Dining Plan & Adult ordering from child menu

[kimberlay]

Hi all. I'm traveling with my mother-in-law in October and have a question about the dining plan. About 10 years ago, she had stomach surgery that only allows her to eat a small portion of food. She has this card thing she carries with her so that she can order from the child's menu at restaurants.

In looking around, I haven't found anything that tells me whether or not she would be allowed to purchase the dining plan at the child rate for her. Does anyone know?

Thanks!

 

[Gracie09]

No she would pay the adult rate. She does have the option of not purchasing the meal plan and paying out of pocket for any meals she eats. Most places will allow her to order a child's meal. But buffets and family style meals she would be charged as an adult

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

Also if you are sharing a room, both of you have to have the dining plan. You can't have the dining plan and her not have it.

 

[Gracie09]

True. I probably assumed they were in separate rooms because no way on gods green earth would I share a room with my mil. But that's a personal bias

 

[kimberlay]

Thanks! That's what I thought!!

 

[clanmcculloch]

Note that if they choose to purchase the dining plan and there are other adults in the room, those adult dining credits are not tied specifically to her. Another adult in the room can use her adult credits while she orders an appetizer, side, kids meal, etc. or even just shares with others at the table kind of family style or splitting meals. At fixed price restaurants she'll want to use the dining credit since she'll be charged based on age and not how much she eats, but at restaurants where you pay for exactly what you get, paying OOP for her food and using her credits for other meals is a great way to stretch the credits for more TS meals.

If she had this kind of surgery, she probably doesn't want to be ordering kids meals too often. People who have had this kind of surgery often don't tolerate the kind of junk that's included in most of the kids meals at WDW. Using a snack credit for a side instead of ordering a CS meal or paying OOP for something small at a TS restaurant will probably sit a lot better than ordering a kids meal.

Unless the dining plan is part of a package that makes it worthwhile, you might want to consider NOT getting the dining plan. It's not for everybody and frankly not many actually do well financially by buying it. Most people can eat the exact same foods with or without the plan and come out cheaper paying OOP and by paying OOP you can order exactly what you want when you want.

 

[SueM in MN]

There are people that the dining plan is just not a good bargain for.

Our family fits that category because we are not big eaters. It makes no evonomic sense for us to do the dining plan because we would not eat enough to make the cost worthwhile. There are quite a few people in the same situation - it seems that is where you got also.