Dining plan for people with 10 year olds!

[mommykds]

Last year we were fortunate to get the free dining promo. This year however I think it will not be offered as free so I am budgeting it in our total amount..Heres the problem..my DD is now 10 but does not eat anywhere near $34.99 per day. Is it worth it to purchase to a picky 10 year old???

 

[jfranklyn]

The reason that we won't be doing the dining plan this time either is because there is no WAY my 3 year old will eat $11.00 worth of food a day. I feel your pain - it would hurt even more in your situation. I think it's rediculous that they don't have a higher age than 10 for the adult meal.

 

[dixiedizfan]

Actually it's $37.99 per day now. It depends on the type of places you'll be eating at if it's worth it or not for her, such as places which charge a set amount like O'Hanas or a character dinner. Otherwise it probably wouldn't be.

 

[Tidus]

I feel the same way. Why should a 10 yr. old be considered an adult. As long as they order from the child's menu, they should only pay for a child! That is outrageous.

 

[teacher31]

I have an 11 year old who eats a half a sandwich and is full, plus a 10 year old who eats almost the whole thing before complaining of being full. No, we did not get the dining plan for this exact reason. I hate that they lowered the child age to 9, but I'm sure it is to recoop some of the money they are losing on the adults.

 

[beattyfamily]

I'm in the same boat. My DD will be 10 for our next trip. I'm still considering doing the dining plan though because it's still a great deal for the rest of us.

We enjoy at least one sit down meal a day, snack and a quick breakfast. I think we'll get our money's worth. Luckily my almost 10 year old isn't such a picky eater. When my 6 year old turns 10, it WON'T be worth it for her. I've wasted SO much money at character meals on her. She eats nothing at the princess meals but I just tell myself we're there for the experience and the princesses and I can't let her picky eating keep us from restaurants the rest of us like.

So for my 10 year old, I think we'll budget it in but for my future 10 year old whose now 6, no way.

Good luck everyone!

 

[MamaKate]

We did the free dining last year so paying the adult price for my DS10 was not a problem. We found out it was too much food and ended up splitting and just scheduled more TS resturants during our stay.

We are going twice this year and I'm still doing the dining plan because we get to enjoy more TS restuarants when we split and we get to try more food without being overly stuffed. Also, my DS does not like the kids counterservice options, so this way he can at least order off the adult menus at CS restuarants.

It's still works out to be a great savings for us. Maybe you can just split meals.

,
Katie

 

[tinan]

I think this is a perfect example of when someone could pay OOP for the child and save the credits. If you don't mind paying OOP for your child to pay for a child's meal you can always save the credits for a signature restaurant or plan extra TS's. Or you could always share a credit so long as you are not eating at all buffets. We don't believe that we will be able to eat all of the food either so we plan on sharing some meals at some of the restaurants. For me, I like having the peace of mind that our food is pretty much covered and don't have to worry much about that expense since it's paid. Just my two cents worth.

 

[MomofKatie]

Last year we were fortunate to get the free dining promo. This year however I think it will not be offered as free so I am budgeting it in our total amount..Heres the problem..my DD is now 10 but does not eat anywhere near $34.99 per day. Is it worth it to purchase to a picky 10 year old???

But, remember, 10 year olds now have to pay adult prices at buffet/all-you-can-eat meals. So, if you have a few of these type meals planned, crunch your numbers. It might end up being a better deal than you think. Plus, you can pay OOP for a kids' meal for your 10 year old, and save her credits for Signature Dining or a Dinner Show.

It's a tough call- I'd list all the restaurants you want to go to, and add up the cost of feeding her. If it even close to even, you'll probably do well on the DP. Remember too, that if you don't want to get the DP for her, you can't get it for anyone. It is an all-or-nothing package (every person on the room ressie has to get the DP, or no one). Even if you lose a bit of $$ on DD's meals, you'll probably save $$ on yours.

Good luck!!

 

[Cinderella]

I think the age rating unfair - my DS loves steak but does not want to eat it all the time - he much prefers getting burger and fries from the kids menu, because we do not eat that kind of stuff a lot at home. But, I am getting the dining plan this time - I may use a couple of his credits for signatures when he just wants burger - but, as he is 11, i would prefer him to be eating more adult stuff most of the time, rather than burgers. Now, my DD on the other hand really is a little picker - she is only 8, and unless she starts eating more, I don't think I will be able to justify the adult price for her - it's not that she eats badly, she just eats like a bird!

 

[Tiger926]

It's so interesting to read about all of your children's different eating styles. The opposite over here: my DD2 (will be 3 on our summer trip) eats more food than me, as do my nieces (5 & 7) and my younger cousins who are 11 & 12. I have to say that most kids I see eating at Disney not only eat a lot of snacks, but they waste a lot of food as well - perhaps one of the reasons for the change. Actually most restaurants in my city offer children's menus for 11 or 12 and under - so 10 is not that far off.

Also, for people who don't think the Dining Plan is worth it for 2 or 3 year old picky eaters, you really need to re-evaluate that. Even if your child only ate a piece of toast, fruit, bottle of water, ice cream and some fries, you already would have spent more than $10.99 for these few things, not to mention for $10.99 you get a cs meal and ts meal, so you could for sure find something that a picky toddler would like to eat and I'd bet that for sure you'd come out ahead in the deal. It doesn't take much to eat or drink $10.99 worth of food and drink in the world at all when a bottle of water is $2.50 and an ice cream is $3.50!

Just a thought, Tiger

 

[maggiew]

I have a 13 y.o. and a 10 y.o. who could SHARE a kids meal and have some left. But, I am going to give the dining plan a try this time. Normally when we go to Disney, we eat at a sit down place and share 2 meals (me with DD13 and DH with DD10). Some days we do this with 2 TS meals and some days we do a sit down and a CS meal. So what I am planning is to share 2 TS meals on most days and use our CS credits for breakfast. The one day we have a character meal scheduled we will share 2 CS breakfasts and then share 2 CS lunches at a place where you can get a big CS meal like Cosmic Rays chicken and ribs.

Maggie

 

[luv2nascar]

I'm with TIGER926 on this one. I find it hard to believe a 3 yr old can't get 10.99 worth. My 2 yr old at least had a mickey bar and bottle of water every day plus food. She's small for her age hence the nickname "peanut". I would have no problem paying for the dining plan even for peanut.

 

[tndisneyfan]

I have a 10 year old who is a very picky eater, he eats mostly hot dogs and fries. We went ahead and did the dining plan for our upcoming trip. We checked the menus at the places we thought we would want to eat and crunched the numbers. At the very least we are going to break even.

 

[MomofKatie]

I'm with TIGER926 on this one. I find it hard to believe a 3 yr old can't get 10.99 worth. My 2 yr old at least had a mickey bar and bottle of water every day plus food. She's small for her age hence the nickname "peanut". I would have no problem paying for the dining plan even for peanut.

I agree. If you break it down:

1 drink (snack)- $2
1 kids' CS lunch-$4
1 Mickey Bar- $2
1 kids' meal TS- $6 OR 1 kids' buffet- $10 (cheapest ones)
TOTAL= $16.50 up to $20
If you do CS breakfast, add another $3-5 for that.

Food (even a small amt of it) is expensive at WDW. If you plan on having even 2 or 3 buffet/all-you-care-to-eat/character meals, the kids' DP will pay for itself.

 

[DawnaJean]

I have a DS 3, DDs 10 and 11....I think I am at the worst possible time to get the Dining Plan as my DD 11 will only eat buttered pasta, pizza or plain cheeseburgers. The only one this would work well for is my DD 10 who'll try any type of food...and would truly enjoy eating off the adult menu.

If you have to have everyone on the Dining Plan....how do you split the check at the restaurant if you want to pay for the kids and save the credits for Signature Dining? Is it a hassle or so common that the waitstaff understand and have no problems with the bill?

Thanks,
Dawna

 

[jonkatony]

We are on the dining plan, My DW wont eat red meat, my DD13 is a very pick eater, my DS15 is not a big eater, I will eat anthing. We were at disney last year and expect to pay about $150 more on food this year, but are looking to eat at better resturaunts.

 

[MomofKatie]

If you have to have everyone on the Dining Plan....how do you split the check at the restaurant if you want to pay for the kids and save the credits for Signature Dining? Is it a hassle or so common that the waitstaff understand and have no problems with the bill?

Thanks,
Dawna

Just let the server know in advance what you want to do- they are used to splitting the bill. Really no problem at all. We told them at the beginning of the meal, then reminded them when we asked for the check- never had a mistake made.

 

[goofy4tink]

I'm having the same issues. Another mom and her dd are traveling to WDW with my dd and me in Oct. The other dd eats anything that isn't tied down. My dd is extremely limited as to what she will eat. Both girls will be turning 13 on this trip, so we will be paying adult prices for them. So....I think that we will do a ton of buffets. At least that way, my dd can get her mac and cheese, pizza, hot dogs and chicken strips. If we eat at a regular table service restuarant, I'm not sure she'll be allowed to eat off the children's menu.

 

[clkelley]

I'm also amazed at the picky eaters I see. My boys have been eating us out of house and home since they were about 6. (And no, they are not overweight). They are now 18 & 19. One is 6'5" and about 200 and the other one is 6'4" and about 180. Fortunately the older one is off at college and on a meal plan, so our grocery bill has dropped to about 200 a week instead of 300

I was delighted at our first trip in 97 when the boys were 9&10 that they were still considered children at buffets. We ate at a lot of buffets because that was the least expensive way to fill them up!!!!

We went to Hoop De Doo a couple of years ago, and the servers were amazed at the amount of ribs my boys put away

However, we won't do the meal plan in May as me & hubby have APs.

Carol