Dining at buffets with "turning 3" year olds...

[megwilliams]

I know that if a child turns 3 over their vacation, they are considered 3 for the duration of their stay. From what I gather, this holds true for park admission and resort stay. I thought it was standard across the board for no matter the activity, but I'm starting to wonder.

Is this true for dining, specifically buffets, as well? My twins will be turning 3 at WDW in January. I've thought about trying to get an ADR at CP or Boma (we are staying at AKL) for their birthday before we go to the MK to celebrate (daughter at BBB w/ me and son doing "boy" stuff with daddy).

Will I just have to explain to the CM that they are turning 3 and we arrived while they were still 2 or does it not matter and we have to pay for their meals? I'm a very non-confrontational person and don't feel like having to argue with someone over something that I thought was a given, but now I'm not so sure.

We've been planning to take our children to WDW to celebrate their third birthdays before we even knew they were coming, but now it's stressing me out.

 

[slimplaw]

We were at WDW with my niece when she turned 3. We went to buffets and when we explained she had her birthday a few days before, she was treated as a 2 year old for the meal. She had gotten a birthday button at MK, so that was always a conversation starter for the CM. We were prepared to pay for her meals if need be, but since she had turned 3 during the trip, they continued to count her as a 2 year old. Of course, this could have been at the CMs discretion.

 

[Tricia1972]

It is true for dining at buffets as well.

Your KTTW card will show how many in your party are children and how many are adults.

When you check in your twins will be 2, and will not be listed as children on your KTTW card.

 

[Halbleib1]

As the previous poster said it is probably up to the CM if they count them as 2 year olds or not. However they should count as 2 year olds since you can not buy the dining plan for them if you are on that since they are not three at check in. Being it is their birthdays you are probably going to be noting it on your adr so that you can celebrate otherwise it would not be an issue. When we took my son we were never confronted about his age. When I made the adrs I said it will be two adults and a two year old and when we checked in they just confirmed it with me. It was never brought up again by the waiter at buffets since it was already noted that we were dining with a 2 year old. Now if ordering something from a non buffet restaurant expect to receive a bill unless they are sharing off from your plate. When tip was included on the dining plan we did not always receive a bill when we ordered something for him at non buffet restaurants. But again that was up to the CM to choose. Try not to stress too much as I do not think it will be an issue for you esp. if you do what the previous poster said and get a birthday button for them.

 

[megwilliams]

Thank you everyone. I figured I'm probably stressing more about it than I should be.

FWIW, we are upgrading to APs on our next trip in December so we can go back in January for their bday and back in Oct/Nov '09 for F&WF. So we'll have KTTW cards for the January trip, but not for admission (though we'll use them in the restaurants, of course). Also, we aren't doing the DP and will have DDE (TIW) cards. I don't know if this will make a difference or not.

We were planning on going to Tutto Italia on our Epcot day, so I know we'll have to pay for them there, and at Jiko on our arrival day, but I was just wondering about the buffets, because we may forego the swanky restaurants and go for buffets since they have a tendency to get a little hateful if they have to wait to eat.

 

[septbaby]

I know that if a child turns 3 over their vacation, they are considered 3 for the duration of their stay. From what I gather, this holds true for park admission and resort stay. I thought it was standard across the board for no matter the activity, but I'm starting to wonder.

As others have posted, this is not true. A child's age is determined at the start of the trip. So if the twins are 2 when this vacation begins, they are 2 for the entire stay and will treated as 2yo for the entire stay. This includes restaurant and park admission policies.

Just be sure to start their 10yo bday stay a day or so before too!

 

[PrincessNoelle'sMom]

Wow! My son celbrated his 3rd birthday at Cape May Cafe and we were charged for a child's buffet. His pin even said today is my 3rd birthday! When the bill cam we were charged 2 adults and 1 child buffet and didn't even think to dispute it (this was before DDP).

Oh well

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Disney does not penalize children just because they grow up. This is one reason why a partially used No Expire Child ticket will be upgraded to an Adult ticket at no chage, even after several years have passed, as long as the first use date and the current age would indicate it is the same person.\

Similarly, Disney does not consider an infant a child if they reach their third birthday while on the trip. And in the post just above this one, if you had asked for the manager the incorrect charge would have been removed.

 

[emh1129]

We took dd for her 3rd bday. She was 2 at the beginning of the trip, so she was counted as 2 for the entire trip- even for the meals where we celebrated her 3rd bday (1900 Park Fare- buffet, and others).

 

[megwilliams]

As others have posted, this is not true. A child's age is determined at the start of the trip. So if the twins are 2 when this vacation begins, they are 2 for the entire stay and will treated as 2yo for the entire stay. This includes restaurant and park admission policies.

Just be sure to start their 10yo bday stay a day or so before too!

Thanks. I knew that they would be considered 2 during the trip. I just had a typo. Gah. I need to proofread more and maybe I wouldn't so sound dingy.

 

[thaggie]

As others have posted, this is not true. A child's age is determined at the start of the trip. So if the twins are 2 when this vacation begins, they are 2 for the entire stay and will treated as 2yo for the entire stay. This includes restaurant and park admission policies.

Just be sure to start their 10yo bday stay a day or so before too!

This is accurate and I know from personal experience. We took our twins for their 3rd bday. Our trip started on a Saturday and they turned 3 on Tuesday. I was told that they base the age on the age at the start of the trip. Even when I made my ADRs and they asked the age I told them they turned 3 that week. Every CM asked the age at the start of the trip and that is the age they base it on.

 

[megwilliams]

Thanks again, everyone.

It's good to know that it won't be a hassle. Now I need to call and book/cancel some ADRs. Here's hope they still have a Boma dinner, a CP breakfast, and a CMC breakfast still available. *fingers crossed*

 

[kirbsam]

seems reasonable to pay based on the kids age. if they are three at the time of the meal. they should pay. if they are two, then not pay. seems pretty simple. if disney has another policy, that is fine. but if i am eating at a buffet and i have a just turned 3 year old, and 3 year olds are supposed to get charged, i would just pay.

 

[TosaTrio]

We celebrated our Friends DD 3rd B-Day at 1900 Park Fare a couple of days early (due to scheduling). It was noted that it was her Birthday however since she was 2 she we were not charged. It was not even a question.

Now I will say we did the oposite. Our DD was still 2 (within days) and we bought her the dining plan. (You know the age, depending on the minute is if she wants her own meal) We asked a CM about it when we checked in and they said they would put her down as 3. It seemed worth it for the counter service alone since the Kids price is so low. We did not pay for her to get into the parks since we have APs and she was not 3. That is kind of backwards from most but worked out.