10 yo son on the dining plan????

[jkp_9192002]

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?

 

[Cafeen]

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?

You have a few options.

1) Pay OOP for any Kids' meals he orders. Save the credits for the other adults. Since a 10 year old is an "adult", you (or whoever else) can use those credits just fine. This may give you the chance to go to a few more places than you otherwise would. Do not do this for buffets and the like though, as he'll still be charged adult price so it's best to use a TS credit for him here.

2) Drop the DDP. The estimated "cost" of 1 TS credit is around $28.50 (2011 DDP). If he's eating mostly Kids' meals at roughly $8 each, that's a loss of $20.50 per meal. While you may save some money with the other adults, losing $20 per meal is going to hurt, big time. (I don't have the number handy, but I believe this "cost" jumps to around $30 with the 2012 DDP)

3) Do nothing (not recommended!). Unless you are on FD (which, it doesn't look like by your post), then doing nothing is going to make you lose money. So don't do it .

1 or 2 would be your best bets and it totally depends on how you plan to dine and what you want to get out of the plan. If you and the rest of the party seek to dine the way that it suggests, then doing option 1 may work out well. If not, then certainly go with OOP. If you like the idea of the pre-budgeting, then drop the money you'd use buying a plan onto a Gift Card and use that to pay off the room charges.

Option 1 also only works for DDP (Disney Dining Plan), due to the large number of credits, it will not work out on the DxDDP (Deluxe Disney Dining Plan). If you're considering DxDDP, then you're going to have to either eat the extra cost, or go OOP for the trip.

 

[jkp_9192002]

i can't believe i am asking this...how would they know if my son is 9 or 10?

 

[kaytieeldr]

They will ask you and you will be truthful. You have to buy him adult tickets, since at ten he's an adult for ticket price purposes.

Anything else would violate DIS guidelines and get this thread shut down.

Just go with Cafeen's Option # 2.

 

[jkp_9192002]

geez.....really i am not trying to shut the thread down. I was just asking. I am sure I am not the only one that has asked that.

 

[robinb]

I do feel your pain! That is why we stopped buying the DDP until my DD can eat like the adult she will be charged as (Cafeen's suggestion #2). We *have* done Free Dining in the past year and in that case we payed OOP for some of her kids meals and saved her credits for buffets and additional meals for the real adults in the family (Cafeen's suggestion #1). For every 2 meals she ate OOP from the kid's menu, her father and I could eat another TS meal using her credits.

geez.....really i am not trying to shut the thread down. I was just asking. I am sure I am not the only one that has asked that.

The Mouse knows all! If you have been to WDW before they know the age of your child on your last trip. They may even have his birthday if you shared that information in the past. Plus ... if you say he is a "child" then you are restricted to kids meals only at the CS restaurants too. My DD outgrew most of those a long time ago.

 

[kaytieeldr]

geez.....really i am not trying to shut the thread down. I was just asking. I am sure I am not the only one that has asked that.

You don't post often, so it's unknown how frequently you read these boards, but it's against DIS policy to discuss ways of getting around Disney rules/policies. Misrepresenting a child's age to cut down on how much one spends on a package would be an example of that.

 

[Nadjalu]

Your best option is to do as PP said, use his credits for you and your spouse. Then pay OOP for the little that he eats.

Problem solved.

Also another thing is to look at appetizers. Some restaurants will allow him to get that as his entree.
If he doesn't like the appy, you and DH split it and give him a little bit of food off your plate.

 

[honeymo78]

Your best option is to do as PP said, use his credits for you and your spouse. Then pay OOP for the little that he eats.

Problem solved.

Also another thing is to look at appetizers. Some restaurants will allow him to get that as his entree.
If he doesn't like the appy, you and DH split it and give him a little bit of food off your plate.

Is that new? Based on personal experience and reading reports here, they will not allow you to order get an appetizer instead of an entree. Perhaps things have changed.

 

[LilyWDW]

Is that new? Based on personal experience and reading reports here, they will not allow you to order get an appetizer instead of an entree. Perhaps things have changed.

As the PP said, SOME will allow it. It is 100% up to the restaurant and the server. I will say, I would not go into it expecting to be allowed to order an appetizer as on entree on the dining plan.

 

[kappyfamily]

This is the reason we are going oop on this trip. Our DD will just have turned ten as well and I think sometimes she might eat an adult meal but mostly it would be kids meals. Oop also works best because at counter service and from what I have read also at table service you can get a kids meal even though she is ten.

I have read that restaurants are just fine with them ordering kids meals and just a couple have said no. There are even adults that order off kids menu. So again this is why we are doing oop this time, so we have the flexibility for her to either order adult or kids.

Hope this helps!

 

[MrsLS]

This is why the dining plan is not for every family. If it won't work for your's, I wouldn't get the dining plan. You don't have to get the plan, unless of course its free, then it doesn't cost you anything if you don't use it.