G-tube and dining plan

[cherilee1037]

G-Tube and dining plan

I am traveling with a teen with cognitive and physical disabilities he is also g-tube fed. I am trying to get the dining plan however disney is telling me I have to purchase it for him eventhough he gets nothing by mouth and only gets fromula by g-tube. They say their policy is everyone in the room and they want me to pay the adult price for him. Anyone have any experience with this? I have offered to bring medical documentation however I am being told we all have to get the dining plan or nobody gets it. There are four of us going

 

[deakam]

You know this is a tough one. The policy is everyone in the room. When are you going? Is it possible to get the free dining? If not, I would go ahead and book the dining plan for everyone and then move up the chain of command. Go to the person in charge of Disney World? Or even the CEO himself.

It is a bit crazy that you would be expected to pay for someone to eat when it is not possible for them to do so. This past year we had lunch at Tusker House and my 23 year old neice with severe disabilities went with us. She does eat but it is not really very much. We spoke to the manager on site and he charged us the child rate for her.

If you can not get someone to understand how stupid this is I would just cancel the dining plan and make your ADR's for 4 and pay out of pocket for 3.

 

[ABtwinmommy]

I have no experience with this. But I agree, you should start working your way up the chain of command. If you have the appropriate medical documentation to provide, I personally feel that it would be very wrong of them not to make an exception under these circumstances. Please let us know how this turns out for you.

 

[mdvlprof]

That's the policy. Numerous people have complained about it on the boards.

Meal credits don't have to be used by son. We used our son's leftover meal credits to buy a bunch of stuff we could use as road-food for the way home. Avoid buffets, some will charge, even if son doesn't eat.

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

The rest of you can eat all his meals I would explain the situation to someone higher up and ask if you can purchase the child's plan instead of the adult plan....they may let you do that?

We were in the same situation with our 4 year old but ended up with free dining and we ate most of her meals. She did eat a little bit but I know I was frustrating when researching all of this before our trip. Good luck and let us know what happens!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

The rules cannot be changed by anyone at Reservations. Basically you have two choices.

One is to not buy the DDP.

The other is to buy the DDP and when you check in at the Resort ask to speak to a Guest Services Manager. Explain the situation, and when the GSM sees the person involved you should be able to get a credit to your account of the cost of the DDP for the one person and the number of people included changed on the KTTW. This is not a promise that it will work, but it should be resolved before your room keys are created.

 

[Owl's Friend]

My friend has a tube fed dd. This is what she said:
"We don't pay for her. We explain she has a feeding tube and won't be eating.

At Disney, we have a letter from her doc that says she is tube fed and please exempt her from meal plans, buffet charges, etc. I carry it around in a pocket of the diaper bag (it's only a piece of paper so no big deal) for if we ever have issues elsewhere. "

They do the DDP.

 

[DCDisney]

You can just not include him on your reservation and then add him at check in. By that time it's too late to add the dining plan for him. The only issue is that if you need to request special services for the resort room he wouldn't technically be included yet but not sure if they ask which person has the issues or not as our travel agent handled that for us.

 

[dclfun]

You can just not include him on your reservation and then add him at check in. By that time it's too late to add the dining plan for him. The only issue is that if you need to request special services for the resort room he wouldn't technically be included yet but not sure if they ask which person has the issues or not as our travel agent handled that for us.

The other problem here is that he would not be included with Magical Express if you are planning to use that service. Each guest must have a voucher. It's worked well for us just to think of the meal credits as one large pool to be shared by everyone in our party vs. individual credits to be lost. Also, the DDP may not be the best option either, so you may want to figure out where you'd plan to dine and then add up the actual costs vs dining OOP.---Kathy

 

[KAYzEyes]

I have both a g-tube and a j-tube and will be going to DW in January. I have a card that states I have gastroparesis and have feeding tubes, and it's signed by my surgeon. This exempts charges in situations such as you're speaking of, and in restaurants in every day situations I often use the card and am charged a kid's meal portion rather then the full adult charge.t restaurants).

 

[KPeveler]

You should know that especially at Character Meals, there are NO exceptions made, even if a person is tube fed. This is because for a character meal, Disney considers people to be paying for the experience more than the food, so they don't make exceptions.

I have heard of some people getting exceptions made, but not often. I would count on having to pay for him for meals.

 

[KMorto]

Our son (10) is wheelchair bound and gtube fed. We have had to buy him the dining plan - but the rest of the family just uses his credits throughout our stay - especially on the 2 credit meals.

We have NEVER had to pay for him to be at a character meal, and we hit 2 - 3 each trip.

 

[SueM in MN]

This is something that would usually be dealt with at check in. That is where they may be able to make exceptions.
This is so the resort can verify that the information being given is true. Unfortunately, this makes things difficult for people who are being truthful, but there are people who will try to take advantage of situations when they do not have any special needs. It is possible to waive or lower a fee if needed, but much harder (or even impossible) to add a fee if it was already waived before the guest arrived.

Most people who have posted in the past have indicated they we charged an 'entertainment fee' for the character meals, even if they could not eat. This has been reported as less than the regular price for the meal.

I agree with some of the other posters that the Disney dining plan doesn't
make sense for all situations - sometimes it is not cost effective, even if everyone is able to eat.

 

[WLodgeLizard]

We have been told the same thing about the dining plan as well and have chosen not to pursue it any further.

We have never been charged for character meals. They have always booked as "not eating".

Some other advice, we went to Hoop Dee Doo a couple years ago and originally booked a meal for our DS 12, who is g-tube fed. Reservations told us to stop by the window and ask for a refund for him. We did just that and did not have a problem. However, the person at the window recommended that next time we should book him as an infant. We haven't tried that yet. I think I would feel better asking for the refund.

Also, the first aid stations are great for stretching out, doing changes and boluses.

Have a great time!

WLL

 

[Delaney21]

We were also told to book my tube fed 4 year old as a 2 year old so a spot would be reserved for him, but we wouldn't be charged for him. We did this at regular restaurants, plus character buffets and Hoop Dee Doo and never had a problem.