Hello, Carolyn!
Thanks for popping in to the Disney Parks Moms Panel with your question. I think I can help!
Regardless of whether or not you have a resort reservation, a credit card is required when making dining reservations for cancelation purposes. Your credit card will not be charged unless you fail to show up for your reservation. At that point, you would be charged for the
cancelation policy only. The policy varies between the restaurants so be sure to check them individually. The exception to this is the dining reservations that require payment in full at the time of booking. These are things like
Cinderella's Royal Table and the dinner shows like
Disney's Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show. If you book one of these and pay in advance with your credit card, you can let your server know once you arrive if you prefer to use your dining plan credits. He or she will issue a credit to your credit card and process your payment with your dining plan credits instead. You can also call Disney Dining at 407-WDW-DINE (407-939-3463) and ask a reservation specialist to add your resort reservation with dining to the reservation and issue you a credit.
I hope this helps and if you have any other questions, just let us know. We're here to help. Happy planning!
~Carrie