If you were to include them in the room reservation they would have to be under the rule that everyone on the reservation for the room must take the same options. This means you would have to purchase tickets and meals for them as if they were there for the entire time.
Your other option would be to split the reservation into two separate reservations, the first for you and your wife and the second for the entire family. You could warn them on first check-in, that the reservations were linked and you would not have to change rooms. You would have to check out of your room and then immediately check back in.
There are several down-sides to this. For this discussion let's say you and your wife arrive on a Tuesday morning and the children arrive on Friday, with all of you leaving the next Tuesday evening. You would need one reservation for three nights arriving on Tuesday and a reservation for four nights arriving on Friday. You would get meal credits for two people for three nights, or six in each category which must be used up by midnight Friday. You would also get meal credits for four people for four nights, which become effective Friday and must be used by midnight Tuesday.
That is not too bad; however, if you wanted five-day park hoppers for the children you would have to buy them for all four people on the second reservation. That means that you would have to buy three-day tickets for yourself and your wife. The real hit here is that a three-day plus a five-day costs a lot more than an eight-day ticket.
It might be worth, in the long run, getting a package as if the children were there the entire time. This way you would have some extra dining credits which can be used at Signature restaurants.
I hope this whole thing makes sense.
Mike
