Free dining - putting child down as an adult?

[emmamc252]

Ok so I've read about this but want to check.
We're looking at free dining offer here in the uk. If we say dd is 10 (she will be 3) and pay the extra £20 for an adult pass will they be ok with that when we. CHeck in and she is quite obviously no where near 10?
The children's menus at Disney are mainly (I know not all) not the kind of food my children eat. I know she will never eat an adult meal quantity but if it's free (or an extra £20) at least she can have what she likes and is allowed to eat?
Just don't want to get there and them say she has to have kids as I would plan the holiday verb differently and prob not bother with the dining plan if that was the case.

 

[TDC Nala]

From what I understand, while they will allow you to "age up" your child by listing them as 10 years old in the US, if you are booking in the UK you cannot do this.

 

[emmamc252]

So in the US you can just say, my child is 6 but I would like to "age him up" and get the adult dining plan but here you can't? What about if I just said she was 10, wouldn't the check in guys just assume she was "aged up" if people in the US do it?
We are buying flights seperately so theres no issue with that etc?
DH is really keen to do it but I'm just not willing to go to the restaurants and have a debate over 'no you are not eating chicken nuggets and chips!" every night. If she has an adult menu she will choose appropriate options. If she is given the childrens menu then she will be looking at that kind of food and its not happening!
Its the one thing I always find so hard about disney and do wish they would change but hey ho!

 

[TDC Nala]

No, you'd just register your child as 10 years old. As far as WDW would be concerned, that child would be 10 years old. You'd have to buy her an adult park ticket.

Try the UK board and see if anyone is able to do it. If it's free dining you HAVE to book a package so it's possible the flights don't have anything to do with it. It's an issue with booking - it's not an issue with once you get to the parks. If you book through WDW in the UK it's just different. You need to check on the UK board before you get in touch with UK booking and ask what will happen if you just go ahead and book your daughter as being 10 years old when she is really 3 (emphasize that flights are not part of your package). Book through the US site if you can, but I can tell you that free dining booking through the US site is very different than free dining booking through the UK site. Much more limited dates. Your trip date may not be included.

There could also be issues where you say your child is 10 years old and then you show up and she is 3. although I have heard of guests "aging up" children as young as 4 in the US.

 

[emmamc252]

thanks i've just posted over there.
we've been before but only when DD was sharing off our plates.
I understand why DH wants to do the DDP and free dining and I also get that I'm a control freak but thats me, right or wrong.
If it was just for a few nights i'd let it go, i'm not that bad but we will be there for around 16 nights.
I have no problem with her having a burger or nuggets every now and then, but for 16 nights and days she needs to have better options than disney provide for the children. not just health wise but even the healthy options are pretty bland and boring!
In honesty I think disney is geared towards say 5 or 6 night vacations, and I'd be more willing to go along with the kids options for that length of time but as we come from so far away (which i totally understand is not the average) we have to stay longer to make it viable!
I would love to come for the weekend but thats a hell of a flight!
I hope you guys can understand. I'm really not that annoying a mum!

 

[BugsDaddy]

I might be totally off base here but I would assume there would be a charge to "age up" a child to 10 years old on the free dining package just like there would be on the paid dining plan? I couldn't see Disney allowing you to age up your child for free?

 

[TQH1022]

We took DD when she was 6 , got the DxDP and loved it. She ordered whatever she wanted and we never had an issue with CMs saying she had to order from the kids' menu.

That being said -

1. She was 6, not 3 and quite assertive about her ordering,

2. We'd upgraded from free dining to the deluxe. Hubby still says it was the best $$$ we spent on the trip!

3. We ate a LOT of character / signature meals, and those tend to be buffet so the 'kids menu' was irrelevant. But we also ate at Le Cellier and the Hollywood Brown Derby with no issues at all.

 

[jezebel73]

I might be totally off base here but I would assume there would be a charge to "age up" a child to 10 years old on the free dining package just like there would be on the paid dining plan? I couldn't see Disney allowing you to age up your child for free?

If you "age up" a child, you do pay the difference in cost for both dining and park tickets. The beauty of free dining is that the dining is free, even if you adjust age, and you only pay the difference in tickets. I am doing this with my daughter in November.

 

[jezebel73]

thanks i've just posted over there.
we've been before but only when DD was sharing off our plates.
I understand why DH wants to do the DDP and free dining and I also get that I'm a control freak but thats me, right or wrong.
If it was just for a few nights i'd let it go, i'm not that bad but we will be there for around 16 nights.
I have no problem with her having a burger or nuggets every now and then, but for 16 nights and days she needs to have better options than disney provide for the children. not just health wise but even the healthy options are pretty bland and boring!
In honesty I think disney is geared towards say 5 or 6 night vacations, and I'd be more willing to go along with the kids options for that length of time but as we come from so far away (which i totally understand is not the average) we have to stay longer to make it viable!
I would love to come for the weekend but thats a hell of a flight!
I hope you guys can understand. I'm really not that annoying a mum!

