Question about dining with a 2-year-old on DxDP

[nimbuscat]

I know that our 2-year-old is not eligible for her own dining plan, and I know that she is supposed to share off our plates or we can pay out of pocket for her own kid's meal. However...I am wondering if they would let us order an additional meal (adult or kids) using a full adult meal credit? We have DxDP, and due to deciding not to do a signature restaurant, we will have a couple of extra meal credits floating around, and thought it would be nice to be able to just use them to order her own meal a couple of times.

I can see TS venues balking at the idea since she is not on the dining plan...but if we go to a QS venue, can we just order 3 QS meals at one time (even though there are only 2 of us on the plan) and pay with 3 credits? Or do they restrict to the number of people on DxDP in your party?

 

[TDC Nala]

It is policy for them to disallow ordering more meals than you have people on DDP. The child isn't on DDP, so you may meet resistance using an extra credit to get a meal beyond the number of people on DDP listed on your key card. This is supposed to apply to both CS and TS.

 

[nimbuscat]

It is policy for them to disallow ordering more meals than you have people on DDP. The child isn't on DDP, so you may meet resistance using an extra credit to get a meal beyond the number of people on DDP listed on your key card. This is supposed to apply to both CS and TS.

Thank you--that is exactly the info I was looking for. Guess we will have to find another way to squeeze in those credits! Can't let them go to waste.

 

[NC Disney Fan]

I cannot truly address how they will view this but in our experience, they have let us use our extras to order more meals.

However, have you been to DIsney or eaten on the dining plan? I am telling you that there is so much food (and dessert included) that we can barely eat enough to make a dent in our meals. Truly there is so much food that ordering a whole meal--even kids meal would be a shame for a two year old. I guess you could try it one time and see if your child would make a dent in it (that is if the restaurant lets you) but I"m telling you, my kids from the age of 5 up to present are barely ready for the next meal after such big portions and dessert.

I guess you'll have to determine what kind of eaters you are and if generous portions they give you will not be enough to share--every family is different. I know my 10 year old daughter is quaking at having to order an adult menu because the pure size of the food presented is so great. She even asked if she could still order kids (which I think is a yes as long as Disney comes out favorable).

Why don't you see how the first meal goes (BTW, where are you eating for the 1st restaurant) and then go from there. Remember the dining also has snacks which may fill up your toddler as well thus rendering him or her not too hungry come meal time. Hope that helps.

 

[TDC Nala]

I've also seen reports here from persons who were not allowed to use extra credits to buy a meal for a child.

 

[nimbuscat]

I cannot truly address how they will view this but in our experience, they have let us use our extras to order more meals.

However, have you been to DIsney or eaten on the dining plan? I am telling you that there is so much food (and dessert included) that we can barely eat enough to make a dent in our meals. Truly there is so much food that ordering a whole meal--even kids meal would be a shame for a two year old. I guess you could try it one time and see if your child would make a dent in it (that is if the restaurant lets you) but I"m telling you, my kids from the age of 5 up to present are barely ready for the next meal after such big portions and dessert.

I guess you'll have to determine what kind of eaters you are and if generous portions they give you will not be enough to share--every family is different. I know my 10 year old daughter is quaking at having to order an adult menu because the pure size of the food presented is so great. She even asked if she could still order kids (which I think is a yes as long as Disney comes out favorable).

Why don't you see how the first meal goes (BTW, where are you eating for the 1st restaurant) and then go from there. Remember the dining also has snacks which may fill up your toddler as well thus rendering him or her not too hungry come meal time. Hope that helps.

Thank you, and yes, portion size is another consideration. My husband and I are both fairly big eaters, but really, my concern was that we are pretty adventurous eaters. And while my 2-year-old has a refined palate for someone her age, she still may not appreciate say, caprese salad or bison steak for her meal, even though there would be more than enough to share.

Our first meal is at Tusker House, so unfortunately, not somewhere to gauge portion size since it is a buffet. And we have been to Disney before, but it's been several years, and I couldn't tell you where/what we ate, let alone portion sizes.

Thank you for your input, though I don't really want to break any Disney policies...I just figured if we had the meal credits, we'd paid for them already, and it didn't matter who used them, but perhaps it does. (I could completely understand if we were trying to pay for someone 3+ and avoid buying them a dining plan, but that isn't the case.)

 

[aubriee]

Thank you for your input, though I don't really want to break any Disney policies...I just figured if we had the meal credits, we'd paid for them already, and it didn't matter who used them, but perhaps it does. (I could completely understand if we were trying to pay for someone 3+ and avoid buying them a dining plan, but that isn't the case.)

Feb 2011 my husband and I took our then 3 y/o GS to WDW on the DxDDP. Since he was three he had his own credits. However, due to skipping some breakfasts to sleep in, we saw we were going to have extra credits. The last couple of days we asked at several restaurants if we could use one of our adult credits for him, so he could get an adult meal. Even though they understood we were all on the DxDDP and were not trying to use credits for someone not on the plan and were just trying to use up those extra credits those last couple of days so they would not go to waste, every single restaurant told us that they were not allowed to let us order more adult meals, than what our room key said we had. Our room key said 2A 1C, so all they would let us order were two adult meals and one child meal.

 

[smiths02]

If your room key says, 2 Adults on DxDP, then you can order 2 adult meals at a time. This is all that will be allowed at TS.


However, someone correct me if this is against policy, at CS locations, your DH could purchase 2 adult meals with his KTTW card and you could then purchase another meal standing in line behind him with your KTTW card since you are using that meal to "share" with the 2 year old.

 

[smiths02]

Feb 2011 my husband and I took our then 3 y/o GS to WDW on the DxDDP. Since he was three he had his own credits. However, due to skipping some breakfasts to sleep in, we saw we were going to have extra credits. The last couple of days we asked at several restaurants if we could use one of our adult credits for him, so he could get an adult meal. Even though they understood we were all on the DxDDP and were not trying to use credits for someone not on the plan and were just trying to use up those extra credits those last couple of days so they would not go to waste, every single restaurant told us that they were not allowed to let us order more adult meals, than what our room key said we had. Our room key said 2A 1C, so all they would let us order were two adult meals and one child meal.

While you weren't trying to use child credits to get an adult meal for your gs, each Disney restaurant has no way of knowing this since they track all DxDP credits in one pool.