Dining Plan with 10 yr old? Advice Please

[dkmjgal]

Hi Everyone -

We are DVC members who are going to Disney over Memorial Day for the whole week. We are trying to decide whether or not to do the dining plan. My DD turned 10 in Oct. and still eats off the children's menu...she has a small appetite. I am trying to justify the meal plan as it makes perfect sense for the rest of us...Me, DH and DS (7)...we enjoy character meals and good table restaurants.
What would you do? DVC has told me that I must purchase the plan for everyone in my party...I was hoping to just pay for DD's meals separately.

Any advice would be appreciated-
Thanks!
Kelly

 

[scouthawkk]

Would your DS7 eat adult meals? He can eat DD's adult meals, and she could eat his children's meals (since he is under 10, he'd have to order from children's menus).

The plan would also depend on you your family normally eats. When you go to a sit down, do you usually order appetizer(s), full entrees and desserts?

My DH and I do. We have the same delima. We are taking my DS (will be 4 at time of travel) and his two aunts (will be 11 and 13 at time of travel) in 2007. DS would eat way more in food than the children's plan costs. The girls, would be charged as adults, but eat very little. I actually just sat down with a bunch of menus with sample prices and determined that, while the girls wouldn't be getting full value from their plans, DH, DS and I would make up for it in the long run, and we would still come out ahead. So we will probably go ahead with the plan, despite the fact that the girls don't eat much. We were second guessing the meal plan because of it. But when we saw that we would be saving, on average $55 plus a day, just in how we eat (without the girls), it was a no brainer for us.

You might also be able to have DD order from children's menus, pay out of pocket, and save her TS credits for DH and yourself for some of the better TS places (yes, there is debate about saving childrens' credits for adult meals, but in this case, 10 is considered adult for the plan, and paid for as such, so you would be saving adult credits for adult meals). There is a subsection in the restaurant section here that dedicated to the dining plan. You may get more help there. Good luck.

 

[Mom to Jordan]

Our best friends just returned from WDW and they had a 10 year old just like your child. They also had an 8 year old that would eat better so they often switched off.

Another view is that with the meal plan, your Daughter might get a chance to try some new things she might like. Desert included too!!! I would go for it.