If it turns out the UK rules don't allow it, I would definitely recommend checking out menus in advance and making choices based on places that have things that make both you and your daughter happy. There really are quite a few places with healthier or unusual options. My daughter was never a nugget girl and would get sick or mac and cheese for a week, so we found places with meatloaf or pork tenderloin or steak. Many table service places offer chicken breast or fish, as well as salads and soups. Counter service is toughest, but better options do exist. Hopefully you can minimize the damage!

 

[maxiesmom]

If it turns out the UK rules don't allow it, I would definitely recommend checking out menus in advance and making choices based on places that have things that make both you and your daughter happy. There really are quite a few places with healthier or unusual options. My daughter was never a nugget girl and would get sick or mac and cheese for a week, so we found places with meatloaf or pork tenderloin or steak. Many table service places offer chicken breast or fish, as well as salads and soups. Counter service is toughest, but better options do exist. Hopefully you can minimize the damage!

I agree. It is tough for us to say here what the UK site will allow. If it is not allowed, look closely at the menus and see what restaurants may work for your daughter and her tastes.

 

[emmamc252]

thanks for all the responses. It appears that I would be ok to do it, there is no rule either way available in the uk so I am assuming if its ok in the US then the CM at check in won't say anything as they will have seen it before.
I think my problem with the kids menus is that DD and I tend to eat fish as our protein, we aren't vegetarian and we do eat meat but given a choice we would go fishy! I have looked and apart from 3 restaurants its "grilled fish with pilaf rice." and i look at the adults menus and see salmon, sushi, scallops, ahi tuna!
I just think given the option she would choose those rather than rather bland options on the kids menus. and it seems a shame for her to miss out.
We will have DS with us who will be nearly 2 so I think he will share with her aswell so wastage shouldn't be a huge issue, and as long as she's happy!
We are also traveling as a large group so I do not have control over everywhere we eat and some places do not have anything I or her would deem to be edible. (50's I'm talking about you here!)
I do think she will have nuggets and burgers and chips but she can have the option to have nicer food if we do it this way so I am happy to spend the extra few dollars in tips etc.
I have to say the UK board were rather down on the idea of it being neccessary for a 3 year old, so thanks for the non-judgement this side of the pond guys!

 

[chloelovesdisney]

My ds 2.5yo won't eat chicken nuggets, burgers, hot dogs, etc, and this was no problem on our 3 trips to WDW. Have you checked out the menus? It is very easy to find other options.

 

[Melanie B]

Yes you can "age up" children but it has to be done ahead of time and you'll have to pay adult price park tickets for them as well for it to work.

 

[OasterP]

Yes you can "age up" children but it has to be done ahead of time and you'll have to pay adult price park tickets for them as well for it to work.

Ahead of time as in - before you book originally? Or can you call and say you want to change it because you don't like the children's menu or whatever?

 

[MakiraMarlena]

If you're in the US you can call and change your child's age to 10. if they give you a hard time, then call back and ask someone else. You won't be able to do it at the desk when you check in, though.

Don't really know how it works in the UK. Some have said they couldn't do it but that may be because they booked packages that included international flights, and the ages of the guests must match their passports.

 

[LoveSplashMountain]

I don't know about UK, but the last time we went my daughter was 9. She is a big meat eater, and the kids menu would not work for her (especially since our other daughter was 11 and counted as an adult and could get WHATEVER she wanted). When we considered booking at a value and upgrading the quick service dining plan to the regular one, we would have had to pay both for upgrading to the regular dining plan from quick service and for upgrading my 9 year old to an adult. But when we booked at a moderate, we were able to list her as a 10 year old and did not have to pay an upgrade fee. I booked over the phone so it wasn't an issue. Don't know if that helps, but my 9 year old got the adult dining plan for free that year (as part of the free dining promotion)!

 

[Joules1111]

If you're in the US you can call and change your child's age to 10. if they give you a hard time, then call back and ask someone else. You won't be able to do it at the desk when you check in, though.

Thanks for posting this. I was searching for info yesterday because my 5 year old loves to order non-kid friendly meals (prefers Indian food to chicken nuggets). The first person I called actually said I would need to add an additional male to the reservation and then use those food credits for my son. That seemed odd so I called back this morning and the customer service rep aged my son up to 10 and added a note on my account so we could switch his age back to 5 if we'd like.

To the OP, I'm not sure if this applies to you as you are out of the country, but it did work for me this morning.