Kids ages 10-12 - who thinks....

[Joan1]

I posted this in answer to another thread but thought it could use its own thread.

Disney prices for kids age 10-12 on food is outrages and I have sent an email to them about it. I hope others do to and maybe if they get enough complaints they will offer a true "junior" price for that age group. Maybe have half portions from the adult menu available or a choice of a half portion entree or an appetizer with a salad or soup and dessert. Priced accordingly

I think there should be an inbetween price for this age group for people on the dining plan
We avoid the dining plan now that our kids are both over 10 until they really get into their teens and won't waste all the food that comes with the plan that they cannot possibly eat at this age

My DD wasn't much of a kids menu person but we would order off the adult menu and either share or she would order an appetizer. Some restaurants used to offer 1/2 portions of select items on the adult menu but not sure if they do anymore. My son is a picky eater but is also not much into the kids menu food. He just turned 10 and the only buffets / character meals we are going to are LTT because I know he will eat the food there and Hoop dee doo, again because he likes the food. Everything else is regular restaurants so that he can choose an appetizer or we can share and I don't have to pay over $20 for him to eat just a couple of bites of one item


For those of you that want to be heard please write to Disney
https://secure.disney.go.com/wdw/con...=ContactUsPage

I think there is a huge need for a "junior" price / menu

 

[DVC Sadie]

WDW had to design a cut off age between children and adult prices for their menus for the majority of dining guests.

Although it may not seem fair for young adults (juniors or tweens) it may all wash out in the end. Some children eat a lot less while others eat a lot more so they had to come up with a solution that made monetary sense for them.

 

[Cmbar]

WDW had to design a cut off age between children and adult prices for their menus for the majority of dining guests.

Although it may not seem fair for young adults (juniors or tweens) it may all wash out in the end. Some children eat a lot less while others eat a lot more so they had to come up with a solution that made monetary sense for them.

Well it definitely made monetary sense to choose 10 to pick for an adult!! I know VERY few 10 year olds that eat as adults or come even close. A TEEN age of 13 is much more reasonable, but Disney knows that you will most likely be bringing younger kids to Disney and therefore they do optimize the amount they get. Good business decision, but bad relations IMHO!

 

[hddanis]

Well it definitely made monetary sense to choose 10 to pick for an adult!! I know VERY few 10 year olds that eat as adults or come even close. A TEEN age of 13 is much more reasonable, but Disney knows that you will most likely be bringing younger kids to Disney and therefore they do optimize the amount they get. Good business decision, but bad relations IMHO!

I agree. Just about every other restaurant has kids menus for up to age 12. As a mom with an almost 10 year old who eats like a bird..who would like to use the dining plan...It's keeping me from it.

 

[SplashMtnCrew]

I agreee with the OP, portions are way too big for this age group. I can't imagine having to pay that for the DDP, and that's part of the reason why we haven't used it yet. Our DS would end up wasting too much food and that equals too much $$. Usually we ask for a kids menu and they still give it to us, otherwise I share my 'adult' meal with him and we just ask for an extra plate I can't really finish a Disney-sized adult meal myself

 

[earthfaries]

Yeah, that's just Disney trying to make more money unfortunately
I still love WDW though!
12 would have been a much more reasonable age. If you look, most restraunts have a cut off of 12 on their childrens menus, and this is Disney, THE place for kids. You'd think it would be closer to the norm. I don't think I have ever seen a kids menu (except Disney) with a cut off of age 10!!!
The tickets to the parks too. Why charge a 10 year old as an adult?
Oh, wait a minute, we know why...

 

[DVC Sadie]

Well it definitely made monetary sense to choose 10 to pick for an adult!! I know VERY few 10 year olds that eat as adults or come even close. A TEEN age of 13 is much more reasonable, but Disney knows that you will most likely be bringing younger kids to Disney and therefore they do optimize the amount they get. Good business decision, but bad relations IMHO!

Well I also remember in the dark ages when WDW did have junior pricing but unfortunately that didn't work out so they changed the age limits.

BTW, I have seen some tweens who eat like birds but others who eat like teamsters and many teens eat a lot more then adults.

 

[Got Quattro?]

Good business decision, but bad relations IMHO!

Well, disney is in it to make money. The share holders require it.

You have to weigh the positives with the negatives. In this case, because they chose the cut off to be 10, maybe it adds enough to the company bottom line to add a roller coaster next year.

You never know.

 

[earthfaries]

It's not going to stop me from ever going, and I guess most people would say that too, it's just Disney. (But it is crappy)

 

[Joan1]

It's not going to stop me from ever going, and I guess most people would say that too, it's just Disney. (But it is crappy)

I won't stop me from going either but it will stop me from going to certain restaurants.

 

[earthfaries]

I won't stop me from going either but it will stop me from going to certain restaurants.

Me too. Actually we don't really eat at sit down rests while at WDW. (With the exception of Trail's End. And not because it is cheaper either, it is great and fun and it is an annual tradition...long story. I am just glad it is so affordable!)
The only time we eat other than counter service is with the free dining pass. It would just be too expensive for my family of 5! We rather spend our money on souveniers, and we like to bring our own food because we only eat natural and organic food at home and we're not used to that kind of food.

