Paying adult ticket for child for free dining?

[rstamm]

We went in Aug. for free dining when our son was 7, and he kept eating our food and not wanting another chicken nugget meal.
We will be going to Disney next month and booking the free dining plan for next Sept.
He will be 8--can we buy him a adult MYW ticket so he can get adult free dining?

 

[disneygirl29]

no answer, but that is a great question! some kids are so close to that cut off age, and eat like an adult... we thought about bumping the 9 yr old going with us (at thanksgiving) to an adult for that very reason, but kept him at the child rate, just because we are paying for 6 adults (2 of the "Adults" are 12 & 11 and will not eat as much as the 9 yr old, so they can share and if need be we will fill in OOP).

 

[gardendame]

My 9 y/o DD will be eating a at lot of buffets this week! I asked if I could pay the difference and upgrade her dining plan to an adult, but was told that I could only do this if I ALSO upgraded her park tickets.

I wish this had been an option, especially since we originally purchased the dining plan months ago (after carefully scrutinizing the children's menus for her and deciding that she would be able to eat a good variety).

The option for us was to just do a lot of buffets this trip. She is not a picky eater and, in fact, is very adventurous.

Again, I wish the meal-only upgrade had been made available - at least as compensation to those of us who would be penalized if we dropped the dining plan after the changes occurred.

 

[rstamm]

My 9 y/o DD will be eating a at lot of buffets this week! I asked if I could pay the difference and upgrade her dining plan to an adult, but was told that I could only do this if I ALSO upgraded her park tickets.

I wish this had been an option, especially since we originally purchased the dining plan months ago (after carefully scrutinizing the children's menus for her and deciding that she would be able to eat a good variety).

The option for us was to just do a lot of buffets this trip. She is not a picky eater and, in fact, is very adventurous.

Again, I wish the meal-only upgrade had been made available - at least as compensation to those of us who would be penalized if we dropped the dining plan after the changes occurred.

So it seems you can do it if you pay for a adult park ticket, I was thinking that was the case, I will definately try to do that when I book.
My DS can eat as much as we do, and he loves steaks, we were giving him half of ours last trip.

 

[janets]

Remember that when booking a package that includes dining, even free dining, you need to purchase a ticket for each member of your party. We only purchase a 1 day park pass for everyone. So if you get 1 day park tickets for each person, then upgrade those that need it, you can hold on to the extra adult ticket for another time (this works best if you have days left over from another trip or APs).

We're going down in February and we're DVC owners so we're not tied to ticket purchases. So for me, it would only cost the difference in the dining plan. But we'll also be coming down in August for free dining. If I upgrade my older son (turning 9 in Feb), then I'll pay for an adult 1 day, put it away and he'll use his AP for the trip. We'll use the extra ticket towards another pass at some other time.

 

[bicker]

One thing folks have posited is that Disney keeps track of the ages you claim for your children, and that they would use this information to charge adult rates (early), such as the extra adult fee for hotel rooms, if you "promoted" you child before time. I haven't heard of any cases of Disney doing so, though.

 

[rstamm]

Aren't up to two children in your room free through the age of 17?

 

[bicker]

Precisely... only through age 17. So presumably what those folks are worried about is telling Disney your 9 year old is 10 to qualify for the adult Dining Plan, and in 8 years having to pay the extra $35 per night (or whatever it will cost by then) for an extra adult in your room, because your 17 year old appears as an 18 year old in Disney's records. Seems pretty unlikely that Disney would hold you to that if you explained the situation.

 

[TMB1203]

My 9 y/o DD will be eating a at lot of buffets this week! I asked if I could pay the difference and upgrade her dining plan to an adult, but was told that I could only do this if I ALSO upgraded her park tickets.

I'm confused by their answer to you. I have a 2 y/o and a 10 y/o. I had to purchase the adult plan for my 10 y/o. The boys won't share a plate, they eat totally different foods so I decided that I would purchase the plan for my 2 year old (I figured for 11 a day it would be worth it) but I didn't have to buy a park ticket for him since he's under 3. I am wondering if they will make me purchase park tickets for him now?

 

[theostwalts]

I guess it would work the same with Free Dining. We are going this week, leaving Saturday... ...

We have 3 dds (15,10,8) We have MYW tickets with the DDP. A couple of months ago we wondered if we could pay the difference in the price and upgrade our youngest dd to the adult dining. I called CRO and they said sure, just needed to change her age in the computer and we paid the extra for the tickets and ddp. Around $200.00 total.

As far as the ages go, they still were showing all 3 girls age from last year, it had not changed at all. I pointed this out to CRO and they said they could change it.