Just turned 3 at buffets?

[Libby]

Hi,

My dd will turn 3 about 3 before our trip. My problem is she barely eats. We are having breakfast at CRT and she will only have some toast or a bread roll. Are we able to just order her some toast? It's a bit unfair her having to pay full child price when she barely eats anything. We going to a few other meals/buffets and she will only eat fries, bread and maybe some melon. Anyone have any thoughts on this. At this stage we are hoping because of her size (she's the size of a 2 year old) no one will even ask how old she is. If she ate any reasonable amount I would have no problems with paying. Currently when we dine out she just has some food off my plate or maybe some of dd fries.

Libby

 

[momxx5]

While no one may question how old she looks, they will ask you and you will have to give her age. When making PS or arriving to be seated they probably will ask her age and you will decide if you are going to be honest or not. I think at sit down restaurants, as long as she eats off your plates you will not have to order her anything off the children's menu. But will the buffets, I'm not sure how I would handle that. My DH is too honest and I probably couldn't lie either.

I understand where you are coming from. Will you be purchasing a park ticket for her? Right now my youngest is only 2 but my oldest just turned 10 and we are now paying full park rates for him. Next year will really will take a $$$ hit, 2 boys over 10 yrs old and baby turns 3.

 

[sweet maxine]

I shared with my 3 y/o grandson at the counter service places we visited. Otherwise, I paid the going rate for a child's buffet, I think $8.99 at the Crystal Palace character breakfast. It's definitely worth the price for the character interaction, and the food is so good.

Sorry I can't be of more help. I just paid whenever we went to a sit down restaurant (NY China Buffet, and Golden Corral), which wasn't too often as we stayed in the cabins and cooked quite often. I think the only place you will be placed in the position to pay for her own plate would be at the buffets. Otherwise it would seem as though she could share from your plate at any other restaurant.

 

[Jordan's MOM]

I found that almost always at the buffet meals that they would ask my son how old he was. Be assured she will tell them proudly that she is three. Unless you plan to be dishonest, plan to pay for her. The character meals are so much fun that she will get her money's worth even if she eats nothing. Sometimes a waitress will notice that a young child is eating almost nothing and not charge for her at all but don't count on it. You might be surprised how much she will eat there, it seems touring WDW always makes us very hungery. Have a awsome trip.


Jordans' mom

 

[disneymom3]

Every buffet we have gone to they have asked what ages all of the children were. (When we went with extended family it was pretty funny--one is one, three are two, one is four, one is five, one is seven, one is 10. Quite a list and 4 of them were free which was great!) I totally understand where you are coming from with the prices for no food. We did CRT with three kids--DD6, DS2 and DS1. Had to pay for DD who ate far less than her brother who was one at the time. The two year old didn't eat either and I was thankful he was only two. My take on the buffets and family style restaurants (CRT and Garden Grill for instance) is that no way will my kids ever eat $$ worth of food, so I look at it as paying for the experience, not the meal.

 

[tjmw2727]

Like others mentioned you should plan on paying for her at the character meals. The "entertainment" value is figured into the price of the meal. You won't have any problems at counter service or other sit down meals where you order from a menu.

I would mention to the waitstaff that she isn't eating and they may cut you a break or charge you an "entertainment fee" instead of the full price of the meal.

They will ask you the ages of everyone in your party so it will be difficult to pass her off as 2 especially if she is excited (as mine were) to be newly 3.

Have a great time.
TJ

 

[Jenn]

If you usually share meals with her, I would only plan a couple of character meals and do the rest at traditional sit down or counter service places where you can share meals.

With that in mind, I had one buffet meal where my 4 year old ate nothing - like 2 bites of a hot dog. Without us asking, the waiter came over and told us he would not charge us for her. I had every intention of paying for her, so the offer was greatly appreciated.

 

[Libby]

Thanks for all the helpful advice. I certainly would not lie about her age when asked in front of her. And you are right she will still get the character experiece. I think when I'm asked I will just say she turned 3 a few weeks ago and will not eat anything besides bread/fries/fruit and see how it goes. I will be thrilled to death if she suddenly decides to eat more at WDW and would happily pay twice the going rate if that's the case . Guess I'll just have to hope the Aussie dollar doesn't get any worth - it makes everyone SOOOO expensive for us.

Libby

 

[jajuan]

I try to be very honest in front of my children...and other times as well. Last year I made PS for my family for our trip to Disney. They know the children in the groups ages because they ask when you are making reservations. My 3 yr old ds wouldn't even eat as much as you are talking about...I mentioned this when I was making ps for Mickey's bbq (really just talking to myself) and the CM stated that she would put that he was 2 so I didn't have to pay. It is best to be honest and see what they say. They may not charge you at all. Have fun.

