anyone "aged up" a child on free dining to get the adult plan?

[Elise79]

we are looking at april 2015 so my son who will be just under 2 then is only 12 months now but he is HUGE! (seriously he weighs 30lb! DD only weighs 31!) he eats like crazy, generally bigger portions than dd can manage. he hasn't taken baby food since he was like 7 months old.
I have absolutely no problem saying he is very advanced in terms of his eating because I'm not a braggy parent because DD was the OPPOSITE! DD would NOT EAT SOLID FOOD until she turned 2! SERIOUSLY! She lived on milk and just refused food! She was a nightmare with it! wouldn't sit at the table because why would you when you have zero intrest in any food, she wouldn't eat ANYTHING! Genuinley I may sound like a health nut in this post and I am very happy with her eating now but I would literally give her chocolate, pasta, baby food, ice cream I didn't care as long as she would actually put food in her mouth! Which she very rarely did! She gagged on everything and still chokes on stuff whereas DS just somehow knows what to do! he can sit and eat an apple not cut up!
DD just decided one day to eat food and since then has eaten everything. she was just over 2! Lots of people used to say she was a "fussy eater" she wasn't, she just wouldn't eat anything!
Anyway, I just wanted to share that because I don't want to sound like someone who thinks my kids are perfect, they aren't! I know this and fully awknowledge it!
But yes, DS will, I imagine be more than happy to eat as much food as we put infront of him, he is a hungry beast!

I don't think I'd trust him with an adults meal, he'd scoff the lot!

I guess i'm kinda thinking him, me and dd will all share the 2 adults meals. ALthough now someones put it in my head I can totally envisage DS being one who wants his own dinner so maybe he could use the childrens credits. hadn't thought of that!
Its very hard to make all these decisions a full year in advance, with kids this young who really knows what they will be like in honesty!
Do think DS having the kids meals may be a valid option though. DD would prob quite happily share with me, she always does now.

In that case I would keep the 3 year old as a kid and just share the meals around between you - the server won't care who eats what food once it's at the table.

The kids menu items will certainly be easier for the 2 year old.

 

[2Tiggies]

Ok, my next question is have you been to WDW before? I am guessing not (??)

When we talk about large portions here they are large. When we talk about a large plate of food at WDW, we are talking something that two people can share. Keep in mind that you get a full sized beverage (which DD and I can share and not finish) and which come with unlimited refills and a dessert with every meal.

I think you've already decided you want to do the upgrade and if you've made your decision, you should just go with it. You might want to wait a little though because if you change your mind and decide you don't want it later on, you are going to be charged an amendment fee so you will immediately be out of £50 just for reverting to the package you originally booked.

As somoene who has traveled with a child well within the under 9 category, and with a child who is 10 and classed as an adult and only a child, who also does not eat typical kids fare, paid for the DDP, done the free DDP, done the upgrade, not done the upgrade and paid for food DDP-less and totally OOP, I wouldn't do it. But it is not my child, not my vacation and not my decision. It's only my opinion. No one is going to judge you for what you decide in the end. I think you knew what you wanted before you posted this thread, and wanted reassurance. Few of us on here would opt to do it. That's not to say it's wrong. But you don't need to justify it. It's your vacation, your kids and your money. I just think it is an unnecessary expense for little gain and ends up being 6 of 1 and half a dozen of the other in the end.

 

[LeaversOnTour]

I have just mentioned this thread to my husband who now thinks I am an idiot because we HAVENT done this!

Our eldest will be 5 and 4 but we have 2 younger kids not on the DDP.

Well why the hell haven't we done this he asks? I now have to call them to see if they will let us upgrade their tickets

 

[Rosemc2011]

I would do it if the only difference is 20. You can still share your meals so your not waistline food and use her credits for meals that take 2 credits

 

[scoobydooby]

I would do it if the only difference is 20. You can still share your meals so your not waistline food and use her credits for meals that take 2 credits

The difference is not just the ticket price. It is also the cost of paying adult meal tips at all the TS restaurants. Having had both two under tens and two over 10s on the plan several times in each age bracket I can assure you that tip money at 20% per meal adds up. I now budget $500 for four Disney adults tips on the dining plan, which will also include very limited alcohol, perhaps 5 glasses of wine, and a small number if appetisers, no more than 4.

