Can I buy the adult plan for my child?

[Skylarr29]

So I am planning my little one's first Disney trip and I am so disappointed when I look at the children's menus! They are almost the exact same thing and with being on vacation for 13 days I feel really bad for him. We are DVC so I don't think ticket price matters. Should we just let him eat off our plates (he will be 3)? Money is no option, I would rather him have selection and choice but wonder if he will only take a few bites here and there anyways.

[TDC Nala]

If you're DVC the ticket purchase is irrelevant. But when you make the reservation, you will have to say that the child is 10 years old. Don't know if you want to say he's 10 and then show up with a child who very obviously isn't that old.

If you book a lot of buffets and family style fixed menu meals, he'll eat whatever he wants there whether he's on the adult or child plan.

[food4me]

Will he eat most of the foods on the kids' menus? The problem we ran into was boredom with the food because they would only eat one or two things off the menu. It's not so bad if you can rotate through the choices, though. Or, like you said, let him eat off your plate, since he is only 3. I'm not sure all of the rules with DVC, but if you could order him an adult meal, would he like the type of food on it? More variety won't help if he won't eat it, after all. On the other hand, many of the adult meals are healthier than the kids' fried food options.

[Skylarr29]

Great advice, thank you both.

I think we are going to move our trip by a few weeks so he won't actually be 3 yet. Then we will purchase the dining plan for us two adults and he can eat from our plates or we can order a kids meal or appetizer etc. We want to eat at a few buffets so he can try anything there.

I am still surprised to see the lack of variety. I know they are children but you can only eat so many grilled chicken strips and carrot sticks lol!!

[ReneeA]

My kids are really good, adventurous eaters. What we do is to let them eat what they want off our plate. However, if you look at many of the TS restaurants, they all have something good to eat - steaks at several, fish at several, and decent sandwiches at some.

Check menus and you'll find (at least with TS meals - CS is another story:scared:) that many have better offerings.

[Faldred]

One thing we found out -- late in our trip -- was that the published menus have to correspond to Disney policy, but that some of the restaurants would make up a kid's meal as a smaller portion of an adult offering.

For example, we went "off menu" to get the fish & chips at Rose & Crown as a kid's meal.

In short, it never hurts to ask. The worst they'll do is say no, and you can use the standard options at those meals while introducing variety in the more accommodating locations.

[n2mm]

I would say it's cheaper to buy your child's meals OOP than buy the ddp for them at $39.99 per day, but the kids' price of $10.99 a day is a deal! Most likely you would spend less than that per day for a 3 yo. I agree, the choices for kids are not great. We leave next week and not only are the choices bad, but our 2 yo granddaugther is latose intolerant, so has hardly any choices on the kids menu for her. I think grilled chicken and carrot sticks are her only choice (w/no ranch dressing for the carrot sticks). Pasta w/tom sauce is the only other thing we've seen that she can eat. I'll be curious how well Disney does with the kids menu for her. She can eat chicken nuggets after we peel all of the crust off. Obviously she won't be eating from our plates. Thank goodness we are in a studio so that we can at least have the kitchenette for her meals.

[maggiew]

Wow! I wouldn't buy the adult dining plan for a child who is not even 3/just turned 3. I don't even want to buy it for my 14 year old!!

I think between buffet meals, family style meals (like Garden Grill or 'Ohana), and places that have interesting kids meals, you can make it work with the kids dining plan.

Maggie

[smiths02]

Wow! I wouldn't buy the adult dining plan for a child who is not even 3/just turned 3. I don't even want to buy it for my 14 year old!!

I think between buffet meals, family style meals (like Garden Grill or 'Ohana), and places that have interesting kids meals, you can make it work with the kids dining plan.

Maggie

I don't see any value in buying a child who is not yet 3 the meal plan...just let him eat off your plate...choose buffets and other all you can eat meals...
if money is no object, then just buy whatever he wants OOP when you get there