Can you split meals if you are not on the dining plan?

[monkeybug]

My kids are not chicken nugget and pizza sort of kids, so we decided to skip the dining plan this time around. (something I'm super nervous about for some reason!) Can I order them an adult entree to split? Is there an additional fee if you split meals? Are adults ever allowed to do this? I love some of the desserts, but there's never room after all that food they give you!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Yes! You can split meals at all non-buffet/non-family style restaurants.

 

[powellrj]

Yes you can split meals as long as you aren't on the dining plan. DD and I would sometimes do it so we could try more things.

 

[LisaInNc]

You can also share your meals IF you are on the dining plan. You just can't share it with people that are not.

Disney is super easy with things like this. I routinely share my entree with my 9 year old. Most times they bring it out on seperate plates for us.

Lisa

 

[monkeybug]

Oh hooray! I'm so excited to hear this!! I was really worried that by skipping the dining plan we were going to end up paying a ton more in food, but if my kids can split meals, and my husband and I can too sometimes, I think we can stay on budget, and eat food we all actually like!!

I read somewhere once about a place called Orlando Ale works that was supposed to have good food at good prices. Has anyone ever heard of this?

 

[Topper]

Oh hooray! I'm so excited to hear this!! I was really worried that by skipping the dining plan we were going to end up paying a ton more in food, but if my kids can split meals, and my husband and I can too sometimes, I think we can stay on budget, and eat food we all actually like!!

I read somewhere once about a place called Orlando Ale works that was supposed to have good food at good prices. Has anyone ever heard of this?

I think you mean Millers Ale House?
http://www.millersalehouse.com/

I see there is a Lake Buena Vista location.

 

[monkeybug]

I think you mean Millers Ale House?
http://www.millersalehouse.com/

I see there is a Lake Buena Vista location.

That's the one!! Thanks!!

 

[Pembo]

Oh hooray! I'm so excited to hear this!! I was really worried that by skipping the dining plan we were going to end up paying a ton more in food, but if my kids can split meals, and my husband and I can too sometimes, I think we can stay on budget, and eat food we all actually like!!

We had the QSDP for the first time last year. When I added up all the receipts we really didn't save much, we just had a lot more food. We typically share entrees. Disney gives large portions.

 

[n2mm]

Oh hooray! I'm so excited to hear this!! I was really worried that by skipping the dining plan we were going to end up paying a ton more in food, but if my kids can split meals, and my husband and I can too sometimes, I think we can stay on budget, and eat food we all actually like!!

I read somewhere once about a place called Orlando Ale works that was supposed to have good food at good prices. Has anyone ever heard of this?

Just wanted to mention that in your original post you talked about spliting an adult's meal between 2 kids (which works well), but on the DDP will your kids be on the child's plan or adult's plan. If on the child's plan, the kids meals are not very shareable. When traveling with our 2 and 4 yo grand daughters, we always buy them each their own kids meal because they are not big at all. Same for the CS meal (4 nuggets?). If you're sharing your adult meal with them, that might help, but our little ones do not like the adult food and spices/sauces. Both can gobble down a kids meal with no problem, esp. the 2 yo. One place that does not allow sharing while on the ddp is beaches and cream. Not sure why. But we eat at B&C all of the time and always share, but we are TiW folks not DDP folks. (Sometimes we do the DDP for short trips but never trips lasting a week or more.)

Also, if you do share meals between the kids, don't forget to allow for the expense of purchasing an additional desert -- not something kids really like to share with each other!

 

[Swimnoid]

Oh hooray! I'm so excited to hear this!! I was really worried that by skipping the dining plan we were going to end up paying a ton more in food, but if my kids can split meals, and my husband and I can too sometimes, I think we can stay on budget, and eat food we all actually like!!

I read somewhere once about a place called Orlando Ale works that was supposed to have good food at good prices. Has anyone ever heard of this?

We go there frequently. They are very good. The portions are huge and about half of what you pay in the park. Lots to choose from and friendly service.

 

[monkeybug]

Just wanted to mention that in your original post you talked about spliting an adult's meal between 2 kids (which works well), but on the DDP will your kids be on the child's plan or adult's plan. If on the child's plan, the kids meals are not very shareable. When traveling with our 2 and 4 yo grand daughters, we always buy them each their own kids meal because they are not big at all. Same for the CS meal (4 nuggets?). If you're sharing your adult meal with them, that might help, but our little ones do not like the adult food and spices/sauces. Both can gobble down a kids meal with no problem, esp. the 2 yo. One place that does not allow sharing while on the ddp is beaches and cream. Not sure why. But we eat at B&C all of the time and always share, but we are TiW folks not DDP folks. (Sometimes we do the DDP for short trips but never trips lasting a week or more.)

Also, if you do share meals between the kids, don't forget to allow for the expense of purchasing an additional desert -- not something kids really like to share with each other!

