My child is considered an adult, but will never eat off the adult menu!

[donnaluv2cruise]

We are going to Disney in October and have booked the Deluxe Dining Plan. My child will be 10 by the time we go, so is now considered an adult. He is a very picky eater and more then likely want to order off the childrens menu. Is this possible? And if it is can we just pay for his dinner, and save the credits for us? And when I say picky eater, I mean picky eater...:eek:

[HM]

I would pay for your child's meals out of pocket at TS restaurants and use those credits for the parents.

But, if I has been in your place to begin with, I probably would opted to skip the dining plan and pay out of pocket for just what you each wanted to eat. I think you'll actually find you'd save money this way.

[SwirlyGirly]

I too am really surprised that Disney consideres a 9 year old an adult. What is this based on???????

[homeschoolmomof4]

I too am really surprised that Disney consideres a 9 year old an adult. What is this based on???????

Their pockebooks? :lol:

Seriously though, probably based on kids like mine who are extremely adventurous and can eat a decent sized portion.

[donnaluv2cruise]

I too am really surprised that Disney consideres a 9 year old an adult. What is this based on???????

They consider 10 & up an adult. 9 & under are considered children.

[Tricia1972]

I would think that in your case it may well be less expensive to save your child's credits and downgrade to the DDP. If you get the DxDDP and use all of your child's extra credits that's an additional 3 meals per day to share between the two of you.

[bicker]

Actually, they don't consider them "adults" per se... rather there is a discount for young children 3-9 years old. 10 year olds don't qualify for that discounted price. They still count as children, though, just not young children. For example, you don't pay the extra fee for them as third and fourth person in a hotel room.

[disneychard]

my son is 10 years old, so he can order off the children's menu if we are on the dining plan.

:banana: :banana: :banana:

[Tricia1972]

Yes, any 10 child can order off of the child's menu on the DDP. Beware though that you'll be losing money by doing it this way. It's FINE for you to do, Disney has no problem with it but...

$37.99 - Cost for your son on the DDP
$7.49 - Kids meal at TS
$4.49 - Kids meal at CS

So you're leaving behind about $26 on the plan each day.

[Fairy Mom]

Hi, I don't know from personal experience. I have only learned this info from the disboards. Others here have mentioned that servers can make an "adult" sized portion of the kid's meal and this would cost you the credit (adult) for your 10 year old son.

You are already paying for the deluxe plan, and I do not believe that you will need any extra credits or need to pay for meals oop.

Just ask your server if he/she can fulfill your requests. I am positive that you will have no problems.

On a side note, if this plan fails. Just go to the nearest Counter Service that sells the food that he likes and use his credit there.

There is another thread that mentions bringing chicken nuggets with them into restaurant that doesn't serve ckn nuggets. They said that it was no problem. Think about it, all the restaurants are disney.

Hope this helps.

[disneymomof2boyz]

If I were in ever in this situation, which I highly doubt, my kids are 3 and 4 and they eat sushi!!lol
I personally would order off the child's menu for them, pay OOP, and keep the dining credit to do something special. Like maybe the hawaiian lual(sp?), or the hoop-dee-doo review. I don't know if money-wise that would be smart, but I know that it would kill me to order something really good like the Filet from LeCellier, and not see them eat it. I would rather pay OOP and use the credits for something special.
But like I said before, in my case, this is a highly unlikely situation...but you never know w/ kids, they can flip the switch from one moment to the next.

[donnaluv2cruise]

If I were in ever in this situation, which I highly doubt, my kids are 3 and 4 and they eat sushi!!lol
I personally would order off the child's menu for them, pay OOP, and keep the dining credit to do something special. Like maybe the hawaiian lual(sp?), or the hoop-dee-doo review. I don't know if money-wise that would be smart, but I know that it would kill me to order something really good like the Filet from LeCellier, and not see them eat it. I would rather pay OOP and use the credits for something special.
But like I said before, in my case, this is a highly unlikely situation...but you never know w/ kids, they can flip the switch from one moment to the next.

I'm pretty sure that's what we'll do. At least we can put his credits into eating at some more of the signature restaurants! Thanks everyone.:thumbsup2

[disneydreamgirl]

My son is 10 also and a picky eater. Can he not eat at a table service if he doesn't want to and we won't be charged the TS credit for him? I think that is okay, but correct me if I'm wrong. Knowing him, he will just want a muffin or cereal sometimes and then will not want to eat dinner. Although there are days lately when he eats from morning to night and his pants are an inch shorter the next day!

[Tricia1972]

My son is 10 also and a picky eater. Can he not eat at a table service if he doesn't want to and we won't be charged the TS credit for him? I think that is okay, but correct me if I'm wrong. Knowing him, he will just want a muffin or cereal sometimes and then will not want to eat dinner. Although there are days lately when he eats from morning to night and his pants are an inch shorter the next day!

I believe that this should not be a problem at most places, though you would have to still purchase something for him to eat (even off of the kids menu) or he may have to eat nothing. Sharing is something that servers can be funny about sometimes. Some will be OK with it and others will not, you'd have no way to know for sure before you sat down for the meal and ask your server.

