Have you lied about your child's age to get in free?

[AliceinMaryland]

Have you ever lied and said your child was under 3 for them to get into Disney for free? Just curious how often this happens.

Obviously, if you've never been with children, this poll isn't for you LOL. Just thought I would add that so we don't get any knuckleheads who throw the poll numbers off by replying no.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

No, I have not. I am sure it happens though.

 

[aubriee]

My husband and I took our 3 y/o GS to WDW this past Feb. This kid is so tiny that according to his pediatrician he is not even on the growth chart. He's healthy, just very, very tiny. We never even considered lying about his age. In fact, we were on the DxDDP, so had to pay DxDDP prices for him too, even though he eats very, very little. He may be tiny, but he knew he was three and would have told anyone who asked. In fact, he did. We were staying at POFQ and as we walked out every morning he talked to the doorman (the guys that hands the kids the coins to throw in the fountain). The man made a comment about how well he talked and asked if he was two yet. My GS informed him in no uncertain terms that he not a baby and was three, not two. The doorman looked at us and said there way he could possibly be three. At some of the restaurants we had waiters ask him how old he was. He usually said three--as he held up four fingers (he had trouble keeping that little finger down, so always showed four fingers).

Saying that, we did see a family who was obviously lying about their kids ages, one morning as we were going into DS. We were waiting right at the turnstyle for the park to open, when the guy at the turnstyle asked the two boys in front of us how old they were. The youngest looked to be about 4 y/o and the eldest about five. The oldest boy started to say "fi" when the dad suddenly put his hand over the kid's mouth and said he'll turn three this week and his brother just turned two. No way were either of those boys two y/o. No where even close to two. The CM just looked at the parents. He then looked at my GS in his stroller and asked how old he was. My GS informed him he was three. I really had a hard time believing they let that family in. That eldest boy was obviously school age. The turnstyle CM had to step away for a minute to talk to another CM. The eldest boy looked up at his dad and asked why he had to lie to the CM and the dad said, "Disney makes enough money off us. A little white lie doesn't hurt, so remember today you are not quite three and your brother is two". He then winked at us. My GS looked at the dad and clearly and rather loudly said, "Lying is wrong. You need to tell the truth". I know alot of kids are really big for their age, but no way possible could these kids be even close to two and you could tell the CM didn't believe them either.

 

[pharmjenn]

I flew with DS as a lap child when he was 21mo. He was large and verbal, so my DH was teaching him to say "I'm 2" when asked his age. I put a stop to that quickly when I heard it. Changed it to "I'm almost 2"
We deliberately planned our first trip to DL when DS was 2yr 10mo so he would be free.
I agree that Disney is expensive, but if you can't afford to do it honestly, you should not go.

 

[feathersmcgraw]

My children are all small for their age so it would have been very easy to do it on lots of differnt occasions. However, they would definitely pipe up with "no Mummy, I am *such and such an age*" so I couldn't do it if I wanted to

 

[deegack]

Nope we are buying tickets for both our dds who are three. One is very small and delayed so acts more like 18 months than 3 and people are surprised when they find out how old she is.

 

[Disney Dreams]

I didn't vote (because we don't have kids ), but...

There is a joke at Disneyland that there is a very strange anomaly that exists at the Disneyland Resort (and probably at WDW too) in that there is a giant disproportionate number of two and four year olds compared to three year old. It seems that Disney Parks are a strange sort of Twilight Zone in which almost no three year olds exist. I'm guessing the same is true with 10 year olds. (giggle)

,
Dreams

 

[disneydad1]

all 3 of my DD's are very tall for their age - we were advised by disney to bring a copy of my youngest's birth certificate when she was still 3 on a trip to verify how old she was if questioned by a CM at a park gate....

Also, if you've ever given disney the birthdays of your kids for a celebration visit, they keep it in their system, so even if you wanted to lie about someone's age, they'd know.

 

[Villains_Rock]

No, but I almost started a thread about this same topic. It came up at work and every mom in the breakroom said they had lied to WDW about their kids age (some of them for more than a year). I had mentioned that this will be the last year DS is free and they all laughed and though I was silly for telling the truth. I simply said I am superstitious about stuff like that...I wouldn't want bad karma especially if it happens my little DS. That shut them up...but MAN they looked at me like I had 3 heads!! I was actually quite mad! I mean, I won't even reuse a mug...let alone cheat Disney out of $83 a day!!

 

[Magpie]

No, but I almost started a thread about this same topic. It came up at work and every mom in the breakroom said they had lied to WDW about their kids age (some of them for more year). I had mentioned that this will be the last year DS is free and they all laughed and though I was silly for telling the truth. I simply said I am superstitious about stuff like that...I wouldn't want bad karma especially if it happens my little DS. That shut them up...but MAN they looked at me like I had 3 heads!! I was actually quite mad! I mean, I won't even reuse a mug...let alone cheat Disney out of $83 a day!!

Good for you! I would have told them that I'm not going to teach my children it's okay to lie sometimes, because then I'll have to deal with them lying to me!

I have a 14 and a 16yo now. I've never lied to get them into anything, and I've always tried to be truthful with them. And despite what Judge Judy says about teens, both of my kids are honest with me. My son will straight up say, "I'm not going to answer that question!" rather than lie, and my daughter hates feeling guilty, so regularly confesses everything.

