"Disney doesn't know if it's child or adult credit"

[samijam]

Amen!


and thank you pedler, said much better than i ever could

 

[jonkatony]

Pedler thanks for your reply and my thoughts are:

Pedler
Fact: The plan pools credits and lets you use them pretty much in any manner possible

Do yo think the pooling of credits was for Adults to eat at childrens prices or to give the family greater flexibility as to when and where they eat.

Pedler
Fact: Disney management at restaurants not only condones this but has at times encouraged people to use credits in this manner. See the posts above that reference this.

Pedler
Fact: To date no one has produced evidence from a credible source refuting the use of the plan in this manner. At best it has been off hand comments form CM's and if we were to believe everything CM's have said we would be ridding the monorail to the 5th theme park by now

Whats the difference between Disney management or CM's? pretty much the same in my opinion just goes to show the confusion.

Pedler
Fact: Disney has had more than enough time to make any changes that they would want to make to the plan. It has now been 1 year and 4 months since this version of the plan was introduced. The most serious flurry of use of credits in this manner along with outright fraud from phantom children came during the free dinning promo last year. If they had a problem with it they could have changed it by now. Instead they are running the same promotion again.

As previously agreed Disney is probaly doing very well out of the dining plan and the percentage of people using the plan in this way small. Why would Disney 'throw the baby out with the bathwater' to cure a problem that it may consider minor.

Pedler
Opinion: While in the dark of the night I am sure that the marketeers at Disney would love to increase the price for everything in the parks and close any pricing variations at all they are smart enough to take a look at the big picture.

As far as I was aware the price for the plan was increased this year and it would be hard to acertain if any of the increse was to offset such usage

Pedler
Opinion: Most of the folks that look at this in absolute terms that there is no way Disney could every allow someone to use a credit purchased for $12.00 to get food that would have cost $38.00 for the credit are only looking at food cost in the vacum and not the entire scope of all the changes made at the same time. Using that logic taking the ME is immorral because there is no way that Disney could want to provide transportation that should cost $25 or more per head for free regardless of what Disney says. Of course that logic is absurd when applied to ME. ME does a lot for Disney and they are willing to pay to keep guests on site. The same can be said of the dinning plan but those that oppose it in absolute terms can't seem to get beyond the food part of the plan.

I know Disney can sustain credits being used in this way because the use is small and will be absorbed by all using the Plan.

I totally understand and agree with regard to ME and the 'knock on benifits' to Disney
but if you had to pay for adults would it be ok to tell the driver you are a child to avoid paying?

 

[iluvepcot]

I'm not getting into the ethics on this topic.

I just wanted to add, to keep in mind for all the kids credits being used on Adult meals there are probably just as many kids that are 9 or 10 that do not eat anything that have paid full price.

 

[tigger12jb]

Is it wrong of me to book during the free dining promo for my family (of 2a 1c) as 3A (for $17 more) so that my bigger then average 3 yr old can eat a cheeseburger from your typical counter service place because most don't offer this on their kids menu?

 

[Pedler]

Pedler thanks for your reply and my thoughts are:
Do yo think the pooling of credits was for Adults to eat at childrens prices or to give the family greater flexibility as to when and where they eat.

No, I think it was just to keep it simple. Apparently past plans have that also had pooled credits.

Pedler
Fact: Disney management at restaurants not only condones this but has at times encouraged people to use credits in this manner. See the posts above that reference this.

Pedler
Fact: To date no one has produced evidence from a credible source refuting the use of the plan in this manner. At best it has been off hand comments form CM's and if we were to believe everything CM's have said we would be ridding the monorail to the 5th theme park by now

Whats the difference between Disney management or CM's? pretty much the same in my opinion just goes to show the confusion.

I agree that mileage may vary depending upon who you ask. Still I would take the word of a manager over a CM any day. No offense to CMs but they are lower on the food chain that management. To date I have yet to see anything saying that a manager said it wasn't ok. To the contrary it appears to be uniform that managers at the restaurants not only are OK with this but approve of it. They are a better representation of the Disney Policy than CM's. Even on that note it appears to be far and few between that people find CM's that say this isn't the policy. My guess is that those are uniformed CM's or ones that are making up rules that don't exist. Still I don't think I have seen more than one or 2 posts at all in the last year about being refused (Actual first hand reports not the my brothers sister in laws second cousin type that seem to permeate the DIS) Edited to add: One sure way to tell if you have misinformed CM is if they say there are seperate child and adult credits and they are tracked separately. Or if they say that take everyones card individually.

What I don't understand is that people that view the use of credits in this manner as improper have absolutely nothing other than gut feel to justify that opinion yet they disregard management confirming that this is an acceptable use of the plan. On what basis to the refute management saying this is not only acceptable but actually encouraging it? The only thing I hear is that its too good of a deal to be true and as such it can't be true regardless of what Disney says or does with the plan.

