Question for a friend-ds w/ feeding pump and meal plan

[debbiemomto4]

Here's the situation-I think it's been mentioned before but the search isn't working for me. Ds has feeding pump does not eat by mouth at all. Family wants to get the meal plan with their passes but guest services insists they must purchase one for him too. Has anyone ever heard this before and is there a way to get around it. He is 12 yrs old and in a wheelchair-he will not be eating. I believe they even called the special #.
Thanks
Debbie

 

[SueM in MN]

It has come up before and the reply that I remember seeing was that Disney wouldn't bend on it. I know what some people have done is just let other members of the family eat that person's food. I have nver used the meal plan, but it seems to me that there is already more food than many people eat without doing that.
I would suggest asking when you get there. I have a feeling that they might waive the fee for his part of the plan when they see him (just might, I don't have any knowledge that they have). It's not something they would do on the phone, but may do in person when they can actually see that the person will not be eating.

 

[coinkc]

Unfortunately, right now there is no way around it. We went last summer with friends of ours. They have a 10 year old son who cannot eat solid food. They had to pay an adult price for him to be on the meal plan. When we planned our trip this year, we tried to get around it again and was told no. We even tried to get Disney to just charge the kids price, but it still didn't work.

The plus side was that there were extra dining credits for the rest of us. The down side was it's expensive for someone not eating!

Now, other friends of ours whose daughter doesn't eat went last summer and just didn't put her officially in the room. They bought her ticket seperate. I don't like this because it's technically not honest (although they were still under the room capacity) but she also did not qualify for Magical Express or Extra Magic Hours. For them, that was no big deal, but those are two perks that we used and will use again this year.

 

[dclfun]

Just chiming in with the same info. My family used my credits also and it worked out alright since they then could choose the 2-choice places for dinner. We all went to Hoop De Doo, Yachtsman Steakhouse, and a few others that required two "choices" and thus didn't run out of credits. I've also read ( on this board) of not adding the child til you arrive, but then I'm not sure how you would reserve an accessible resort room if the child didn't exist until you got there. Hopefully if there are enough people asking this question then the policy might be amended but sadly I'm afraid that there would be alot of people asking for exceptions ( grandma only eats a nibble, autistic child only eats certain foods, etc. ) and thus they don't want to have to cover all those scenarios- once they allow an exception for one type of disability or circumstance then legally they would be liable to provide an exception for anything/anyone. Unfortunately there are also people who would make such a claim to abuse the system. ---Kathy

 

[kdtwiss]

I would just not tell them the child is going, and buy separate park pass for him. They do not need to kn ow who needs a handicapped accessible room, just that you need one. I think this one is a mistake on Disney's part big time. This is not a case of a picky eater, or someone trying to sneak an older child onto a child credit, it is just plain wrong. The child can not eat - period. The family should not be penalized for what is already a difficult situation.

 

[dclfun]

You are correct about this not being a picky eater or someone trying to sneak in an older child, etc. but Disney has to put some kind of rules out there to prevent people who will abuse the meal plan system or exceptions will get out of control. It's a shame that those with legitimate needs aren't able to have an exception made, but I can understand the reasoning behind it. ---Kathy

 

[DJBounce]

We just look at it as extra meal credits. It gives us the opportunity to experience some of the signature restaurants and we get to do the Hoop De Doo again! We just pay the "entertainment fee" for our daughter. The servers are very accomodating when they see the child is clearly not eating.