Disney Dining Experience

[berri_boo]

How does this work?

Does only 1 of us have to buy it? Any info I find is not really clear. If this is the case then it would be worth it for us.

Does it come in the purchasers name? Or can both of us use it - say one of us wanted to use a CC to pay for a costly dinner?

Thanks for any info!

[Disneyfun]

The Dining plan must be purchased for all persons on your reservation for the entire length of stay. The plan is tied to you room key and can be used by anyone on your reservation. I have heard that you can use only a certain amount of credits to pay for a meal and then pay out of pocket for the remaining, but I have never tried it personally.

The worth of the package is dependent on where you dine. I make ADR's for all the really good restaurants that are pricey in order to max out the value. Check out the menus here on intercot to get an idea of where you want to dine and the price range.

Just as an idea of what is possible, DW and I saved over $500 with the dining plan during a 7 day stay! Be strategic with the use of your TS credits!

[Kags1200]

I think you are confusing 2 different things

DDE is a card giving you [and a party of?] a 20% discount on restaurants[including liquor] also free valet parking

The other is a dinning plan you must get when making your trip plans [I'm not familiar with the Dinning plan]

Please someone come along & correct me if I'm wrong!!

WE used the DDE last visit & it was well worth it to us

[Piglet822]

I think you are confusing 2 different things

DDE is a card giving you [and a party of?] a 20% discount on restaurants[including liquor] also free valet parking

The other is a dinning plan you must get when making your trip plans [I'm not familiar with the Dinning plan]

Please someone come along & correct me if I'm wrong!!

WE used the DDE last visit & it was well worth it to us

This is the correct. The Dining Plan and the Dining Experience are two different things. The plan is the one that is purchased per person per day and is attached to your reservation.
The experience is a discount card that you purchase and it saves you 20% off meals and drinks, at select locations - it's not accepted everywhere, for everyone in your party up to, I believe 10 people.
The card has your name on it (if you're the one that purchased it) but you can order a spouse card at an additional charge. I have used my card and someone else has paid but for the life of me I can't recall if it was cash or a credit card that we used.
If you've got questions about DDE you can call 407-566-5858. When I got my card I also got a list of places that accept it plus a few restrictions. The card is not accepted during holidays and special events, it's not valid for the Fantasmic dining package, Food and Wine Festival dinners, or Candlelight packages.
I hope this helped.
Oh, and one more thing that I thought was very important but didn't realize until we first used the card, unlike the DDP which includes the servers tip, with DDE it's not automatically included. You must take care of the tip yourself.

[faline]

Disney's Dining Experience is different from the Dining Plan.

The dining plan is part of a package. This provides for one table service, one counter service and one snack per day.

Disney's Dining Experience is a card that can be purchased by annual passholders and vacation club members. The dining experience provides a discount on dining at certain establishments. The discount includes liquor and one card can be used for a discount of 20% for up to ten guests. Only one card is needed for a party up to this size. However, the cardholder must be present to get the discount and the card can't be used by another person.

We had no problem having others pay part or all of the cost. On our last trip, my brother paid for some of the meals and we paid for other meals while using my dining experience card discount.

More information can be found here (http://www.intercot.com/themeparks/tickets/annualpass/default.asp).

[berri_boo]

Thanks everyone! this was very helpful. We are first time AP holders (soon to be) and saw the 20% off at select places. For the two of us we would probably end saving around 2x the cost of the DDE! I just wanted to make sure that if he wanted to pay for the meal (via CC)and the card was in my name (or Vice/Versa) it wouldn't be an issue. We are def going to purchase the DDE.

Is there an expiration with the DDE?

Thanks again everyone! :thanks:

[squijee]

dh and i are planning on getting ap when we go in oct...the dining experience sounds like a good idea...how much is it and how long does it last...also if you go with others does the ticket have to be paid altogether or can it be split and can someone else pay with their credit card....:mickey:

[KylesMom]

Is there an expiration with the DDE? The Disney Dining Experience membership is valid one year from the date of purchase, unlike the A/P which is valid one year from activation. It does not have a day/date expiration, rather it is the end of the month. They usually give you a few weeks' grace period as well, so if you purchased today, it would be good until the last day of May, 2008.

It has saved us a ton of money over the last couple of years! :mickey: