Ordering from the children's menu?

[rosh]

Hi,
Wondering whether it is allowable for a 12 year old to order from the child's menu in TS restaurants? If it isn't officially allowed - how likely that many places would accomodate it?

As our DD is 12 she obviously has the adult dining plan, so we are wondering if she would rather eat from the child's menu (she's a very picky,light eater) at certain restaurants that we have booked, would she be allowed to? We could then pay OOP for the child's meal and save the extra TS credits for additional TS meals?

Thanks!

 

[holden]

In my experience, she would be allowed to order from the children's menu. Not sure if they'll let you pay OOP for her meal though. They ask you when you sit down if you are on the dining plan. You could try to say "We are but she isn't" and see what happens.

Dining credits are all lumped together. What would you do with the TS she won't use? Will one of you eat alone somewhere?

Edited: Just reread your original post. I'm sure they must have something in place to prevent people from manipulating the Dining Plan. I'd be surprised if your idea would work.

 

[maxiesmom]

You can! You don't have to use dining credits for everyone at the table. But be aware that there are a few restaurants not owned by Disney that can tell you no--La Hacienda is the one that comes to mind.

 

[sharonabe]

Hi,
Wondering whether it is allowable for a 12 year old to order from the child's menu in TS restaurants? If it isn't officially allowed - how likely that many places would accomodate it?

As our DD is 12 she obviously has the adult dining plan, so we are wondering if she would rather eat from the child's menu (she's a very picky,light eater) at certain restaurants that we have booked, would she be allowed to? We could then pay OOP for the child's meal and save the extra TS credits for additional TS meals?

Thanks!

Thankfully, holden is incorrect. You CAN definitely do what you want to do. When your server asks if you are on the DDP, say "yes, but we will be paying OOP for our daughter's meal." No questions asked and you can save her credits for other meals. This does mean you need to do some advance planning, so you know where she will want to order a kid's meal instead of an adult meal. If she gets tired of the kid's meals, you might be able to find an appetizer she would enjoy for her meal. You can pay OOP for that as well.

 

[rosh]

Thankfully, holden is incorrect. You CAN definitely do what you want to do. When your server asks if you are on the DDP, say "yes, but we will be paying OOP for our daughter's meal." No questions asked and you can save her credits for other meals. This does mean you need to do some advance planning, so you know where she will want to order a kid's meal instead of an adult meal. If she gets tired of the kid's meals, you might be able to find an appetizer she would enjoy for her meal. You can pay OOP for that as well.

Excellent!! As one of our ADRs is at The Boathouse where she would definitely prefer a child's menu meal, that will save us 2credits straight away for an additional TS meal!

I can see us having numerous QS credits left over at this rate!!

 

[eeyoreandtink]

Excellent!! As one of our ADRs is at The Boathouse where she would definitely prefer a child's menu meal, that will save us 2credits straight away for an additional TS meal!

I can see us having numerous QS credits left over at this rate!!

I am not sure about this one as it is new, but as a PP noted there are some restaurants that won't allow this. I KNOW La Hacienda and the pizza place in Italy will not allow it, and there are others. Most of the non- Disney owned places and some signatures will say no.

 

[squirrel]

I've heard that you can also ask for an adult portion of the kids meal.

I think it will be up to the restaurant if they will allow it.

 

[sharonabe]

I am not sure about this one as it is new, but as a PP noted there are some restaurants that won't allow this. I KNOW La Hacienda and the pizza place in Italy will not allow it, and there are others. Most of the non- Disney owned places and some signatures will say no.

They aren't sharing credits. Even at Via Napoli, as long as they order something for their daughter, they would be okay. I've not heard of La Hacienda being a stickler for this either. In fact, I've never heard of ANY restaurant not allowing you to order with credits and OOP at the same time.

 

[prprincess]

I've heard that you can also ask for an adult portion of the kids meal.

I think it will be up to the restaurant if they will allow it.

