Dining plan with kids?

[jayhjay]

Can someone clarify how the dining plan works for little kids? I have one who will be 5 when we travel and eats pretty much nothing. My understanding is that if the adults get the dining plan, the kids need to also, is that right? Do kids get the same plan as adults (appetizer, main course, dessert at dinner, etc)? I know they order off the kid's menu, but she wouldn't need an appetizer, for example.

It is probably still worth getting it as DH and I will save money on our meals with it as we eat table service every night. So even if we lose money on her, it is probably a good deal. Especially since I konw we will make use of the snacks! But just wanted to get some clarification on how it works for kids. THanks!

 

[cmm]

I think you get the dining plan if the child is over 3. The credits are assigned to the family, so you can save some table credits for yourself and pay out of pocket for your child. We paid out of pocket at Le Cellier, Biergarten and somewhere else (the restaurant escapes me), then used those 3 extra table credits for lunch at 50s prime time at MGM. My DD6 is not a big breakfast eater, so we all three of us shared one counter service at breakfast. My husband had the refillable mug, so DD and I shared a large bottle of juice. She usually ate a bagel or croissant, which they counted as dessert, and DH and I split a platter. No matter the age, the credit includes appetizer, entree, dessert and drink. We usually used two counter service credits at lunch and let my daughter get the kiddie meal - she is pretty picky and wanted mac and cheese all the time.

 

[jayhjay]

Oh, so it doesn't specify if the credit is for a child or an adult? We could use her credits for us and buy her something? That seems surprising as she is paying less than we are.

 

[clombardi]

Oh, so it doesn't specify if the credit is for a child or an adult? We could use her credits for us and buy her something? That seems surprising as she is paying less than we are.

It seems crazy but it is true. When we went last week, we paid cash for our 7 year old's kid meals twice, so that we could go to Le Cellier with her credits.

 

[cmm]

It was a great deal. I would never have paid out of pocket to eat at all the restaurants we tried. Our meal plan cost $480, but we "spent" $717 for all of our meals, and actually had 2 CS credits left.

 

[MandM-Mom]

If she barely eats anything you could just share your meal with her instead of buying her her own meals. I did this with DD4, portions at disney Restaurants are huge. I shared my meal with DD and still left lots on my plate and then usually just got her one of the specialty kiddie desserts OOP. A couple times Dh just ordered her the dessert she wanted, he is not a big dessert eater.

 

[kbkids]

It seems crazy but it is true. When we went last week, we paid cash for our 7 year old's kid meals twice, so that we could go to Le Cellier with her credits.

I'm so hoping this will still be going on when we're there in October, but I'm afraid Disney is going to figure out a way to stop it before then. We've got 4 table service meals planned and only credits for 3. We'll still do all of them even if they do stop the pooling of the credits, but it would be so nice to not have to fork out any money for meals!