2 child cs for 1 adult cs?

[twinkletoesmom]

I'm looking at all the kids menu's for the cs and I know my kids won't be happy with the choices. Do you think the will let me get 1 adult cs and charge me for 2 kids. I'm not trying to cheat Disney or anything I just want my kids to eat while we are there and they won't touch most of the food on the kids menu's. The more I am looking at the cs menu's the more I am getting worried!

 

[bicker]

No, sorry. There is no exchanging between child CS and adult CS.

If there was going to be an exchange, it would be closer to 4-to-1, not 2-to-1.

 

[twinkletoesmom]

No, sorry. There is no exchanging between child CS and adult CS.

If there was going to be an exchange, it would be closer to 4-to-1, not 2-to-1.

Well that doesn't add up an adult cs is $6.50- 7.99 and a kids meal is $3.99. So 4-to-1 is $16 to $7 & 2-to-1 is $8 to $7. I think the 2-to-1 is closer.

 

[minnie61650]

I am sorry. They will not exchange a child CS meal for an adult CS meal. Not for 1,2,3. or 4 child CS credits.
Children must order from the child's menu when one is available.
If your children will not eat from a child's menu than perhaps the DDP is not a good plan for you.

 

[twinkletoesmom]

I am sorry. They will not exchange a child CS meal for an adult CS meal. Not for 1,2,3. or 4 child CS credits.
Children must order from the child's menu when one is available.
If your children will not eat from a child's menu than perhaps the DDP is not a good plan for you.

That's what I'm thinking.

 

[Lila95]

When I expressed the same concern, someone pointed out that I could get the kids meal for the fries and drink, then pay OOP for an adult sandwich, salad, etc. (not the meal) to replace the kids main course. This way it is still cost effective to use the DDP. Also, check out the CS menus online. Some to have a specific kids menu. Maybe you could try those.

 

[BlindTyldak]

at some restaurants, if you make a REASONABLE request, they will do an exchange AT THE CHEF AND WAITERS DISCRESSION (capped so that it would be understood that this is not a policy, but an occasional favor). we ate at CR and my DD wouldn't touch a single thing on the kids menu at the time. I asked if there was any way she could get just a small, plain chicken breast or even half of one, and a couple of carrots, and they were more than happy to fill the request since both items were things that were normal in the kitchen, there were other chicken breast offerings on the menu, and carrots were a veggie option that night. it appeared on the bill itemized as the most expensive childs meal offered and removed as a Wish as normal (it was wishes, not TS credits at the time).

it always pays to ask nicely and think ahead about what would be most likely to be considered at each venue. we were happily surprised.

 

[minnie61650]

When I expressed the same concern, someone pointed out that I could get the kids meal for the fries and drink, then pay OOP for an adult sandwich, salad, etc. (not the meal) to replace the kids main course. This way it is still cost effective to use the DDP. Also, check out the CS menus online. Some to have a specific kids menu. Maybe you could try those.

That is a good idea!

Here is a link to some menus if you have not already checked them out.

http://allearsnet.com/menu/menus.htm

Good Luck and have fun t Disney!

 

[wahoolio]

twinkletoesmom -- we just got back from a week at WDW on the dining plan with 3 kids under 9 years old. My 7-year-old would also not have been happy with the "mandatory" kids' meal option" at a number of the restaurants where we dined.

In reading these forums for a number of months before our trip, and particularly those involving the great "adult meal for a child credit" debate, I must say that I tend to lean toward the "Bicker Camp" philosophically -- you shouldn't get something that you know you're not paying for -- even if the "rules" are routinely ignored in practice by those who made them.

That said, there were a couple of occasions when we did indeed order off the CS adult menu for our DS7, even when a kids' menu was available. In each instance, the staff did not bat so much as an eyelash. In fact, given our experience, if we had walked right up to the counter with each of our two obviously-less-than-9-year-old kids and ordered 4 CS adult meals with our 2 CS adult and 2 CS child credits, they still would not have batted so much as an eyelash. Right or wrong, that was pretty much our experience this past week.

Look, so long as your conscience won't torment you all week so that you can't enjoy your vacation, if it comes up a few times you should rest assured that if you're polite and patient, the servers will work with you to get you what you want out of the DDP, within reason, even if it's technically "against the rules."

 

[bicker]

Well that doesn't add up an adult cs is $6.50- 7.99 and a kids meal is $3.99. So 4-to-1 is $16 to $7 & 2-to-1 is $8 to $7. I think the 2-to-1 is closer.

Child Dining Plan is $12. Adult Dining Plan is $38. So it is somewhere between 3-to-1 and 4-to-1, so figuring that they'd always go for more than less, that makes it 4-to-1.

you shouldn't get something that you know you're not paying for -- even if the "rules" are routinely ignored in practice by those who made them.