EDIT: Wait, I forgot. I did a couple times buy full price admission for things on the kids' behalfs, allowing people to assume they're *older* than they are. The children were both tall, articulate and mature for their ages, and I didn't think it was fair to ban them from certain museum exhibits. So my son didn't actually have to wait until he was five to check out the Mars Simulator. (No one asked his age, or we would have said what it really was.)

 

[cutegirlsmomma]

No i have not....i couldn't even if i wanted to, my kids would tell them i was lying in a heartbeat....lol. when we bought passes recently we had to buy adult pass for my DD because she is 10 and when i said 3 adult passes and 3 kid passes my DD said "but i am not an adult".....lol. I told her you are an adult in Disney's eyes....she thought it was so crazy....

 

[J3nn78]

Nope, but I did once omit my youngest DS from our reservation when we went with my parents. We were 6 people in a POly room. DS was just over 3 and I could have gotten away with lying about his age and not paying. But we still bought him a ticket separate from our ackage tickets and paid oop for his meals. I'm sure I will be flamed for not including him on our reservation, but we did not want a larger room. DH and I shared one bed, my parents the other, and my boys (3 and 5) comfortably shared the day bed. It is not something I would do now that they are older, but it made sense for us then. That said, I did feel guilty and worried we would get caught.

 

[deegack]

Nope, but I did once omit my youngest DS from our reservation when we went with my parents. We were 6 people in a POly room. DS was just over 3 and I could have gotten away with lying about his age and not paying. But we still bought him a ticket separate from our ackage tickets and paid oop for his meals. I'm sure I will be flamed for not including him on our reservation, but we did not want a larger room. DH and I shared one bed, my parents the other, and my boys (3 and 5) comfortably shared the day bed. It is not something I would do now that they are older, but it made sense for us then. That said, I did feel guilty and worried we would get caught.

Actually if you had been caught you would have been thrown out of the hotel with no refund. Fire codes are serious things.

 

[Cyrano]

My children are all small for their age so it would have been very easy to do it on lots of differnt occasions. However, they would definitely pipe up with "no Mummy, I am *such and such an age*" so I couldn't do it if I wanted to

I have not but confidently know when ours were little they would have done the same

 

[J3nn78]

Actually if you had been caught you would have been thrown out of the hotel with no refund. Fire codes are serious things.

We were aware of that. The fire code thing is really not the issue. Why can you pay extra occupancy fees at non Disney hotels to exceed the number specified. And, how does a couple months of age make a difference fire wise? My DS had just turned 3. If we had started the trip with him being 2, Disney would not kick us out of the room on his birthday because fire codes were now violated.

Anyway, we were aware of the risks. Yes we did technically cheat the system, but we did not lie about his age to get out of paying for his tickets or meals. I have no regrets. And it's not something we would do again anyway. We are now DVC owners and can easily get the accommodations we need for larger travel groups.

 

[dprincessmom]

I have fibbed about ages but not to get in free - I did to avoid the $50 per night upcharge to our room ($25 x2) that would have been added if I had given my teen nieces actual age. Figure the room rack rate that I was paying was good and trust me Disney got that $350 bucks back and then some at the shops

 

[ditsypixie]

My DS turned 3 right in the middle of our first trip. We were told when booking the reservations that it didn't matter as long as he was 2 when we booked everything. No one ever questioned us and he is really tall for his age.

This trip, we will be buying my DD a adult ticket. She could pass for younger but I think it would send the wrong message to our kids if we lied about her age. Now, I will just have to deal with the "but I'm an adult" drama when we return and she doesn't get her way! LOL!

 

[deegack]

We were aware of that. The fire code thing is really not the issue. Why can you pay extra occupancy fees at non Disney hotels to exceed the number specified. And, how does a couple months of age make a difference fire wise? My DS had just turned 3. If we had started the trip with him being 2, Disney would not kick us out of the room on his birthday because fire codes were now violated.

Anyway, we were aware of the risks. Yes we did technically cheat the system, but we did not lie about his age to get out of paying for his tickets or meals. I have no regrets. And it's not something we would do again anyway. We are now DVC owners and can easily get the accommodations we need for larger travel groups.

Well one, I am not aware of any hotel where you can pay extra money to exceed fire code limits. Fire codes are different than occupancy limits placed by the hotel. Fire codes are set by the fire marshall and determined based on the Material used in construction, the configuration of the room and the hallways and availability of exits. Hotels may charge to have more than a set numbe of adults in a room, usually two adults, but not to exceed their fire codes. Two, if he was two at the start of your trip he would be two legally for your entire trip. That is not what occurred here. Three being a dvc member now has nothing to do with your actions in the past.
You knowingly placed your family and the other guests in that hotel in danger.

 

[4orm]

No, but we just planned a trip where she turns three during our stay - so then she's free since Disney's policy is that you don't age there!

As a child my mother used to lie about my age. It made me nervous and anxious. I will never put my daughter in that situation just to save a few bucks.

 

[nessz79]

Nope. I certainly could have, too, as my oldest has always looked younger than his actual age. We always told the truth, though.