Does the Dining Plan make sense for our family?

[chelle11]

We are planning a disney vacation for November, and by then our children will be ages 7, 10, and 12. My children eat very little.....even my oldest. He'd be happy with 5 nuggets for dinner or a PB&J sandwich. Based on the ages of my oldest two, we'd be paying adult prices for two of our children, is this dining plan beneficial? I know they won't even eat anything off an adult menu. Should we skip doing the dining plan? If we didn't do the dining plan, would Disney allow my oldest two to order from the kid menu? Would they ask their ages? Also, if we were to go to a buffet, the amount of food between the three of them would also be very little. My husband I do however enjoy eating a nice meal at the end of the day. I'm feeling overwhelmed and confused at this decision. Thanks for all your expert help!

 

[disneymayz]

Based off what you said I would say NO to the dinning plan. They will not ask ages when you go through a CS and got a kids meal.

 

[baseballdad27]

Its a great plan but not for u. What we did was add up the total prices of the meals we wanted to eat per day per person then compaired it to the dinning plan. I think u would be better off with the dining plan

 

[MamaDrama]

I would go through and make a spreadsheet showing where you plan on eating and what you think you would probably order. Then add it all up (remember that tax is included with the plan but tips are not) and see if it will work out financially. Another thing is your older kids will be able to order one meal to share and then save credits for signatures.

 

[purple figment]

would Disney allow my oldest two to order from the kid menu? Would they ask their ages? Also, if we were to go to a buffet, the amount of food between the three of them would also be very little.

At a buffet everyone has to pay regardless of how much or how little they eat so you are looking at the cost of 4 adult and 1 child's meals. . At the character buffets and places with entertainment (e.g. Biergarten), however, you are paying for the character interaction or the show as well as the food.

In almost every table service restaurant the kids would be able to order from the children's menu without a problem. There have been a few occasions where it was not allowed, but this was at restaurants that are not Disney operated or when a restaurant was brand new and still in the soft opening phase. Since plenty of adults are able to order from the children's menu, if this occurs, I would ask to speak with a manager.

Your kids could also order an adult's appetier or entree and share.

 

[paymerich]

Disney needs a serious reality check trying to charge full price for a 9-14 year old for the basic Dining plan. My 11 year old daughter won't touch 90% of the menu items on the regular menu . I mean really ..$46 bucks so she can eat nuggets or a mini cheese pizza? If they offered a Junior r ate, it would be worth it but We are better off not DDPing it this time.

we have me 44 DD ,43 DM , 14DS, 11 DD , and 7 DS boils out to $196 a day .
unless I am wrong in my calcs , the DDP is not saving us money.

opinions ?

 

[JMarieVeith]

My daughter usually eats very little as well, However, when we are at Disney, all of that walking and swimming must make her hungry because she eats a lot more. I use our TS credits to book buffets. That way, she can get as much or as little as she wants and it's still a good value.

 

[Colleen27]

We are planning a disney vacation for November, and by then our children will be ages 7, 10, and 12. My children eat very little.....even my oldest. He'd be happy with 5 nuggets for dinner or a PB&J sandwich. Based on the ages of my oldest two, we'd be paying adult prices for two of our children, is this dining plan beneficial? I know they won't even eat anything off an adult menu. Should we skip doing the dining plan? If we didn't do the dining plan, would Disney allow my oldest two to order from the kid menu? Would they ask their ages? Also, if we were to go to a buffet, the amount of food between the three of them would also be very little. My husband I do however enjoy eating a nice meal at the end of the day. I'm feeling overwhelmed and confused at this decision. Thanks for all your expert help!

With two adult-aged kids that you're fairly sure won't order off the adult menus, the only way the dining plan makes sense for you is if you have buffets/character meals practically every day. Paying cash they'll be allowed to order from the kids menu at table service locations, but will still be charged as adults for buffets and family-style meals.