That's really it. Just because you can get away with something doesn't mean that you should pursue it. It's wrong, and there's no way around that. If the child meals aren't going to do it for you, that might be more than enough reason to forego the Dining Plan entirely. That's the legitimate customer's discretion.

 

[twinkletoesmom]

Child Dining Plan is $12. Adult Dining Plan is $38. So it is somewhere between 3-to-1 and 4-to-1, so figuring that they'd always go for more than less, that makes it 4-to-1.

That's really it. Just because you can get away with something doesn't mean that you should pursue it. It's wrong, and there's no way around that. If the child meals aren't going to do it for you, that might be more than enough reason to forego the Dining Plan entirely. That's the legitimate customer's discretion.

Again you are calculating wrong. I am only talking about the cs meals ONLY so the fact the the c ddp is $12 (actually 10.99 I think) does not matter. I don't want to exchange everything for Adult meals. I want to Take 2 (yes 2) child CS's (total $8) for 1 adult cs (total $6.50-7.99) SO I WOULD NOT BE GETTING ANYTHING THAT I AM NOT PAYING FOR. In fact I would probaly be getting LESS food.

ALSO I'M NOT TRYING TO GET AWAY W/ ANYTHING. THATS WHY I ASKED. IF I WANTED TO GET AWAY W/ IT THEN I QUESS I WOULDN'T CARE IF IT WAS ALLOWED, WOULD I. DON'T WORRY I FOUND THE ANSWER I NEEDED I WON'T 'CHEAT' DISNEY.

PLEASE DO NOT TURN THIS INTO A THREAD WHERE EVERYONE BICKERS OVER THE RULES OF THE DDP. IF YOU WISH TO DO THAT THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHER THREADS FOR THAT.

 

[Lewisc]

The value of a snack is $2-$4 and the value of a kids chacter meal is around $15 with tax and tip. You can skip every child CS meal and still come out ahead. There are some CS that offer decent kids meals. Some of the CS restaurants, particularly in the resorts, might give you a child portion of an adult item if you ask nicely and you can always use your childs CS meal for the drink and fries.

Disney has a dollar value associated with each item. The non-Disney restaurants are reimbursed a flat amount, regardless of what you order. The adult CS meal is $8-$9, I don't know what it is for a child CS meal. Remember the snack is the same for both adults and children. My guess is the snack is valued at around $2.

Disney is keeping the plan simple. They coud go to a straight credit system. 1 credit gets you a snack, 2 credits a kids CS meal, 4 credits an adult CS meal and so on. Having a way to up a kids meal to an adults meal, either with cash or extra credits, might benefit some guests.

 

[Lila95]

I forgot to mention this in my first post, but another thought I had when considering the DDP for DD9 is that I can use her CS for breakfast. We're staying at POFQ, and their CS kids breakfast is just a smaller version of the adult breakfast platter. Then I either pay OOP for lunch and let her get whatever she wants, or use her snack credits for a quick bite if she's not hungry.

If you have any character meals planned you break even just with that one meal. Two of our ADR's are at O'Hana and the character dinner at LTT. There the kids eat the same meal as the adults. The kids dinner at those restaraunts run $11.99 and $12.99. At that price, I am paying for dinner only and getting a CS and a snack for free. To me that makes it all worth while. Look at your TS selections and see if it makes the cost of the kids plan worth your while.

 

[frannn]

The value of a snack is $2-$4 and the value of a kids chacter meal is around $15 with tax and tip. You can skip every child CS meal and still come out ahead. There are some CS that offer decent kids meals. Some of the CS restaurants, particularly in the resorts, might give you a child portion of an adult item if you ask nicely and you can always use your childs CS meal for the drink and fries.

Disney has a dollar value associated with each item. The non-Disney restaurants are reimbursed a flat amount, regardless of what you order. The adult CS meal is $8-$9, I don't know what it is for a child CS meal. Remember the snack is the same for both adults and children. My guess is the snack is valued at around $2.

Disney is keeping the plan simple. They coud go to a straight credit system. 1 credit gets you a snack, 2 credits a kids CS meal, 4 credits an adult CS meal and so on. Having a way to up a kids meal to an adults meal, either with cash or extra credits, might benefit some guests.

Once you get up to the cashiers, would they recognize that you have a child's meal, or does it not matter? I would love to get DH and I our CS meals, and choose something other than the usual kid fare for DD3 (instead of chicken fingers, maybe a smaller portion of london broil, or turkey breast, etc). If you are able to get a smaller portion to be served as a kid's meal, how would the cashier know it's a kid's & not adult's? Not trying to make things more complicated, as we have DDP free this time. Just wondering for the future, when we have to pay OOP.

 

[salmoneous]

If your children will not eat from a child's menu than perhaps the DDP is not a good plan for you.

