Anyone had this problem?

[Jenniww]

We are planning a trip for 13 people. 12 of us want the dining plan the other is my Mother she had gastric by-pass(sp?) a year ago and can't eat that much food. It would be a huge waste of food for her and money. Is there a way around not getting the dining plan for one member of your party? If its a medical thing? She is happy to order soup a just a shrimp cocktail.

 

[Allison]

Sorry, but everyone in the same room has to be on the same package.

 

[patsal]

We are planning a trip for 13 people. 12 of us want the dining plan the other is my Mother she had gastric by-pass(sp?) a year ago and can't eat that much food. It would be a huge waste of food for her and money. Is there a way around not getting the dining plan for one member of your party? If its a medical thing? She is happy to order soup a just a shrimp cocktail.

Before just giving up on it I would check with guest services to see if that might allow you to make arrangements through guests with disabilities--though not a disability per se it is a medical condition that requires special consideration. It would not hurt to ask--they may allow her to purchase a "child's plan" or have some other way around it. You won't know unless you take the time to ask! Since it is a grand gathering you may be able to pose the question to the coordinator of that .

 

[Katiebell]

My understanding is that everyone in your party must buy the plan, no matter how much/how little each person will eat. You might check on the disABILITIES board here http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=20 to see if anyone else has experience with this.

For any character meal/buffet/all you care to eat/show you mom would attend with the rest of the group, she would have to pay the same price as any other adult, because it's considered that you are paying the price for the experience/show/character interaction etc, not just the food.

Here are some ideas -- and please no flames because I don't know if these would even work, but maybe someone else will have a definite answer. I also agree with patsal -- contact Guest Services or the coordinator of your Grand Gathering. If you are all together as a group, and everyone has paid for the DDP, then maybe your mom could just not order a meal on the DDP -- maybe one of the members of the group could give her their appetizer instead, or she could just order something small OOP. I'm not talking about the set price meals I mentioned (buffets, etc) but regular TS restaurants. Then with her remaining TS credits, you could probably cover part of a meal for the rest of the group, depending on how many days you are there.

Or if there is a kid in the group on the child's plan, but they want more food, or would prefer selections from the adult menu, maybe they could swap entrees with her. Or your mom could order her full TS meal, just eat the appetizer and beverage, and give the rest to the child. If she is really worried about the cost for the plan, and everyone else really wants the plan, maybe she could pay half -- $20 a day -- and the other adults in the group could chip in to cover the other half of her cost.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Will your mother have her own room? If so, then she doesn't have to purchase the dining plan. If she's sharing with someone else, then you may have a problem.

 

[Disneyhappy]

I do't know about the dining plan but my sister had the surgery and she showed a letter from her doctor that allowed her to pay a child's price at character buffets 2 years ago. I would call and find out. The worst they can do is say no. For some people like my sister, it is a disability as she needed to lose the weight for another health reason.

 

[Katiebell]

I do't know about the dining plan but my sister had the surgery and she showed a letter from her doctor that allowed her to pay a child's price at character buffets 2 years ago. I would call and find out. The worst they can do is say no. For some people like my sister, it is a disability as she needed to lose the weight for another health reason.

I read here that a married couple who had GB surgery got a laminated card from their doctor explaining the situation to make sure that they would be able to share meals in restaurants with no hassles. I think they said they only had to show it once, and even then it may not have been completely necessary. I think just having it with them was more for their peace of mind. But I don't believe they were on the DDP.

The DDP is a little different because it's a package deal. Just like if my mom came with us, but didn't want to set foot in the parks, she only wanted to lounge by the pool at the hotel, we can't buy the MYW package for everyone in the family except her. The package is all or nothing for our entire room reservation. Otherwise we'd have to do a room only reservation, then buy individual admission tickets to avoid purchasing admission just for her.

As for a GB patient getting the child's price if they pay OOP at a buffet, that makes sense to me -- knowing a couple of post-GB people, they literally can only eat like 1/2 - 1 cup of food at a sitting. Some people have posted here that at a buffet/character meal, the cost isn't really for the food, it's for the experience, so eating less (even a great deal less) than an average adult shouldn't make a difference in the cost. I agree to a point -- but then why are the buffets at Boma and H&V just as expensive or even more expensive than the character meals? And why is a lunch buffet more expensive than breakfast, and dinner more expensive than lunch? Obviously, a significant cost of the buffet is for the food, whether or not Goofy is in the house

 

[HooKooDooKu]

If I understand the dining plan correctly, the credits are tied to the group, not individuals, and everyone doesn't have to use them at the same time. If so, then you chould just pay for mom's foods and utilize her credits in otherways, such as sharing them with the group on a night you want to go to a signature resturant.

Here's an example: Lets say you've got 12 people + mom for six days. Every day, you ask for a seperate check for mom and pay for hers by credit card and the other 12 with credits. Then the day you want to do a Signature Meal requiring two credits. Effectively use mom's 6 TS credits as the 2nd credit needed by half the party. Than means the last day, you're going to come up 6 credits short. Once again, have 6 use the last 6 credits, the other 6 pay, and just split the cost for the 6 paid meals between the twelve of you.