Kinda a technical question involving Free Dining? Updated

[DisneyDreamer04]

Let me see if I can explain my reservation, and then you guys tell me what I should do.

Trip: Dont know when but during free dining 7 nite/ 8 day Have a standing reservation, but dont know if that is our "set" week.

2 adults 4 year old and a 20month old

Tickets 8 days

Here is an idea.. See if I am correct from all the reading up I have done. All you need to get free dining is buy a 1 day ticket for each person Correct?

Well, I would like to buy my youngest a park ticket to give us extra dining & snacks.. I know it would be a Kids dining though, so I thought I would upgrade my 4 year old to an adult?? my whole plan is to have a few extra snacks to "waste"on bottles of water extra dole whips whatever late nite munchies, and then have the extra adult dinners/lunches (can they be used for children also) to maybe get a few character breakfasts and some Pop Century Breakfasts in.

If I do that I would have 21 TS, (adult)7 TS (child) and the same for lunch correct plus 28 snacks!

Is this possible? What would be the cheapest way to do this?
I dont really want Deluxe because I dont want all 3 brkft/lunch/dinner TS, and I was just trying to make sure that IF we did have to pay anything for my almost 2 year old it wouldnt be out of pocket??

HELP?!

 

[borgthe]

You could always say your 2 year old is 3 and get her the dining plan, but there is no way you would be able to pass your 4 year old off as a 10 year old.

 

[disneyJMD]

if you say your two yr old is three dont forget down the road, he/she will also become a "junior" a/k/a a full price ticket a year earlier too! Not sure if you care about this or not, but Disney will keep your information in the system for several years, including your childrens ages. Also consider if you are planning and family style or buffet meals, your little one will be able to eat without a charge. Our one yr old was given a drink at every meal we ate at too without charge. Disney seemed to be very good about that.

 

[DisneyDreamer04]

ok. That is what I was looking for. I didnt know I would have to try to pass her off as a 10 year old, I didnt know disney would mind me buying an adult ticket, for a 4 year old, in order to get the adult dining..

And if I do say that my not even 2 year old during travel is 3 to get the dining, then I would assume I would have to buy her a ticket for everyday we want her to go in the park?

 

[PrincessTiffany]

ok. That is what I was looking for. I didnt know I would have to try to pass her off as a 10 year old, I didnt know disney would mind me buying an adult ticket, for a 4 year old, in order to get the adult dining..

And if I do say that my not even 2 year old during travel is 3 to get the dining, then I would assume I would have to buy her a ticket for everyday we want her to go in the park?

If you tried to change your children's ages to get the extra dining credits, then you would have to pay for an 8 day full price adult admission for your older child and 8 day full price child admission for your younger child. That kind of negates the whole free dining discount.

 

[brymolmom]

You could always invent two 'new' family members while you're at it and sucking the free deal.

Sorry to be sarcastic, I just LOVE, LOVE free dining and am amazed that Disney even offers such a fantastic deal. And it IS a great deal especially for those who go on the 'lesser end' of the spending money scale, who may need the deal more so than others. And I really hate it when people take advantage of it. Just my opinion.

 

[DisneyDreamer04]

I wasnt trying to take advatage of anything. I was willing to buy an adult ticket for a 4 year old. I also was thinking of my 2 year old to make sure I had all bases covered for food prices for her. And if in the long run I got some extra dining tickets I would have used them for some breakfasts. But I wasnt trying to SUCK any deal. I thought in my head if I was willing to pay the price differences would it work, had anyone thought of that, is it normal practice, and so on.... I wasnt trying to offend anyone or take anything away from the offer. We are very lucky to get an offer like this. We are one of those families who do travel on the cheaper end, and I was just trying to get the most bang for my buck.. Again, just trying to ask around an opinon and find out if it is a knowledgable thing that everyone does.

 

[aubriee]

I wasnt trying to take advatage of anything. I was willing to buy an adult ticket for a 4 year old. I also was thinking of my 2 year old to make sure I had all bases covered for food prices for her. And if in the long run I got some extra dining tickets I would have used them for some breakfasts. But I wasnt trying to SUCK any deal. I thought in my head if I was willing to pay the price differences would it work, had anyone thought of that, is it normal practice, and so on.... I wasnt trying to offend anyone or take anything away from the offer. We are very lucky to get an offer like this. We are one of those families who do travel on the cheaper end, and I was just trying to get the most bang for my buck.. Again, just trying to ask around an opinon and find out if it is a knowledgable thing that everyone does.

