DDP credit use?

[Mama Moose]

We are a family of 4 and going to be on the free DDP in Sept. and I am wondering if it's possible to use credits for the adults and pay oop for the kids? We are planning to do CRT and possibly Hoop Dee Doo, so we would need to make up credits somewhere.
Are there just a certain number of credits that can be used or are they specifically alotted to kids and adults? We were on the deluxe plan last year, so we never had to worry about it. We also had 7 meals and 12 snacks left over on our last day, so we won't be doing that again.
Thanks for any advice!!

 

[goofyintoronto]

We are a family of 4 and going to be on the free DDP in Sept. and I am wondering if it's possible to use credits for the adults and pay oop for the kids? We are planning to do CRT and possibly Hoop Dee Doo, so we would need to make up credits somewhere.
Are there just a certain number of credits that can be used or are they specifically alotted to kids and adults? We were on the deluxe plan last year, so we never had to worry about it. We also had 7 meals and 12 snacks left over on our last day, so we won't be doing that again.
Thanks for any advice!!

You can totally do that! Ive gone to restaurants before where I paid with the DDP and for my adult son i'd pay OOP. I've done it many times and will do it again this upcoming trip. you will be fine!

 

[momto3pirates]

I may be reading this wrong, but if you are asking if you can use the child meal credits for adult meals the answer is no. If your kids are adults on the DDP then yes you can split it up like you are asking. Technically kids meal credits must be used for children's menu items.

 

[Mama Moose]

I may be reading this wrong, but if you are asking if you can use the child meal credits for adult meals the answer is no. If your kids are adults on the DDP then yes you can split it up like you are asking. Technically kids meal credits must be used for children's menu items.

I'm not asking if they can have adult food. I'm asking if I can pay for half the meal, since we will be doing 2 meals that require 2 credits each. I don't think it will pay for us to upgrade to the deluxe plan. If we have 2 adults and 2 kids on the plan, will they let us use 2 TS credits for each adult and then we can pay oop for the kids. This will help us not eat up all the TS credits so quick.
Thanks

 

[Cafeen]

You can absolutely do this. Simply let the server know ahead of time who is paying with credits and who is not and they'll split the check accordingly. In fact, this is advice that I give out often when people are trying to stretch credits to cover more meals... usually pay OOP for kids and DDP for adults at sit downs, then reverse it for any character breakfasts. It's a very good way to stretch credits and keep the value gained per credit spent a touch higher.

The meal credits on DDP ARE split into Adult and Children and this will be reflected on any receipts (snack credits are just a single pool, and QS credits used to be, but I'm not entirely sure how they work, I haven't used the normal DDP in 3 years...and only used it once ).

 

[smiths02]

I'm not asking if they can have adult food. I'm asking if I can pay for half the meal, since we will be doing 2 meals that require 2 credits each. I don't think it will pay for us to upgrade to the deluxe plan. If we have 2 adults and 2 kids on the plan, will they let us use 2 TS credits for each adult and then we can pay oop for the kids. This will help us not eat up all the TS credits so quick.
Thanks

For example:
1 night of DDP with 2 adults and 2 children...You get
2 ADULT TS meals, 2 CHILD TS meals...these are NOT pooled, they will be listed as such meaning that you cannot use child TS credits to pay for adult TS meals later in the trip

CS meals are pooled (or they were last year); however, policy states that you need to use child CS credits for a children's CS meal when one is available.

Even on DxDP when they are pooled, per Disney policy, you are supposed to use children's credits for children and adult for adult

ETA: You can, however, pay OOP for kids meals at one restaurant (where it might be cheaper) and save those child TS credits for something like a character buffet (but then you would have to be paying for the adults there OOP)

 

[Maggie'sMom]

On the basic Dining Plan, the TS credits are split between adult and child. You cannot use a child TS credit for an adult. You don't say how old your kids are. If your kids are 10 or older, then all your credits will be adult credits.

 

[Mama Moose]

Is the monitoring of kid/adult meals new? We went March 2011 and the receipts always just read # meals left, but didn't differentiate between the two. We had the deluxe plan that time, not sure if that makes a difference. Our kids are only 5and 7, so they would definitely be on the kids plan.
I'm just trying to figure out which meals to actually pay oop for.

