Opinions wanted on Dining Plan - To eat or NOT to eat, that is the question...

[kimmar067]

My Dbrother, his DW, and their 3-1/2 y. o. twins will be visiting WDW the beginning of May, and they still haven't decided whether they want to 'do' the dining plan....my DSis-i-L was told that her children may ONLY choose from the kids menus at the sit-sown restaurants...what if they would like a child-size portion of an item that is listed on the 'adult' menu?? All 'pros' and 'cons' welcome.....[remember: time is of the essence... ]

 

[kimkarli]

MANY of the restaurants have buffets and in that case they are allowed to get anything they want, although the buffets always have "kids" items. HOWEVER, if the restaurant is not a buffet, you are correct they must choose from the kids menu. You can go to a few different websites and find out the menus of the places you may be interested in eating at. We used it last year and will use it again. I think it is a great deal, especially for kids!

 

[fleeflicker]

I think it is just a personal choice. We love it

 

[kimmar067]

MANY of the restaurants have buffets and in that case they are allowed to get anything they want, although the buffets always have "kids" items. HOWEVER, if the restaurant is not a buffet, you are correct they must choose from the kids menu. You can go to a few different websites and find out the menus of the places you may be interested in eating at. We used it last year and will use it again. I think it is a great deal, especially for kids!

...may I ask: how old were your children at the time???

 

[kimmar067]

...bumping....for more opinions/advice.....

 

[Frantasmic]

The dining vets, bicker et al, have urged people to see that the
DDP for children is a great deal, even if you pay OOP for
a few items.

For $10.99 a day, you get a snack, a CS, and a TS for your child.
If you do use buffets for some of your TS, and most people
with children under 10 have at least one character buffet in their
planning, you really can't go wrong.

If you are using more non-buffet TS places, and your children
are restricted to children's menus at those places, you will
need to do as others have indicated and look at the menus
offered online and determine if your children will enjoy the
children's offerings, or determine if you might want to purchase
some items and pay OOP for them for your children.

I've used the DDP for my then 5 and later 6 year old son on
two trips during 2005 and 2006. We had more food than we
could eat, all 4 of us (me, DW, DD (12 at the time) and DS.

I'd use it again.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Whether the kids are on DDP or not, the menu is the same. Unless a restaurant HAS a mini adult portion on the menu, it is not available, except as an adult entree.

Good luck helping them!

 

[TxRabbit]

We went for DS6 Spring Break and used DDP and we will use it again this August.

How we dealt with limited kids menus. Research and read the menus for everything and know in advance what is where. There are options, but you need to find the ones that work for your kids. Buffets. Family Style. Some TS do have a child sized portion of adult, i.e. Le Cellier has a kids steak, Teppanyaki has shrimp or chicken. In general, TS was easier to deal with than CS.

For CS, some CS do not have kids menu. So, no problem there, kids pick from the whole menu. In my family, we would often share the adult food with DS because there was plenty of food. There are threads that take about "shareworthy" meals on these boards.

You could use the child CS for breakfast, while adults use Snack, have a strategic TS that suits everyone, then adult CS for another meal, with kids eating some of that and supplementing portions of that with a snack.

Also, some snacks are quite meal worthy. Anything under $4 is a snack, so some things like a cup of Chili at Casey's is a snack. Research that and know what to do there that suits your family.

The DDP is fun. It makes budgeting easy. Odds are it will save you money. Even if you have some OOP to supplement kids food, the TS and snack covers the kids per day easily on DDP.

 

[atisikitabasket]

We used the DDP for DS4 and DN12 we all loved it. The 4 year olds has Sensory issues and is very picky about food. We picked 2 buffets, 1 family style and 4 ala carte places for our trip. there was always something on the Kids menu that he liked. and no he didn't eat the same food everynight. Actually he didn't have duplicate anything while we were there plus the adults get plenty if they wanted to try their parents there usually is enough to share. Now for the CS places they give you more than enough to share anyway.

this was our first time doing the DDP and we Loved it. It was nice knowing all the food was taken care of and we just needed spending money

 

[scrapperjill]

I think it has already been said that yes...If a child is on the DDP and the TS/CS plase has items on a child menu then YES they will HAVE to order from that menu. They will not be allowed to order off the adult menu. For a 3.5 yr...I'm not sure that would be much of an problem in the first place...but who knows. If that is a huge concern as other have mentioned Buffet places may be the way to go. OR also like other have mentioned just getting the ddp as is and paying out of pocket here and there would be another option. Also...there is a TON of food on the DDP so more offten than not the 3yo's would be able to nibble off the parents plates. Keep in mind every time mom and dad order at a TS place they'll be ordering an appitizer, entree', dessert and beverage EACH That's alot of food.

We did the DDP a couple years ago with two kids on the child plan and didn't encounter any issues...that was of couse before the big redo this past year.

One question ...have they looked at the menus that are posted? Becasue there are some places that have some nice picks for kids. IMO they should start there....have them look at menus of where they plan on eating then see what the kids may want.

 

[kimmar067]

We used the DDP for DS4 and DN12 we all loved it. The 4 year olds has Sensory issues and is very picky about food. We picked 2 buffets, 1 family style and 4 ala carte places for our trip. there was always something on the Kids menu that he liked. and no he didn't eat the same food everynight. Actually he didn't have duplicate anything while we were there plus the adults get plenty if they wanted to try their parents there usually is enough to share. Now for the CS places they give you more than enough to share anyway....

...thanks for sharing....

...this was our first time doing the DDP and we Loved it. It was nice knowing all the food was taken care of and we just needed spending money

...for this reason EXACTLY, was why I was trying to convince my DB to go for the DDP....