My caution was to the parent using the adult credits for child meals - it's a horrible value of the plan to use that and one that can make it cheaper for a family to pay OOP. Every family's results will vary and each family doing that would have to take a close look at the plan if they want to maximize the value. Because we are all different, getting value out of the plan may not be so important to some as it is to others.

For anyone banking the adult credits for your child to use later - just make sure you use them all up or the value may not be there for the plan.

[mom2my3kids]

This is why we are not doing the dining plan, paying 37.99 for a 10 year old who eats kids portions. Even my 14 year old daughter eats a kids portion, so we are going to ask at Sci-Fi and Olivia's if they can order off the kids menu. I don't mind paying for adults meals if my kids will eat it and don't waste it, but they could split it and still have leftovers.:rolleyes1

[disneydreamgirl]

Thanks for the advice. I'm sure we'll work it out somehow. It's just good news that there is a possibility of banking even with an OOP expense if he doesn't want to eat much or doesn't fancy anything on the adult menu!

[faindrops27]

Wait, is the OP on the deluxe ddp, if so. How will they be able to eat up those extra credits?

[bicker]

That might be a good reason to downgrade to the regular Dining Plan.

[donnaluv2cruise]

We'll be able to use all the credits when I plan it out. We'll still use credits for my son at breakfast, and some lunches too. I figure if we're going to a restaurant for dinner and he's not going to like anything on the menu, we'll get him a slice of pizza or something before we go, and the extra credits from him will go towards some of the nicer signature restaurants. :thumbsup2

[DISNEY1975]

This is why we are not doing the dining plan, paying 37.99 for a 10 year old who eats kids portions. Even my 14 year old daughter eats a kids portion, so we are going to ask at Sci-Fi and Olivia's if they can order off the kids menu. I don't mind paying for adults meals if my kids will eat it and don't waste it, but they could split it and still have leftovers.:rolleyes1


For all of you with 10 yr old kids, please make your ADRs at the same place / time as me..

I have 2 teenage boys 17 / 15, both over 6' tall who would love to finish off anything your children dont eat!!!

I think Disney charges adult prices to 10 year olds to make up for my kids at the buffets!!!

[bicker]

Indeed: It all evens out in the end.

[DCDisney]

For my 10 year old we had 6 nights of DDP. 3 we used for buffets or fixed price meals where he had to be an adult. 3 menu places we ordered him kids meals and paid OOP. We then used those 3 extra adult credits for an extra buffet meal and just paid for our other child aged child OOP there. It worked out nicely. We also found that our kids did better sharing 1 adult CS meal most places which worked out well having 3 adults in our party. A few days we did 2 adult CS breakfasts for 4 of us and then were able to mix and match snacks and 1 or 2 CS meals around Epcot countries or favorites in other parks. We ended up using up all our credits in just the right amount of time even though we were there a full extra day where we didn't stay that night and our arrival day we got in before lunch as well. Between my food allergies and mostly needing to eat CS at our resort and grazing the DDP worked out much better than I thought it would having a WDW just turned 10 year old adult who eats like a kid. That being said when we go back next year with both kids being WDW adults and 1 most likely still being a kid type eater and 1 being a veggie we definitely won't do the DDP again.

[disneydreamgirl]

Well, I've booked two extra lunch reservations in the event that DS doesn't eat off the regular adult menu, which I fully expect. I was able to get Le Cellier, although I will keep trying for an alternate reservation for it as the one I got may be just slightly too late to enjoy lunch and then get back to our resort to catch the Magical Express for our trip home. The second reservation is for Yak & Yeti - thought we'd give it a shot. The menu looks right up DH and my alley!

We'll plan to pay out of pocket for kids menu meals for DS as it sounds like there will be no issue doing this.

Thanks for the advice, everyone!:thumbsup2

[shellybaxter]

Actually, they don't consider them "adults" per se... rather there is a discount for young children 3-9 years old. 10 year olds don't qualify for that discounted price. They still count as children, though, just not young children. For example, you don't pay the extra fee for them as third and fourth person in a hotel room.

I agree with you Bicker. A little history (pretty recent history actually). Disney used to consider those 11 and under eligible for the child's discount, but adult tickets had to be bought at age 10, so the discounts for children didn't line up. I believe it was with the inception of the current disney dining plan that they changed the restaurant discount age to 9, so that they could sell a "package" to a 10 year old and have everything line up - ie - not selling a package with adult tickets and child's dining credits.

[Microcell]

For all of you with 10 yr old kids, please make your ADRs at the same place / time as me..

I have 2 teenage boys 17 / 15, both over 6' tall who would love to finish off anything your children dont eat!!!

I think Disney charges adult prices to 10 year olds to make up for my kids at the buffets!!!

Since my DD 10 is the one who won't finish, I think we have a deal! Now if they try to snatch anything off my DS6's plate they might draw back a nub!:rotfl2:

[meggybear17]

to the OP: If your son finds something he likes on the kids menu, they can make it in an "adult" sized portion. not sure if your son is a picky eater, or just can't handle the adult portions, but this is an option at most restaurants.

we did the princess storybook lunch in september and 25 year old me ordered the kids mickey ravioil, which they gave me a very big portion of. my sis in law, age 27 ordered the hot dog, they gave her 2 and a bigger side of fries

[meggybear17]

oh and duh to me, i see now that he is picky, so the larger :kids" meals may work well for you!