I disagree slightly. The DDP for children is an extrodinary bargains. If you just use the snack and TS credits you can come out far ahead. If there are TS and snacks your children will eat, go ahead and get the DDP even if they don't want to eat any of the CS child menu items (though, really, look around, there are few kids so pickey they can find some CS restaurant with something they like).

 

[bamabelle]

I'm looking at all the kids menu's for the cs and I know my kids won't be happy with the choices. Do you think the will let me get 1 adult cs and charge me for 2 kids. I'm not trying to cheat Disney or anything I just want my kids to eat while we are there and they won't touch most of the food on the kids menu's. The more I am looking at the cs menu's the more I am getting worried!

I just returned from Disney and nowhere at any CS did they care what you ordered. You can order a kids CS for you if you want to . How ever many DDP's you bought, regardless if they were kids or adults, you get that many credits. We had 4 per day, 2A and 2C and we usually only used three. The meals are so big you can easily share. On our last day, we had 9 CS credits left. They never asked were they kids or adults and all four of us had an adult breakfast and we took for the ride home 5 CS lunches. So I would say YES, you can use your credits how ever you please. You will find out after the first day that the portions can be shared especially if you have kids who don't eat much! Feel free to PM me if you want more detailed info!

edit: After reading some of the above posts, I feel I needed to edit.

I don't feel like I ripped Disney off one bit for how we used the plan. If they wanted to hold people to a strict standard of how to use the credits, they should have designed their system to differentiate adult credits from child credits. After all the money you spend on accommodations, souveniers, other snacks and treats, Disney is still coming out WAY ahead! I don't see this plan staying around for long though, because there is NO way they can make money off of this. I guess there are still plenty of people who are not using it and their spending makes up for what they lose off DDP people.

Oh yea, our snack shop in the Poly was selling family sized bags of Doritoes and 2 liter bottles of Dasani as a snack. Someone at Disney has set the guidelines for what a snack it, etc. and they obviously think they way they are doing it is right.

Unless you lead a completely perfect life, don't judge people on how they spend their money or use their DDP!!

 

[zookeeper]

I tend to fall on the side of fence that thinks you should order kids meals if that's what the brochure says. However, after all these debates I still don't understand how a CM can refuse to allow you to purchase Adult CS meals. if I (as an adult) choose to use 2 of my adult credits at a time and save my child's CS credits for another meal (for my child) what difference does it make? I realize that not everyone is using credits properly, but until there's a time when the CM's can actually count meals served as Adult or Child I don't see how they can reasonably refuse to serve you ? Perhaps because of this most CM's don't bother debating it with individual customers and just let them order whatever. From other posts, though, it does seem like you may come across the odd 1 or 2 CM's that are sticklers for the rules.

 

[bicker]

Again you are calculating wrong.

I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree. Disney has never indicated what percentage of your daily costs goes toward each type of credit, so you can move the numbers around any way you wish. People could use Coral Reef dinner to set the contribution for TS credits and get one number, and people could use Cinderella's Royal Table breakfast to set the contribution for TS credits and get a completely different number, on the opposite side of the scale. Similarly, with CS, you could use the $13 platter as Cosmic Rays as the basis for comparison, or you can use some much lower priced CS option. With such wide variations, it only makes sense to use the totals as the absolute comparisions.

In the end, it is academic since Disney doesn't offer that option regardless.

 

[bicker]

I realize that not everyone is using credits properly, but until there's a time when the CM's can actually count meals served as Adult or Child I don't see how they can reasonably refuse to serve you?

That's really the crux of the problem: They surely can, and have, applied restirctions, beyond what some guests would consider "reasonable". In one recent thread, a DIS member described this happening to them at Yachtsman Steakhouse, and I'm sure it has happened to others as well. The abuse, combine with the absence of a technical means of differentiating the credits in the "pool", has prompted some application of restrictions that you may not like. They can, and therefore apparently will do it, until there is a technical way of telling credits apart.

 

[Lewisc]

Actually for the non-Disney owned restaurants if you can watch the register you can actually see your bill being discounted down to what Disney is paying them. EOS actually showed a dining plan discount on the receipt. Last year the CS meal was $8-$9, my memory is it was $8.45 but I could be off. The TS allocation was around $22 but I think the gratuity was was additional. Last year the $35 meal plan was around $25 for the TS meal, $8 for the CS and about $2 for the snack.

Different guest may have different perceived values but those numbers are the approximate allocation last year.

I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree. Disney has never indicated what percentage of your daily costs goes toward each type of credit, so you can move the numbers around any way you wish. People could use Coral Reef dinner to set the contribution for TS credits and get one number, and people could use Cinderella's Royal Table breakfast to set the contribution for TS credits and get a completely different number, on the opposite side of the scale. Similarly, with CS, you could use the $13 platter as Cosmic Rays as the basis for comparison, or you can use some much lower priced CS option. With such wide variations, it only makes sense to use the totals as the absolute comparisions.

In the end, it is academic since Disney doesn't offer that option regardless.