DDP and Kids who don't eat orally

[Mason7AK]

Hi all, I am going to DW in two weeks with a friend and our two 6 year old children. Both have g-buttons and are 100% tube fed. We got the dining plan with our package, as we adults love to try all the great food at Disney at the TS restuarants! We plan on doing a TS meal each day and a couple of days twice.
We bought the dining plan for both the children as well, because it has been my experience the last two times I have gone with my DD, that at buffets and character meals, she has been charged even though she does not eat (they say that we are paying for the "character experience", not the food).
I don't have a problem with that, especially since we are doing the Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show and that is definitely entertainment for the kids!
My question is this: Has anyone in this situation been able to use TS credits for the child at a character meal, but pay out of pocket for the adults? We have more TS booked than we have adult credits for, but will have extra child TS credits because of the places (like Marrakesh and CG) that are regular menu places, so I dont think they will make us use the child TS at those. With the extra child TS credits, we would like to do a couple of character meals for the children, and just pay OOP for the adults.
Can we do this?
Also, can we legitimately use their CS credits by turning them into snack credits and getting a few treats to bring home with us? We paid for them, and I would hate to see all those CS and Snack credits go to waste! We are staying 7 nights, so have 14 CS and 14 snack credits just for the kids!
Thanks in advance!
I didn't want to ask this on the dining board, as I was afraid it would turn into a "cheating the system" debate (even though we paid for the children)! They seem to have a lot of those over there - LOL.
Angela

 

[Grumpy_Disney_Dad]

You can choose to pay OOP for any meals that you wish. It may be helpful to tell the server what your plan is before you order but it should not be a problem at all. As far as turning the extra CS into snacks, that is a hit or miss proposition. May suggestion for that would be to check with the hotel guest services. If they say no, you may also want to check with the place where you intend on using the credits. It seems that some cm's allow it and others don't

 

[SueM in MN]

I don't know what they do with the Disney Dining Plan. I know that if you are paying cash, it is up to the discretion of the server whether to charge the whole amount or not for people who don't eat. Typically, they do charge at least an 'entertainment fee' for the character meals, like they did for your past trip.
Please let us know what happens.

 

[Mason7AK]

Hi Sue, Last time I went with our whole family, it was hit or miss with them charging for DD. BUT, it was either all or nothing. We either got charged the whole amount or they chose not to charge at all. That is why we elected to go ahead and get the dining plan for the kids. FYI - I was told when I called to make the package reservations by Disney personnel that because of the special circumstances, we could elect to buy the dining package just for the adults. To do this, they said we would have to make the package reservations with just the adult names and when we arrived we could explain the situation at check-in and they would allow us to just add the kids to the room reservations without adding them to the dining plan.
Seemed a little chancy to me, plus the fact that if we are charged anyway for character meals, buffets, and the dinner show we would pay more OOP than if they are on the plan. That is why we elected to go ahead and purchase the dining plan for them. Better safe than sorry!
Thanks for all the info and I will post when we return on how things actually go and where we are told to use the child table service credits.
Angela

 

[SueM in MN]

Hi Sue, Last time I went with our whole family, it was hit or miss with them charging for DD. BUT, it was either all or nothing. We either got charged the whole amount or they chose not to charge at all. That is why we elected to go ahead and get the dining plan for the kids. FYI - I was told when I called to make the package reservations by Disney personnel that because of the special circumstances, we could elect to buy the dining package just for the adults. To do this, they said we would have to make the package reservations with just the adult names and when we arrived we could explain the situation at check-in and they would allow us to just add the kids to the room reservations without adding them to the dining plan.

It is kind of hit or miss, since the server is the one who decides. A lot of people have written in the past that they were charged an 'Entertainment fee' that was less than the full fee. My youngest DD is an adult by age. She does eat, but not as much as most adults and she eats mostly the child buffet foods. It's hit or miss how we are charged for her - sometimes she's charged as an adult, sometimes as a child.
I think you are wise not to take any chances. I guess I'd rather pay and have the chance that the server might give a discount (or not use the child's meal credits) than have a chance of a problem with not getting in.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

And don't forget that under the new rules child and adult meal credits are tracked separately at both counter service and table service. Also, if the KTTW says 2 Adult 2 Child for dining you cannot have a 3rd adult meal against your card.