1. That depends entirely on what sort of appetite and tastes your 9 year old has. For my (nearly) 9 year old daughter the dining plan works quite well for her. She has rather plain, generic tastes so pizzas, burgers, nuggets and pb&j sandwiches are right up her alley. However, anytime my DD wanted to sample some of what I ordered, I shared with her. The food is plentiful enough (in my opinion) in the adult meals to enable this and my DD NEVER went hungry on the size of the kids meals. Don't forget there are the snack entitlements as well.
2. Again, this really depends on how your family likes to eat on vacation. We like to indulge ourselves but we did a 2 day "test run" of the DxDDP and it was just waaaaay too much food and used up far too much time. We'll never do the Deluxe plan again. The regular
DDP has worked well for us on more than one occasion...plenty of food, lots of indulgences and tons of snack credits used up on things that were brought home.
3. For TS meals the formula is a non alcoholic drink, an entree and a dessert for a la carte restaurants. Buffets, of course are all you care to eat. If you get the DDP, you will only pay for the tip OOP at all TS restaurants excepting CRT and I think Akershus. The servers are really, really good about explaining what is allowable with your credits.
4. In terms of QS meals, the kids get a drink, main (see above), side (which is often carrot sticks) and dessert (which is often grapes). Substitutions can usually be made for the healthier options (such as a burger, with fries as a side and a cookie for dessert).
My tips to you:
Think hard about WHERE you want to eat. If you are going to be doing a lot of character meals (which are nearly all buffets), it might be a better idea NOT to upgrade your child.
Think about HOW you like to eat. Do you like to share? Is anyone in your party the sort who prefers to order a salad and an appetizer? Do you drink mostly water? If so, maybe the dining plan (if you are paying for it) is not for you!
Tips on making the most out of the DDP:
A) Make good use of your refillable mugs. They can be used at your home resort at any time and as much as you like. Bottles of water and juice (etc) that come with any QS meals you may eat in the food court can be taken into the parks with you without a problem or saved for later in the room etc.
B) If your kid is a more adventurous eater and tires soon of burgers and pizzas, nuggets and pb&j's, be sure to hit up the places that have a bit more variety of choices for the kids. Also, take avangtage of the few places that don't offer kid's meals. If you eat at a QS place that doesn't have a kid's menu, you can order an adult entree meal for your child(ren) using their kid credits.
Examples of different than usual kid's meals:
Pretty much all the resorts have a wider variety than the QS places in the parks so if you plan to resort hop you may want to consider dining at one of the QS places while you do so.
In DHS...
ABC Commissary, Rosie's and Fairfax Faire have a kid's turkey sandwich
In Epcot...
Electric Umbrella has a chilled chicken wrap
Sunshine Seasons has sweet and sour chicken with rice, chicken ceasar salad with a side, chicken panini, and a chicken leg with mashed potatoes
Katsura Grill (Japan) has Teriyaki Chicken
La Cantina de San Angel (Mexico) has cheese empanadas
The Lotus Blossom (China) has sweet and sour chicken
In MK...
Columbia Harbour House has a tuna sandwich
Pinocchio's Village Haus has pasta and meatballs and grilled cheese sandwiches
Tortuga Tavern has cheese quesadillas
Places without kid's menus:
In DHS...Min and Bill's Dockside (I know they take the DDP for snack credits for sure so I'm assuming QS credits can be used here for the meal entrees)
In Epcot...Boulangerie Patisserie (France), Sommerfest (Germany), Yorshire County Fish Shop (England)
In MK...Casey's Corner, Golden Oak Outpost, Lunching Pad, possibly Main Street Bakery (they may have the pb&J uncrustables there for a kid's meal...not sure about that)
C) To get the most bang for your buck...eat lunch in your room OR use snack credits OR pay for these meals OOP, have QS lunches and TS dinners.
I hope you get the answers to all your questions and can feel secure in the decisions you make on this subject!!
