2020 dining plan changes- game changer! DxDP - any plan changes or credit sharing issues?

[kaytieeldr]

I guess now the question I have is where do you get the most bang for your buck/credit as far as kids meals?

Buffets and All You Care to Eats

 

[siren0119]

Moving forward, yes it is acceptable.

However, didn't the rules always state that it needed to be redeemed for a child meal "where available", but could be redeemed for adult meals from CS restaurants without kids menus?

This is not a matter of closing a loophole, it is changing the rules after both parties agreed to the terms. Yes, Disney reserves the right to make changes, doesn't mean it is ethical to sell one product but provide another.

The rule officially states that children must order from children's menus where available, but does not specify what a guest is supposed to do in the case of a place without childrens meals available (in other words, it is not explicitly stated that a child credit can be used on an adult meal in those places).

I do think that if Disney was going to enforce the existing rules they should have had the foresight to add a "child credit" button to the register at places without official childrens menus. But the rules are as they have always been (child credits for childrens menu only, adult credits for adult menu only) - it seems they just updated the dining credit system to allow enforcement of the rules. Not quite the same as a bait and switch.

 

[ugagal07]

Do the kids' meals have any flexibility as to drinks? Milk and water, while healthy, are a bummer for vacation. Can they get a soda, Powerade, Lemonade, etc instead of the "small Dasani water or 2% milk"?

It currently says:
Each Quick-Service meal includes (for breakfast, lunch or dinner):

• 1 Entrée
• 1 Nonalcoholic Beverage (or Alcoholic Beverage, for Guests 21 and older)

It's our first trip with kids, so the dining plan is basically a must with character meals, but they will not be thrilled with Uncrustables, turkey sandwiches, macaroni, chicken nuggets, grapes, carrot sticks, milk, and water outside of character meals... Especially if we are eating more appealing food. I'm not re-doing our plans to find restaurants with kids' menus who have something else, and sadly there aren't many...

 

[KayaWildfire]

This is a real bummer. I’ve spent hours and hours planning and making dining reservations. Now I have to go back and scale down and change up our whole itinerary. I guess now the question I have is where do you get the most bang for your buck/credit as far as kids meals? If we’re going to have our 105 lb 9yr old ordering kids meals, they need to be filling! My plan now is to eat at table service locations where we can order multiple kids meals (for adults too) to use up all those credits. Liberty Tree Tavern type places. I’m assuming that we could dine there and my husband use a TS credit on an adult meal and then both my son and myself use a kids credit There’s nothing saying that I would have to order off the adult menu, is there?

Just so you know, the kids meals at liberty tree are quite pitiful. We are there earlier today and our 9 year old was hungry after eating there. And she isn't a big eater and we had the deluxe plan so she got an appetizer and dessert too.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Do the kids' meals have any flexibility as to drinks? Milk and water, while healthy, are a bummer for vacation. Can they get a soda, Powerade, Lemonade, etc instead of the "small Dasani water or 2% milk"?

It currently says:
Each Quick-Service meal includes (for breakfast, lunch or dinner):

• 1 Entrée
• 1 Nonalcoholic Beverage (or Alcoholic Beverage, for Guests 21 and older)

It's our first trip with kids, so the dining plan is basically a must with character meals, but they will not be thrilled with Uncrustables, turkey sandwiches, macaroni, chicken nuggets, grapes, carrot sticks, milk, and water outside of character meals... Especially if we are eating more appealing food. I'm not re-doing our plans to find restaurants with kids' menus who have something else, and sadly there aren't many...

Yeah they should be able to get any drink they want pretty much.

Where are your QS meals planned for? Some of them still have some unique options for food also

 

[AngelaWag]

Buffets and All You Care to Eats

Yeah but if we eat at a buffet then the adults are required to use an adult TS credit. With this new system, we are going to have a bunch of extra kid credits to use. I don’t want to waste them on $7 quick service kids meals. I also won’t have enough adult credits to continue eating at expensive buffets and have to use two adult credits. I’m thinking that we can eat at other sit down options where we can use just one adult credit and two child credits.

 

[ugagal07]

Yeah they should be able to get any drink they want pretty much.

Where are your QS meals planned for? Some of them still have some unique options for food also

Flametree, La Cantina de Angel, Casey's, TBD in HS. They have more unique options, but still SUPER limited. Flametree has no BBQ on the kids' menu so I guess they both get drumsticks and we swap. Happy kids will make for a smoother trip.

 

[pannm]

Anyone else wish that we were given a heads up? We just finished our last payment and can't make changes anymore. I would have dropped the dinning plan if I knew it was going to switch over like this. My 1 daughter who now MUST order from the kids menu isn't the "regular kid" and she will not be satisfied with having the same burger and lame fries or chicken strips or hot dog every single meal. If Disney is going to force kids to order from the kids menus, they need better food options and choices need to be expanded. How hard is it for them to serve a 1/2 size portion of an adult meal?

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

We just got back last week from a Free Dining trip with the regular DDP. Our 8 year-old was fine eating kids menu options for TS meals but always ordered off the adult menu for QS because he is a vegetarian and wanted more adventurous choices than uncrustables and mac n cheese. He cleaned his plate with the plant-based adult options at BoG, Satuli Canteen, and Docking Bay 7. Disney in general makes a profit off vegetarians on the Dining Plan, but this change means we definitely won't consider ever getting it going forward. Too little flexibility for too high an initial investment. At least we'll have the memories of our last trip to savor!

 

[AngelaWag]

Just so you know, the kids meals at liberty tree are quite pitiful. We are there earlier today and our 9 year old was hungry after eating there. And she isn't a big eater and we had the deluxe plan so she got an appetizer and dessert too.

