An honest question??

[Miniefan]

First of all I just want to say that this is not in any attempt to defraud disney or its fabulous dining plan, it is just an honest and sincere question that I hope someone can answer for me.

I am planning a trip in Sept. 2007, my son will be turning 10 Aug. 2007. I understand that I will be paying the adult price for him to be included on the dining plan, because of his age. Here is the question......my mother will be traveling with us at the same time, can I purchase children's meals for my son and my mother eat the food that he would be using on the dining plan?

I am serious about this question, I am not attempting to pull one over on anyone, I just know that there is no way that my 10 year old can eat as much as they offer for an adult on the dp. Someone please help.

Thanks
Kim

 

[Miniefan]

just bumping

 

[billysarmywife]

I think yes.....since you would be paying the adult price for your son. Although if your mother is staying under the same reservation....I beleive that everyone has to be on the plan, and have the same tickets. Although if your mother is not staying in the same room with you.....thus on a different reservation I beleive that it would work.

HTH ....someone correct me if I am wrong.

 

[DisneyKidds]

I assume your mother will not be staying in the room with you and thus will not be on the DDP?

Under that assumption, the technical answer to your question is probably no, you aren't supposed to do that, purchase a meal for your mother with the credit you received for your son. The practical answer to your question is that you won't have any trouble doing that at any of the restaurants.

Let's say you are a party of 3 adults in your room (mom, dad, 10 yo son). Your mother is staying elsewhere, but will be in the parks with you. The 4 of you go to a restaurant. You'll have 3 people dining on the plan and one person paying OOP. Chances are if you order 3 adults meals and a childrens' meal the server will automatically just apply the 3 adult credits to the 3 adult meals. If you want to be safe you can just point out that you only have 3 people on the plan and will be paying for your son's meal out of pocket. No questions will be asked as to whom the DDP were purchased for or who is actually staying on the plan, and the server will apply the adult credits to the adult meal and let you pay for the kids meal.

 

[aes74]

I think it's okay, I mean, as the above poster said, you paid for the adult meal, it's just being used for a different adult, so why not? I don't see any problem with it.

As for the logistics of it, I don't think they ask for a key for each person, just one, as I remember it, so I think you are okay.

 

[MaeDaisy]

Disney is pretty clear that the plan is not transferrable. Kids meals are also supposed to be "for guests under 10."

Although I'm sure it would be easy enough to do it how you're suggesting, technically, you ARE pulling one over on Disney.

 

[aes74]

Disney is pretty clear that the plan is not transferrable. Kids meals are also supposed to be "for guests under 10."

Although I'm sure it would be easy enough to do it how you're suggesting, technically, you ARE pulling one over on Disney.

She did not say she was purchasing a kid meal on the DDP. She said he was ten, she purchased the adult plan for him.

OP, is your mother staying with you?

 

[The Sweetness]

If mom is NOT staying with you, you can *get away with* this. It is an adults credit, for an adults meal. However you aren't supposed to use the credits purchased for you and your son for anyone other than you and your son. No treating allowed on the DDp, whether it's fair or not

 

[Miniefan]

My mom will be staying in a seperate room, with her own reservation, as she will not be with us the entire stay or dining with us at every meal.

I guess there will always be people that believe right is right and wrong is wrong, personally I don't see this as wrong considering that either way Disney will be getting my money for the Dp and the extra kids meal that I will be purchasing.

 

[JimMIA]

Without trying to get moralistic, I think your scenario is fraught with problems, and you probably will NOT be able to "get away with it." DDP is non-transferable and she would not be able to use one of your son's credits.

It's important to remember that this is not Kim's dining plan, or Jim's dining plan -- it's Disney's dining plan. What we think doesn't matter; what matters is the criteria Disney sets for the plan. The question of how much a particular 10 year-old can eat is irrelevent. (If a particular child doesn't eat enough to justify the DDP, then DDP is probably not the right plan for that particular family.)

As a practical matter, the question of whether you would encounter any problems really depends on the composition of your party. In the example you gave, if you, Grandma and DS went to a TS restaurant, the server would look at your room keys. If there were three Adults on the room key and you wanted to order two adult meals on DDP and pay OOP for a kids meal...you'd probably encounter no resistance.