 

[disnut8]

Well, there was a period about five years ago when I couldn't eat that much either. I was in my early 40s. So how can Disney have fair pricing based on how much you are expected to eat? I paid adult prices even though I didn't eat that much. My husband ate a normal size portion. So would we be allowed to also complain about the pricing?

There's no fair way to do anything with food. Girl A could eat a small portion, Girl B, a bigger one, Boy A something else, etc. I personally kow one ten year old girl that could eat four hamburgers in once sitting in about ten minutes. I've seen her eat. And that's after she had a salad and about a half hour before she would complain that she was hungry again.

If Disney changed pricing for ages 10-12, then someone with a 13 year old child would say their son or daughter can't eat that much so why not have the pricing changed to 10-13?

 

[gina2000]

WDW is aligning DDP prices with ticket prices. At least, that's what it looks like to me.

 

[Madi100]

DD who turned ten on the trip and was counted as a child, HATED the kids' menus. She LOVES chicken strips, hates nuggets. She was very unimpressed with the selections. She's excited to be an adult now. However, she'll NEVER eat all that food. But, we like the dining plan, so we'll continue, and I'm sure we'll waste food for her.

 

[Brian Noble]

It's not going to stop me from ever going

Most would agree with you. And that's why it won't change.

 

[erikthewise]

You don't HAVE to use the dining plan; it's just an option. If you have a child in this age range, odds are it doesn't make sense for you. It wasn't even close for us even in 2005, and certainly not in 2008!

While it might make sense to you to have a Junior price, what is your child going to get for this reduced price? A full adult meal?! -- Dream on! A child's meal? Then you've overpaid for it! And I just don't see them developing an entire set of Junior menus for 100 sit-down restaurants....

In our experience a 10-12 year old can usually order from the child menu with not an eye blinked at meals which are not fixed-price. That takes a lot of the sting out of paying cash.

 

[ga9497]

I agree with the OP but because most people have the "it is what it is" attitude, and nothing wrong with that, I don't think it will change

You don't HAVE to use the dining plan; it's just an option. If you have a child in this age range, odds are it doesn't make sense for you. It wasn't even close for us even in 2005, and certainly not in 2008!

While it might make sense to you to have a Junior price, what is your child going to get for this reduced price? A full adult meal?! -- Dream on! A child's meal? Then you've overpaid for it! And I just don't see them developing an entire set of Junior menus for 100 sit-down restaurants....

In our experience a 10-12 year old can usually order from the child menu with not an eye blinked at meals which are not fixed-price. That takes a lot of the sting out of paying cash.

I don't think that the OP was referring to a whole new menu or a full adult meal at a reduced price. Just a choice of a few items of the adult menu but smaller portions and I can see where this would make sense. My children are 13 and 10 and they do not like the choices on the kids menu at all at the Disney restaurants even when they were under 10 yrs old. We normally share with them or we ask if any 1/2 portions are available for the entrees. The other option for them is that they get an appetizer as their meal along with a soup or a salad

 

[Madi100]

You don't HAVE to use the dining plan; it's just an option. If you have a child in this age range, odds are it doesn't make sense for you. It wasn't even close for us even in 2005, and certainly not in 2008!

While it might make sense to you to have a Junior price, what is your child going to get for this reduced price? A full adult meal?! -- Dream on! A child's meal? Then you've overpaid for it! And I just don't see them developing an entire set of Junior menus for 100 sit-down restaurants....

In our experience a 10-12 year old can usually order from the child menu with not an eye blinked at meals which are not fixed-price. That takes a lot of the sting out of paying cash.

Has your 10-12 year old TRIED the kid's menu at WDW? The first day it was okay. The second day it was okay. After that, it was, "I have to have this again?" We can go to any restaurant in our area and DD10 can find something she is very happy with. She goes to WDW and the kid's menu is just yuck!

 

[Colleen27]

I think they've done a pretty decent job of setting the age, personally. Yes, there are some kids who don't have mature enough tastes or big enough appetites for adult meals to make sense at 10, but there are also kids who do have those tastes/appetite at younger ages. We see regular threads about light/picky eaters but we also see regular threads about up-aging kids into the adult plan, and that tells me Disney has pretty accurately hit the tipping point between child and adult.

 

[eliza61]

Disney prices for kids age 10-12 on food is outrages and I have sent an email to them about it. I hope others do to and maybe if they get enough complaints they will offer a true "junior" price for that age group. Maybe have half portions from the adult menu available or a choice of a half portion entree or an appetizer with a salad or soup and dessert. Priced accordingly

I think there should be an inbetween price for this age group for people on the dining plan


For those of you that want to be heard please write to Disney
https://secure.disney.go.com/wdw/con...=ContactUsPage

I think there is a huge need for a "junior" price / menu

I just have one question. Where do you see junior prices? I mainly vacation on the east coast (beach, washington dc, nyc, ocean city MD) and I've never run across "Junior Prices" the best I've seen is some chain restaurants eg. Dennys will let kids under 10 eat free (off of a very limited menu). Most places the kids menu is for 12 and under and is just as limited as disney.
Just wondering. My sons eat like professional linebackers so the kids menu never cut it with us and they diffently don't want chicken nuggets and pizza every meal so I'm just curious