New rules for dining plan? No more kids meals OOP?

[Tidus]

Why should Disney be about excess and luxary? I think it is about having fun. Some people have to save every penny to go to Disney. Some are obviously able to go without worrying about anything. Either way, you are missing my point, that there are more important things to worry about than Disney getting ripped off by someone. It is natural for people to try to get the most out of their money. People shouldn't be judging others and calling people unethical. They should worry about themselves.

 

[Dale-Not-Chip]

I would have no problem if Disney seperated the credits from kids and adults. but i think it would be absolutly wrong if they made it so you couldn't pay out of pocket when you want.

It would stop perfectly legit situations.

Say you are planning on eating a character breakfast that morning and a Signiture that eve. the cost effective way would be use credits for the kids that morning and pay for the adults. Then at the Signiture Dining pay for the kids out of Pocket.

In this case there is nothing questionable. Using Kids for Kids and Adults for Adults. Inforcing no paying out of pocket just so they can be lazy and not seperate the coupons is like punishing the class for one person talking.

 

[Tidus]

Nicely said!

 

[Tiger926]

"They should worry about themselves" - you've proven my point exactly! Tiger

 

[Pedler]

I would have no problem if Disney seperated the credits from kids and adults. but i think it would be absolutly wrong if they made it so you couldn't pay out of pocket when you want.

It would stop perfectly legit situations.

Say you are planning on eating a character breakfast that morning and a Signiture that eve. the cost effective way would be use credits for the kids that morning and pay for the adults. Then at the Signiture Dining pay for the kids out of Pocket.

In this case there is nothing questionable. Using Kids for Kids and Adults for Adults. Inforcing no paying out of pocket just so they can be lazy and not seperate the coupons is like punishing the class for one person talking.

That is an excellent point. When we used the dinning plan we did more TS meals than we had credits for. So we had to decided when and where to pay for credits. For the kids meals it was a no brainer. CRT at that time had a kids menu that was either 4.95 or 5.95 per kid. Much better to pay for them there than at Mama Melrose or the CP character meal.

If Disney is going to make this change I dont think the enforcement level should be CM's not letting people pay out of pocket for meals. That is going to end up being inconsitently enforced and can cause a problem for some legit situations. If they are going to do it they should have child and adult credits programmed into the computer and enforce it there. Anything else is going to lead to problems.

 

[zachnlucy]

Great point! That was my problem with this. I don't care if they separate child and adult, I just want to be able to decide when to use the child/adult credits when I want to. And I was told by the CM on the phone we could not do that (pay for a child OOP and adult on the plan). DH and I don't eat breakfast but our children do. I wanted to be able to go to a TS restaurant for breakfast and DH and I would pay OOP for coffee, and then for dinner we would pay for their kid's meals OOP and we would use the plan. She said no, you can't do it that way. We're paying for 3 adults and 2 kids on the plan (the 11 year old being charged as an adult), and I can't figure out why Disney has changed their policy.

 

[diznyfanatic]

... Just because the Dining Plan says you can get appetizer, entree, dessert and beverage doesn't mean you have to - the responsible thing to do is not order that much if it's too much food - Disney isn't forcing anyone to order all of that food. If you or family is not going to eat it, then the responsible thing is not to order it as ordering all of this food may indeed contribute to the wastage that everyone is talking about...

Tiger

Since the general consensus seems to be that there is ALOT of food on the Dining Plan, I just want to make sure I understand this correctly. You're saying that instead of having the ability or flexibility to share the amount of food that has already been paid for on the Dining Plan, it is better, or somehow more right or ethical to just expect people to give up or lose part of what they have already paid for?

If that's the case, then I would much rather see a scaled down version of the Dining Plan made available as a lower cost option to the Full Dining Plan for people who have different needs. Perhaps it only includes 1 TS credit per day and no CS credits or snack credits, or maybe they change the rules so that not every single person in your party sharing a room has to be on the Dining Plan or perhaps it might be available on only two or three menu items in each participating restaurant...I don't know.

Sheesh, they have a gabillion different types of passes, why not two or three different Dining Plans to choose from? A Value Dining Plan, A Moderate Dining Plan and a Deluxe Dining Plan???!!!