 

[shaycamp21]

Thought I'd chime in on this debate with my 2 cents. Last summer we paid out of pocket for one of our dd's ts kids meals so we could have dinner alone one night while dd's were enjoying themselves at the $20 per/hr ($10 per child) Neverland Club childcare. Disney in the end made much more than the child for adult ts credits we used. I believe Disney provides this flexibility in the plan and that is why the credits are pooled. Whether they are making the money in the rack rate rooms, the 10 year old "adult" who eats off the child's menu or keeping guests on property with ME, they continue to make money.

 

[MomPlanner22]

In planning out our trip and trying to use the DDP to it's best advantage, I expect to have 1 adult and 2 child table services credits left when I hit Chef Mickey's for a character breakfast the day of our departure. I expect 3 adults and 2 children (DS 4.5 who is covered under DDP and DD 2.5 who is not) to eat at this meal.

I am happy to pay for the difference between the extra child credit and adult charge for breakfast. What I don't want to happen is I pay for 2 adults out of pocket and lose that last child table service credit.

Based upon the experience of DIS members out there, what do you think I could expect?

My goal is not to cheat anyone but not lose a credit either. I appreciate any insight you all can share!

 

[wdwobsessed]

Disney expects that 99.9% of it's customers will do what's right and are willing to accept that 0.1% will not. You will never change the mindset of the 0.1% that what they are doing is improper. This includes meal plans, reusing mugs, packing pool towels in their luggage etc.

OK ... that is just pushing it too far ... comparing it to stealing towels.

My dining plan is free so my adult and child credits cost the same. $0 Hmmmmm.... If they cost the same $0 .... why does it matter what credits I use where?

Have YOU ever actually READ the brochure on the DDP? It pools it right there on the table explaining it ... hello ...???? McFly...????

Also, when at Le Cellier I was TOLD by our CM that my then 9 DS could order off the adult menu. I guess I should have told her "no ... you are crazy, that is against the rules" and ordered him a .99 chicken nugget meal instead of the steak he wanted?

If WDW didn't intend for credits to be pooled they would expain it much better in the brochure. The way it is explained now is all pooled together.

Since we are eating at a lot of buffets, HDD and Ohana ... It looks like my DS age 7 will be using most of his credits. But we may have one or two that are "used any way we like" .... just as stated in the brochure put out by WDW.

Geesh.

Gotta get dem dar towles next time too!!!!

 

[wdwobsessed]

In planning out our trip and trying to use the DDP to it's best advantage, I expect to have 1 adult and 2 child table services credits left when I hit Chef Mickey's for a character breakfast the day of our departure. I expect 3 adults and 2 children (DS 4.5 who is covered under DDP and DD 2.5 who is not) to eat at this meal.

I am happy to pay for the difference between the extra child credit and adult charge for breakfast. What I don't want to happen is I pay for 2 adults out of pocket and lose that last child table service credit.

Based upon the experience of DIS members out there, what do you think I could expect?

My goal is not to cheat anyone but not lose a credit either. I appreciate any insight you all can share!

You will have two credits left...period.
When we went to WCC for breakfast the last day we had 2 TS credits left. She took the card and took off the 2 adult meals and charged us for the kids. I'm pretty sure this is what ANY CM will do in this instance.

WDWO

 

[jonkatony]

Pedler thanks for your views on this subject.

Yes you can pool credits, it says so in the brochure.
You pay OOP for a child and use that credit for an adults meal, I did not see that in the brochure, it may be implied, but is not stated.

I say people should use the plan how the feel fit, and agree to differ.

 

[PreppyPolyMom]

In planning out our trip and trying to use the DDP to it's best advantage, I expect to have 1 adult and 2 child table services credits left when I hit Chef Mickey's for a character breakfast the day of our departure. I expect 3 adults and 2 children (DS 4.5 who is covered under DDP and DD 2.5 who is not) to eat at this meal.

I am happy to pay for the difference between the extra child credit and adult charge for breakfast. What I don't want to happen is I pay for 2 adults out of pocket and lose that last child table service credit.

Based upon the experience of DIS members out there, what do you think I could expect?

My goal is not to cheat anyone but not lose a credit either. I appreciate any insight you all can share!

I didn't think Disney distinguished between "Child and Adult" credits, I thought they were "pooled" together.

 

[mickman1962]

I didn't think Disney distinguished between "Child and Adult" credits, I thought they were "pooled" together.

They are distinquished by price and by which menu you are supposed to order from (Two points that are always left out of this discussion). Will you be able to do it? Sure you will. Is it the way it's supposed to be used. In my opinion (I know I am in the vast minority) no.

 

[Lewisc]

Pedler thanks for your views on this subject.

Yes you can pool credits, it says so in the brochure.
You pay OOP for a child and use that credit for an adults meal, I did not see that in the brochure, it may be implied, but is not stated.

I say people should use the plan how the feel fit, and agree to differ.

Actually the brochure says

One (1) Table Service meal for each person participating in the character dining experience will be redeemed from your meal balance.

There is similar languages for the dinner shows and signature restaurants.

Based on that wording Disney can, and based on posts is occasionally, enforcing that rule. Either everyone uses the meal plan or everyone pays out of pocket. The idea of paying for out of pocket for children, saving the credit for an adult meal later in your vacation, doesn't have to be allowed.

