Hi Carol! I love the deluxe resorts at Disney World so much that my family often splits our stays between them -- I can't pick just one! However, one drawback of moving from one resort to another is that
the dining plan doesn't move with you. At your first resort, you can
purchase park tickets to cover your entire stay at both resorts, but you can
purchase the dining plan only for the number of nights you're staying at the
first resort. Your dining plan credits must be used by midnight of the day you
check out of the first resort.
To purchase the dining plan at
the second resort, you must buy park tickets for everyone in your party. You
could purchase just a one-day ticket, but you're probably aware that with Disney
park tickets "the longer you play, the less you pay per day." The one-day ticket
is the most expensive, and with every day you add, the price per day decreases,
so that after the fourth day, you're paying only a few dollars more to add days
to your ticket.
You'll need to do some number-crunching to determine whether purchasing the
dining plan at both resorts would be cost-effective. You'll likely find that it
is cheaper to purchase park tickets for your whole stay on the first resort
reservation, rather than paying for shorter-term tickets at each resort. The
question then becomes whether it's worth it to buy a one-day ticket for everyone
in your party at the second resort so that you can add the dining plan. If you
think the savings you'll have on the dining plan will outweigh the cost of the
additional tickets, it would be worthwhile. (Keep in mind that if you don't use
the one-day tickets, you could save them for a future trip.)
Come visit us again at the Moms Panel if you have more questions! We're happy to help!