There are a lot of situations that aren't being taken into account, though.
For example, say the Smith familiy wants to eat at the Hoop De Doo review. It's 2 credits, but the adult price is roughly $50 and the child price is $25.
So, if they pay for the kids out of pocket at, say, Sci Fi and 50s Prime Time where the kids meals are less expensive (like $5) it would allow them to all go to the Hoop De Doo together on the MYW dining program.
As far as it being a scam to the Disney people, if you calculate some of the better sit down places, you can easily reach the $50/$25 mark with a smoothie, appetizer, dessert, steak kids dinner, etc. on the meal plan. (For example, Concourse Steakhouse or Les Cellier). There are going to be families who want to eat somewhere like 50s Prime Time who will spend far less on a meal than those who eat at a steakhouse - and there are times when our family will eat a big meal at a sit down and some days we won't go to the most expensive place on the menu. Either way, we have the allowance within the program to spend a fortune, if we went to Les Cellier every night. I mean, if we got the most expensive appetizer ($13 each), the $37 prime rib, and the $12 signature dessert - with drinks...plus all three of our kids got the $9 kids steak and the $7 dessert we would spend like $175 before tip and taxes. The most expensive meals we could eat at 50s Prime Time is $83. The Hoop de Doo review is $175 as well. But - it's two credits.
I guess my long, rambly not making too much sense point is - sometimes we just try to "maximize" it and really don't end up saving any money in the long run. If we pay for the kids at one restaurant to have another restaurant dinner, I don't see how Disney is out any additional money - especially when you consider that we're then paying *cash* out of pocket for the extra items (and gratiuty on these items).
And, while we (and some families) will be eating mac and cheese ($5) others will be having grilled chicken and steak ($7-$9) for their kids when we use the TS credits.
It's all a crap shoot - just depends on who orders what, which restaurant you pick, and how much they can eat.
Also, our three year old is a passholder and we have to pay for her tiny self, even though she sleeps *in* our bed and weighs 20-something pounds. She's considered a resort guest, she's considered someone who should pay admission, etc - and we do all that, of course. BUT - she doesn't eat. I mean, literally a banana and a handful of cheerios. She's a toddler. So, we'll have all her credits but there is NO way she'll eat all that food. She, at best, shares with her 5 year old sister who has sensory issues and will not/cannot eat certain foods. I mean the two of them can share a grilled cheese sandwich at Sonic and it doesn't get finished.
Is it fair that these children are counted at the same rate as the 7 year old who can eat a steak, baked potato, and dessert - plus?
I understand what some of you are saying, but I think there are many shades of grey in all of this. Whatever Disney decides we'll have to abide by, but it isn't necessarily "fraud" to swap around some meals. Especially when you consider that in the past three years I have paid Disney WELL over $9,000 for our three trips. And we haven't even arrived on that third trip. Is the admission price "fair"? Is the resort price "fair"? (I mean, we can stay offsite in a Ramada Inn Kidsuite for $72/night all as a family - we can't even stay in ONE room onsite because of our family size).
If we were using our AP rate, we couldn't get the dining. The AP rate would have saved us a lot, but we wanted the convenience of the dining package. The dining package, though, we had to pay full price for the resort AND buy one day tickets that we won't use.
Like someone else said - they know what they're doing. They get our money either way
. Whether they give us some discount on our rooms, or tickets, or whatever we end up typically spending the same amount.
If we have a budget of $3000, and we "save" by not paying for dining, don't we usually make it up in souveniers - or special events - or other things we might not have spent the money on? It's just a shift in where we're paying them.
