AGE??? Free Dining Plan???

[Irelandred11]

We are traveling to Disney 8/19 through 8?28 and have the "free dining plan" included. Why should we be concerned about the ages of our children if the plan is free?? I see some people are in a panic over the age of their child but if the plan is free why are they??

 

[threeboysmom]

I think the concern comes with children over the age of 9 who still want to order off the kids menu. I know I am in that situation with my 13 DS. Even though he is an "adult" on the free dining plan, he will want to order off the kids menu. People (including me) are afraid they will not be allowed to do so. Hopefully, the servers won't tell him he can't just to "up" their tips....

 

[maxaroni]

I think the concern comes with children over the age of 9 who still want to order off the kids menu. I know I am in that situation with my 13 DS. Even though he is an "adult" on the free dining plan, he will want to order off the kids menu. People (including me) are afraid they will not be allowed to do so. Hopefully, the servers won't tell him he can't just to "up" their tips....

That's exactly it. We have ds12, who can't eat an adult portion of food. We had planned to have him eat for 3 meals off of the kids menu and pay out of pocket and then use those credits for a character breakfast on our last day. We aren't trying to use the loophole of having childs credits go towards and adult meal, he has adult credits. If we get charged an adult price for a kid size bowl of mac and cheese, that hardly is worth it. What we may do is share 2 TS meals, for the 3 of us as I'm a lighter eater anyway. I'll just order a plain pc of chicken or something.

 

[Anewman]

Some that hoped to pay out of pocket for a $5-6 kids meal and save that TS credit to use on an ADULT priced $20 and up meal maybe unable to do so. They bank those TS credits in order to be able to do more TS or 2 credit meals like HDDR. I agree that it is not a huge concern, but remember some folks gave up hundreds of dollars in room discounts in order to get the "free" dining.

But I really dont think the free dining crowd are the ones panicing. It is the pay out of pocket Buffet diners that have the biggest concerns, kids 10 and 11 used to pay a reasonable kids price and felt that even that way there kids did not eat enough to justify the price. Now those 10 and 11 year old kids have to pay full adult price($20 and up) even if they just eat a couple of chicken fingers from the buffet.

 

[j's m]

That's exactly it. We have ds12, who can't eat an adult portion of food. We had planned to have him eat for 3 meals off of the kids menu and pay out of pocket and then use those credits for a character breakfast on our last day. We aren't trying to use the loophole of having childs credits go towards and adult meal, he has adult credits. If we get charged an adult price for a kid size bowl of mac and cheese, that hardly is worth it. What we may do is share 2 TS meals, for the 3 of us as I'm a lighter eater anyway. I'll just order a plain pc of chicken or something.

Have the restaurants started a plate sharing charge? Around here, some restaurants charge anywhere from $ 2-5 for sharing.

 

[jjohnson]

Some that hoped to pay out of pocket for a $5-6 kids meal and save that TS credit to use on an ADULT priced $20 and up meal maybe unable to do so. They bank those TS credits in order to be able to do more TS or 2 credit meals like HDDR. I agree that it is not a huge concern, but remember some folks gave up hundreds of dollars in room discounts in order to get the "free" dining.

But I really dont think the free dining crowd are the ones panicing. It is the pay out of pocket Buffet diners that have the biggest concerns, kids 10 and 11 used to pay a reasonable kids price and felt that even that way there kids did not eat enough to justify the price. Now those 10 and 11 year old kids have to pay full adult price($20 and up) even if they just eat a couple of chicken fingers from the buffet.

No free dining here. We have an AP & DDE card.

 

[ksjayhawkfan]

There are also people that paid for the dining plan that arent going at the times "free dining" was offered.

 

[Lewisc]

but remember some folks gave up hundreds of dollars in room discounts in order to get the "free" dining.

Not really true. The dining plan costs $35/adult or $70 for two parents. Current room discounts don't exceed $70. The dining for the kids is completely free.

 

[Anewman]

Not really true. The dining plan costs $35/adult or $70 for two parents. Current room discounts don't exceed $70. The dining for the kids is completely free.

Fact
You needed to pay rack rate in order to get the Free dining plan.

Fact
Some room discounts were in the hundreds of dollars

Fact
Some folks chose to give up those Discounts in order to qualify for the "free dining plan"

One could rationalize it anyway they want but that would not make my original statement "not really true"

If a package with discount was going to cost $3000 and they chose to pay $3500(no discount) in order to qualify for the free dining, even if you break it down anyway you want. My statement would still apply.

I am not saying that the plan is not a good value(I paid $980 for it) I was just showing why some would care about the age change when it was free dining. Cuz maybe they ACTUALLY paid hundreds extra to get it.

Sorry to the OP that this thread went off track.

 

[Lewisc]

Fact
You needed to pay rack rate in order to get the Free dining plan.

TRUE

Fact
Some room discounts were in the hundreds of dollars.

Not true. Even the AP discount was only $70/night for a deluxe hotel and $50 for a moderate hotel. The dining plan is worth $70 for two adults. The free dining plan was worth more than any of the discounts for two adults. The children are truly free.

Fact
Some folks chose to give up those Discounts in order to qualify for the "free dining plan".

It's true some guests gave up room discounts in favor of free dining. My point is the value of the free dining for two adults is greater than any available discounts. The dining for 2 or 3 kids in the room was truly free.

One could rationalize it anyway they want but that would not make my original statement "not really true"

If a package with discount was going to cost $3000 and they chose to pay $3500(no discount) in order to qualify for the free dining, even if you break it down anyway you want. My statement would still apply.

I am not saying that the plan is not a good value(I paid $980 for it) I was just showing why some would care about the age change when it was free dining. Cuz maybe they ACTUALLY paid hundreds extra to get it.

Sorry to the OP that this thread went off track.

The age change is not relevant to the discussion. With the age change the family is still getting exactly what they should have expected. Meals for the children.

 

[Irelandred11]

Thanks to all who replied. I now have a better understanding

 

[Anewman]

Not true. Even the AP discount was only $70/night for a deluxe hotel and $50 for a moderate hotel. The dining plan is worth $70 for two adults. The free dining plan was worth more than any of the discounts for two adults. The children are truly free.

Is that it? You call my statement untrue because you choose to breakdown the discounts on a nightly basis. You are right no one booked packages for 3-10 nights like required in order to qualify for free Dining, and in those cases the discount would not have been in the hundreds of dollars.

I just figured that if someone feels the need to call others persons statements untrue just because they break down numbers on a nightly basis vs entire package, is not worth the time. So you are right I am a liar.

 

[Lewisc]

So you are right I am a liar.

NEVER SAID, or at least intended, to call you a liar. On a per night basis the value of 2 adults for MYW Dining ($70) far exceeds other available discounts. Free MYW Dining for children is truly free.