 

[kaytieeldr]

The dining vets, bicker et al, have urged people to see that the
DDP for children is a great deal, even if you pay OOP for
a few items.

Great deal? Not necessarily. Good deal? Frequently. Excellent selection? Sometimes. But those (us) same dining vets also often point out that the Dining Plan isn't a smart selection for everyone.

Also, some snacks are quite meal worthy. Anything under $4 is a snack, so some things like a cup of Chili at Casey's is a snack.

Not necessarily. Some items under $4 that are or can be considered meal food (e.g. a slice of pizza) can not be purchased with a Snack credit. All snack credit-eligible items should be indicated with a small purple and white sign.

 

[seven dwarfs]

My kids are 7,7,4,4,4 and 3. They are foodies. I will say the menus for kids are not the best. For us it is still worth it when it is free. When it is not we do not buy it. For this trip I sat with my kids and we went through the menus and found things that would work for us. Some of our fav places we are not doing since the menu is not good. We are doing several buffets. It just takes some extra planning. The cost of the meals have gone up for the person paying out of pocket so it makes the DDP cost effective. I am not sure if this helps you or not.

 

[scrapperjill]

Seven Dwarfs....just a quick observation on how you mention the ddp does not work in your favor with your kids and the menu selections Disney has. I just find it somewhat hard to believe that for only 10per day per child your kids are not able to use that up in some way. Even like you'd mentioned your doing more buffetts this next time....those alone would cover the daily cost of the DDP...and that's not even counting the snack options (which are only limited to what Disney allows and not adult/child) or any of the CS credits. I know with having a child under 9....I'm having to be more creative on finding places in WDW that have food she'd like on the menu...or a menu without a "child" menu but they are out there. It sounds as if you've looked into it and have your mind set on what works for you....I'm just saying with the kids plan only being 10 it's hard to not see that as a great value. The price of a buffet and a snack alone would come to MORE than the ddp alone.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Do they already have dining reservations (ADR)?

If no, can they make sufficient dining reservations to make the DDP worth it?

Since they are going shortly, this could all become a moot point if they can't get ADR's in the restaurants they would choose.

That being said, if they are planning a couple of buffets then I think the dining plan is worth it. From buffets children and adults can choose anything they want in the quantities they want.

At many of the higher end 1 TS restuarants the kids menus are pretty good - like le cellier (steak) coral reef (fish).

 

[NMW]

Not really many restaurants have child-size portions of adult food. Yes, on the DDP children have to order off the kids menu. Now that credits are seperated and you get two receipts I imagine that NO CM would allow a child to order from the adult menu. I really don't think CM's allowed this even before the credits were seperated at TS places.

Are they picky eaters? They could try buffets or more signature places like Yachtsman Steakhouse and Calif Grill that offer better kids dinner entrees. Do they have ADR's made?? That's a pretty big question, because if they don't and can't get the ADr's they want, the DDP may not be worth it anyway for them. We really like the DDP and would never go without it.

 

[seven dwarfs]

scrapperjill:

I have six children, not just one. It is very hard to find food items to make all six happy. We do not like lots of buffets and only like to do a couple. My kids are foodies. Buffets get old to us. Because dinning is free for us it becomes worth while. When it is free we make it work. Even if we have to do more buffets. If it is not free then it is not worth it to us. We do not normally eat so much food. We save money and are able to order as we wish. One example, I can order and share adult meals with them. The options endless. I am giving the ideas of what works for us. When paying it is just not worth it to us. For others it is. I like hearing everyones take on things because it opens up our eyes to things we may not think about.

 

[kimmar067]

scrapperjill:

I have six children, not just one. It is very hard to find food items to make all six happy.....

.... .....

 

[GreatLakes5]

I won't repeat the good information from from others above -

We ate with three kids, one of whom was considered an adult by Disney standards (which he now frequently brings up when asking for a cell phone...thanks Disney! )

One of my children who had to eat from the kids' menus was not thrilled with his status. We did find the child options a bit limited when it came to many of our dining choices. Only so much mac & cheese, chicken nuggets, & pizza he was up for. BUT he's also 8, a bigger eater, & enjoys more unusual foods (though - he just told me to add - he does not like tuna casserole )

For our younger child - 5 at the time - the plan was definitely just plain easy. She likes typical kid food, does not yearn for shrimp cocktail when offered chicken nuggets, etc.

I think the convenience of the plan so overruled any other difficulties we experienced. And once in a while my husband and I ate our 8 year old's cheese pizza so he could have the adult burger or chicken sandwich from the adult menu. The volume of food can't be denied either way.

 

[scrapperjill]

scrapperjill:

I have six children, not just one. It is very hard to find food items to make all six happy. We do not like lots of buffets and only like to do a couple. My kids are foodies. Buffets get old to us. Because dinning is free for us it becomes worth while. When it is free we make it work. Even if we have to do more buffets. If it is not free then it is not worth it to us. We do not normally eat so much food. We save money and are able to order as we wish. One example, I can order and share adult meals with them. The options endless. I am giving the ideas of what works for us. When paying it is just not worth it to us. For others it is. I like hearing everyones take on things because it opens up our eyes to things we may not think about.

I saw you had 6 kids...it looked like a set of twins and a set of triplets plus one...either that or you have two the same ages, three others the same age and one more. Either way...I realized you had quite a few... And I can totally understand the LACK of options on the kids menus I TOTALLY agree they are bad picks for day after day. I just thought even with the snacks and buffetts you could still come ahead. BUT then again..if your paying out of pocket and not on the DDP you could opt to do the shared adult selections and probably come out ahead...I just quickly read your post and saw you had quite a few buffets planned...I realize now...that's only when your on the DDP and not paying on your own.