Disney needs a serious reality check trying to charge full price for a 9-14 year old for the basic Dining plan. My 11 year old daughter won't touch 90% of the menu items on the regular menu . I mean really ..$46 bucks so she can eat nuggets or a mini cheese pizza? If they offered a Junior r ate, it would be worth it but We are better off not DDPing it this time.

we have me 44 DD ,43 DM , 14DS, 11 DD , and 7 DS boils out to $196 a day .
unless I am wrong in my calcs , the DDP is not saving us money.

opinions ?

It is a balancing act to be sure, but I think Disney's got it right on the "adult" age. For every post like yours about an older child who won't eat adult selections or portions there's another asking about upgrading an 8 or 9 year old to a DDP adult to give them access to more than chicken nuggets or pizza. For some, the dining plan just won't make sense for a few years when the kids are in that gap between turning 10 and developing adult tastes, but Disney's never going to come up with a plan that suits everyone.

 

[JMarieVeith]

It's funny. My daughter has almost always eaten "adult" food. I never gave her nuggets or pizza. She has always eaten what we eat. She's only 7, but when we go out to eat, she always wants grilled chicken or a steak or prime rib.

 

[MagicMomma]

Disney needs a serious reality check trying to charge full price for a 9-14 year old for the basic Dining plan. My 11 year old daughter won't touch 90% of the menu items on the regular menu . I mean really ..$46 bucks so she can eat nuggets or a mini cheese pizza? If they offered a Junior r ate, it would be worth it but We are better off not DDPing it this time.

we have me 44 DD ,43 DM , 14DS, 11 DD , and 7 DS boils out to $196 a day .
unless I am wrong in my calcs , the DDP is not saving us money.

opinions ?

I guess it just depends on the kid. My DD13 loves all kinds of food and is not afraid to try anything. She also eats a lot, frequently more than I do. (even tho she's as thin a a rail!) For us, the DDP makes a lot of sense, since she'd never order off the kids' menu, and didn't want to even when she was younger. We definitely got our money's worth on our last trip. We also have a teenage son, which goes without saying that he needs large portions!!

 

[brymolmom]

Disney needs a serious reality check trying to charge full price for a 9-14 year old for the basic Dining plan. My 11 year old daughter won't touch 90% of the menu items on the regular menu . I mean really ..$46 bucks so she can eat nuggets or a mini cheese pizza? If they offered a Junior r ate, it would be worth it but We are better off not DDPing it this time.

we have me 44 DD ,43 DM , 14DS, 11 DD , and 7 DS boils out to $196 a day .
unless I am wrong in my calcs , the DDP is not saving us money.

opinions ?

That's what's great about Disney - everyone can make the trip that works out best for their family and situation - base tickets or hoppers, value or deluxe, dining plan or paying out of pocket.

Just go for the package minus the dining plan and it sounds like your family will make out ahead of the game!

Not sure why people get upset about it - if they forced you to buy it, that's one thing. But Disney offers a LOT of options that don't make sense for my family and I just opt not to do them. I guess I assume they work out for some families, just not mine. We never get hopping tickets, never do BBB, never stay at deluxe...but it's fine by me if those choices work out for other families as long as I can opt out of them.

 

[DadtoPrinceNoah]

It is a balancing act to be sure, but I think Disney's got it right on the "adult" age. For every post like yours about an older child who won't eat adult selections or portions there's another asking about upgrading an 8 or 9 year old to a DDP adult to give them access to more than chicken nuggets or pizza. For some, the dining plan just won't make sense for a few years when the kids are in that gap between turning 10 and developing adult tastes, but Disney's never going to come up with a plan that suits everyone.

I agree that I think they got the age just right. But since every child is different, maybe they could offer a little more flexibility and if a child is between say 7 and 13, they have the option of putting them on child credits or adult credits...with the understanding that whichever they choose is how they pay and how the child will eat all week.

To the OP...Unless you are doing a lot of pay-one-price meals, the dining plan doesn't sound like a good option for you.

