been mutliple posts by a park Guest Relations CM that they *can* upgrade a resort ID's ticket to an Annual Pass without killing the dining credits. Though apparently there is a wrong way and a right way to do such an upgrade, and you have to make sure to tell the CM at Guest Relations about the dining plan so that they do it the right way.

The alternative would be to get someone at the resort (it might have to be a manager, as I don't know if many front-line CMs know how to do it) to "strip" the admission from your room key and issue it on a separate piece of media. You could then give the ticket on its separate media to a park ticket window or Guest Relations CM to upgrade.

The one constant is that the resort can't do the upgrade to an Annual Pass, whether you have the Dining Plan or not. They don't have access to the ticketing system required.

I'll let you know in a month and a week how my upgrade went.

-Rob

You'll have to post how it went - I've tried every year for the last three years and was told at the parks and Downtown Disney that I had to wait until all the dining credits were off before I could use the ticket credit to get my annual pass. It would be nice to do this before I leave the last day. It makes for a hectic last morning, with running to the closest theme park to get my annual pass renewed. (I guess I could wait until the next visit, but I like to know I don't have to mess with it the next time). We go in 39 days - Sept. 16-27. Thanks for any advance info!

 

[DznyGrlSD]

Each person in a room has to have the same package. If there are four in the room [other than under 3yo], the minimum is four one-day base tickets to qualify for Dining.

The only exception to this is the AP with Dining package.

Scenario then:

2 people, 1 room - 1 person on MYW + dining w/8-day park hopper
Myself - AP w/dining

Can we have 2 different packages on the same reservation?

 

[DisneyJoe]

Scenario then:

2 people, 1 room - 1 person on MYW + dining w/8-day park hopper
Myself - AP w/dining

Can we have 2 different packages on the same reservation?

When you are using the AP w/dining not everyone in the room needs to have an AP.