By British Diva
Following on from my recent article……
– A British View of Advanced Dining Reservations
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| Chef Mickey & British Diva |
“What is The Disney Dining Plan?”
“How does is work?”
and
In short the Disney Dining Plan is an optional dining package that can be purchased alongside your Walt Disney World holiday (vacation).
In essence including the dining plan to your booking will somewhat make your magical stay into an all inclusive style one!
Often the Disney Dining Plan is referred to as the DDP for short!
The Disney Dining Plan Rules…….
To purchase the Disney Dining Plan you must
– be a guest staying in a Disney owned and run Resort.
– purchase it in advance, alongside your accommodation & park tickets.
– include everyone in your booking on the DDP.
– have everyone on the same level of dining plan.
Please remember, don’t forget…..
– some restaurants will also require you to have valid Park tickets.
Advantages & Disadvantages
– For British vacationers, paying in ££’s will mean taking advantage of foreign exchange rates; with the possibility of saving you some cash!
– Freedom to use Advanced Dining Reservations to their fullest extent.
– Take full opportunity of choosing character meals & dinner shows without the fear of the mounting expense!
– In my opinion the only disadvantage comes when you don’t use all your DDP credits before the end of your stay – credits will be lost with no refund – so you’d better eat up!!
Choosing the best dining plan for your family is as easy as pie…..
If you prefer lighter fare combined with a more substantial main meal for the day, the Dining Plan would be perfect for you!
Now if you are BIG eaters, the Deluxe Dining Plan will most certainly suffice!
Please note: you are only permitted to use refillable Resort mugs at the re-filling stations within the Resort at which you are lodging. They cannot be used for free refills elsewhere.
Any Children on your booking aged 2 & under do not require their own DDP.
The Key to the World
– All your park ticket information.
Understanding the Disney Dining Plan Credit system
Exchange 2 waitress (table) service meal credits for 1 character meal or dinner show.
You may use these credits in any combination you wish to accommodate your families schedule.
Your Key to the World card holds all your Disney Dining Plan information on it.
Instead of paying in the usual manner for your meal or snack; simply hand your Key to the World card to the Cast Member serving you!
In return you will be given a receipt (check) for your purchase; this will clearly show both spent & remaining credits, making it very easy to keep track.
The Tipping Point
We British do find leaving the correct amount of gratuity in the USA a complete nightmare; “Is it too much….is it not enough?!” No one wants to make a social faux pas!
Generally speaking, for good service the tip should be 10%-15% of your total bill. However, if the service was unsatisfactory request to speak with a manager before leaving any gratuity.
You may find that reading my article ‘How to make a complaint at WDW’ to be useful.
The tipping headache is removed sometimes when using the DDP; if you order alcoholic beverages, or there are 6 or more people in your party an automatic 18% gratuity will be added to the bill (check).
It’s also worth remembering that gratuity is included for all dinner shows, Cinderella’s Royal Table and in-room dining.
‘Free’ is my Favourite Price!
Bon appétit!
a tip for good service is actually 20% (being a server for 6 years haha) and okay service is 10-15% i absolutely agree with partering with the management on bad service.
Especially in disney where all is magical don’t want to be shorting these amazing servers!! &no I am not a disney server haha I wish I was!!
Agree with above. 10% is a really low tip. Standard is 20%.
Thank you for your comments! It’s always great to get feedback & tips!! =)
We exchanged all our remaining snack entitlements (31) for packets of sweets on our last day and handed them out to the kids, plus if you have any quick service meals left you can exchange each one for 3 snacks. We had 5 meals left over as we had eaten in a couple of Disney restaurants that didn’t accept quick service plans