So with a kids TS credit at a place like Liberty Tree, Mama Melrose, San Angel, etc. they get an appetizer and dessert too? I thought that was only with the adult credits. That seems like a fair amount of food for a kids credit, if indeed they get app, entrée, dessert and drink! Much more than what they'd get with a kids credit at a quick service restaurant. We have deluxe dining as well... but only one adult and two children in the room. The other two adults (one only 13yrs) are in a different room with no dining plan. So as you can see, with the new system we are going to be short on adult credits and have an abundance of child credits. I'm trying to spread them best I can to get as many table service meals as possible... even if it means that I eat a kids meal at some.

 

[ejgonz2]

So with a kids TS credit at a place like Liberty Tree, Mama Melrose, San Angel, etc. they get an appetizer and dessert too? I thought that was only with the adult credits. That seems like a fair amount of food for a kids credit, if indeed they get app, entrée, dessert and drink! Much more than what they'd get with a kids credit at a quick service restaurant. We have deluxe dining as well... but only one adult and two children in the room. The other two adults (one only 13yrs) are in a different room with no dining plan. So as you can see, with the new system we are going to be short on adult credits and have an abundance of child credits. I'm trying to spread them best I can to get as many table service meals as possible... even if it means that I eat a kids meal at some.

Deluxe credits get them an appetizer. TS or Deluxe get dessert.

 

[Pumbaa_]

You can age your child up and pay for the adult plan for her. Would have to do the same for tickets, but it is an option

 

[Pumbaa_]

A child’s ‘app’ & ‘dessert’ may not be reflective of what you think that term means. A Mickey check meal includes app, entree and dessert. Just trying to level expectations.

as for the kids in the room w dxdp. It was a gamble. You rolled the dice and lost. Happens. I don’t know if you will be able to order a child meal at a ts using a child credit. It’s just too new to know. But I would make a plan c & d

 

[AngelaWag]

A child’s ‘app’ & ‘dessert’ may not be reflective of what you think that term means. A Mickey check meal includes app, entree and dessert. Just trying to level expectations.

as for the kids in the room w dxdp. It was a gamble. You rolled the dice and lost. Happens. I don’t know if you will be able to order a child meal at a ts using a child credit. It’s just too new to know. But I would make a plan c & d

Yep. We've benefited from the sharable credits for several trips so I'm thankful for at least that. This time around we're getting free kids dining so it still makes sense for us to pay for one adult deluxe plan. But for sure in the future we will not be paying out of pocket for dining plans... if they're not free then we won't be getting them. As for plan c and d... I'll just say that my husband and I are sharing his meal and we're ordering an extra childs meal for our 1 year old. They can't really argue with that, right?

 

[sharonabe]

Anyone else wish that we were given a heads up? We just finished our last payment and can't make changes anymore. I would have dropped the dinning plan if I knew it was going to switch over like this. My 1 daughter who now MUST order from the kids menu isn't the "regular kid" and she will not be satisfied with having the same burger and lame fries or chicken strips or hot dog every single meal. If Disney is going to force kids to order from the kids menus, they need better food options and choices need to be expanded. How hard is it for them to serve a 1/2 size portion of an adult meal?

You can still make changes even after your last payment, but you will probably be charged a change fee. May be worth a call to find out what that might be.

 

[tripplanner2]

This is a real bummer. I’ve spent hours and hours planning and making dining reservations. Now I have to go back and scale down and change up our whole itinerary. I guess now the question I have is where do you get the most bang for your buck/credit as far as kids meals? If we’re going to have our 105 lb 9yr old ordering kids meals, they need to be filling! My plan now is to eat at table service locations where we can order multiple kids meals (for adults too) to use up all those credits. Liberty Tree Tavern type places. I’m assuming that we could dine there and my husband use a TS credit on an adult meal and then both my son and myself use a kids credit There’s nothing saying that I would have to order off the adult menu, is there?

When my kids were still considered "kids" I would pay the difference in the ticket price from a kids ticket to an adult ticket so they could eat off of the adult menu. I always did this during free dining, which was not free but a good discount.

 

[sponica]

Anyone else wish that we were given a heads up? We just finished our last payment and can't make changes anymore. I would have dropped the dinning plan if I knew it was going to switch over like this. My 1 daughter who now MUST order from the kids menu isn't the "regular kid" and she will not be satisfied with having the same burger and lame fries or chicken strips or hot dog every single meal. If Disney is going to force kids to order from the kids menus, they need better food options and choices need to be expanded. How hard is it for them to serve a 1/2 size portion of an adult meal?

I think you can make changes; they just charge you a change fee for anything within 30 days. I want to say it's $50. Only you can decide if getting the Dining Plan Money - 50 and using the funds to pay OOP is a good idea for you

 

[AngelaWag]

So at table service restaurants that do not have a kids appetizer or dessert menu, do they get to order their app and dessert from regular menu? Or do they just not get one at all??

 

[jessiegirl1982]

When my kids were still considered "kids" I would pay the difference in the ticket price from a kids ticket to an adult ticket so they could eat off of the adult menu. I always did this during free dining, which was not free but a good discount.

Yes! My almost 6 year old magically aged 4 years today! He would NOT eat an Uncrustables if his life depended on it! Most meals he eats more than I do!

 

[sharonabe]

So at table service restaurants that do not have a kids appetizer or dessert menu, do they get to order their app and dessert from regular menu? Or do they just not get one at all??

I'm fairly certain that all TS have apps and desserts for the kids too. They may be hiding in the "Mickey check" meal descriptions, but they are there.