 

[Dale-Not-Chip]

Great point! That was my problem with this. I don't care if they separate child and adult, I just want to be able to decide when to use the child/adult credits when I want to. And I was told by the CM on the phone we could not do that (pay for a child OOP and adult on the plan). DH and I don't eat breakfast but our children do. I wanted to be able to go to a TS restaurant for breakfast and DH and I would pay OOP for coffee, and then for dinner we would pay for their kid's meals OOP and we would use the plan. She said no, you can't do it that way. We're paying for 3 adults and 2 kids on the plan (the 11 year old being charged as an adult), and I can't figure out why Disney has changed their policy.

When calling and asking a CM a question I find it's best to call a few more times and get diffrent people. they tend to give you diffrent answers. The answer you get the most is most likely right. We went on the premium plan and it took many calls to get things close to staight.

 

[DisneyFanatik]

Bottom line - can anyone answer the question if the credits are still being pooled or not? Whether you think it is wrong or right, does anyone who has been there since Jan. 1st have that answer?

 

[NMW]

What if I wanted to use my kids credits to pay for their breakfast in the morning and pay oop for their meal when we go to eat at night. My wife and I don't typically eat breakfast but the kids will. Shouldn't I be able to use the credits however I want to since I've paid for them?

I'm not saying they SHOULD do this, I'm just saying that is what I was told by a CM in Dec.

Then when I read on the other restaurant thread about this happening to someone a few days ago at Chef Mickey's, I remembered what the CM said. It does seem like a "lazy" way to stop getting people to use the credits they bought for their kids, for more expensive adult dinners. If they want this to stop they should just simply seperate children and adult credits. Not letting people pay oop for kids meals can definately hurt some people in situations like the one you pointed out. The CM said that Disney was really surprised that so many people were paying oop for kids meals and using their credits for extra adult meals. This surprised me because I know people on the DIS are obsessive planners, think of every possible senario people, (like me ) but I didn't think the average family going to Disney would even think to do that.

Maybe more people coming back from Jan vacations can give more information about how they could use the paln.

 

[JerryMoCricketsGal]

Since the general consensus seems to be that there is ALOT of food on the Dining Plan, I just want to make sure I understand this correctly. You're saying that instead of having the ability or flexibility to share the amount of food that has already been paid for on the Dining Plan, it is better, or somehow more right or ethical to just expect people to give up or lose part of what they have already paid for?

If that's the case, then I would much rather see a scaled down version of the Dining Plan made available as a lower cost option to the Full Dining Plan for people who have different needs. Perhaps it only includes 1 TS credit per day and no CS credits or snack credits, or maybe they change the rules so that not every single person in your party sharing a room has to be on the Dining Plan or perhaps it might be available on only two or three menu items in each participating restaurant...I don't know.

Sheesh, they have a gabillion different types of passes, why not two or three different Dining Plans to choose from? A Value Dining Plan, A Moderate Dining Plan and a Deluxe Dining Plan???!!!

They used to have that type of thing on my last trip in 2001. We could use our 'wishes' for different things such as dinners, pictures, or souvenirs. They had a few different 'wish' packages to choose from, some allowed more then others. We had the 'moderate' wish package and had a sit down lunch and dinner daily for 7 days (including hoop doo review, Cinderella's castle, and the Luau at the Poly) and were still able to get private pics with mickey and some great souvenirs. We had figured at the time we had to spend $37 per 'wish' to make it worth it, and we went above and beyond that.

Not sure why they changed it to the new dining plan, maybe because the new one suits families more?? As two 'adults' (i use that term loosely), we have decided to go with the premium dining package our next trip, but, if i were taking children, the regular dining plan would be more beneficial IMO.

I can't speak for Disney or their rules, I would just say that I agree with the aspect of having different options like they offered with the 'wishes' a few years ago, as we weren't limited to using the wishes on food. But you are right, different dining options other than the regular or premium (which are two very diverse prices) would be beneficial to families.

 

[LeesyUD]

Just to clarify for those that are saying that Disney has never implied anything on how child credits are to be used, that is completely false. I quote directly from Disney Website: "children ages 3-9 must choose from the children's menu if available" This is listed in the details of the Dining Plan. It listed under Counter Service and Table Service....that makes 2 times. It is clear as day that children are to order off of the child's menu....children ages 3-9...that would be the same ages for which you would purchase the child's dining plan...if you put two and two together it is very simple. If you purchase the plan for a child they are supposed to order from child's menu. I do not see how that is in anyway unclear or disputable. If you purchase a child's park ticket are they going to let an adult use it? No. It is the same thing. Adult tickets; child's tickets: Adult's menu; child's menu. I say no more.

