Changes in Kids Plan?

[Colleen27]

That's exactly what I'm doing with our middle son who will only be 9 when we go. For us the small price difference is worth not hearing him complain when his brother orders the filet for dinner and the double cheesburger for lunch and his choices are well, we all know what they are, and they are not good!

Yep. DS9 easily eats more than I do and he loves steak & seafood, so I'm sure he'll enjoy being able to order from the adult menu. The kids menu is fine for my DD5, who is a lighter eater and would happily eat grilled chicken & raw veggies every day of her life, but not for DS. On our last trip, he was only 7 and ate more off of our plates than his own because the (less limited then, but still pretty basic) kids menu options got old after a few meals. I suspect I've sort of spoiled him - I don't eat fast food, and when he was an only, we went out a lot and he developed a taste for some distinctly un-kids meal foods.

 

[scrapperjill]

Wait just a min...BOMA has characters? Is that for breakfast?

Like the previous poster stated all the room keys will have the credits listed...so yes your dd (6) would be able to "pay" for her own meals. I'm not really sure why the previous poster is dicouraging that I know at times kids really do enjoy "paying" for their own itmes and to me this seems like a perfect time to allow them to do it. I guess maybe if it become to time consuming you could always try and limit it to her buying her own snacks...then keeping the rest of the meals purchased on one card. The one thing I could think of is...if your all together and your dd pays for her own with her own card and your DH pays with his card it could potentialy confusse the CM and they could end up double charging you (once on your DD's card for her meal and again on your DH's card when he pays for all the meals)....I'd check your tickets carefully each time to make sure that didn't happen.

I also agree the DDP is very easy to use and you can get SOOO much out of it. For me it's just a HUGE relief knowing we don't have to worry much at all about $$ for food. It's already taken care of with the plan. I'd say the problems your co-worker experienced were directly related to lack of knowledge. By reading here on the Dis and asking questions you should be more than ready to be able to get the most out of your plan....and don't forget the booklet they'll give you at checkin. If needed keep it with you and use it as a refernce each time you dine. The last time we went to WDW and used the DDP we didn't end up paying OOP for ANYTHING and that's exactly why I LOVE the DDP...no worries, and no budging food money. Also make sure and ask....what's included in the DDP if you do end up someplace your not sure of. This time around I plan on just asking the CM to please inform us as we order if there are ANY items we're ordering that are NOT included on the plan. I don't think this is totally necessary every time and for everyone...but I'll be traveling with a group of 16 people so I think with our large group it could be helpful.

I was also going to say...that yes the adult plan is only $28 more per day than the child plan...but you also need to figure in the additional cost for the adult tickets vs the child tickets. Which depending on how long your there my not actually increase it that much overall...but you still need to consider that when your trying to weigh which will be better in the long run....I'd say your going to be looking at over $30 per day to 'up the child'.....so you'll really need to figure in will your child actually spend more an additional $30 per day each day if he/she were still on the child plan and you just ordered OOP for some items? Between all the appitizes, entrees and desserts the adult meals will have most offten theres' PLENTY of food to share if needed and although the kids meals don't have steaks they do have some options that your child may enjoy. There are also some (few) places around disney that don't have a child menu...so kids can order anything they want...even if it's the same as what all the adults order. I'm just saying...before you go off and up the age of the kids....weigh both sides. You can always budget that $300 some dollars for food expences for your child incase they do want to order something else.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Wait just a min...BOMA has characters? Is that for breakfast?

Nope - look at that post again. Boma doesn't have any characters listed after it. That poster listed it because it's one of the buffets And she missed Trail's End at Fort Wilderness (had to be intentional; I can't see that poster making a mistake )

As for Adult vs. Child Counter Service credits - Disney expects Dining Plan participants to use the plan as designed and detailed in the printed and online materials. I forget the exact statement, but child credits cannot be used for adult meals (except at CS locations that do not have a child menu). Some Cast Members enforce this restriction, some don't. My musings only: At some point in the probably not-too-distant future, it's extremely possible that Disney will enforce the CS credits as they have recently started to do with the TS credits. Until then, they rely on the Guest to follow their easy-to-understand rules

 

[estherhead]

I assume your daughter doesn't pay for all her own restaurant meals at home So just don't even tell her it's an option at all -- let her think all the meals are on Dad's card, period.

