10-year old on Dining Plan

[boxer]

Just wanted opinions on what some of you do with a 10-year old that doesn't eat enough to warrant the 'adult' pricing on the meal plan? I hate the pay the full price for the adult plan since she was basically full last year on the childs portion................but the problem is we go to alot of buffets (Ohana, Boma, Mickeys, etc), so in essence I'll STILL be paying the $25 if I took her off the meal plan anyhow.

Just wanted some opinions of people with kids that are not big eaters...........oh, and I'd try to pass her off as 9 to save money, but she has been 9 for about 3 years now when we go to Disney.....LOL

I'm just kidding.....

 

[Robo]

...oh, and I'd try to pass her off as 9 to save money, but she has been 9 for about 3 years now when we go to Disney...

Well, if this is YOU in the sig...

You look a bit YOUNG yourself.

 

[LBelle]

Well, if this is YOU in the sig...

You look a bit YOUNG yourself.

Bahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!


FYI: When you book the dining plan everybody in the room must be on it. You cannot choose to have it for the adults but not for your DD!!

 

[robinb]

Everyone in the room must be on the meal plan. So, you can't just take her off. I would go ahead and go with the plan. I think you will still save $$. If you figure that she will eat $9 at each Counter Service (with tax), another $3 for ice cream or popcorn as a snack then all you have to do is spend $20 per Table Service meal before tax and tip to break even.

 

[boxer]

Ok, but I thought I could just get her tickets seperately for the parks, and then obviously pay OOP for her meals.

Regardless, one meal at Boma's and a decent size CS meal and I'm at the cost of the DP anyhow..............

I am just hating the TS meals where its an appitizer, entree, and dessert---she won't make it past the appitizer, and I'll be 'forced' to eat the rest for her.....

 

[robinb]

You can still pay OOP for some of her TS meals and save the credits for a dinner show like Hoop Dee Doo or a 2-credit signature TS.

 

[addicted_to_WDW]

We changed the way we ate for a few years and skipped the buffets because 9 or 10 year old DS ate like a bird. Now 12 year old DS eats way more than I do so I can go back to justifying the prices.

 

[carone0318]

When we go in June, dd will now be an adult and we will pay for her as an adult. In addition to her we also have ds, who will be 6. We want the adult for dd, for variety and feel that between dd and ds they can share the adult portion and the child portion and that should satisfy the 2 of them. Ds I believe will not be overly thrilled with the selections for the child TS and with dd getting the adult TS, they should be able to work it out.

If it wasn't for ds also in the picture and he is a very good eater, I probably would opt out of the dining plan for a couple of yrs, until dd's appetite caught up with the pricing.

 

[LBelle]

Another thing you could consider:

When we went in Sept., the 3 of us (DH, DS10 and myself) would share 2 meals between us. We were still stuffed!!! Nothing wrong with that, as we had 3 adults on the plan. It was great because we had 2 extra TS meals this way, which we used on 2 breakfast bufets!!!!

 

[Squidrific]

Another thing you could consider:

When we went in Sept., the 3 of us (DH, DS10 and myself) would share 2 meals between us. We were still stuffed!!! Nothing wrong with that, as we had 3 adults on the plan. It was great because we had 2 extra TS meals this way, which we used on 2 breakfast bufets!!!!

I'm offended to find you here Lisa!

I admit that I cheated this year, because DD does not eat at all. I paid for her as a child even though she was 10. Even so, I ended up only using one credit for cs and splitting my meal with her because the ddp has so much food. We had several credit we didn't use.

When I go again in October I will add her as an adult because we are still going to be saving money just being on the plan. I wish they hadn't changed the age of the ddp to 9, I think it should be 12.

 

[LBelle]

I'm offended to find you here Lisa!

I admit that I cheated this year, because DD does not eat at all. I paid for her as a child even though she was 10. Even so, I ended up only using one credit for cs and splitting my meal with her because the ddp has so much food. We had several credit we didn't use.

When I go again in October I will add her as an adult because we are still going to be saving money just being on the plan. I wish they hadn't changed the age of the ddp to 9, I think it should be 12.

Would you please quit stalking me, woman!!!!

 

[nicknamy1996]

Another thing you could consider:

When we went in Sept., the 3 of us (DH, DS10 and myself) would share 2 meals between us. We were still stuffed!!! Nothing wrong with that, as we had 3 adults on the plan. It was great because we had 2 extra TS meals this way, which we used on 2 breakfast bufets!!!!

