Charging for children under 3

[cgcw]

This is more of a curiousity question than anything because next trip our DS2 will be over 3. But, I would like to know whether I was correct in my thinking. We dined all over WDW for 10 days and were not charged for our DS2's meals anywhere until we dined at the Whispering Canyon Cafe for dinner. When we received the bill, we were charged for a child's dinner. I questioned it with the server and she very willingly offered the manager. The manager said that it's their policy to charge everyone who eats there, regardless of age. But, for this one time, they would remove the charge.
I have absolutely no problem paying for what we owe but I'm not sure this was correct. In fact, this evening, we paid for the child's meal for our DS8 (8.99 if I remember correctly) plus another child's meal (5.99 or 6.99) for the additional macaroni and cheese which our DS8 wanted. I'm just questioning whether children under 3 are charged for a meal at a restaurants discression.
Thanks for any clarification!

 

[jel0511]

If you eat at a buffet or an all you can eat type place, you are not charged for children under 3. If you order anything off a chldren's menu you are charged, regardless of age. At Whispering Canyon, if you ordered the all-you-can eat skillet, and your DS ate from that, you shouldn't have been charged. If you ordered him a meal from the child's menu, then yes, you should have been charged. Usually a good guideline is if there is a children's menu, you'll pay. If it's a buffet, one price type place, than under 3 is free. YOu didn't say where else you ate, so I don't know if you just got lucky, or you ate at mostly character meals. Also, if you share from your plate at a regular sit-down you are not charged for your little one.

 

[cgcw]

Lori,
Thanks for the clarification. I thought he shouldn't have been charged but I just wanted to make certain. We dined all over, at both buffet/family style meals as well as sit down/order off the menu places. We were not charged for the cheeseburger and fries we walked out of from LeCelliers the night we dined there and DS2 slept through the entire meal -- the server didn't want him to be hungry later. I was just surprised when WCC charged for his meal. In our case, at WCC, we paid for the childrens family meal as well as a child's mac and cheese meal because our DS8 wanted the mac&cheese. I had no problem doing this but it was the charge for DS2 that I questioned. I know it won't mantter in the future, I just wanted to clear my conscience if need be. Thanks for your help.

 

[mirlow]

We had lunch at WCC this summer and my dd who is one got a free meal. I remeber being rather surprised because we just ordered off the regular lunch menu and we ordered 2 kids meals for our older kids. Our waiter wanted to know if we wanted a complimentary meal for DD. It was a small order of Mac and Cheese. It was nice because she hardly eats anything anyway. This is a waiter who I assume has been around because I saw him in the Travel Channel's WL segment. jel0511 is right about the kids meals. I only wish they had different prices for the younger kids who still hardly eat anything. I hate going to buffets to spend $25 on my two older kids (7 &4) who only eat about $5 worth of food total Some day they will eat their monies worth

 

[HeatherPage]

We were there this past September for lunch and my then 10 1/2 month old received a complimentary chicken tenders and mac and cheese (but he only ate the mac and cheese at that point). We really liked the server (he reminded me of Alton Brown of the Food Network if anyone knows who he is).

 

[s&k'smom]

The only time we were charged for our DD who was 15 months at the time was an under 3 charge and I think it was at Cape May Cafe. But I didn't mind as she ate a ton! More than my six year old. But that was the only place. As a matter of fact if you child does not eat make sure you tell them. My DS is mildly autistic and will not eat at a restaurant and I had to make a point of telling them as not to be charged. I find CM's go out of there way to make the little one's very welcome.

 

[MouseinMelbourne]

When we stayed at WL in October we were specifically told by our waiter that no child under 3 should be charged for at any restaurant within WDW and to be sure we are not charged during our stay. He brought it up - I had no idea! Later that day, we were charged at TTS in MK and when we addressed it with the waiter - they removed the charge.

Carolyn

 

[HeatherPage]

That's always great to know, thanks!

 

[mrsltg]

So here's a question for ya'll.... My dd will turn 3 while we are at WDW. Being that she'll hardly eat (at least, no more than she would have when she was 2 the day before), do we tell the buffets that she is 3?

Erin

 

[4greatboys]

We ate at Tony's while CP was closed. They had the Pooh character meals there--no buffett though you ordered off of a menu. We were told by our server we could order whatever we wanted from the kids menu for our 2 yr old and it was free. There was no charge for kids under 3.
And by the way Tony's food was very good and cheesecake was wonderful!

 

[MouseinMelbourne]

Well, when you make your PS arrangements, she'll still be 2 right? So then she is 2. Not 3. OK, OK, I push it. But like you said, the amount eaten is not different. If you can live with yourself for the "little white lie" I would say that she is 2.

FWIW, DH, & I have annual passes that expire October 2003. DD will be 3 in June 2003. I am NOT going to buy her a pass in June and end up with different expiration dates. She will "be 2" until October as far as WDW is concerned.

Carolyn

 

[bubbasmom99]

Does she look 3? My guess is that if she looks 2, you will probably not be charged, but if you are asked, you can either say she's 2, or say "she just celebrated her birthday yesterday (or day before or whatever) and I bet most servers will reach for some Disney magic and overlook it.

Originally posted by mrsltg
So here's a question for ya'll.... My dd will turn 3 while we are at WDW. Being that she'll hardly eat (at least, no more than she would have when she was 2 the day before), do we tell the buffets that she is 3?

Erin

 

[bubbasmom99]

We were not charged at buffets and only paid when DS ordered off the a la carte menu... usually mac and cheese or chicken nuggets.

I have not heard of any restaurant at WDW that charges "admission" but at Goofy's Kitchen at the Disneyland Resort, children under 3 are charged (I believe it's $3.99 or something) for "admittance" to "the show". Totally bogus.... I once had to pay for my 8 month old to eat jarred baby food in their restaurant, and he didn't even care about the characters....

 

[HeatherPage]

I have heard from several people on these boards that if you have a child who has a birthday during your trip, which bumps them up into another age category WDW considers them the same age as when the started their trip. So if your daughter turns 3 during your vacation, they'll still consider her two for the entire trip for meal/ticket situations. Hope this helps.