Hi, there!
Welcome to planDisney, Mariah. I'm so glad you stopped by! Your plan to treat your parents on their Disney vacation is truly the sweetest, and we're so happy to help you with the surprise.
The
Disney Dining Plan is a must-have for my family's Disney vacations. Knowing that our meals and snacks are paid for ahead of time gives our vacation an "all-inclusive" feel and certainly adds lots of convenience to our stay. As a mom of three, I need all the convenience I can get! I know your parents would appreciate the Disney Dining Plan as much as I do. I'm not entirely sure you can get away with adding it to their vacation package without them knowing, though. My best advice is to
call the Disney Resort Hotel Reservation line to chat with a Cast Member. You would need your parents' reservation information on hand so the Cast Member can be sure they're eligible to add a dining plan. The difficult part would be keeping it a secret because once it's added to their reservation, it's going to be listed on their My Disney Experience account along with their reservation information...
If, after chatting with a Cast Member, you're unable to secretly add a dining plan to your parents' stay, not to fret! I have a few backup solutions. One would be to buy them
Disney Gift Cards in the amount that you would have paid for the Disney Dining Plan and gift them the cards ahead of their stay so that they can add a dining plan to their reservation before their arrival and pay for it with their gift cards. Another would be to buy them Disney Gift Cards in the amount that you would have paid for the Disney Dining Plan and then just surprise them with the gift cards before their departure! When they arrive at the Walt Disney World Resort, they can plan on using their gift cards to pay for all their meals and snacks. If you have a Target Circle Card, you can save 5% on all Disney Gift Card purchases when you pay for them with that member card. Similarly, if you belong to a warehouse club like Costco or Sam's Club, you can often purchase Disney Gift Cards at a significant savings!
I hope this was helpful, Mariah. Please let us know if you have any other questions!
Ashley