Hiya Sarita!
Love seeing you here again! My husband and I are big fans of the
dining plan and find that for our style of eating it could be a value. This past trip we had one
table-service meal a day which ended up being our biggest expense of the trip. Having it pre-paid with a dining plan makes it so much easier to enjoy our trip.
Guests must purchase a
vacation package with the Walt Disney Travel Company which is when tickets and resort room reservations are booked together to add on a dining plan. If you purchase your tickets through a work discount program then it will not be considered a package. Even if you book a stay at a
Disney Resort Collection Hotel it will be viewed as a hotel-only reservation and not eligible for the dining plan.
I'm sorry if that doesn't work out for you but I suggest something we did for our last family trip. My husband and I request
Disney Gift Cards for our birthday and every holiday so we can use them on our trips. We also purchase Disney Gift Cards every once in a while to "save up" for our trip. This past trip we charged all our meals and purchases to our room using our
MagicBand+ which is a
perk of staying on-site. We then visited the Front Desk at least one day before our last night and paid off the balance with our gift cards. This reduced our final charge when we checked out and it was such a satisfying moment to see our balance disappear. The gift cards helped us create a "pre-paid" experience and let us enjoy our trip a little more. Once the charges are settled at check out you won't be able to use your Disney Gift Card to pay the balance so make sure you use the gift card at the point of sale or visit the Front Desk each day before you leave for this quick payment towards the balance. Disney Gift Cards can also be used at most dining and merchandise locations on the property. A tip for using gift cards on your phone when making a
Mobile Food & Beverage Ordering is to copy the gift card number and EAN number into your smartphone's notes. Then copy and paste each time when checking out. You can then note the balance in the note after the purchases as you use it up. A fun idea for kids is to give each kid a gift card for them to enjoy during the trip for whatever they like. It's controlled spending and makes it a fun learning experience. My kids are much more mindful when they have a limit and make sure to pick out a souvenir that they want.
I hope this helps! Happy Planning!
-Nimmy