Earlier this month Disney Vacation Club altered its policies on Disney Dining Plan purchases. Members no longer have unlimited flexibility to purchase different Dining Plans for different days of their stays, varying number of villa occupants, etc. However some flexibility does still exist which may benefit members.
Read-on for our Q&A addressing current Dining Plan policies.
Question: I am spending ___ consecutive nights at one resort / one villa size / one view. Do I have to purchase a Disney Dining Plan for the entire length of stay?
Answer: Yes. The Disney Dining Plans are considered length-of-stay dining solutions and must be purchased for the entire duration of your stay.
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Q: The number of occupants in our villa will vary throughout the stay as friends and family members come and go. Can I vary the number of dining credits purchased on any given day?
A: No. Dining credits must be purchased for every night of the trip, for every listed occupant, regardless of how many days each occupant will be spending at the resort.
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Q: My trip involves a late arrival / early departure. Will Disney Vacation Club allow me to drop either the first or last night of my Dining Plan purchase (i.e. only purchase 6 credits for a 7-night stay?)
A: No. Credits must be purchased for the entire length of stay.
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Q: Before Disney Vacation Club's recent policy change, I had "segmented" my trip in anticipation of adding a Disney Dining Plan to a portion of the stay but had not yet added and paid for the Dining Plan. Will DVC still let me add the Dining Plan to just a portion of my stay?
A: No. The policy change is effective immediately. Disney Vacation Club is not allowing members to add Dining Plan purchases to any partial stays regardless of guests' intentions at the time of booking.
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Q: I have a future reservation that is segmented and have already paid for a Disney Dining Plan for a portion of my stay. Will Disney still honor that reservation and Dining Plan purchase?
A: Yes. If the segmented reservation with partial Dining Plan purchase is already set-up and paid for, Disney will still honor that configuration.
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Q: I have a split stay scheduled with ___ nights at one resort followed by ___ nights at another resort. Do I have to purchase a Disney Dining Plan for both resort stays?
A: No. Dining Plan purchases are linked to single resort stays. In this scenario a Disney Dining Plan can be added to one resort stay but not the other.
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Q: I have a split stay scheduled with ___ nights in a room with one view and ___ nights at the same resort with a different view. Do I have to purchase a Disney Dining Plan for both rooms / views?
A: No. Even though both stays are at the same resort, they are considered separate reservations. Since the views differ guests will be required to check-in at the start of each segment and change rooms mid-stay. And different Dining Plan purchases can be attached to each resort stay.
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Q: I have a split stay involving ___ nights at one resort / view followed by ___ nights at another resort / view. Can I purchase the Deluxe Dining Plan for one reservation and the traditional Disney Dining Plan for the other stay?
A: Yes. As long as there are differences in resort / villa size / view between the two (or more) reservations, Dining Plan purchases are completely independent of one another.
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Q: Is there any way that I can split up a reservation at the same resort / villa size / view into two separate, consecutive stays--understanding that I will have to check-in twice and may have to switch rooms--and buy a Dining Plan for only a portion of the stay?
A: Officially, no. While DVC's computers would allow an agent to book (for example) a 2-night BoardWalk Standard View Studio stay followed by a separate 5-night BoardWalk Standard View Studio stay, reps are not supposed to do that. Any consecutive stay in the same resort / villa size / view should be entered as a single stay.
Note that the above represents Disney Vacation Club's current official stance on the listed booking scenarios. Policies are subject to change.