 

[2Tiggies]

You can still share your meals so your not waistline food and use her credits for meals that take 2 credits

There were no 2 credit meals in the OP's list of choices so that creates a problem rather than solving one for her family.

 

[emmamc252]

I have just mentioned this thread to my husband who now thinks I am an idiot because we HAVENT done this!

Our eldest will be 5 and 4 but we have 2 younger kids not on the DDP.

Well why the hell haven't we done this he asks? I now have to call them to see if they will let us upgrade their tickets

please let me know how you will get on!
I know a lot of people on here don't seem to understand it but we discussed it again last night and have decided we will be booking her as an adult.
The tip is $5 maximum, if we bought a salad or appetizer AND had the kids meal for DS when that would be way more. If we don't use the kids plan then thats a huge waste of money and DH's opinon was that $5 a day and £20 to give us ALL a choice of what we want, ie me not having to order what DD wants so we can share, or her just getting stuck with what i want etc is well worth it.
The buffets I understand will be a bit of a waste but I think for us the "freedom" of choice is worth the extra £.
Thankfully we haven't booked yet so we shouldn't have a problem but I would love to know how you get on.

 

[tinkerpea]

Ok personally I would do it and have been since my 3 boys was 5!
We found we much preferred to have them be able to order adult meals and what we did was choose a couple of meals and shared between us all and it worked great!
If we all wanted dessert then.we would order 3 mains and 5 desserts if we had credits left and all the kids wanted was dessert then fine they allowed us to use a credit for dessert only

If you have a 3yr old with that sort of palate to eat sushi and scallops then a kids menu won't cut it! And why pay $20 each time she wants to eat that way,even if it's only the rare 3/4 times when.you can pay £20 a be done with it for the whole trip.
I'm with you on this one!

 

[Sencybil]

We aged up our 6 year old and it worked brilliantly for us. However, this was mainly because I wanted to do a lot of 2 credit meals, so we used ‘her’ adult credits to pay for ‘our’ meals, and then paid oop for most of what she ate – sometimes kids meals, sometimes an appetiser that I shared and then shared my main with her. We had no problem using up all the credits and even ran short and had to pay an adult buffet oop at the end of the holiday. We also easily used all our cs credits, but we did use some for breakfasts – which most people don’t recommend as they aren’t great value for your credit – but again it worked for us as we loved the food, and for the extra £20 that the upgrade cost, the credits were ‘cheap’.

There was never any problem with mixing oop and dining plan, there was never any question as to why we had 3 adults on our plan but were using credits for 2 adults and paying for a kid oop, and there was never any problem at the gate regarding finger scans /adult ticket. And you only need one person to check in, they don’t even have to see your 3 year old..

If you decide it will work for you, there's no practical reason not to.

Happy planning!

Sencybil

 

[2Tiggies]

I know a lot of people on here don't seem to understand it

No, we totally get it. We just see it differently than you do.

 

[LeaversOnTour]

I called them ands spoke to them about upgrading the ticket to an adult one.
They said you could enter the ages as whatever you wanted, which would mean as we had booked saying the ages had been entered in wrong and then paying the additional. But not a problem.

However, we have decided as an average of $30 - main, dessert and a drink that the 18% tip we would have to pay for each time isn't worth it.

I should add the main reason for upgrading would be so that the 4 children could share the older 2's meals without myself and hubby having to share. My 2 year old eats more than my 5 year old so sharing basically means giving her my dinner. The more there is the more she'll eat.

With 4 of our 13 meals being buffets if we upgrade we will pay an add $90 just in tips, but only $70 ish to buy her, her own kids meal when not at a buffet. And less if we go to a place we know we get huge portions as we wont order for her.

We also wont feel obligated to eat the food she doesn't!

 

[Princess Leia]

We were in the same situation with our 8 year old last year. We don't do children's foods. A main problem I have with kid's meals is that they are pretty bland. He eats a lot of spicy food at home. We wanted to 'upgrade' to the adult for him. We weren't able to do it as we had a flight inclusive package. Buffets are a good option. Next year my family will all be age for the adult dining.