DDP with 1 Year Old???

[aladdinsgirl]

Forgive my stupid question, but the DDP is totally new to me. This is the first time in about 15 trips that DH and I are looking into the dining plan, so I am completely ignorant. We're planning on going to WDW in Sept and we're lookling into free dining, my son will be 13 months on our vacation, so normally he wouldn't need a park ticket, but will we have to buy him a ticket in order for him to be on the DP? Or will we be able to pay for his meals OOP?

TIA!

Krista

 

[Faldred]

Yes, you'd have to buy a park ticket to add him to the dining plan.

On the whole, you'd be better off not doing so -- kid's meals are huge for really young kids (designed for an 8-9 year old), and paying OOP for what you really need is usually better. Especially considering that kid's DDP "savings" are best at buffets, and an under-3 child is already free at buffets.

I'd suggest paying OOP and/or just letting the child share off your plate.

ETA: We just got back from a trip with a 3 year old and 2 year old twins -- all three kids were able to eat plenty on just one kid's meal...

 

[Colleen27]

You can pay for his meals OOP or share your food with him. At buffets, he eats free.

 

[aladdinsgirl]

Thanks for the quick replies!! I am glad to hear that we can just pay OOP for him, it would be my luck that we book the DDP, go to use it at the first restaurant and have a CM give us grief for wanting to pay for his meals. We are going to run the numbers tonight for DDP vs. TiW (which we have) and AAA discount and see what is most cost effective.

Krista

 

[aladdinsgirl]

ETA: We just got back from a trip with a 3 year old and 2 year old twins -- all three kids were able to eat plenty on just one kid's meal...

Thanks for that tip too! Carter is our first child and right now he is just eating baby food, so I have no idea really how much "food" food he'll be eating in September and how much of the kids meal will he physically be able to eat. Like will he be able to chew grilled chicken?? What about an apple slice?? Not a clue! I definitely think September will be a learning trip for us.

Krista

 

[arielmomma]

When we went last September, my daughter was 18 months old and a huge eater (still is). I shared all of my quick service meals with her (if you order things like wraps or roasted chicken, the portions are huge!) and we primarily ate at character buffets where she could eat whatever she wanted for free. At first, I was concerned that I would end up buying meals for her, but in the end we had far more than enough to eat.

 

[adventure_woman]

On the other side, if you bought him a 1day ticket, you could save it for next time, and then you wouldn't have to worry about paying OOP for him. You could also eat all his snacks!

 

[n2mm]

When we took our 1 yo grand daughter last August we purchased all of her meals. You don't have to purchase the entire kids' meal. You can do a la carte. There was no way she and her 3 yo sister could share a kids' meal. The 3 yo had no problem eating the 4 nuggets that came with a CS meal, and she also had no problem eating the kids' pizza that came with the TS meal. The 1 yo (now almost 2 yo) can eat 3-4 pancakes by herself in the AM and she is tiny. Almost 2 yo and still wears an 18 month clothing. We added the 2 yo to our dining plan and will buy her a ticket to put away for later. Of course she's also latose intolerant so can't really share any meals with any of us. She will most likely have to have something prepared for her that she can eat since most of the kids' selections include some sort of dairy. I think french fries, pasta w/tom sauce and grilled chicken are the only items that don't include dairy that are on the kids' menu.

 

[pinkerbell]

we have gone every year with our now 3 and 5 yo - we have NEVER bought an OOP meal for them and they are good eaters. We mix buffets with table serivce and find there is always enough!! Enjoy your first time on the DDP!! It's wonderful!
I love seeing people take young children (some think "they r too young" ????) We have watched our children in awe as they take it all in starting at 9 months.
Have a magical time!

 

[shruley]

When we go with young kids (under 3), we did a lot of buffets or family style places for TS. They can have their own plate there and eat whatever they want. We took our DD to Ohana when she was 2 and they brought her out chicken fingers, free, because she didn't like anything else. Also, with buffets there was very little wait, and often characters without standing and waiting in line! The other thing really nice about buffets is they can eat whatever they want, not having to eat one of 3 kid's menu options or you having to get something they could eat as well. My DD is normally a great eater, very adventerous, but ate horribly at Disney when she was a toddler. And it got worse the longer we were there. Buffets were nice because about the time we'd sit down she'd usually decide the only thing she'd eat would be like 50 grapes or only bread and butter. She did a little better on the cruise, so I'm hoping now that she's 5 we can get through this trip without forcing food on her.

 

[Faldred]

General tip that I picked up late in my recent visit -- if ordering a kid's meal at a TS restaurant, ask if it's possible to get a kid-sized portion of a regular adult meal, especially at non-Disney-owned locations.

A manager confided in me that they are required by Disney to have the standardized menus, but will generally accommodate requests of this nature.

Also, feel free to mix and match the sides from the "fixed plate" and "ala carte" options from the kid's menu.

 

[aladdinsgirl]

Thank you everyone with all of your tips, they really have been great. I have 8 nieces and nephews and I've been surrounded by kids my whole life, but I'm finding that I'm still clueless when it comes to my own.