 

[pedro2112]

Just to clarify for those that are saying that Disney has never implied anything on how child credits are to be used, that is completely false. I quote directly from Disney Website: "children ages 3-9 must choose from the children's menu if available" This is listed in the details of the Dining Plan. It listed under Counter Service and Table Service....that makes 2 times. It is clear as day that children are to order off of the child's menu....children ages 3-9...that would be the same ages for which you would purchase the child's dining plan...if you put two and two together it is very simple. If you purchase the plan for a child they are supposed to order from child's menu. I do not see how that is in anyway unclear or disputable. If you purchase a child's park ticket are they going to let an adult use it? No. It is the same thing. Adult tickets; child's tickets: Adult's menu; child's menu. I say no more.

We are discussing a different issue. The issue you posted here, whether children on the plan must order from children's menu when using TS or CS credits, is not disputed.. the rules say they must. The issue in this thread is whether you must use some of your TS or CS credits for your children. There is no such thing as a "child" credit.

 

[pedro2112]

Bottom line - can anyone answer the question if the credits are still being pooled or not? Whether you think it is wrong or right, does anyone who has been there since Jan. 1st have that answer?

So far, everyone that has been coming back and posting on this board an others have stated that the credits are still being pooled. Several people have heard rumours from CMs (not from any official source or management), that this may be changing this year. So far it hasn't.

 

[LeesyUD]

We are discussing a different issue. The issue you posted here, whether children on the plan must order from children's menu when using TS or CS credits, is not disputed.. the rules say they must. The issue in this thread is whether you must use some of your TS or CS credits for your children. There is no such thing as a "child" credit.

Whether there is or is not "child" credit doesn't even matter. You just stated the same issue that I just argued. The question has been if Disney pools all the credits together...yes right now they do. The other question has been whether you can use the credits for all the adult meals and pay for kids out OOP. The answer is no. Regardless of whether or not there are adult or child's seperate credits, there are seperate adult and child menus and the dining plan stipulates that. If you have a party of 2 adults and you purchase a package for 7 days, you will get 14 TS per day for which you can order fof the adult menu bc you paid for 2 ADULTS...If you have a party of 1 adult and 1 child you will get the same amount of TS credits but it would be 7 meals from adult menu and 7 meals from the childs menu bc you paid for 1 ADULT and 1 CHILD. It doesn't matter if it does not differentiate "adult" and "child's" credits...they differentiate that for a child you pay $10 a day to order from the child's menu NOT the adult menu; you pay around $40 a day to order from the adult menu. People are ignoring that. Why is fair for a party of 4 adults to pay $120 a day to order from the adult menu...while some days a party of 2 adults and 2 children pay only $20 for the adults to eat from the adult menu and then the cost of the OOP meals for kids (which we all know would not be anywhere near $120 per day)? I don't see how that is

 

[Tiger926]

Good posts LeesyUD - I've posted this several times myself, but people seem to be ignoring this fact as well in order to suit their own needs. The fact that Disney says that children must order off of the children's menu is very specific indeed and despite what people are arguing it is the same thing as using child's credits to pay for adult meals since those credits that were paid for at child's prices must be used to buy child's dinners, end of story.

This thread cracks me up as an English teacher because some people on here are arguing semantics, verbage, etc. when that is not the case. Just because Disney doesn't separate the credits, doesn't mean they have other usages when every menu and dining brochure related to the Dining Plan specifically says that children must order off of the child's menu where applicable, which is pretty much everywhere, why? Because they have only charged you $10.99 a day for your child to eat regularly priced child's food - hot dogs, pasta, etc.

Another issue is that many others on here are also debating that since CMs are allowing some of this to happen it must also be true - I would beg to differ as well. I have been given misinformation by tons of CMs as well as seen CMs give in to guests so as not to ruffle feathers. More specifically, perhaps Disney has allowed CMs to have some personal discretion with the Dining Plan in order to not upset anyone or to account for the fact that some kids don't eat anything, but really this shouldn't be an issue because if you are ordering off of the children's menu like you are supposed to, then the amount of food is less and may be more favourable for some younger children, not to mention the fact that it costs less to make a hot dog then a lobster and that is why my friends, they have clearly stated that children must order of the children's menu. Just something else to think about.

