Hi there, Kristen!
It is correct that in order to add the
Disney Dining Plan to your Resort hotel reservation, you would need to purchase Park tickets for each member of your party. If you have unused Park tickets from a previous trip, you can have those tickets checked at a ticket sales booth or at Guest Services upon your arrival at the Walt Disney World Resort to see what is remaining on them. Currently, Park tickets need to be used within 14 days of their first use, but some of the older tickets have other rules.
If you connected older tickets to MagicBands, those MagicBands can actually be deactivated online in your
My Disney Experience account. You can also move your Park tickets to a different MagicBand if you'd like. Here is a link to
Frequently Asked Questions regarding MagicBands that you might find helpful.
Thanks for stopping by the Moms Panel, Kristen, and I hope this helps! Feel free to write back in if we can help with any other questions you have!
Wishing you and your family a Pixie Dusted vacation!
~Jackie