Help! - So now that my kid is 10 and we have the dining plan.....

[oceanmarina]

Hi all,

I'm a little confused about what happens when your kid is over the age of 9 and you have the Deluxe Dining Plan.

My son will be 11 on this trip (he turns 11 the week before we get there) I booked through Disney directly via phone. On the invoice I got when I made my Deposit, they have my son's age as 9 (which was how old he was on our last trip this past summer). On my MDE account, they have him listed as 10 an adult. On my online ressies on my MDE account, they have him listed as an adult.

What's going to happen when we go to the restaurants - he would want to order from the child's menu.

Since we have the deluxe dining and he is listed as an adult, am I "cheating" myself if I let him order off the kids menu? Did I already pay a higher premium for his meal plan and am I not getting my money's worth if he orders from the kids menu? I'm so confused!

Thanks so much for any help with this,
Marina

 

[♡ Mimi ♡]

Yes, you paid the adult price for him. You can "age up" a child under 10 & pay more so that they are entitled to eat from the adult menu, but you cannot "age down" a child 10+ and pay less.

Run the numbers for your family, but I don't think the DxDP is going to make financial sense for you and your dining style.

 

[laura428]

I was actually thinking about a similar question. My DD10 will be open to the adult menu in most circumstances, but may want to order off of the children's menu in a few cases. During our last trip, DS12 was in the same boat, and we had no issues with restaurants making substitutions for us... but we weren't on any DDP.

Now that we'll have no children's credits on a DDP if we purchase (and we were considering DxDP), any experience from anyone being able to substitute if absolutely necessary? Obviously, this is not the best option as we'll be paying adult prices for children's meals. Or could we ask to pay for that child's meal OOP and keep that particular adult credit for another meal (or substitute for extra snacks later)?

We've used DxDP numerous times in the past, and I love paying ahead for it, not having to worry about prices on the menu, and just the general ease of it all. I'd also love to use the snack credits for some of the more expensive options during the Flower and Garden festival. The only better option was using TIW when we were AP holders, but we're not now.

I'd love to to DxDP again, but am waffling. If DD10 can't find something she likes, and we don't have flexibility.... doesn't make as much sense. :/

 

[laura428]

I was actually thinking about a similar question. My DD10 will be open to the adult menu in most circumstances, but may want to order off of the children's menu in a few cases. During our last trip, DS12 was in the same boat, and we had no issues with restaurants making substitutions for us... but we weren't on any DDP.

Now that we'll have no children's credits on a DDP if we purchase (and we were considering DxDP), any experience from anyone being able to substitute if absolutely necessary? Obviously, this is not the best option as we'll be paying adult prices for children's meals. Or could we ask to pay for that child's meal OOP and keep that particular adult credit for another meal (or substitute for extra snacks later)?

We've used DxDP numerous times in the past, and I love paying ahead for it, not having to worry about prices on the menu, and just the general ease of it all. I'd also love to use the snack credits for some of the more expensive options during the Flower and Garden festival. The only better option was using TIW when we were AP holders, but we're not now.

I'd love to to DxDP again, but am waffling. If DD10 can't find something she likes, and we don't have flexibility.... doesn't make as much sense. :/

So.... nevermind. I just showed a sampling of the menus to DD10, and she told me she thought she'd be better off with the children's meals. So to avoid stressing about losing the gap between the adult and child meal costs every time, we're just going to go OOP.

 

[ibela]

Or could we ask to pay for that child's meal OOP and keep that particular adult credit for another meal (or substitute for extra snacks later)?

You can do this. Also, depending on what you have scheduled, you can look into switching from Deluxe to regular dining plan and using her credits for yourself as needed while she orders the kids meals and you pay OOP for her.

 

[jon18uk]

If you are paying for the dining plan, but your child over the age of 10 would rather order kids meals, you might be better off not getting the DDP.

 

[SunnieRN]

Children at age ten vary a lot in their tastes and appetites. I have been with an 11 year old who wanted the choice on the children's menu. They asked the wait person if they could have the meal with a larger/adult portion and it was no problem. If you really want to do the dining plan, this may be a good option for you.