You dont know my 6 year old. We went to her school book fair & she spent her $5.00 on a quarter organizor to organize by state. I explained she would eventually have $12.50 worth of quarters in this organizor & she told me it might be worth more some day! And as for not telling her, there is no way she won't figure it out. She's a genious & hears EVERYTHING! But it's OK. She's obedient & will do as we say & we'll just put it all on Daddy's card. And then we'll attach the CC to my key. Since we'll be together all the time (I'll have a 6 month old so we won't be wandering off by ourselves, ) it should be fine.

Thanks for all the info!

 

[jascar]

Why do you have a credit card linked to your room key? Is it to buy items at Disney stores or is it to pay for your resort stay?

 

[castleri]

Why do you have a credit card linked to your room key? Is it to buy items at Disney stores or is it to pay for your resort stay?

It is so you can charge items at the various stores or food that you don't want to use the DDP for.

 

[PoohHappens]

I will add (and ready to get flamed) that we share meals all the time on the DDP.......so I do not know how many CS we claimed for adult meals and how many I used for kid meals. I know I ordered some kid meals. Since those are not divided on the receipt and I did not write down each day that I ordered an adult meal and a kid meal or 2 adult meals or 1 kid meal, I honestly have no idea. I even had a CM tell me as long as my child was not standing there with me I could order him adult food. I did not ask this, he volunteered the info after I asked about an icee as a drink. I know this is not exactly the intended use of the plan, nor did I ever walk up and order 3 adult meals, but as I said I cannot promise that I never used one or our credits for an adult meal that should have been a child meal. This was 2 weeks ago. We also shared at TS meals so that we could go to one extra dinner. I did not order food 2 nights at menu restaurants and my child did not order one night. That left us 2 ATS and 1 CTS to go to Boma our last night there (which was after we checked out) There is plenty of food so I just ate some of my DH on the nights I did not order.

I will also add that the family that we were travelling with never did any sharing. They always ordered 2 adult and 2 kid meals everywhere we went. I think they thought we were a little strange. They also threw away a ton of food at the end of almost every meal. We got there earlier and stayed later than they did and we never had to buy anything extra the way we used our credits.

 

[dreamergirl78]

If you are going during free dining, it is worth it to pay the difference between the child and adult ticket prices. You pay for them to be adults, so they are allowed to order anything off of the menu. I did this last time, and while my son did order many adult meals, there were times he stuck with the kid's menu too. One word of caution though, once they are in Disney's sytem as an adult, it is difficult to switch them back to being a child. But for us, it is worth it to pay the extra so he is not stuck eating chicken nuggets everyday while I get shirmp and steak.

And just to let you all know, before I get jumped on, the original reservation (through Disney) last year did have Ry as an 8 year old. We called back and asked them about upgrading him to an "adult" and they said no problem!

 

[always on vacation]

if you have 2a and 2 c on keys you go to counter get 2 CS adult meals and husband behind you get 2 adult meals
Paulh

This is exactly why disney needs to separate adult & child cs. Or am I missing something here.

 

[LizinSTL]

This is exactly why disney needs to separate adult & child cs. Or am I missing something here.

Most people don't do that though. I'd guess that a lot of people who use the dining plan don't even redeem all their TS credits, much less deliberately take advantage of the loophole that allows you to get more adult CS meal than you are entitled to.

 

[estherhead]

I do not know how many CS we claimed for adult meals and how many I used for kid meals... Since those are not divided on the receipt and I did not write down each day that I ordered an adult meal and a kid meal or 2 adult meals or 1 kid meal, I honestly have no idea.