Not trying to slam you, but unfortunately what you are suggesting is taking advantage. People who have been here on the boards awhile remember the first year free dining was offered. There was no distinction between adult and kids credits for either TS or CS. People were paying $6.00 OOP for kids meals, then using their kids credit for extra meals or Signature restaurants for themselves. Couples were even making up kids, buying one day tickets for their 'invisible kids' and then using those credits for themselves (eating three TS meals a day, including a signature meal at night) or to get free meals for grandma and grandpa, who weren't on the DDP, because they were staying in a room with a room discount code and weren't elegible for the free dining. To fight the abuse the following year most resorts were requiring all guests be present at check in (to take care of the 'invisible kids' issue). People were still using their kids credits to buy $39.00 steaks for themselves or for someone not even on the plan, while paying just a few bucks for their kid a meal. Consequently, Disney had to stem the abuse again, by seperating kids credits and adult credits and telling their CMs that if they tried to get around the system it could cost them their jobs. They also had to make it so that you could only order the number of meals that you had guests on your room key. It seems like every year, people are trying to work the system to get even more for free. If it keeps up, Disney will have to stop even offering the free dining, then we all suffer. Again, you may not have known all this and this post isn't even aimed at you strictly, but these type threads about how to abuse the system to get extra credits come up every year during the free dining period. Disney is giving people a TS meal, a CS meal, and a snack every day, yet people are still trying to figure out ways to manipulate to get more stuff free.

People want to know if they can combine the 40% off room codes, with the AAA discount, then use a cheap tent site out at Ft Wilderness, then buy discounted tickets from some offsite broker, then get free dining too, and then make up extra people for their reservation so they can get extra dining credits, or maybe age their kids a few years to get extra adult credits. Sure Disney is going to wind up paying you to come down there. I don't think so. What Disney is going to have to do, is just stop offering free dining since people can't be trusted to use it as they intended.

 

[brymolmom]

I wasnt trying to take advatage of anything. I was willing to buy an adult ticket for a 4 year old. I also was thinking of my 2 year old to make sure I had all bases covered for food prices for her. And if in the long run I got some extra dining tickets I would have used them for some breakfasts. But I wasnt trying to SUCK any deal. I thought in my head if I was willing to pay the price differences would it work, had anyone thought of that, is it normal practice, and so on.... I wasnt trying to offend anyone or take anything away from the offer. We are very lucky to get an offer like this. We are one of those families who do travel on the cheaper end, and I was just trying to get the most bang for my buck.. Again, just trying to ask around an opinon and find out if it is a knowledgable thing that everyone does.

I would almost agree with this if you were truly paying the price difference, but the dining is FREE - so you're not paying anything. Not the kid price, not the adult price. Obviously the slight difference in an adult vs. kid park ticket alone is going to be way worth it.

No one during free dining 'needs' to have kids under 10...we could ALL only have adults for the free credits.

Oh and didn't want to sound harsh - if you honestly don't want to take advantage then you will make the decision not to do so. If you were trying to find out if it is what 'everyone' does, well then, I will tell you that YES, some do here on the DIS. And some say that their 3 year old is under 3 to get them into the parks free too...Good luck with your decision and I know you'll have a great time. Free Dining ROCKS!

For 2 year old...Disney offers a great deal too all the time, not only during promotions- they are TOTALLY FREE! No park tickets, free at ALL buffets, stay in your room for free (and can even be a 5th in a room that only fits 4) - so a 2 year old is ALREADY a huge deal. And if you decide not to up him/her in age for the free credits - you likely won't have too much of a problem with proper planning. I brought an almost-3 year old during free dining and I don't think I purchased one full meal out of pocket (maybe a snack or side or two)and really your two are so small that in summer heat they usually don't eat much. Even now, with my kids 5 and 6 - we always order 2 or 3 CS meals to share at a time because otherwise there is wasted food we need to throw out. Also, at buffets- the 2 year old can have as much as he/she wants! At TS meals - you MIGHT end up buying a meal or two if you are all big eaters and will finish everything you get. BUt that will only cost $20 for 2 purchased meals - STILL an AWESOME deal!

 

[Soon2B4]

I took my 2 year old in September and you really don't need to buy meals at the sit down restaurants. The kids portion is sooo big that they will never be able to eat it. You can split your other kids meal between the 2 of them or give the 2 yo some of your food. The counter service we would buy him his own meal and at breakfast, but the kids meals are only like $4 or so. We also booked 2 buffet/family style restaurants and I was able to make him up his own plate for free.

For a whole week, all of our spending (not just food) was only like $250 for the 3 of us. That was tips (and we always tipped well), breakfast, some of DS's lunches, a rented frig, and anything else we needed.

 

[DisneyDreamer04]

Ok. Thank you guys for being honest. And I have been honest with y'all. I had no idea of the drama behind codes and discounts. Originally, I was worried about my 2 year old because I had read a long post about a mom who had came back with dining, and she had a kid under 2 and it was a nightmare. And she decided that next time she would just say he was 3 and wouldnt have to go thru the fight.(she paid for the dining plan didnt go while it was free if it mattered)... So, my mind got to thinking, I wonder if alot of people just pay for their toddler, and then use them for wherever. But my mind ran into the glitch, of well what the heck would we do with all the extra credits??? So, I thought well I wonder if I could bump my kid up to an adult and so on. Serious, I really wasnt trying to be dishonest. I have decided to just forget the whole thing, and whatever problems or if we have any at all with our 2 yearold. We will just pay OOP. Guys, I get the problems, and why you think Disney is getting taken advantage of. It wasnt something I was trying to do.