This was our experience on the DP in August. My DS12 couldn't find things he liked on the adult menu, so the restaurants we went to allowed him to choose something off of the kids menu AND they gave him a slightly larger portion.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

They aren't sharing credits. Even at Via Napoli, as long as they order something for their daughter, they would be okay. I've not heard of La Hacienda being a stickler for this either. In fact, I've never heard of ANY restaurant not allowing you to order with credits and OOP at the same time.

I wasn't so much commenting on the sharing credits as the ordering off the kids menu, should have been more clear. We have had kids (an 11 year old) forced to order an adult meal at via Napoli, and on a different trip at la hacienda. It happens

 

[danikoski]

Thankfully, holden is incorrect. You CAN definitely do what you want to do. When your server asks if you are on the DDP, say "yes, but we will be paying OOP for our daughter's meal." No questions asked and you can save her credits for other meals. This does mean you need to do some advance planning, so you know where she will want to order a kid's meal instead of an adult meal. If she gets tired of the kid's meals, you might be able to find an appetizer she would enjoy for her meal. You can pay OOP for that as well.

Did not know this...we have a 12 year old who is the world's pickiest eater (maybe not quite, but close), so being able to just get a kid's meal or appetizer for him oop would make the dining plan much more appealing, and save the TS for something else like mom and dad night out at a signature restaurant or HDDR or something.

 

[rosh]

I wasn't so much commenting on the sharing credits as the ordering off the kids menu, should have been more clear. We have had kids (an 11 year old) forced to order an adult meal at via Napoli, and on a different trip at la hacienda. It happens

That's interesting - and part of my query. She was 10 last time we went so still on the adult plan but we never actually thought to ask about ordering from the children's menu - lots of wasted food that trip!

It's difficult to see how they could prove that a)the child that you're dining with is the one listed in your party (who they know the age of), or b) is over the age of 10.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

honesty, and or a magicband or ticket scan. Anyone with an adult ticket is a Disney adult, but I don't think they would take it that far. In our case, it was on our reservation that she was 11.

 

[pixie08]

I don't see why not especially if she is a picky eater. You may just have to ask and it may be on a per restaurant basis...

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

can an adult order from the children's menu if we are not on the DP and paying OOP for our meals ?

 

[danikoski]

can an adult order from the children's menu if we are not on the DP and paying OOP for our meals ?

At least some do...my mom inquired about this at Spice Road Table and they said yes, but she ended up being an adult and ordering off the grown up menu

Edit: We were paying out of pocket.

 

[maxiesmom]

Just to be clear, even if she eats 2 nuggets off of a buffet she would still be charged as an adult.

 

[purple figment]

can an adult order from the children's menu if we are not on the DP and paying OOP for our meals ?

At almost all of the restaurants where you order from a menu anyone, regardless of age, will be able to order from the kids' menu. Once in a while someone will post that it was not allowed at a particular restaurant and since the menus do specify "for guests ages 3 through 9," a restaurant can choose to enforce the age limitations. As others have said, it has generally been the third party restaurants (e.g.Via Napoli and the TS in the Mexico pavilion) that can be sticklers for the rules.

 

[SLamott1973]

I have been wondering about this myself. We have always enjoyed the DDP on all our trips. Our last trip DS was 9 (kids plan) and we were able to enjoy all the table service and signature meals we wanted, but he had food he like and the right amount of food for him. We are going in December he will be 12. I can hardly get this picky eater to finish a taco at home most nights. I dislike the fact Disney to consider kids as adults when it comes to meals at this age. We are going with the (free) regular dining plan this year. We declined upgrading to the deluxe as it would be an extra 1000.00 for my family of 4 and he is now considered an adult. We've only eaten at a few QS places before and I'm trying to find ones that we will enjoy. I've changed my mind about the upgrade several times, thinking, if we do mostly buffets at least he will find something that he wants to eat and as much or as little as he wants.
There's no way he could possibly eat an adult size app, entrée and desert at 1 table service much less multiple table service meals in a day. I think we will pay for or use snack credits at breakfast. I'm hoping we can purchase him a kids meal separately or an appetizer for dinner at table service. I would love to hear how this works out for the others since we aren't going until December.