Dining plan dilema

[shortkathleen]

Ok, so I just planned our 3rd annual Christmas Vacation to the world. We have always done the dining plan and loved it! This time around we thought we would try out the QSDP. My son will be turning 10 just a couple of days before our trip and now that we will have to pay for him as an adult I am rethinking using the dining plan. (Poor planning as far as the dates, but unfortunately that is the only time that would work with our schedules.)

My DS was born 4 months early so technically his birthday should have been in April, not December. I doubt disney will care! LOL! He is still a tiny little thing and barely eats as it is. I wish we could still pay for him as a child. Do you think it would be more cost effective if we just purchase our meals OOP instead this time? We plan on eating breakfast in our room and doing counter services for lunch and dinner. I guess if we are paying OOP we may through in one TS. Also, what happens if a child turns 10 during the trip, do you pay for them as a child or an adult? Just a little gripe, why is 10 considered an adult? Seems awfully young to me.

 

[Kathy Z]

As far as Disney is concerned, your child is the age they were the day your trip begins even if they turn 10 (or 3, or 19) during the trip.

To evaluate whether a dining plan is more cost effective than oop for your family use the menu's on allears.net to estimate costs of what you expect you would be ordering. Just keep in mind that some of their menu prices may be up to a year old so they may be a little low. If your son is 10 at the beginning of your trip he must have an adult park ticket and if you purchase dining plan he must also be on the adult dining plan. If you are not using a dining plan and paying oop I think he may be allowed to order a child's meal but someone with experience may correct me on this answer.

 

[DCDisney]

For a barely 10 year old who is happy with the kids meals you are usually better off going OOP and eating at menu places since they will allow them to order a kids meal. Any prepriced meals like buffets or family style though are out. We were lucky to have 2 kids barely past the cut off and they did wonderfull sharing 1 adult meal at most places and each getting a kids meal at a few. They also will usually allow you to deconstruct an adult combo at CS places so if they won't be able to eat more than the burger you don't have to get the fries and the price is reduced. We still ate similarly to the DDP with 1 TS per day but it worked out better and cheaper to have flexibility for the tweens paying oop.