However...if you only had two adults on DDP, and no kids, and you wanted two adult meals and wanted to pay OOP for a kid's meal...I think you'd have some questions to answer. The CMs have been threatened with discipline up to and including termination if they permit abuse of DDP, and if I were a CM who valued my job, this scenario you present would set off all sorts of alarm bells in my head. Specifically, I'd be wanting to see Grandma's room key, and if she either doesn't have one, or is not on the DDP, I'd say "No, sorry."

This is one of those questions where your best bet would be to call Disney Dining and ask them.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Without trying to get moralistic, I think your scenario is fraught with problems, and you probably will NOT be able to "get away with it." DDP is non-transferable and she would not be able to use one of your son's credits.

It's important to remember that this is not Kim's dining plan, or Jim's dining plan -- it's Disney's dining plan. What we think doesn't matter; what matters is the criteria Disney sets for the plan. The question of how much a particular 10 year-old can eat is irrelevent. (If a particular child doesn't eat enough to justify the DDP, then DDP is probably not the right plan for that particular family.)

As a practical matter, the question of whether you would encounter any problems really depends on the composition of your party. In the example you gave, if you, Grandma and DS went to a TS restaurant, the server would look at your room keys. If there were three Adults on the room key and you wanted to order two adult meals on DDP and pay OOP for a kids meal...you'd probably encounter no resistance.

However...if you only had two adults on DDP, and no kids, and you wanted two adult meals and wanted to pay OOP for a kid's meal...I think you'd have some questions to answer. The CMs have been threatened with discipline up to and including termination if they permit abuse of DDP, and if I were a CM who valued my job, this scenario you present would set off all sorts of alarm bells in my head. Specifically, I'd be wanting to see Grandma's room key, and if she either doesn't have one, or is not on the DDP, I'd say "No, sorry."

This is one of those questions where your best bet would be to call Disney Dining and ask them.

Don't waste the dime because calling Disney will only result in you being told you cannot do what you are asking. As pointed out, the DDP is non-transferrable and credits purchased for your son cannot be used to purchase a meal for your mother or anyone else. Those are the limitations of the plan and that is the letter of the law.

So is a 55 MPH speed limit many places........cough........

Short of the server obtaining detailed resrevation information, confirming the identity of each diner, and cross referencing said confirmed identity with said reservation information....the server won't know which 3 of the 4 people at the table are on the plan. I doubt they will even ask. So long as said server allows the 10 yo at the table to order a children's meal (which they generally do) I don't see much risk that the OP won't "get away with" the scenario. In the past the server would probably just ring it up that way without a thought. Maybe that will be different now that servers jobs are on the line.

But technically OP would be violating the terms of the plan and travelling at speeds approaching 60 MHP.

 

[NMW]

It's not really "allowed", how far a CM will go to check into it...I have no idea. Just be prepared for possible questions.

 

[scrapperjill]

I'm by no mean an expert on the DDP...as we've only been to WDW one time...but after looking into the DDP for our family and what the newest rule/regs are I agree it's not really something that they'll allow. That being said...it is something that you may very well be able to pull off. I totally understand what your saying about your child not being able to eat a full adult meal...because I too have a child that will be an adult (on the plan that I know won't be able to eat the portions). And it makes total since to have your son order an adult meal...and hand it over to ganny....while she orders a child meal for him. BUT that's where I think the problems will happen. Do the KTTW cards show the ages of the guests? Or does it just show two adults? IF that's the case then it maybe easer....but then again some might wonder where the child is staying if he's not on your KTTW card. Anyhow...what about your son ordering his "adult" meal and gandma ordering just an appitizer or soup/salad? Then have everyone just share?

 

[Sammie]

Technically according to the DDP guidelines, no you can not do this. You bought a plan for you and your son, not your mother. You agreed to that agreement when you make the purchase. Why it matters is that Disney makes the DDP available due to room profits and ticket profit, which your Mom did not pay.

That said, you might get away with it at CS but at TS if your mother wants to order something that your son would not want, then you are going to be spending alot of time getting your story straight before your order.

Is your mother willing to eat what your son orders? Mom is not going to be able to order what she wants and then you pay for it with the DDP. Even though your room card says 2 adults when you sit down to eat and they see one is a child they are going to know he is in your room.

