DDP Question - Can we do this?

[Dis Ohana]

Let me get something straight...

There are 4 of us, me, DH, DS (14) and DD (11). I know it's been made clear that we cannot share a meal, but can DD order just an app for her meal and we pay OOP for it? Or does everyone present at the table have to use a TS? I've read conflicting reports on this -- anyone have firsthand information?

Also, I know the age for a kids meal is 10, but can DD still order from that menu and we pay for it OOP?

We plan on dining at a few signature restaurants so the extra credit would be nice. DD would not eat more than a childs portion or an appetizer.

 

[jayhjay]

Things may have changed with the 2007 plan, but we did this last fall. Several times one of us would use our plan credits while another paid OOP.

 

[Pumbaa_]

There have been mixed messages about sharing between people on the plan. The gudiebook specifically states no sharing with people not on the plan (I always translated this to mean me giving them my credits).

People have reported back being able to share meals at the table (not of course buffets or all you can eat places). I would share my appy with your daughter. If the CM indicates that is not possible, you can go ahead and do something oop.

good luck and let us know how it goes,

 

[JimMIA]

Let me get something straight...

There are 4 of us, me, DH, DS (14) and DD (11). I know it's been made clear that we cannot share a meal, but can DD order just an app for her meal and we pay OOP for it? Or does everyone present at the table have to use a TS? I've read conflicting reports on this -- anyone have firsthand information?

Also, I know the age for a kids meal is 10, but can DD still order from that menu and we pay for it OOP?

We plan on dining at a few signature restaurants so the extra credit would be nice. DD would not eat more than a childs portion or an appetizer.

I don't think there is any problem with paying for an appy OOP to save the credit for a signature dining. Unless, of course, you are at a buffet or fixed price meal. For those, everyone pays the full amount -- either DDP or OOP.

There have been very mixed messages on sharing between participants of the DDP -- maybe yes, maybe no.

Sharing with people not on the DDP has always been a no-no, although some got away with it in the past. That barn door has apparently been slammed shut as of 1/1/2007.

 

[Dis Ohana]

Thanks for responding. Sharing a TS meal with my DD would be the best way to go, since I doubt I could eat an app, main dish and dessert alone. I followed a very heated thread regarding sharing like this on the DDP a few months ago and decided in order to avoid any problems I'd see if I could just pay OOP for her instead. If the server has no problem with me giving DD the app as her main, then even better. But I won't count on it. Thanks again everyone for the input.

 

[bicker]

I think the sharing that Disney objects to is sharing with folks not on the Dining Plan and more specifically it is the sharing that results in those other people not making their own purchase. The Dining Plan is purchased for specific people -- just like an admission pass is only to be used by one person, the Dining Plan isn't to be used to feed more people than it was purchased for.

 

[Dis Ohana]

So you're saying that I can ask to use just 3 credits at a TS place, and share my meal with my DD? I'm hoping this is so, we're planning on hitting a few signature restaurants while we're there so it would work out a lot better this way. I guess I'll just ask if I can give her my app, and if it's a problem I'll order something small OOP for her. After runninng the numbers several times over, even if she doesn't use all her credits we should still come out pretty close to even.

 

[kcashner]

To answer the other part of your question--any one of any age can order off the children's menu. You can order the child's portion and pay the standard child's menu price (whether you are 11 or 50!) or you can order an "adult portion" of a child's menu item, in which case you pay about double the child's portion price.

There will be no problem with you ordering 3 adult meals on the DDP and paying OOP for a child's meal regardless of the age of the child. As to ordering 3 meals and sharing with a 4th person, I truly don't know how that is working this month. It seems to change.....

 

[Dis Ohana]

There will be no problem with you ordering 3 adult meals on the DDP and paying OOP for a child's meal regardless of the age of the child. As to ordering 3 meals and sharing with a 4th person, I truly don't know how that is working this month. It seems to change.....

I understand that it's a gray area - I'm not looking to short change Disney, I just want to know my options so I don't confuse the poor waiter . Good to hear I can still order her a kids meal, I know she'd prefer an app though so I don't see that being a problem. Either way, I think the DDP will be a good value and be a convinient way to go. Thanks!

 

[bicker]

It is so much simpler given that you're all 10 years of age or older. If your DD was younger, only then would your inquiry be more complicated.

 

[DisneyWisher]

I'm not sure if things have changed but in '05 while eating at ESPN, daughter ate the entree and I ate the appy. Its what we usually order when we are paying out of pocket, I didn't have any problems but again not sure if that has changed. When we go on our next trip if its a problem then I'll just pay out of pocket for mine and use the credit for her.

 

[NJDISMOM]

We're trying the dining plan for our August trip (5 days paid DDP, then 3 days free dining ). I have a DS13 who will eat everything that's put in front of him (and whatever else he can reach! ). My other DS12 is very picky and still eats off the kid menu mostly . When we do buffets or the Fantasmic package, I will obviously use DS12's TS Credits, but when we have our ADRs at Le Cellier, Kona Cafe, Wolfgang Puck, etc, I plan on using 3 TS credits for the rest of us and paying OOP for a kids meal for him. He just wouldn't eat all the fancier foods or the volume! I've asked multiple CMs and they've all said we should have no problems, so it sounds like your plan should get the same answer.

