Feeding an Almost 3 Year Old

[BeckyEsq]

We will be traveling with a 2 year old who will be almost 3. I understand you cannot purchase DDP for under 3, but can purchase children's meals or they can share adult's food. How does this work at buffets / character meals? Thanks very much.

 

[Wanna be Ariel]

We are going next year with our DS who will be 2.5 when we go. As far as everything that I have read, they would just eat off of your plate. That is why were are doing a few of them. Right now he is a really good eater and so it would be well worth it for us to do this. I swear he can eat more then I can at times.

 

[goofyintoronto]

At buffets i believe they charge kids "kid prices" from 3-9 yrs of age. 10 yrs old and up are considered adult, therefore they pay adult prices. So basically, if your kid is under 3, they dont get charged. They eat off your plate.

 

[Disneyfan3333]

Maybe a silly question, but everyone keeps saying little ones "eat off your plate" -- is this just a figure of speech, or do they literally have to share from your plate? We plan to do a few character buffets, but I'd assumed we could just give a little bit of food on a Plate of her own? Otherwise i forsee a grumpy toddler trying to snatch everyone else's plate away....

Also, I read somewhere that at the character meals under 3's get a cup of milk of their own, is this still the case? Otherwise maybe they'll let me just buy her one?

 

[Funfire240]

Maybe a silly question, but everyone keeps saying little ones "eat off your plate" -- is this just a figure of speech, or do they literally have to share from your plate? We plan to do a few character buffets, but I'd assumed we could just give her a little bit of food on a Plate of her own? Otherwise i forsee a grumpy toddler trying to snatch everyone else's plate away....

Also, I read somewhere that at the character meals under 3's get a cup of milk of their own, is this still the case? Otherwise maybe they'll let me just buy her one?

They can have their own plate. I probably looked like the pig of the buffet as I would hold a plate for him and DD(4) then go back up for my food!
We aolso ordered drinks and we're never charged for DS's. Also, if you do a table service ask about a meal. We received a free meal for him at Akershus than at CRT they never said anything to us about it but we asked and they ended up giving us a drink and meal for him (this was all just 2 weeks ago).

 

[Disneyfan3333]

They can have their own plate. I probably looked like the pig of the buffet as I would hold a plate for him and DD(4) then go back up for my food!
We aolso ordered drinks and we're never charged for DS's. Also, if you do a table service ask about a meal. We received a free meal for him at Akershus than at CRT they never said anything to us about it but we asked and they ended up giving us a drink and meal for him (this was all just 2 weeks ago).

Thanks for the info & tip

 

[Funfire240]

Your welcome - glad I could help

 

[BeckyEsq]

Thanks that is helpful!

 

[julieanddanny]

Yes, our two year old ate off the buffet as anyone would and got there own drink and we were not charged. In other restaurants we just ordered her a meal and pd for it. She didn't eat for free anywhere but the buffets.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

We moved our trip to go before our DD turned three because of the savings, and figured we would have to pay OOP for most of her food. We spent less than $30 total on "meals" for her over the 10 days we were there.

The buffets are awesome with a child under three, because they get a free meal. It isn't limited to sharing with anyone, it shows up on the bill as a child buffet under 2, with no charge. Our DD ate very well during our trip since we had ADRs at Chef Mickeys, Tusker House, Hollywood and Vine, and Trail's End at Fort Wilderness. Even at WCC where it is table service with a shared platter they brought her drinks and plates at no charge. For the rest of our meals, she would share a QS meal or have a snack. Where we did buy her a meal was at LTT in MK, and sometimes we would buy her a drink if we didn't want to use a snack credit.

I worried about this quite a bit before the trip, and it turned out to be no problem at all. Disney is awesome about food for an under three year old.

 

[makingplans4WDW]

You definitely will not have a problem feeding your almost-3-year-old while on the DDP. It will be smooth sailing. My DS was 2 years, 8 months during our trip in late January. At all our buffets, he got his own plate of food and beverage. At both Akershus and CRT, they brought him a children's plate of food and a beverage as well. At CRT, he even got a plastic sword... He still plays with it and tells everyone that "this is sword the princesses gave me". WDW was REALLY a magical place for my almost-3-year-old!

 

[lucifie]

You definitely will not have a problem feeding your almost-3-year-old while on the DDP. It will be smooth sailing. My DS was 2 years, 8 months during our trip in late January. At all our buffets, he got his own plate of food and beverage. At both Akershus and CRT, they brought him a children's plate of food and a beverage as well. At CRT, he even got a plastic sword... He still plays with it and tells everyone that "this is sword the princesses gave me". WDW was REALLY a magical place for my almost-3-year-old!

Do you ask for something special? Our youngest will be 2.5 and I don't want to order her a meal and end up getting charged $40 or 2 child dining credits for it when she could just as easily eat off my plate or share with her siblings.