We are actually not going on the dining plan. Last year we got it, but my kids don't really like eating "Kids" food and prefer the adult options, they also aren't big eaters, so we ended up throwing out a lot of food! When we eat at tangerine cafe, they want the hummus and lamb too, not chicken nuggets and apple sauce.
At table service restaurants we plan on ordering them something off of the adult menu that they can split.
We will probably share dessert with them too, nobody ever had enough room to eat dessert last year, and we ended up with a fridge full of it at the end of the trip!!

 

[monkeybug]

We go there frequently. They are very good. The portions are huge and about half of what you pay in the park. Lots to choose from and friendly service.

I'm excited to check it out! The reviews on Tripadvisor look good!!
I think we will swing by for dinner after Sea World.

 

[n2mm]

We are actually not going on the dining plan. Last year we got it, but my kids don't really like eating "Kids" food and prefer the adult options, they also aren't big eaters, so we ended up throwing out a lot of food! When we eat at tangerine cafe, they want the hummus and lamb too, not chicken nuggets and apple sauce.
At table service restaurants we plan on ordering them something off of the adult menu that they can split.
We will probably share dessert with them too, nobody ever had enough room to eat dessert last year, and we ended up with a fridge full of it at the end of the trip!!

That's great that you have adventurous eaters. Sounds like it should work great. As for the deserts, my granddaughters love the build your own sundae, so that is a must for each. As for extra deserts, I have brought back plenty of chocolate cake and it's great as a mid-night snack! We like to arrive one day early for our DVC resort, stay at a value resort one night and buy the delux ddp for the one night and use the 3 TS credits for our first and second day in WDW. This works great for us as we do the more expensive dining on those first 2 days, then move to our DVC resort and eat at our favorites using our TiW card. Plus we get our mug with the first night stay to use throughout our trip. We really never consider this a split stay as we don't even unpack for the one night. (Of course this makes it easy to check in at our DVC resort at 8:00AM the next day and we don't feel like we lost a day traveling.)

 

[Dizneydaz]

We've shared many meals at WDW, both on, and off, DDP. We have never had an issue with any restaurant. Of course sharing meals at any CS is easy. I believe there may be one, or two, that charge for it (Blue Zoo comes to mind-not on DDP).

Sometimes I share with my DM, other times I will share with DD10 (now an adult per Disney)

When we go to WDW we basically dine the same way we do at home and that means we share many meals (or we bring home leftovers). The one difference when we eat at WDW is if we are on DDP we get dessert, if we aren't on DDP, we rarely do.

Happy Dining!

 

[ValpoCory]

We had the QSDP for the first time last year. When I added up all the receipts we really didn't save much, we just had a lot more food. We typically share entrees. Disney gives large portions.

Exactly. That is why the Dining Plan is not good for my family. My daughter is a light eater. I end up eating most of her kid's meal. At QS or TS, we'd always get 2 meals for the 3 of us and are completely stuffed. Each time we did this, we'd fall behind on our Dining credits. We had to gorge ourselves just to try to use all the credits before leaving.

We'll never pay for any Dining Plan again. We like the character meals too much, which are usually on the cheaper end of the spectrum ($/TS credit).

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

You can also share your meals IF you are on the dining plan. You just can't share it with people that are not.

Disney is super easy with things like this. I routinely share my entree with my 9 year old. Most times they bring it out on seperate plates for us.

Lisa

How is anyone going to know if you are sharing with someone that isn't on the dining plan? We have done it and no one said anything.

Sometimes Dh and I share a CS breakfast meal, then a CS lunch meal, to get more meals for the money. Some of the restaurants, Cosmic Rays comes to mind, have combo meals with 2 meats and 2 sides, those can easily be split between 2 to 3 people, using 1 credit.

Suzanne

 

[Dizneydaz]

I think she means you can't share the plan with someone who is not on the DDP. Not that you can't share a meal with them (as how would they know).

BTW, we did share some DDP credits with my DNiece who joined us mid-trip a few years back. I was going to pay OOP for her but the CM said it was not problem (even though we used more credits on one meal than our card stated) Don't count on this as it's not what the rules of DDP say. Other times we just shared 3 adult meals (and 1 kid's) between the 4 adults and 1 kid. Worked great! (this was when the DDP was free, don't know if that matters)

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

I think she means you can't share the plan with someone who is not on the DDP. Not that you can't share a meal with them (as how would they know).

BTW, we did share some DDP credits with my DNiece who joined us mid-trip a few years back. I was going to pay OOP for her but the CM said it was not problem (even though we used more credits on one meal than our card stated) Don't count on this as it's not what the rules of DDP say. Other times we just shared 3 adult meals (and 1 kid's) between the 4 adults and 1 kid. Worked great! (this was when the DDP was free, don't know if that matters)

I'm pretty sure I know what she meant, and who is going to know, either way

Suzanne

 

[Dizneydaz]

I'm pretty sure I know what she meant, and who is going to know, either way

Suzanne

That's what I said too-they don't.