Doublecheck ADRs and no sharing

[aubriee]

I just got off the phone with Disney Dining and am not a particularly happy camper at the moment. I called to cancel two ADRS and add another one. When the CM tried to look up my ADRs they were not to be found (under my name). About a week ago my ex decided he'd like to go with us, so I called to add him to our ADRs with the CM cancelling all of our old ADRs and giving us new ones. Well, apparently she totally misspelled my name using only the first three letters of my first name and replacing Jackson with Jones for my last name. The 8:00pm Luau I had booked had been entered as the 5:00pm Luau. The new CM finally got everything corrected (I hope), but had to credit my credit card for the Luau and then recharge it again.

When we finished the CM asked me if I understood how the dining plan worked, because I had more TS ADRs than I did credits. I told her I knew and planned on sharing a few meals (As well as paying OOP for the dinner shows). She said 'Uh Oh! I'm afraid that's no longer allowed'. I asked her 'as of when, because I shared some meals with my mom in May while on the dining plan' I know buffets/all you can eat places you can't share, but regular TS I thought you could. There's no way the three of us can eat three appetizers, three entrees, and three desserts'. The CM said they were notified just a few days ago. We are not going until the last week of Sept, so I decided to go ahead and keep my ADRs as is, until I heard from someone else's personal experience.

 

[Letsbgoofy]

I'm waiting to hear first hand too. We have 1 meal that we plan to share. It's our last day, and that will be the only credit left...so, what are they going to do? In the meantime, tell us this "my ex decided to go with us story" please.

 

[anneofgreengables]

I got similar information from a phone CM a few days ago, but I thought they were just misinformed because people have been able to share on the DDP. What if we have 7 TCs and 8 ADRs, but we pay for one ADR out of pocket? I don't see how that would be a problem, would it?

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We have ADRs for 13 TS meals, but we'll only have 9 credits. None of the CMs have said anything to me about it. We haven't ever tried to share before, so I don't have any experience there. The last CM I spoke with seemed more concerned about making sure my ADRs weren't double booked, which they weren't. But I agree that it is imperative to check ADRs to make sure they are correct!

I know last year when we ate at Kona we only had 2 credits left and 3 of us were eating so we paid OOP for DS. We also paid OOP for him at Yachtsman because they took his entree off the bill and I wasn't about to use TWO credits for a glass of milk and a scoop of ice cream! (His chicken was so tough I couldn't cut it. He ate maybe 2 bites of chicken and 2 bites of potato.)

For simplicity we are just going to pay OOP for all of us at 4 of the meals instead of trying to save DS's credits for his buffets and pay OOP for when he orders from a menu. Too confusing, even though the buffets tend to cost more than when he orders from the menu. We're buying a DDE card so we'll still save 20% on the 4 extra TS meals.

 

[robind]

When we finished the CM asked me if I understood how the dining plan worked, because I had more TS ADRs than I did credits.

I guess the CM was trying to be helpful - but it's pretty dumb to compare the TS ADR's to the plan - since the plan only includes 1 CS and 1TS per day - does that mean you are only allowed to eat 2 meals per day???

I have more TS ADR's than are on my plan - we are going to the Luau (2 credits), the Grand Gathering International Dinner (2 credits), Mickey's BBQ (2 credits) plus 1 credit TS's the other four nights as well as a character breakfast on our last morning - we don't plan on sharing - everywhere but WCC is a buffet. Just planning on paying out of pocket for the other meals. I do have a spreadsheet and have calculated which meals to use credits for to minimize our OOP costs - we are sooo paying OOP for the BBQ (it's only $39 - not worth 2 credits)

Only 31 days

 

[puddleduck]

robind-I didn't know you could use ddp for the grand gathering dinner. We have a group of 13 going in Nov. We are renting DVC points-can we do a grand gathering and use the ddp for it? thanks.

 

[RangerPooh]

robind-I didn't know you could use ddp for the grand gathering dinner. We have a group of 13 going in Nov. We are renting DVC points-can we do a grand gathering and use the ddp for it? thanks.

When we were origionally a Grand Gathering and were looking into doing 4 the dining experiences the CM mentioned that we could pay either OOP or by using 2 of our TS credits for each person/event. HTH.

 

[KelNottAt]

There's no way the three of us can eat three appetizers, three entrees, and three desserts.

I sympathize with your predicament and understand that your post is mainly about how you'd like to conserve credits.

But since sharing is not available, and it looks like you'll have to use a credit, just remember you don't HAVE to order all 3 courses.

That's how we're handling it. Maybe one meal will just be entree + dessert, or another just app + entree. Myself, I might request 2 apps (salad first, then shrimp cocktail, for example.)

In our eyes, if the cash value of our TS meal is greater than or equal to $23 per person we're getting our money's worth. There's really no reason to gorge ourselves just because we're eligible for app, entree, and dessert.

It's probably no consolation, but I'm just trying to show it doesn't have to be as bad as it seems.

 

[thunderbird1]

If they really won't allow sharing (which I wouldn't believe until I see it), then what I'd try next is using 2 TS credits and ordering an extra entree and drink OOP. That way, you'd only have 2 appetizers and desserts, and you'd be able to stretch your credits. I can't imagine they'd have a problem with that.

 

[#1 Pocahontas]

Why will they not let you share? I don't get it. You don't get extra food just because you are sharing than you normally would, right? So why does it make a difference if one or two people are eating it? I don't see the lose to Disney.

What am I missing here?

 

[Sammie]

Why will they not let you share? I don't get it. You don't get extra food just because you are sharing than you normally would, right? So why does it make a difference if one or two people are eating it? I don't see the lose to Disney.

What am I missing here?

If they do care, which we have not determined yet, it would be due to sharing with those not on the plan. I see no problem in sharing with those on your plan. However if you share with those not on the plan you are preventing Disney from selling them meals out of their pocket, loss of revenue. The plan is designed to only feed those that purchase the plan for example a family of 4, with 2 adults and 2 kids, not additional adults.

So the only thing I can imagine is in order to stop sharing outside the plan, they will stop sharing within the plan. Which will just be another case of when some do something, it affects others.