I know this will be me. I think we'll just order what we want. Since we are getting free dining & don't have to ponder how much we paid for the package vs. how much value we are getting I think we'll just get what we want. If DH wants to get a coffee with his snack credit I won't freak out about it being a waste since it is under $2.00. And I'm not going to go to the most expensive TS places to make sure I get full value out of that.

And I'm not going to feel guilty if I share a meal with DH because after reading this post, it all equals out. If we use CS's on adult meals but eat at Sci-Fi instead of La Cellier or get $6.00 snacks with our snack credit what does Disney care? It is all going to equal out & I just can't try to follow the rules perfectly. They wouldn't want me to. They want me to experience the magic & make money off of my magical experience. Writing down how many CS's were adults & kids would definately take away my magic.

Thanks for this thread. I can see why this is hotly debated but I'm still glad this thread got started because it has been most helpful to me in understanding the ins & outs of DDP.

Thanks to both sides!

 

[Katiebell]

Wait just a min...BOMA has characters? Is that for breakfast?

Nope, as kaytie confirmed, it's just a buffet. Couldn't give a list of popular buffets and leave off Boma! I also mentioned that H&V has no characters at dinner. BUT, I did forget Trail's End, and I know people like that one a lot, and the prices are lower than most of the other buffets...totally missed that one, and there may be others I missed as well.

Like the previous poster stated all the room keys will have the credits listed...so yes your dd (6) would be able to "pay" for her own meals. I'm not really sure why the previous poster is dicouraging that

Ah, I think I misunderstood esther...I thought she was concerned about her daughter wanting to pay for everything herself, and there being confusion because of multiple cards. Yes, a child could certainly pay for all her own CS meals and snacks with her own card if she was waiting in line -- don't know how that would work at a TS restaurant, though.

Nope - look at that post again. Boma doesn't have any characters listed after it. That poster listed it because it's one of the buffets And she missed Trail's End at Fort Wilderness (had to be intentional; I can't see that poster making a mistake )

I only make mistakes...uh...by mistake

You dont know my 6 year old. We went to her school book fair & she spent her $5.00 on a quarter organizor to organize by state. I explained she would eventually have $12.50 worth of quarters in this organizor & she told me it might be worth more some day! And as for not telling her, there is no way she won't figure it out. She's a genious & hears EVERYTHING! But it's OK. She's obedient & will do as we say & we'll just put it all on Daddy's card. And then we'll attach the CC to my key. Since we'll be together all the time (I'll have a 6 month old so we won't be wandering off by ourselves, ) it should be fine.

If your daughter wants to pay for her own food, and you are fine with her doing that, it would certainly work because the credits are accessible on each person's card. As jill mentioned, though, make sure to review your receipts carefully after each transaction to make sure the correct number of credits were deducted. But it's a very good idea to only put room charging privileges on ONE of your cards, and then don't use that one to pay for your meals, just hold on to it in the rare case you do want to charge something to your room.

 

[Katiebell]

I will add (and ready to get flamed) that we share meals all the time on the DDP.......so I do not know how many CS we claimed for adult meals and how many I used for kid meals. I know I ordered some kid meals. Since those are not divided on the receipt and I did not write down each day that I ordered an adult meal and a kid meal or 2 adult meals or 1 kid meal, I honestly have no idea. I even had a CM tell me as long as my child was not standing there with me I could order him adult food. I did not ask this, he volunteered the info after I asked about an icee as a drink. I know this is not exactly the intended use of the plan, nor did I ever walk up and order 3 adult meals, but as I said I cannot promise that I never used one or our credits for an adult meal that should have been a child meal. This was 2 weeks ago. We also shared at TS meals so that we could go to one extra dinner. I did not order food 2 nights at menu restaurants and my child did not order one night. That left us 2 ATS and 1 CTS to go to Boma our last night there (which was after we checked out) There is plenty of food so I just ate some of my DH on the nights I did not order.

