Bariatric surgery and WDW

[Chim Chiminy]

I originally posted this on the community forum. Any help is appreciated!


We are going in December with some close friends. The wife had bariatric surgery, a lap band. She cannot eat very much at all anymore. If she drinks a glass of water, she cannot eat for 45 minutes. She cannot drink along with a meal. If we have them over for dinner, she may eat 1/2 cup, maybe 1 cup of food. When they eat out, she will order chicken fingers off the kids menu wherever they eat.
If she eats a good breakfast, she may not be hungry for the rest of the day. And she cannot eat close to bedtime or it causes her to vomit.

We will have a total of 12 people on this trip, most of whom want to be on the dining plan. Including her husband and DD. She has said she won't do the plan, she can't see spending $38 a day for food when she eats so little.
She had actually planned for buffet meals to just eat off her DHs plate or take a doggy bag back to the villa.....I told her that is a no-no. You can't do that at Disney and they don't do take out meals for buffets.

She wants to know if she wants to go in to a buffet meal, will she just be able to sit there with us and not pay? Or will she be charged just for being there? Do they make an exception for people with specific eating requirements?
She emailed WDW directly and never heard back.

Personally, I think it would still be worth it for her to spend the $38. No she won't eat $38 worth of food, but she would still get to enjoy the character meals she wants to take her DD too.

 

[CoolDisneyCat]

First of all, she will have to do the plan if the rest of the people on her reservation are doing it. 3 people on the reservation, 3 on the dining plan .. that is how it works.

But I don't think she would get her monies (sp?) worth out the dining plan. She could order kids' meals, appitizers, split entrees, etc. if she was not on it. An appitizer would be much better for her than all the fried foods on the kids' menus. Shrimp cocktail is an excellent choice .. but I digress ..

As far as buffets, she would not be charged if she does not eat unless it is a character meal. Then there is an entertainment fee .. something like 5 dollars. And you are right, no sharing and no doggy bags at buffets. That is fine other places, though.

She can get a card from her doctor's office stating she has had surgery and should be allowed to order from the kids' menu or pay the kids' price for a buffet. They are also availible from ObesityHelp.com. I understand that WDW usually honors them.

So .. all that in mind, here is what I would do. she, her DH and DD could be on a seperate reservation and not do the dining plan at all. They could pay OOP. You have said the group are all close friends, right? Between the other 9 people, I am sure there would be an appitizer she could have or be able to split an entree. Her DD might be able to eat the same way sometimes. She could pay the entertainment fee at character meals.

 

[patsal]

Well, if I were her I would call special guest services and see if she could get the children's dining plan. The wosre they can say is no or they might be able to let her pay the child's price or give a waiver for the fourth person.

Another idea might be to put two of the people on her reservation into another room (on paper only) and add the DDP and have her room as just a room and one person/one ticket?

As far as buffets, they have an entertainment fee if she attends and chooses not to eat, even if she eats very little I believe she will be charged the full amount--this is where the DDP might be worth the $38. She could also let her DH use the TS credits and just share the food with him at non-buffet meals.

I would contact guest services and be persistent.

 

[Wendi2000]

Wow, that sounds horrible... I hope she recovers soon!

I would go ahead with the dining plan, take advantage of the buffets and character meals with the group and she can just eat what she can, then also take advantage of the 2 credit places and share meals with her family. She would use credits that were required that way, but at other places she would just pool her credits to let other family members use them, and share their meals.

 

[cinjam]

I bariatric surgery (WLS) in May 2005, although I had a gastric by-pass. My first thought when I read your post was, when did she have the surgery? What I (and most other WLS patients) can eat/tolerate 12 months after the sugery versus what I was able to eat at say 5 months post-op were very different. Although everyone is different and you should always follow your doctor's recommendations, I can say for me the water requirement thing changed the further out I got. I now follow a 20 minute before & after rule, I do not drink liquids during meals. Additionally the amount of food I eat during a meal slowly increased as time progressed. In the months following the surgery the most I ate at a sitting was 2-3 ounces of food. I now eat about 5-7 ounces a meal (sometimes more). I have to eat three times a day, my meals must include a certain amount of protien (I eat about 70 grams of protien a day).
I went to Disney 9 months post-op and was on the DP. I think it was still worth it. We are going back again in September & using the DP (although it's FREE this time...I would still pay for it again though). Yes, there was some wasted food, but there was always someone at the table who wanted to have a taste of my filet mignon, shrimp, scallops, veal...whatever. I would still order an appetizer, but just eat a small amount. Then an entre, and again only eat a portion. For dessert, that was more difficult as I can no longer consume large amounts of sugar, I would order something that caught my eye and have two forkfulls & then pass it on to my husband, or BIL, or whoever wanted to try a bite.

For the CS, I always found something that suited my needs, but again I cannot finish it and I was ok with that

For the snacks, I stuck to the fruit & water. Once in a while I "splurged" on popcorn.

Ordereing off of the kids menu is probably cost effective, but the choices are poor. Fried chicken fingers, to me, is a poor choice for someone who has had WLS (well, for anyone who is watching their weight). But everyone is entitled to make their own chocies, I just no longer choose fried foods (they tend to "sit heavy" in my stomach).

We did some creative things with the TS credits. We went to some 2 credit restaurants, I ordered an appetizer as my entre and paid OOP, and my DH used my unused TS towards his dinner.