That supports my speculation, the flexibility was designed for those circumstances in which a child was skipping meals. Maybe the parents used one of the kids clubs. Maybe a child didn't like a restaurant and had an extra CS meal or a child wasn't hungry and shared the parents meal. Pooling the credits was easier than having a system to refund unused credits or charging an upgrade to use a "child" credit for an adult meal.

I don't think Disney designed a system intending that famlies would refuse to "waste" TS credits for child meals and would plan their entire vacation around paying out of pocket or sharing for all their kids meals.

Some of the posters wait on two seperate CS lines to circumvent the rule requiring children order child CS meals. That unethical behavior doesn't cost Disney much money but it's wrong.

 

[PreppyPolyMom]

Actually the brochure says


There is similar languages for the dinner shows and signature restaurants.

Based on that wording Disney can, and based on posts is occasionally, enforcing that rule. Either everyone uses the meal plan or everyone pays out of pocket. The idea of paying for out of pocket to save the credit for an adult meal doesn't have to be allowed.

That supports my theory, the flexibility was designed for those circumstances in which a child was skipping meals. Maybe the parents used one of the kids clubs. Maybe a child didn't like a restaurant and had an extra CS meal or a child wasn't hungry and shared the parents meal.

Some of the posters wait on two seperate CS lines to circumvent the rule requiring children order child CS meals. That unethical behavior doesn't cost Disney much money but it's wrong.

I see in your quote where you say a TS credit will be taken for character dining, signature restaurants and dinner shows, but what about regular restaurants, say for example......Prime Time 50's?

 

[Lewisc]

I see in your quote where you say a TS credit will be taken for character dining, signature restaurants and dinner shows, but what about regular restaurants, say for example......Prime Time 50's?

I didn't say anything because that language, currently, isn't in the brochure for regular TS restaurants.

CM, and maybe CRT, seem to be the restaurants that occasionally require all dining guests use dining or none.

The plan doesn't differentiate betwen adult and child credits, as long as too many "greedy" guests don't abuse this flexibility Disney is likely to retain this provision.

I don't see how anyone can accuse guests who "bank" child credits of cheating but likewise I don't see how anyone can think Disney intended guests pay out of pocket for all their kids meals so those credits can be used for adult meals.

 

[Pedler]

I didn't say anything because that language, currently, isn't in the brochure for regular TS restaurants.

CM, and maybe CRT, seem to be the restaurants that occasionally require all dining guests use dining or none.

The plan doesn't differentiate betwen adult and child credits, as long as too many "greedy" guests don't abuse this flexibility Disney is likely to retain this provision.

I don't see how anyone can accuse guests who "bank" child credits of cheating but likewise I don't see how anyone can think Disney intended guests pay out of pocket for all their kids meals so those credits can be used for adult meals.

I tend to agree with that. I think the plan is designed to allow the occasional banking of meals. I know that when we went to the signature place as WS we did not take the kids. Both them and us were happy they weren't eating there. I think Disney is fine with that use and encourages it.

As for the wholesale use of credits by adults while I think that is allowed and an ok use of the plan it probably isn't what Disney intended. I still have a hard time imagining a situation where a family with kids under 10 could even do that for an week long stay. In our case it would have meant eating at 7 signature places while paying for the kids out pocket for each meal. I can not imagine forcing my kids to sit through 7 signature meals knowing full well that they would be much happier at a character buffet, or for that matter any buffet.

One of the best things about the Dinning plan was that we did go to 2 character meal, eat at CRT and tried out Boma without worrying about the cost. CP, LLT and CRT were the kids favorite meals. Following the logic of trying to get the absolute maxime dollar value from the Dinning plan we may not have eaten at those places the kids would have definitely missed out. (O.K., mom and dad would have missed out too. )

 

[plove53]

I didn't say anything because that language, currently, isn't in the brochure for regular TS restaurants.

CM, and maybe CRT, seem to be the restaurants that occasionally require all dining guests use dining or none.

The plan doesn't differentiate betwen adult and child credits, as long as too many "greedy" guests don't abuse this flexibility Disney is likely to retain this provision.

I don't see how anyone can accuse guests who "bank" child credits of cheating but likewise I don't see how anyone can think Disney intended guests pay out of pocket for all their kids meals so those credits can be used for adult meals.

i think the other posters were saying it was up to CMs meaning "cast members" not "chef mickeys"

 

[Lewisc]

i think the other posters were saying it was up to CMs meaning "cast members" not "chef mickeys"

I think Chef Mickey's was one of the few restarants that had an all or nothing approach to MYW Dining but I may have misunderstood some of the posts. It happens when we all abbreviate too much.

 

[PreppyPolyMom]

I think Chef Mickey's was one of the few restarants that had an all or nothing approach to MYW Dining but I may have misunderstood some of the posts. It happens when we all abbreviate too much.

Maybe Chef Mickeys had all or nothing approach because it is Character Dining?

 

[Suzanne74]

jumping in here to say that last year, we were not allowed to pay OOP for dd4's chef mickey's meal and my sis who went the same week different time was told the same thing. All or nothing... This was last year in late Sept so I am not sure if it has changed....

there was no where else this was a problem....