I won't flame you because my personal feeling is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with sharing non-buffet/all-you-care-to-eat meals. If the beverages are refillable, then each person should buy their own drink (because it's supposed to be as much as one person can drink), but a lot of families share restaurant meals, not just at WDW. Once the food is ordered and on the table, it's perfectly normal and acceptable for family members to share. DH and I do it all the time, for portion control reasons, and so we can try more things. But when I wrote to ask Disney about it, they said 2 adults may not share one meal on the plan However, it seems like it is up to the serving CM and the restaurant, and the vast majority of people said they've had no problem sharing meals amongst their family.

As for kids' vs adults' CS credits...IMHO, there is a big difference between honestly losing track of exactly what you've used (if you are ordering fewer meals than the total number of family members because you are sharing), and deliberately using kids' CS credits to purchase adult meals. And I don't feel that it should be up to the guests to keep track, but unfortunately, it is. The only way Disney can enforce it right now is that you can't order MORE than the maximum number of adults/kids on your card -- but as a PP pointed out, there are ways people are getting around that.

If I had to keep track of C vs A CS meals, I'd probably only keep count of the kids' meals used. For example, family of 5: mom, dad, DD12, DS7, DD4. 5 nights at WDW, total of 25 CS credits. Ten of those credits are for kids' meals, five each for the two youngest kids. I'd keep a slip of paper with my card and just make a tic mark every time I ordered a kid's meal -- even if it was at a CS that didn't have kid's meals so they technically ordered an "adult meal", I'd still count it. Once I have 10 marks, then all the kid's meals are gone. However, if I've only used 4 kid's meals, and there are only 8 CS meals left on my card, then I know that 6 of them are kid's meals -- and it will be a little tricky to redeem them, since I can only order a max of 2 kid's meal at one time. I'd probably have our last meal at Casey's, Pizza Planet, or one of the other CS with no kid's menu, so all A and C CS credits are equal. But that's just me...I can't say how anyone else might want to keep track...or not keep track...

 

[always on vacation]

But it's a very good idea to only put room charging privileges on ONE of your cards, and then don't use that one to pay for your meals, just hold on to it in the rare case you do want to charge something to your room.


Thanks for the advice. I hadn't really thought about that but since we're 2 families staying together on the same ressie it makes a lot of sense for us to use our own credit cards for charging instead of having to figure it out at check out.

All of this confusion about sharing on the ddp & child & adult cs meals is bothersome to me. If you're paying oop I'm sure noone gets an appetizer, entree, & dessert at every meal . We share a lot of these for both price & portion control. But since we're on the ddp & we're entitled to this & God forbid we don't get the most bang for our buck, we order it all. So if we have kids we are naturally gonna share some of this food with them & if we're all adults we're gonna order different things & share with each other knowing that we probably won't eat it all but that way we get to try a lot of things we wouldnt have ordered if we were paying oop. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. There's a big difference between using the plan to your advantage & abusing it & I believe that most of us just want to take advantage of the great value afforded to us on the ddp without having to do accounting.

me 58 dh 57irate: brother 55 nephew:8 yay:

 

[LizinSTL]

But it's a very good idea to only put room charging privileges on ONE of your cards, and then don't use that one to pay for your meals, just hold on to it in the rare case you do want to charge something to your room.


Thanks for the advice. I hadn't really thought about that but since we're 2 families staying together on the same ressie it makes a lot of sense for us to use our own credit cards for charging instead of having to figure it out at check out.

