Amanda,
Thanks for asking your question to planDisney!
I hope you are as excited about the return of the
Disney Dining Plans as many of us on the panel are! They combine savings with convenience, and they have been missed!
When you make a standard dining reservation, it is not particularly tied to a method of payment. So yes, you can add the dining plan and it won't affect reservations that you may already have in place.
This is especially true since sometimes you still end up paying for a meal with something other than the dining plan. As a personal example, the last time my family used a dining plan on a trip, we used many of our table service credits for signature, 2-credit required meals. It was a special trip, with many dining events with our princess friends! Because of that, there were a few meals where we had exhausted our dining plan credits, and paid as normal, billing the meals to our room reservation, and of course eventually our credit card.
WARNING: Make sure you change your reservations to include a dining plan now, instead of waiting until you arrive to try to adjust it. This should already be in place before you get to Walt Disney World.
BONUS TIP #1Don't forget to take advantage of the convenience of the
Mobile Online Ordering feature of the
My Disney Experience App. It is great to place your order well before you are even at the restaurant, so you can arrive, pick up your food, and go. Less time waiting means more time enjoying the parks!
BONUS TIP #2Remember that you can track your use of the Disney Dining Plan on your My Disney Experience App. Additionally, whenever you dine, on your receipt you will see what you have remaining on your plan.
Please feel free to
write me back directly if you have any follow-up questions.
Have a Magical Vacation!Doug