This whole thread is just a way for people to get more out of Disney since so many people have eloquently stated that Disney makes enough money as is, so it's ok to order lobster for their adult partner and pay using a child's credit - again, if Disney felt this was ok, there would be no distinction between children's and adults meals & there would be lobster on the children's menu - it's really not that hard to figure out. All of the 'obsessive planners' on here are using that to creatively misuse the system, IMHO. I am an obsessive planner too, but if my hubby wants lobster, we are using an adult credit and if my DD3 wants lobster, we are paying cash for it - that's how the game should be played and in my opinion, Disney should have realized that if you give most people an inch, they are going to take a mile.

I for one can't wait until they start differentiating between child and adult credits as the amount of energy some people have put into figuring out these loopholes is mind boggling and in the end it will end up costing me more money despite the fact that I have followed the plan properly.

Tiger

 

[Tidus]

I think that you are again missing the point of most of the people posting. Most people want Disney to distinguish between adult and child credits. What we are saying, is that we should be allowed to use them at different times of the day, for different people in our party. I will use my children's credits for them, however, not on a banana. They may want to eat at a different time than me. I might want a big breakfast and they want a big lunch. The bottom line is not to rip Disney off, but to decide when to use the credits that we paid for. (again, using the child credits for the children only!)

 

[Dale-Not-Chip]

If Disney Dosn't change the plan this year then I think it is pretty clear that Disney dosn't care. At least for the time being. In the next week or so the +dining will be a year old as it is written now. I can't remember the exact day.

I'm sure there are some individule resturant managers that care who are trying to keep food costs down. But I'm willing to bet that Disney's main goal is to keep us from bringing food into the park and from going elsewhere to eat cheaper. Having a plan where people can get away with a little in order to feel they are getting a better deal while at the same time getting them to eat at the park every day.

Is there a rule there that's been published - Yes.
But they did set it up to easly be broken. - Yes and I'm willing to bet that Disney is banking on some people doing it because in the end Disney Still wins.

 

[keishashadow]

I think that you are again missing the point of most of the people posting. Most people want Disney to distinguish between adult and child credits. What we are saying, is that we should be allowed to use them at different times of the day, for different people in our party. I will use my children's credits for them, however, not on a banana. They may want to eat at a different time than me. I might want a big breakfast and they want a big lunch. The bottom line is not to rip Disney off, but to decide when to use the credits that we paid for. (again, using the child credits for the children only!)

Problem is that since many have "interpreted" the dining option to their benefit (child meals used on Adult, then OOP for child & even inventing phantom children to obtain more options); WDW will use this method to both eliminate that abuse & make the plan more restrive/profitable for their bottom line.

WDW is not a charity, they need to keep the stockholders happy (me, for one). I want value on my vacation, and my dividend check @ year end.

Don't think for a minute that if the plan wasn't profitable it would have been dropped by now. They're even finally offering it to DVC guests w/o a MYW tix. purchase.

Obviously, they're making a profit (if only on the number of credits that go un-redeemed & the large mark-up on food @ the parks).

If you can get a better deal by buying your meals ala carte or off-site, the option is there for the choosing.

 

[oxhoward]

We're planning to go in late March and have selected the dining plan. I do have a couple thoughts.

One thing I noticed when reading the fne print on the online brochure is that it states that children must choose the kids menu at TS dining. It said that specifically, but said nothing to that effect on CS dining. Maybe that's a change for '06.

I have no problem with that "rule".....well it's more a guideline maybe than an actual rule. I agree it's unethical to pay $11/day for a kid and then use the credit on an adult $50 dinner. To me, it's manipulating the system. Everybody's got opinions.

Based on what I read, though, I won't give it a second thought to order exactly what my child wants at CS.

As for sharing (within the guidelines of the program), Disney shouldn't have a problem with. You should be able to pay OOP for anything you want, and use the credits for what meal you desire, as long as kids select from kids menus at TS. That's the way I see it.

Maybe Disney should lump CS's together and specify A-TS and C-TS. That would give them some protection from abuse of the system, and still let folks stay flexible.

Anyhow, my $0.02.