Dining Plan with a 10 year old

[ratfam]

As a DVC member I had ignored the dining plan but now it looks like it may be available for my trip so I need to make some decisions. I have a 10 year old dd, and from what I have been reading here it sounds like despite the change of ages on kids menus most restaurants (other than buffets and family style) are still allowing "tweens" to order from the kids menu without additional charge. If this is true, does it make sense to buy the dining plan with a 10 year old? We would be paying $38, I think, for her, but my guess is that given the choice she would be ordering off the kids menu, in which case it doesn't seem worth it. Any personal experience with this, and did the dining plan investment pay off?

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

We had the opportunity to purchase the dining plan during our visit in October and decided not to as our kids (12, 10) would have to pay the adult price. There is no way they would eat that much food. We bought the DDE card instead and it worked out really well as we were able to use it at our food court (POP) and Animal Kingdom, plus any of the sit-down restaurants included in the plan. Also, we hate some of the long wait times that come with full-service restaurants...we'd rather be on the rides!

 

[tazleiten12]

As a DVC member I had ignored the dining plan but now it looks like it may be available for my trip so I need to make some decisions. I have a 10 year old dd, and from what I have been reading here it sounds like despite the change of ages on kids menus most restaurants (other than buffets and family style) are still allowing "tweens" to order from the kids menu without additional charge. If this is true, does it make sense to buy the dining plan with a 10 year old? We would be paying $38, I think, for her, but my guess is that given the choice she would be ordering off the kids menu, in which case it doesn't seem worth it. Any personal experience with this, and did the dining plan investment pay off?

This is the same problem I'm having. Would love to get the dining plan, but I'm sure my son would not want to eat off the adult menu. Would probably still be worth it for buffets, were he would have to pay adult prices, and for lunch at TS, as they usually have a burger.

 

[BonnieBell]

We just got back on Monday, for me and my dh and dd16 the plan was wonderful!!! We ate so much good food. But for my dd7 the plan was not as great. For counter service meals, the choices were not great, by the end of our week she was really sick of those chicken nuggets, and she won't eat a burger. I ended up ordering her food, and also sharing mine with her. I think for the kids it can be tricky, but for the adults you more than make up for it, so if dd7 wanted something additional we just paid extra, and sometimes they didn't even charge us for extras. Like extra fries, or hash browns for breakfast they didn't charge us for. I think it's a great plan, just a little tricky for the kids.

 

[tndisneyfan]

We also have a 10 year old. We debated and debated some more but we finally decided to go ahead with the dining plan. We finally crunched the numbers and figured at the very least we would break even taking the DP. THis way DS can order whatever he wants.

 

[Jennifer_Jayhawk]

We are going at the end of May and I purchased the dining plan. My kids are 12 and 9. My 12 year old will eat off the adult meal, but I have worried about my 9 year old. He is very picky--so I'm hoping there is enough variety for him, but I do think he would be happy with nuggets/fries all week, although I might not like it to much.

I plan to schedule more buffets than sit down meals hoping that will bring in more variety.

 

[ratfam]

Thanks for the thoughts, would love any other input. My dh has now muddied the waters further, he feels that if we buy the dining plan we'll be too busy trying to maximize value and we'll end up eating too much and eating out for everything instead of eating the few dinners and lunches in our villa that we had planned, the end result being too much weight gain. He strongly favors just paying out of pocket for what we do, maybe trying to hit a few places that give a DVC discount. I guess he probably has a point. Ironic, I was so upset that DVC wasn't offering the dining plan, and now that they are we might not even use it!

 

[Partridge4ever]

I'm in the exact same boat. As a DVC member I've ignored the dining plan. I had decided to buy the DDE card for our upcoming Christmas trip, but we'll barely break even on it. The savings were to come w/our October 2006 trip. But now we're eligible for the DP and I feel like I need to decide now what I want to do because if we go w/the DP, we won't get the DDE. Like I don't have enough to do w/Christmas AND the trip less than 3 weeks away...now I'm trying to decide what we'll eat next October. But it's a good problem to have! I know we're fortunate to get to go as often as we do.