One more DDP question, if you don't mind...DH and I have AP's and I saw on the regular DDP that you can buy the DDP with your AP's and not have to buy park tickets. Does that apply with free dining? I'm kind of thinking it doesn't or that would be a REALLY good deal! Can we buy a one day ticket for the 2 of us with the no expiration feature? If we have to buy a one day ticket, that's no big deal as we were going back in January for the marathon and our AP's will expire then so an extra day would be great to have. I'd just like to know up front what we can and can't do. I really hope the DDP works for us--I am getting excited!!

Krista

 

[Faldred]

It's my understanding that there's traditionally a different offer (room discount) for AP holders during the free dining period. Otherwise, you may just be wise to get a 1-day ticket for the free dining to apply to your AP renewal -- that sounds like a solid plan.

 

[katieam1]

Thanks for that tip too! Carter is our first child and right now he is just eating baby food, so I have no idea really how much "food" food he'll be eating in September and how much of the kids meal will he physically be able to eat. Like will he be able to chew grilled chicken?? What about an apple slice?? Not a clue! I definitely think September will be a learning trip for us.

Krista

We went in January with a 2 year old and a 1 year old(our learning trip). We did not buy any meals for them. We were on the deluxe dining so we shared everything with them and ate three times a day at restaurants. I would say you would not have to buy any food. My daughter that is one eats a lot but we can still share everything with some left over. We went to a lot of buffets or family styles so you just get them a plate and they eat their own. Even with the regular dining plan you will be fine. Don't buy park tickets and all that it would be a total waste of money! I found that my kids ate more at one than at 2. But even a lot for them isn't really a lot!

I think he will absolutely be able to eat chicken just cut it up very small. My daughter eats everything except like fish so you will not have a problem finding him food. My kids started to eat more solid adult food at 10 months! Good luck and remember to just have fun and go with the flow with small ones at WDW!

 

[pinkerbell]

My understanding is you do need to get at least a 1 day ticket to get free dining and that YES you can use it whenever - tickets are good for 14 day from date of ACTIVATION - ( i know because we stay for 18 and have to plan park visits in the 14 day window) since you will not activate that ticket by going into a park with it it will remain good until you use it. Therefore there is no need to but the no expiration option!! such a deal!

 

[Halbleib1]

Thanks for the quick replies!! I am glad to hear that we can just pay OOP for him, it would be my luck that we book the DDP, go to use it at the first restaurant and have a CM give us grief for wanting to pay for his meals. We are going to run the numbers tonight for DDP vs. TiW (which we have) and AAA discount and see what is most cost effective.

Krista

By far the free dining is going to be your best price. Unless you are staying in a Deluxe than people have reported that a pin code can be a better deal. We booked last Jan with AAA and than rebooked when free dining was announced and saved over 1000 with two adults even with paying rack rate for the room. We went for 14 nights and got a 10 day park hopper with water parks and more. The aaa discount was nowhere near in comparison. We took our first trip in April of 2007 when my son was almost two years old. He was not a big eater so we just shared with him. To top it off he can not have any dairy but we still found plenty for him to eat without paying out of pocket for him. We did buy a kids meal or two at some table service places since both my husband and I were ordering things with dairy in them. Otherwise he would have been able to share with us with no problems. I can not imagine that your 1 year old eats very much that you would have to buy a whole meal. We also did a lot of character buffets and at those they made him special dairy free meals at no additional charge. He even got his own drink at those. At most table service places we were charged for his drink but at some we were not charged for any of his meal. Of course this was before the dining plan changes and tip was still included so do not expect that now. But at most you will probably only find yourself buying drinks for your child unless you take something in with you. We did this some of the time as well. I think you will find that the dining plan is quite a bit of food esp. in the heat. I know we were not as hungry as we normally would have been. We also used some of our snack credits to get snacks for our son since we had plenty with desserts at lunch and dinner. Sometimes my husband and I shared dessert and got our son dairy free ice cream. With a child that young it is very easy to feed them without spending a fortune nor the need to have them on the plan. Which is probably why disney does not offer the dining plan for them.

Enjoy your trip.

 

[Faldred]

I am glad to hear that we can just pay OOP for him... We are going to run the numbers tonight for DDP vs. TiW (which we have) and AAA discount and see what is most cost effective.

Just to note -- any OOP you pay for your child (or extras you buy) can use the TiW discount, even if the rest of the meal is covered by the DDP.

 

[Colleen27]

Thanks for that tip too! Carter is our first child and right now he is just eating baby food, so I have no idea really how much "food" food he'll be eating in September and how much of the kids meal will he physically be able to eat. Like will he be able to chew grilled chicken?? What about an apple slice?? Not a clue! I definitely think September will be a learning trip for us.

He should be able to manage bits of your food by 13 months. My DD is not quite 8mo and is starting on soft bits of real food now... carrots, potatoes, bananas, pasta, etc. I expect that in May she'll be eating quite a bit off our plates, though we are still having some baby food (mostly "graduates" finger foods) delivered with the diapers and wipes.