Hiya, Katherine, and welcome back to planDisney! I'm so glad you reached out today with this awesome question about
dining plans. It's no secret that I love talking about dining experiences and dining plans at Walt Disney World Resort, and I'm thrilled to share my personal experience in hope that it's helpful to you!
When your large party checks in to your
Disney Resorts Collection hotel, the Cast Member will confirm which guest is in each room. You'll be able to grant charging privileges to guests as you see fit, and those guests will need to decide on a PIN to use when making a charge. Remember, in order to make a charge to your dining plan, you'll either need a
MagicBand or a Key to the World card from the Front Desk - at this time, you can't use your phone to pay when using the dining plan. Guests in the same room may choose to use different PINs. Once that's all set up, you're ready to begin using your dining plan!
Each Disney Resort hotel room will have a total number of meals, snacks, and refillable resort mugs based on the number of guests in the room. When you log in to your
My Disney Experience Mobile App, you can check the dining plan under the Resort Hotel section. You'll be able to see the total number of remaining meals, snacks, and mugs for the entire room, and only the guests listed in that room will be able to see them. They'll be separated by table service and quick service meals, as well as by adult and child meals. You can also check on past charges to the dining plan - this will show you what was charged and who made the charge.
With a lot of guests in one room, I understand that this can sound a little daunting. When we recently shared a large Disney Hotel room with our extended family, I kept a running tally on my phone whenever my family made a charge using the dining plan. That way, I could know which of the remaining meals and snacks were for my part of the group. If you ever feel like a charge was made in error, or if you have specific questions about charges, you can always ask a helpful Cast Member at your resort.
Don't forget to make
Advance Dining Reservations for your favorite table-service restaurants. With a large party, you might consider splitting your party into smaller groups. When you check in at a dining location, let the Cast Member know that your party would love to sit near each other if possible. Sometimes, this is an easy request for a Cast Member to accommodate, based on the location and table availability at that time.
Katherine, I hope that this information is helpful to you as you prepare for your vacation. Please stop back by planDisney with any other questions you have as you continue your countdown to arrival!
See you real soon!
Jennifer