 

[smiller]

I vote (like a previous poster) that you and DS order two full Adult TS meals and Grandma can share everything that's on the table, plus order an item or two for herself if she likes. That way, you're being legal, you're not ordering/eating too much food, and you can enjoy adult meals (which are often better selection than kid's meals). If DS really, really wants a specific kid's meal item, just talk to the waiter. My DMom ordered the kid's Mac & Cheese at '50s PTC cuz that's what she was in the mood for (BTW we were 5A & 2C (2y & 7wks) sharing 4 TS, so it was OOP).

 

[blueangel]

However...if you only had two adults on DDP, and no kids, and you wanted two adult meals and wanted to pay OOP for a kid's meal...I think you'd have some questions to answer. The CMs have been threatened with discipline up to and including termination if they permit abuse of DDP, and if I were a CM who valued my job, this scenario you present would set off all sorts of alarm bells in my head.

I think this is the main problem. If I'm a server, or manager, and I see 3 adults and 1 kid, with DDP for three adults, by ordering 3 adult meals and 1 kids OOP, you set up the scenario that your child is staying by himself on a separate reservation. There just isn't really a "legitimate" situation to support this happening. If Disney is really cracking down on TS you really might run into some questions.

Since you aren't leaving for a while, just wait and see how tough they really are going to be.

 

[JimMIA]

Since you aren't leaving for a while, just wait and see how tough they really are going to be.

However, when we read trip reports, we all have a tendency to read what we want to hear and disregard the rest. You need to also remember that "Disney" and "consistency" are two words which should never be used in the same sentence, and there is likely to be a considerable amount of difference in enforcement -- from one restaurant to another, and from one day to another in the same restaurant. Disney doesn't do any kind of enforcement well -- it's not what they do.

 

[aes74]

I think this is the main problem. If I'm a server, or manager, and I see 3 adults and 1 kid, with DDP for three adults, by ordering 3 adult meals and 1 kids OOP, you set up the scenario that your child is staying by himself on a separate reservation. There just isn't really a "legitimate" situation to support this happening. If Disney is really cracking down on TS you really might run into some questions.

Since you aren't leaving for a while, just wait and see how tough they really are going to be.

Just tell them it's some poor kid you picked up outside of Dumbo that looked hungry.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Just tell them it's some poor kid you picked up outside of Dumbo that looked hungry.

That's funny.......but there could be a ton of other reasons why a young person is dining with a group of adults and not all of them are on the plan. Think of all the people, all the families, all the friends, all the party sizes......one could come up with a million legit reasons for such a scenario. Heck, we had such a situation on our last trip. For whatever reason we were only 2A/2C on the dining plan, but we had 3 children with us. We just informed servers who wasn't on the plan and we'd be paying OOP for his meal. Granted, this was before the most recent tweaks to the program but not a server asked a question about the situation. But here's the rub......someone who is legitimately in that situation would have no problem explaining IF (and that's IF) a server did ask. Maybe they will now IF their jobs are on the line. If the OP were to try and "get away with" what they want to do, would they be willing to pass off some fabricated tale about their situation? It might never come to that, but if they wouldn't be comfortable doing so they probably shouldn't try and "get away with" the idea.

I like the idea of the son ordering the full adult meal (order what granny wants) and have granny ask if she (being the frail older woman with a small appetite that she is ) can order a small meal, perhaps off the childen's menu as she isn't very hungry. If not that, then something else smaller/cheaper that the boy might like. Then just swap plates or share across the table. That would be legal. You ordered in accordance with the plan. Once the food is on the table the server won't give a whit if you eat it, share it, wear it on your head............

 

[aes74]

I like the idea of the son ordering the full adult meal (order what granny wants) and have granny ask if she (being the frail older woman with a small appetite that she is ) can order a small meal, perhaps off the childen's menu as she isn't very hungry. If not that, then something else smaller/cheaper that the boy might like. Then just swap plates or share across the table. That would be legal. You ordered in accordance with the plan. Once the food is on the table the server won't give a whit if you eat it, share it, wear it on your head............

Yeah, what if they both order, and then share? Sounds good to me.