 

[chelle11]

Since the DDP does not make sense for our family, do you think adding the Club Level to our stay would be beneficial?

 

[5boyz]

I think 10 is too young to be considered an adult.

I would definately being paying out of pocket in your situation. It is sooo much easier doing dining plan cuz it is all paid for...., I eat alot of children's meals and my kids will at lunch. I find I am getting the desserts and drinks that we throw out most times, well we give packaged desserts to people at other tables. Last year we did 6 nights dining and 5 nights not dining...felt much better the 2nd week...not so much food......

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

It is a balancing act to be sure, but I think Disney's got it right on the "adult" age. For every post like yours about an older child who won't eat adult selections or portions there's another asking about upgrading an 8 or 9 year old to a DDP adult to give them access to more than chicken nuggets or pizza. For some, the dining plan just won't make sense for a few years when the kids are in that gap between turning 10 and developing adult tastes, but Disney's never going to come up with a plan that suits everyone.

My 9 year old wants more than nuggets or pizza for sure.

I agree that I think they got the age just right. But since every child is different, maybe they could offer a little more flexibility and if a child is between say 7 and 13, they have the option of putting them on child credits or adult credits...with the understanding that whichever they choose is how they pay and how the child will eat all week.

To the OP...Unless you are doing a lot of pay-one-price meals, the dining plan doesn't sound like a good option for you.

The problem with that is that it is linked to a ticket type in most cases. The hotel staff doesn't typically see every person in a room at check in to determine age, but the gate attendants do. This way they can make sure an adult in the room isn't trying to get away with being a kid for the MUCH cheaper dining plan. The only way Disney could do a "tween" price would to have a "tween" ticket too.

 

[Faldred]

One other thing to consider is that the credits belong to the room, not the individuals.

If your two "adult" children don't have big appetites, then at the non-admission restaurants, they could order 1 meal and share, or even order kids' meals out-of-pocket, while you save the credit(s) for the adults to use at another meal. Of course this works best if you want to average more than 1 TS per day (or add a couple of signature meals), but not the 2 TS per day that would make DxDP sense.

 

[DadtoPrinceNoah]

The problem with that is that it is linked to a ticket type in most cases. The hotel staff doesn't typically see every person in a room at check in to determine age, but the gate attendants do. This way they can make sure an adult in the room isn't trying to get away with being a kid for the MUCH cheaper dining plan.

I am not sure how they would get away with it, plus how they check in would be irrelevant. Everything is determined when you make your ressie and when you pay for your meals. If the adult pays for a childs plan, they get more childs credits and thus less adult credits. The servers then charge their plan by how the meals were eaten. So if an adult on a childs plan orders an adult meal, they would still get charged an adult meal, but their adult credits would be depleted faster and they would run out of them quicker and have to pay OOP and also waste the child credits.

Or did I miss your point (which is entirely possible)

 

[3pletprincesses]

the plan does make sense if oyu plan on doing buffets since the children 9 and over will ahve to pay adult prices but other then that, non it's not worht it.

 

[kmedina]

One other thing to consider is that the credits belong to the room, not the individuals.

If your two "adult" children don't have big appetites, then at the non-admission restaurants, they could order 1 meal and share, or even order kids' meals out-of-pocket, while you save the credit(s) for the adults to use at another meal. Of course this works best if you want to average more than 1 TS per day (or add a couple of signature meals), but not the 2 TS per day that would make DxDP sense.

I think this is a great idea. The regular plan only gives you two meals per day. You can also use extra credits for another meal. Example, TS breakfast using your table service credits for you and your spouse. Pay for kids meals for the older two kids. QS lunch for all using credits. TS dinner using the older kids credits for you and your spouse. Pay for kids meals for the two older kids.

If you do at least one buffet that day, you can skip the TS breakfast using snack credits, since the kids will need to use their own meal entitlements. Buffets are based on age, and the kids will have to pay adult prices there.

You are still paying out of pocket for some meals, but are getting the extra snack credits and adult meals per day.