 

[JennsBabySky]

You may be happily surprised by her appetite when traveling. My dd (now 4 and 29#) never eats! At restaurants, we often share meals. However, we took a Disney Cruise last year followed by a couple days at Disney World and she ate everything! I think it was partially because of all the choices, but also because of all the exercise she got. She usually runs around with her friends, but not as much as we did on vacation. I was only too happy to pay for the character breakfast last year, because she ATE. Like the others, I would plan on paying for the character meals and buffets and sharing at other meals. Over the years, we have gone to numerous buffets where under 3 year olds do not pay. I would always bring back some of the food for my dd in hopes that she would eat. Now that she is 3, I feel obligated to pay at the buffets because of all the "free" food we gave her the first three years.

Have fun,
Jennifer

 

[Libby]

It's not that dd doesn't have a good appetite - it's actually not too bad. She just doesn't eat very much "real food". She has toast for breakfast, bread/bread roll for lunch and dinner, some fruit and crackers through the day. She will eat fries when out. No yoghart, milk, cheese, meat. As I said before if she decides to eat more "real food" I'd love to pay. I'm even worried how she will go with toast when we're on holidays cause she likes it very light, barely even toasted - warm bread as dh calls it.

 

[LSchrow]

if it makes you feel any better about spending the money, our 15yo DS has a glass of milk - and that's ALL - at the character breakfasts....no food whatsoever. . we still pay the full adult price, & figure it's the "cost of entertainment" (same as my paying for a park pass, even tho i don't go on the rides ).

however........since that one glass of milk is so darned expensive , we try to do mostly non-inclusive meals.

 

[beattyfamily]

It's the price we pay for Character meals for our children.

I took my VERY light and picky eater when she was 3 year and 2 weeks old and they charged me and all she ate was a couple of bits of toast I asked for because that is all she'd eat.

But we had a wonderful time and it was worth it.

 

[Libby]

Thanks again to everyone for the replies. I've gone back through my budget and added in an extra child.
My only problem is now is I've left instructions with Dreamsunlimited to book for 2 adults, 1 child, 1 infant. I'm assuming when we arrive I can just let them know the infant is 3 and pay accordingly.
I really appreciated everyones input on this.

Libby

 

[sweet maxine]

I just wanted to add that we went in June to the Crystal Palace breakfast, and took my 3 y/o grandson. He has been eating erratically lately, but that morning he managed to finish off TWO plates of food! He started out with the Pooh waffle, fruit and sausage, and french toast. He said he wanted the Tigger waffle too, but I told him to finish up with the other waffle first. Well he did, and I fixed another plate with the Tigger waffle, and he ate that and some other things. I couldn't believe it! I figured he wouldn't eat much, since the characters would probably distract him from eating. But he proved me wrong, and I guess it was the most he ate during our whole stay. I would take him again in a heartbeat. We loved the food, but we got so full we almost had to be rolled out of there! LOL!!!

 

[mickeymousefan]

Last year when we checked into ASMO they asked us our older DD's age. She was JUST shy of her 3rd birthday. It was noted on all our ressies and when we made our PS's I had to give both my DD's ages . It was a huge money saver to go before her 3rd birthday. Our next trip we will be paying for her tickets and buffets. We planned a Jan trip instead of May in 2005 because my other DD turns 3 in April. We wanted a last trip with her free. If your dates are flexable and money is an issue, you could go before her birthday.

 

[kelscross]

If the CM's would ask my children that young how old they were they would give a silly answer. One will turn three the day we get back and if you ask her sometimes she says she's 5 just to be silly. So if she comes out with "I'm Five" on vacation then they'll charge me for her plate? I don't think so. When she's not being silly she will say she is three when you ask her (but she's not quite three) and you can't tell her otherwise. I would hope the CM would go by what the parent says not what a three year old says.

 

[Jordan's MOM]

It never hurts to carry a copy of their birth certificate alone. We made a reduced size copy the size of a credit card. It might save some embarrasment when your little one gives their answers. I have however never know WDW to question what the parent says. My DS used to always answer 11 when asked his age. He was 2 at the time!

Jordans'mom

 

[LisaZoe]

This thread has made me chuckle because I've been careful to not dwell too much on my DD being "almost 3" in case she jumps the gun on our Sept. trip and tells someone she is 3 (she won't be until late Oct.). Just this morning I asked how old she is and was pleased when she replied "2 and a half". However, I'm planning to take a copy of her birth certificate just in case because she is on the tall side for her age (I won't be surprised if she reaches the magic height of 40" by then ... although we'll likely still skip many of the rides with that height minimum).

 

[polyfan]

Noone should feel compelled to bring a birth certificate to prove a childs age at a buffet. I have never had a waiter ask for the child's age. The only timeit is asked is when you make a ps and also when you go to check-in. It is written on the card for the server. That is what they go by when they do your bill.