Hopefully, they've all been right !

 

[JadeDarkstar]

cool cool i was woundering about shareing with my son, or in cs meals like the huge chicken and potatos i heard about..one of us could use cs point for that and share it to snake or something..it sounds like the ddp is flexbuel and will turn out being good

 

[ronirp]

While I never tried to share on the dining plan, I am not sure why it short-changes disney if all members of the party are on the dining plan and share. Obviously, sharing with people not on the plan does, as this means someone who would have paid for the meal will not. But sharing among people who already paid for the dining plan only means you have credits you will not use (possibly even lose). Disney pays less for food that is not ordered, but still gets the same price from the guests. I understand that this is a gray area, I just do not see the logic of not allowing it (if that is indeed the case)

 

[HappyMomof4]

You can share table service meals as long as everyone in the party is on the dining plan. In other words, you can't share with someone who is not on the dining plan. We just returned from a week at Disney and several people in our party shared TS meals and it really helped to stretch out their credits. Obviously you can't share buffet meals but they shared a meal at Coral Reef and had plenty of food. That was our experience everywhere we ate. The food is plentiful!!

You can also pay for part of your meal if you want. For example, at CRT we used 4 adult credits and 4 children credits and paid for my son's breakfast ($40.00) - thus saving us 2 adult credits to use elsewhere. Hope this helps.

 

[pixdust]

I am just curious as to why the dining plan just doesn't let you use your credits any way you want as long as you had enough credits. I would like to see the dining plan let you use your TS dinner credits for CS if that is what you would rather do. I like the idea of not having to continually getting my wallet or credit card out and just having my credits subtracted based on the items I purchase. I think it would be nice to just have a prepaid dining card without having to think about eating TS every night. It would be more flexible and I think much easier to use. I don't know. I think the Dining plan would just make me and family over eat if we had a nice sit down meal every day. Just rambling some thoughts out.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

you dont have to every day, say you had 6ts meals..well you could go to 3 relly big meals that cost two and just have three nice meals and the rest be cs and snaks..and pay oop when need something quick

it is flexbuel you could use them all in one day or how every you wanted..i do agree about saying if i wanted more ts or cs then being abel to trade them out would be cool

 

[pixdust]

you dont have to every day, say you had 6ts meals..well you could go to 3 relly big meals that cost two and just have three nice meals and the rest be cs and snaks..and pay oop when need something quick

it is flexbuel you could use them all in one day or how every you wanted..i do agree about saying if i wanted more ts or cs then being abel to trade them out would be cool

Wouldn't it be cool? I guess if we planned it right and got all 6 of us on the same page that would work out well, use 2 for a couple of character meals and maybe a dinner show. I am just trying to think of how much oop I actually spent on food when we wer there in March '06. If I sat down and really figured it out over the course of the week the cost of the DDP might really end up being cheaper. Especially if I can get DH to go this time. With just my son and I, we found that we ate most of our meals at POR food court. The food choices were many and I thought the food was exceptional. I had an AP then and was able to take advantage of using the Disney Dining Card which was very nice. I am still seriously considering it, if for no other reason than not having to worry about everyone having enough $$ to pay for the majority of what they eat.

 

[Stittsville]

Let me get something straight...

There are 4 of us, me, DH, DS (14) and DD (11). I know it's been made clear that we cannot share a meal, but can DD order just an app for her meal and we pay OOP for it? Or does everyone present at the table have to use a TS? I've read conflicting reports on this -- anyone have firsthand information?

Also, I know the age for a kids meal is 10, but can DD still order from that menu and we pay for it OOP?

We plan on dining at a few signature restaurants so the extra credit would be nice. DD would not eat more than a childs portion or an appetizer.

We were in the World for 10 days, in May, and we shared at every TS meal that wasn't a buffet, or the Fantasmic package. There was myself (DH), DW, DD14, DD11, DD8. We used either 4 adult credits, or 3 adult and 1 child. I told the waiter at the beginning of the meal that we wanted to share, and ordered an extra drink and an extra plate. Everytime the waiter's response was exactly the same "No problem". We used the saved credits to eat at Artist's Point, which also allowed us to share.

Of course, they might balk you if you tried to share too much, say only 2 meals between the four of you.

 

[Dis Ohana]

We were in the World for 10 days, in May, and we shared at every TS meal that wasn't a buffet, or the Fantasmic package. There was myself (DH), DW, DD14, DD11, DD8. We used either 4 adult credits, or 3 adult and 1 child. I told the waiter at the beginning of the meal that we wanted to share, and ordered an extra drink and an extra plate. Everytime the waiter's response was exactly the same "No problem". We used the saved credits to eat at Artist's Point, which also allowed us to share.

Of course, they might balk you if you tried to share too much, say only 2 meals between the four of you.

That's so good to know. More than likely my DH and DS would make good use of their credits, and me and DD would share one. I'm not so concerned about the CS meals, it's more the TS ones I wanted to split. Thanks again, this is exactly the information I was looking for.