Is dining plan worth it(with 10 yr. old)?

[Poohbear77]

Debating on getting dining plan. Daughter just turned 10 and does not eat very much. Son who is 7 eats like a bird(and mostly chicken nuggets). Will it really be worth the money in the end, or are we better off just doing counter service and a few character meals?

I really hate the fact that they consider a 10 yr old an adult. It just doesn't seem fare to have to pay over $20 more per day when she will waste half of it. 13 I could see, but not 10. JMO

 

[bicker]

I would do the math. It's actually kind of fun.... head over to the menus, make some guesses about what everyone will order, add it up, and make your decision based on that forecast. It won't be 100% accurate, but it will be far more accurate than my guess about whether the Dining Plan would be worth it to you.

Incidently: They actually don't consider 10 year olds adults. $38.99 is the "regular" price for the Dining Plan. There is a discounted price for children 3-9. Older children are not eligible for the discounted price, that's all. But they're still children.

 

[Linda 441]

Agree with Bicker, to do the math. It all depends on your family. My 10 year old daughter can sometimes eat twice what I do - off the adult menu, and sometimes she is fine with the kids menu and it fills her up. When my son was 10 - watch out - he could eat enough to pay for 2 plans! LOL This year we will order some of my Daughters meals off the kids menu and pay for them out of pocket using the DDE and save the table service credit for another meal.

It also depends on if you want to do table service meals - especially ones that are a set price - in which case you will pay the "adult" price for those meals. For example, at LTT, it is a set price. My 10 year old would pay about $30 (with tax and tip) for that meal. So that day, we're getting a counter service and snack pretty cheap. If you plan do so some sit downs, it is usually worth it. Heck, one of those set price meals for kids is the entire day prcie of the package.

It's hard to determine what the cut off for "discounted" meals is since some 15 year olds won't eat enough for the plan to be "worth it."

 

[Rhongepooh]

I say. . .yes, yes and yes. . .

I, instead of my dd (11), am the one who really doesn't eat alot at one time. I usually enjoy eating what's off a resturaunt's kid's meal instead of my DD. However, it's really nice to be able to treat myself and my daughters' to some of the nicer resturaunts that without the ddp we normally wouldn't go to. Also, it's nice to not have to worry about taking so much money to the parks!

 

[kennezgirl]

I am stuggling with this too. I guess to help me answer this better I need to know if we go to Chef Mickey's for example to eat at the buffet, will I be paying the adult price for my TWO 10 year olds anyway? Or can I just say I have two children or do they even ask? Help!

 

[OurDogCisco]

I am stuggling with this too. I guess to help me answer this better I need to know if we go to Chef Mickey's for example to eat at the buffet, will I be paying the adult price for my TWO 10 year olds anyway? Or can I just say I have two children or do they even ask? Help!

You can check out menus at Allearsnet.com According to their menu Adult price for the dinner buffet is $27.99. Children 3 to 9 years old pay $12.99... So yes your 10 year olds will be paying full price.

I think, you really would have to look at the menus to see if it would be a good deal for your family. All would be dependent on if you need a table service every day.

 

[pnutmnm]

When we went last year, my DS were 10 and 7. There were quite a few instances where DS10 didn't like anything on the adult menu and wanted chicken nuggets. DS7 was starving and wanted the steak. We never had a problem with any of our servers doing this.

 

[Poohbear77]

I am stuggling with this too. I guess to help me answer this better I need to know if we go to Chef Mickey's for example to eat at the buffet, will I be paying the adult price for my TWO 10 year olds anyway? Or can I just say I have two children or do they even ask? Help!

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I thought of doing this too, but another disser warned that sometimes they ask the child how old they are.
I wouldn't want to put my child in the position to have to lie about her age.

You could get away with this at the CS stands though. They would never know. I know quite a few adults that do not eat much who do this.

IMO it is just ridiculous that the adult meal costs more than double the kids meals.

 

[NeverBeen2DW]

This year we will order some of my Daughters meals off the kids menu and pay for them out of pocket using the DDE and save the table service credit for another meal.

."

Can you explain what you mean by this? How do you use it at another meal? You would then have an extra TS credit for a child? Or do they just look at it as a credit for one TS meal period. How do they know what you have used credit wise? Do you sometimes need to use 2 TS child credits for a meal?

 

[Poohbear77]

NeverBeen2DW- I think that from what I have read the credits are pooled together meaning, you have x many adult TS credits and x many child TS credits. Same with CS credits. And everytime you use some of these at a restaurant they give you a reciept that tells you how many you have remaining all together.

With regard to using 2 TS at one meal, I think there are only a few restaurants that you have to use 2 TS per person at. These are called Signature Restaurants. I am not sure off hand which these are( I do know one is Cinderellas Royal Table), but I am sure that you can look it up on the Disney site. HTH

 

[starbox]

We have a DS10 that can eat more than DH and I combined, but I still don't know that the DDP (which I've used many, many times) is a great idea for us anymore. I'm trying it for a short, 3-day trip now that he's 10 and we'll see how it goes. I think I could actually eat at more TS restaurants for less money without the plan now that the kids are not little and I'm paying full price. I would not be eating an appetizer, entree, and dessert at every meal - but we don't normally eat like that anyway.

 

[oogie boogie]

SO if my 10yo daughter doesn't like what's being offered on the adult menu can she order off the kids menu instead or is that against the DDP rules?