All of this confusion about sharing on the ddp & child & adult cs meals is bothersome to me. If you're paying oop I'm sure noone gets an appetizer, entree, & dessert at every meal . We share a lot of these for both price & portion control. But since we're on the ddp & we're entitled to this & God forbid we don't get the most bang for our buck, we order it all. So if we have kids we are naturally gonna share some of this food with them & if we're all adults we're gonna order different things & share with each other knowing that we probably won't eat it all but that way we get to try a lot of things we wouldnt have ordered if we were paying oop. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. There's a big difference between using the plan to your advantage & abusing it & I believe that most of us just want to take advantage of the great value afforded to us on the ddp without having to do accounting.

me 58 dh 57irate: brother 55 nephew:8 yay:

I think you are exactly right. Of course, if you are not trying to get one over on Disney and a CM questions you, you aren't going to get angry and defensive- you are going to be confused and apologetic. If you are being deliberately deceptive, you are more likely get nasty w/ the CM.

My advice, the DDP is super easy to use when you get going on it. Don't worry about tally marks and spread sheets. It's too much to worry about when you are on vacation.

DO bring along your confirmation numbers and ADR/times.

DO save your receipts and verify (I just eyeballed it) that you are on track w/ your DDP credits at the end of each day. Unless you are splitting up every single day at every single meal, it'll be easy to do.

Snack credits can get away from you, but they are the least "valuable" aspect of the plan anyway. We ended up with way more than we thought at the end of the week.

Don't deliberately order more adult meals than you are entitled to.

Don't make yourself crazy keeping track of how many kid's meals you've ordered.

Don't go out of your way to find a CS location without a kid's menu- that just seems like a waste of valuable touring time. (I read someone post that they were going to Disney MGM studios EVERYDAY for their CS meal.... wow!)

Do have fun! And have a dessert that you wouldn't normally have ordered for me!

 

[Lewisc]

if you have 2a and 2 c on keys you go to counter get 2 CS adult meals and husband behind you get 2 adult meals
Paulh

Dining rules prohibit using credits to buy meals for friends and family members not on the plan. Dining rules require kids order kids meals, if available.

The kids meal plan only costs $11. The value of a character dinner is around $15 with tax and tip and the value of a snack is $3-$4.

It's a shame that the actions of a few greedy guests is forcing Disney to change to crack down.

 

[Nancyg56]

I think you are exactly right. Of course, if you are not trying to get one over on Disney and a CM questions you, you aren't going to get angry and defensive- you are going to be confused and apologetic. If you are being deliberately deceptive, you are more likely get nasty w/ the CM.

My advice, the DDP is super easy to use when you get going on it. Don't worry about tally marks and spread sheets. It's too much to worry about when you are on vacation.

DO bring along your confirmation numbers and ADR/times.

DO save your receipts and verify (I just eyeballed it) that you are on track w/ your DDP credits at the end of each day. Unless you are splitting up every single day at every single meal, it'll be easy to do.

Snack credits can get away from you, but they are the least "valuable" aspect of the plan anyway. We ended up with way more than we thought at the end of the week.

Don't deliberately order more adult meals than you are entitled to.

Don't make yourself crazy keeping track of how many kid's meals you've ordered.

Don't go out of your way to find a CS location without a kid's menu- that just seems like a waste of valuable touring time. (I read someone post that they were going to Disney MGM studios EVERYDAY for their CS meal.... wow!)

Do have fun! And have a dessert that you wouldn't normally have ordered for me!

I agree with you. It is not that difficult if try to play "by the rules".

We did a lot of sharing CS meals because while some of could eat all that was offered we really did not want to. It was nice because we had plenty and did not feel badly when my DD ordered a CS meal that my DGD would enjoy. We had a lot left at the end of our stay, used the plan without abusing it, and yet ate plenty.

So have another dessert for me!

 

[always on vacation]

I agree with you. It is not that difficult if try to play "by the rules".

We did a lot of sharing CS meals because while some of could eat all that was offered we really did not want to. It was nice because we had plenty and did not feel badly when my DD ordered a CS meal that my DGD would enjoy. We had a lot left at the end of our stay, used the plan without abusing it, and yet ate plenty.

So have another dessert for me!

Thanks Guys!