That's a great tip and you are not even "cheating" the system. Like you can by doing this and using the left over credit (that should have been a kids meal) as an adult meal later.

So you use 2 full TS meals to feed 3. And with the 3 CS and 3 Snacks per day that will likely be all you need. And then for every two days of TS meals you pick up an extra meal.

Something like this could work (7 nights 3 "adults")

 

[boxer]

That's a great tip and you are not even "cheating" the system. Like you can by doing this and using the left over credit (that should have been a kids meal) as an adult meal later.

So you use 2 full TS meals to feed 3. And with the 3 CS and 3 Snacks per day that will likely be all you need. And then for every two days of TS meals you pick up an extra meal.

Something like this could work (7 nights 3 "adults")

Thats actually a good idea...........thats why I posted it on here---I knew someone would have a good answer...

 

[G's mommy]

Our son is now 10 and it really irks me to have to pay $28 for him to eat 3 chicken fingers and some mac and cheese at buffets or family style meals! We are AP holders and have DDE, but that is still a lot to charge for 10 and 11 year olds to eat, most children this age do not eat that much food at one sitting. We now re-think buffets and character meals and do more a la carte restaurants.

 

[ben's disneymom]

My DS will turn 10 while we are there. I am told that I can still get him for the childs price as long as he is 9 when we get there. Is this right?

 

[Marmstrong]

We stressed about "paying too much" for my 10 year old to eat almost nothing last January. He'd just turned 10 and has ADHD and only eats one good meal a day. It used to be that he really liked breakfast foods but suddenly went weird on us last winter. He decided he doesn't like eggs or any breakfast meats! Of course he decided this after we got to WDW!

We weren't on dining plan, but had paid for Princess Breakfast at Epcot and Buffet Breakfast at Boma...he ate almost NOTHING and complained the whole time that his stomach hurt! AUGHHHH He ate off the kids menu at Garden Grill even though we paid adult price...at least he ate!

This year I'm plannning slightly smarter (I hope). Here's what I think I know...he may change again in the next 45 days though....

1) he needs an early breakfast before his medicine kicks in--otherwise his blood sugar drops and he gets a stomach ache and wont eat and it's a disaster. Breakfast will be cereal and milk or granola bars at the hotel. He's not hungry as soon as he gets up...so we may have to carry the granola bars with us to eat as we walk.

2) we're not scheduling any breakfasts ANYWHERE! I've scheduled one charater meal, a dinner, at Liberty Tree where the food is "Thanksgiving fare"...I know he'll eat turkey and ham and salad and probably one green veggie. I don't mind paying if he eats SOMETHING! He'll also eat dessert at dinner time!

Wish me luck...all other meals with children will be CS. His sister (8) is picky, but eats sufficient quantities of food if we get something she likes (chicken nuggets, mac cheese, ham....)

 

[erikthewise]

What some of us do is NOT do the Dining Plan.

If there are enough adults in your party who eat enough to justify the cost of DDP even with a child who doesn't eat much, then go ahead -- but then I don't see your problem. Otherwise, just say no!

We had a 10yo last month, and went to Boma and Garden Grill (fixed price), but even still I couldn't make the dining plan pay off for us. It works for some families and not for others.

 

[Akelaknowsbest]

We have three boys 10, 8, and 4. They will be 11, 9 and 5 when we travel.
They are really big eaters. Especially my 10 yr old. He is as thin as a rail but can just about eat his dad under the table. We had to "change" my 8 year old into a 10 yr old so he could order off the adult menu. I knew if he saw his brother getting great adult meals, he would be hating those kids meals! Last time we went he tolerated the kids menu. This time I knew it was going to be an issue.

 

[n2mm]

Yes this is why the DDP doesn't work for everyone. We passed on it when traveling with our then 10 year old grandson because he did not eat adult meals and we couldn't justify the cost. I don't eat much either, but hubby makes up for me. Grandson (now 13) eats better and adult food so we now buy the DDP.

OT: I have an adult son (28) who was/is ADD and eating was never an issue for him. He ate non-stop as a kid and still eats non-stop as an adult.

 

[BWVPam]

We went last year with my daughter who is 11 and eats like a bird. She only weighs 75 pounds and is 5'1". Her and I usually shared at the TS restaurants. We had enough extra table services to go to a character breakfast. We are now going again over Spring Break and plan to do the same thing. Of course it doesn't work if you go to a Buffet, but I think it is still worth the money. By the time you figure that drinks, tax and gratuity are already included.