10 yo son on dining plan

[ilovediznee]

Our DD will also be an adult next year - just had our last trip with child prices...anyway, a suggestion given to me was that since you will be paying for an adult - in our case - three adults next year, split some meals. There were plenty of meals that my DD ate some of mine off this past time and I was fine. My DH is a big eater but it was so hot I couldn't eat that much. That way for those meals they do want to eat steak and such you would have it and possibly add some signature meals as well.

I would analyze the menus and calculate it all out and see what you come up with.

Good luck - Diane

 

[dzorn]

when we go to disney my son will be 10 yo 2 months before we go. He barely eats anything at all. my concern is that I will be spending all this money for a dining plan that he does not hardly use. any suggestions?

Skip the dining plan. We stopped when DD turned 10. The dining plan can be a great deal if you have children on the dining plan under 10 otherwise I think you can do better without it.

Denise in MI

 

[MissUndastood]

DDP is not always the most cost effective nor does it work for everyone. We used it once and that was enough.

 

[Marionnette]

when we go to disney my son will be 10 yo 2 months before we go. He barely eats anything at all. my concern is that I will be spending all this money for a dining plan that he does not hardly use. any suggestions?

As I see it, you have three options. Well, actually 4, but I'm not touching that third rail. You can just leave it to your imagination.

You can

1. Skip the dining plan and pay out of pocket for everyone.
2. Buy the dining plan and use your son's credit for yourself and husband. Then pay out of pocket for what your son eats.
3. Go during free dining when his age won't matter.

The dining plan is not a good deal for everyone but if you plan to do buffets where you will be paying the adult price for your son, then it could still be worth it for you.

 

[SandrA9810]

I always used the dining plan as the prime time to eat at character buffets. My ex always ordered off the kids menu, unless it was splurging on a double cheese burger... So any time we stayed at the resorts, we always did buffets that would automatically charge her an adult price, so it felt like we were getting our monies worth. For us, resort stays and dining plan were not all that often. I don't think it would work well for a week long vacation, unless your trip is about eating around the World.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

If you want to pre-pay, put the money you would spent on the DP on a giftcard and use that to pay for the meals.

Another fantastic idea! We do this for Disneyland Resort *the dining plan there is never free and no where near as good as the WDW plans* I prefer to have 1 card and add $$ to it by calling DelivEARS ~877-560-6477*you give the CM your credit/debit card info and they mail you the receipt. Last time I did this *a couple months ago* the $$ was on the GC the next day. This way you only have 1 card to keep track of - make sure you record the card & pin #s *I like to email them to myself* if you lose the card they have to put the money back on a card, call as soon as you realize it's missing *if that happens* in case someone finds it and starts using it.....

 

[mousebymarriage]

I agree with the posters that said you may want to skip the dining plan for now, at least until he's a bit older. Yes, he can stilll eat off the "kids section" at the buffets but you will still be charged the adult price for him, and I think if you have the dining plan he can still order from the kids menu but since the dining plan is pre-paid you actually paid the adult price anyway.

When my DD14 was 9 there were definatley times that I would switch meals with her because she was so sick of eating off the kids menu and honestly I never thought about bumping up her age (I wish I would have). When she turned 10 the dining plan worked well for us because she likes a variety of things and had a bigger appetite than 4 or 5 chicken nuggets, small bag of carrots and 6 grapes.

Now, DS10 on the other hand is not really an adventurous eater and he has a very small appetite. We just came back from Disney World and celebrated his 10th birthday there (it was a long weekend trip and we only visited 1 park -MK which was on his actual birthday-June 27th). Since the trip was so short we didn't do the dining plan but, we did eat dinner at Chef Mickeys on his birthday. The total bill out of pocket was $192.00 PLUS tip. That bill was for four people (all adults since DS10 is now an adult in Disneys eyes), no alcohol was ordered but, we did order (at the check in desk when we got there) a small 6 inch cake for DS, I think that cost $20 or $22. So without the cake the meal, a buffet, for four people was $172, and DS ate a few chicken nuggets, some veggies, and some mashed potatoes, and 2 bites of mac and cheese, and he didn't even have soda because he doesn't like it so he ordered water.

 

[mom2randj]

Now, DS10 on the other hand is not really an adventurous eater and he has a very small appetite. We just came back from Disney World and celebrated his 10th birthday there (it was a long weekend trip and we only visited 1 park -MK which was on his actual birthday-June 27th). Since the trip was so short we didn't do the dining plan but, we did eat dinner at Chef Mickeys on his birthday. The total bill out of pocket was $192.00 PLUS tip. That bill was for four people (all adults since DS10 is now an adult in Disneys eyes), no alcohol was ordered but, we did order (at the check in desk when we got there) a small 6 inch cake for DS, I think that cost $20 or $22. So without the cake the meal, a buffet, for four people was $172, and DS ate a few chicken nuggets, some veggies, and some mashed potatoes, and 2 bites of mac and cheese, and he didn't even have soda because he doesn't like it so he ordered water.

And that's exactly why we are doing the DDP with our 8 and 10 year old. Wow! I know I would be pondering our bill the whole time if we didn't.

 

[ancestry]

After the kids turned 10 we no longer used the DDP, it just wasn't cost efficient. Price out the meals you'd eat with and without the dining plan and see what's the best deal. Unless you're doing a lot of character meals/buffets, you're probably better off paying out of pocket.

I agree with this. We got the best value on the dining plan when our children were kids. I don't find it to be a really good value for adults unless you do a lot of buffets.

We usually try to have annual passes and a TIW card. The TIW card saves us 20% at each meal and we can eat what we want instead of being shoe-horned into the dining plan requirements (i.e. we prefer appetizers instead of desserts).