Overall, even with WLS, I still think the DP was a good value for me, my family, and the people we were traveling with.

Feel free to ask any other specific questions you may have. I do not mind talking about my sugery.

Enjoy your vacation!!!

edited for typos & clarity

 

[LoveMyLAP-BAND]

Hi Chim,

First, congrats to your friend for having the lap band. Second, just between you and me, she needs to suck it up!

I had the lap band last year. It was my decision to gain the weight (I don't blame McDonalds) and it was my decision to have the surgery. No one else should have to "suffer" because of my decisions. So, she should get on the dining plan if that is what everyone else wants to do. No, she won't eat $38 worth of food, but oh well.

As far as WDW is concerned, you cannot go to a buffet and not pay. They just don't make exceptions. I have one of those cute little cards, too. Disney does not honor them. If you are over 10, you pay the adult price. I can see their point because so many people would try to scam them if they did. And, they plain just don't have to. If you want to see the characters at a meal, it's gonna cost you. Even before the surgery, I didn't eat nearly what a character buffet cost.

Now, if she can arrange not to be on the dining plan somehow without interfering with other people's plans, then I would say "go for it". (Maybe she can not be on the room reservation and buy her tickets- and food- separately). Then she can just pay for the character meals that you decide to go to. I am sure that at a "regular" restaurant, there would be plenty of food between the other 11 people for her to get enough to eat. Or she can order a salad (not chicken fingers!)

I went on the Disney Cruise a few months ago. You get an appetizer, salad, meal, and dessert. I just took a few bites of each. If she does the dining plan, she will get a lot of varierty. And, like the other poster said, probably better food choices. After the cruise, we went to Chef Mickey's and paid the full adult price. I didn't eat much- not a lot agreed with my band that day. But I saw Goofy "chase" my son from out from under the table. Now THAT'S worth $38!

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me.

BTW, I just called the Disney Dining number and guess what? The CM I spoke to also had the surgery! She confirmed that WDW does not make an exception- you pay even if you don't eat at the character meals and buffets.

 

[Chim Chiminy]

thanks everyone for the info, insight, advice.

She had the surgery almost two years ago and has since lost 150+ lbs.
We are getting two 2 bedroom villas using my DVC for the trip, I was trying to work it on our ressies so that on paper whoever doesn't want the dining plan is in one villa and whoever does is in the other.....on paper.
Maybe it would work to just not have her name on the ressie. Have her DH and DD, both of whom want to be on the plan, on the ressie and she could use her DD's key? They are buying tickets ahead of arrival.

And I do agree that she should make better food choices, I was actually shocked when she told me how and what she eats everyday. And she drinks at least two of the xl iced coffees from Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks every day. I always say, mmmmmmmmm some water would be good. But no, she is addicted to those iced coffees.

It might work if she could sit in a character meal and just pay the $5 entertainment fee.

 

[Greenepona]

about the "card" My dad had the surgery 2 years ago, and when i went to wdw last year w him he was able to show his card and get the kids price.... He got it from his doctor b/c he had the gatric bypass. I know he used it for Chef Mickeys breakfast, and Whispering Canyon and Boma. I would definately call wdw dining and ask if you're unsure.

 

[daisy_77]

about the "card" My dad had the surgery 2 years ago, and when i went to wdw last year w him he was able to show his card and get the kids price.... He got it from his doctor b/c he had the gatric bypass. I know he used it for Chef Mickeys breakfast, and Whispering Canyon and Boma. I would definately call wdw dining and ask if you're unsure.

My friend had the surgery and also got the same thing. It gives permission to eat of children's menus or in this case the children's dining plan.

 

[mikeandeileen]

I am Glad to see somone has started a thread on this topic!

I am having gastric bypass next month and have a trip planned for November.

we have taken advantage of the dining plan during our last two trips and it worked out well for us. however we have some reservations about wether or not it will be worth our while since I will be unable to eat a lot of food.

After crunching the numbers; I personally still think it is overall worth it to invest in the dining plan as opposed to paying for each meal. I will post a report when I get back and let everyone know how I made out.

(gonna miss that creme brulee at Epcot!)

 

[fla4fun]

What age is the child who is traveling with them? Many people have complained about the children's menu on the DDP. Perhaps they could get the plan, order the two adult and one child meals, and then she could supplement the children's meal by splitting her food. I know some 8 and 9 year old don't eat much, but some do. If the child is 10 or older, that won't be an option.

Another option is to add her to the reservation after check in. If you add a person after check in when the rest of the party has the DDP, then she is added as simply an additional adult without the dining plan on her room key. She would have to pay for all meals OOP, but that may work out better. You have to wait until after check in to do this, so that the original reservation, with the DDP, is considered distributed by their computer system.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I always wonder why people think they are entitled to a cheaper dining price just because they had gastric bypass surgery. People with different disabilities still have to pay then same Guest 10+ ticket price even if they can't ride all the attractions. I get extreme motion sickness on any ride that twists, turns, drops, etc. Yet, I am still required to purchase the Guest 10+ ticket. I see some guests who appear to be severely disabled, yet they still have to purchase the Guest 10+ ticket. There is no opportunity for me to purchase the Guest 3-9 ticket.

It may make sense to some, but not to me. The dining plan is not for everyone. But everyone in the party will have to purchase the plan if the majority in the group wants it.