 

[bdoyledimou]

And see how much to upgrade your children to adult dining.
We did this 2 years ago, and it was 9 cents ymmv.
Then you can do what you want.

 

[Cafeen]

Is the monitoring of kid/adult meals new? We went March 2011 and the receipts always just read # meals left, but didn't differentiate between the two. We had the deluxe plan that time, not sure if that makes a difference. Our kids are only 5and 7, so they would definitely be on the kids plan.
I'm just trying to figure out which meals to actually pay oop for.

DxDDP does not split them up on the receipt, DDP does.

 

[nadira36]

DxDP doesn't split them up on the receipt to show how many of child or adult meals you have, however it is still child meals and adult meals. The computer does keep track and you can ask at customer service or at most restaurants to verify the specifics.

YOu cannot use a child credit for an adult meal.

We usually do DxDP because we actually do eat that much (last trip we had 1 child credit left, that's it). However b/c we do a lot of signature dining a few things we do to help balance out - have fruit for BF (for DxDP we use snack credits for BF). If you're regular DP, then pay OoP for BF (unless doing a character meal).

For lunch we'll often have a buffet b/c then we're filed up and won't need anything other than a snack later. If we do want something else we buy 1 adult and 1 child CS meal (for 2 adults, 2 children, 1 baby). This saves 1 each child and adult meal credit to be used later. (Though this works for DxDP since it doesn't matter where you use the credits). For regular DP Eat CS with 1 meal per person to fill up one meal, but then choose a larger CS meal later (for instance Pecos has HUGE tacos that we can easily split the meals, or Flame Tree BBQ also has large meals, or personal pizzas etc) where you pay Oop - instead of having a TS meal that day. This will save TS credits by not using any that day, but also save CS to allow you to use them on a different day allowing you to still have 2 DP meals per day. Even if both are CS and one is smaller.

The points are pooled over the course of your trip. So for a family of 4 - with 2 adults and 2 children staying for 5 nights will have 1 TS, 1 CS, 1 Snack per adult/day and 1 TS, 1 CS, 1 Snack per child/day. for a total of 10 adult TS, CS, and snacks. and 10 Child CS, TS, Snacks.

A child can use an adult credit to get an adult meal (but hy do that?), but an adult can't use a child credit. However if you ordered child meals for an adult, they likely wouldn't say anything, but you also likely wouldn't be very satisfied. TS restaurants are a lot more likely to enforce the rules, whereas CS you can go up and order 4 kids meals, no adult meals - and as long as you have 4 Child credits, they won't say anything.

Something else to consider is to choose the most expensive restaurants to use for the TS and use the DDP for those. Then when you run out of credits, pay OoP for whatever's left.

 

[Cafeen]

I'm just trying to figure out which meals to actually pay oop for.

I should learn to read the whole post before replying , I didn't even see this part!

Deciding which meals for OOP and which meals for credit purchase can be simple, or it can be complex. I take the complex route, since I'm a number nerd.

On my spreadsheet (where I calculate to make sure the plan works for me), I actually have a section where I can sort by value received per credit. If I need to pay OOP for some, I simply adjust from the bottom up (sorted high to low). Now, this is a bit much for normal people so...

Echoing the PP above me, if you have more TS planned than you have credits for, pay the cheaper meals OOP and the more expensive with credits. Note that character breakfast buffets are typically cheaper than dinner TS for adults, and vice versa for children (the average child's meal at a standard TS is around $8 and the rough average for a child's character breakfast is around $20, last I checked).

Depending on your other plans, I'd consider paying OOP for adults at either HDDR or CRT (if it's breakfast or lunch), whichever is cheaper and using credits for the kids here. Then pick an appropriate number of standard TS to do the opposite (focus on dinners). If you have any non-buffet breakfasts, those would also be very good choices to use OOP vs credits (for both in this case).

 

[Mama Moose]

Thanks for all your great advice everyone!! I know I'm completely over planning, because usually the kids are over character meals after about 3 of them. Their fav is Sci-Fi, which is cheaper to pay oop, so this will most likely solve the problem.