Should i bump up my dd to an adult for dining plan?

[huggiebear23]

I'm looking at all the pics of the kids meals. I'm worried it won't be enough for my daughter should I bump her up?

 

[figment_jii]

I'm looking at all the pics of the kids meals. I'm worried it won't be enough for my daughter should I bump her up?

It's up to you to decide if you want to pay the difference; it's not a small amount. Based on the new prices, the adult DDP costs $60.64 per night and the children's DDP costs $19.23. That's $41.41 per day. She'll have more dining options, but you'll have to decide if it's "worth" the price difference. You could keep her on the children's plan and then augment her meals by ordering an appetizer or something else and pay OOP for that. Also, if you bump her up on the DDP, you'll also have to pay for adult park tickets.

Another thought: are you doing very many buffets?

 

[huggiebear23]

It's up to you to decide if you want to pay the difference; it's not a small amount. Based on the new prices, the adult DDP costs $60.64 per night and the children's DDP costs $19.23. That's $41.41 per day. She'll have more dining options, but you'll have to decide if it's "worth" the price difference. You could keep her on the children's plan and then augment her meals by ordering an appetizer or something else and pay OOP for that. Also, if you bump her up on the DDP, you'll also have to pay for adult park tickets. Another thought: are you doing very many buffets?

We are only doing 2 buffets. I didn't realize that about park tickets too. I guess I will pay out of pocket for extras and pack a lot of snacks. She also has a tree nut allergy so I have to be careful. Thanks for the tips

 

[ajwolfe]

Not sure how old your daughter is but the amount of food has never been an issue for my boys. Especially with getting a snack during the day. If you are doing a couple buffets that will help too!

 

[shocker]

I would just supplement with a piece of fruit or a salad. When my DD was 9 the issue wasn't portion size but rather selection. After a few days she said she didn't want "one more bag of grapes!!". I heard her and I swapped lunches with her one day. The DDP is too much for the adults so sharing a bite or two here and there off each adult plate can go a long way to adding to her meal. Just tell her she should 'taste test' each of your meals.

 

[Sefoti]

You can also order stuff from the adult menu for kids. I did that with mine. They were very accommodating. I just asked for a kid portion and most cases it was fine and they still got an adult size plate. I did this when the options were not as wholesome as I would have liked.

 

[Haygar2]

My son hated the kids choices when we were there 2 years ago. I wish I would have been on this forum, back then, and known I could have asked for a kids size portion of the adult menu. The choices that they have for the kids is awful. My son is not a chicken nugget/pizza kind of kid. He likes "real" food and was very disappointed in his choices. We were getting great meals and he was getting blech. Needless to say, I shared my dinners with him.

 

[HopperFan]

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[jennie3675]

Oh, that's really interesting, I was thinking about upping my 9 year old to an adult because of the selection for kids are quite poor. Do all disney restraunts allow you to have adult meals just smaller?? We are on the dining plan.

 

[somesong2sing]

Oh, that's really interesting, I was thinking about upping my 9 year old to an adult because of the selection for kids are quite poor. Do all disney restraunts allow you to have adult meals just smaller?? We are on the dining plan.

The table service will not allow it in most cases. That would be asking the cast member to lie for you when they input the meals. Technically, you aren't supposed to be ordering an adult meal with the dining plan at a Counter Service place either if you paid for the kids plan.

When someone mentioned they don't distinguish between an adult and child, that is correct when it comes to your counter service.

I guess it is just a decision you will have to make on your own. I know and am sure my comment will open up a can of worms from those that will say, "They are charge too much so why not get my money's worth!", or "What is the big deal, if they wanted to distinguish than they should have set up the system that way!" , etc.

Personally, I would say do the right thing and pay for what you are going to get per the person. It is showing and teaching others to cheat a system. I would have an issue doing that becasue that isn't in my character to be dishonest. Am I perfect- NOPE! But I do try to be as honorable and show my real character instead of being dishonest intentionally and selling my character for money.

Just a thought...

 

[jennie3675]

I am not trying to cheap the system, I just know the children's menu isn't going to work well for my daughter. Do I have the option to upgrade her to an adult?

 

[TDC Nala]

Per DIS Restaurant Board policy, any posts regarding using children's credits to purchase adult meals has been deleted. (This does not mean asking for a child size portion of an adult meal; you can certainly ask but you may meet with different results in different places, especially if you are on the dining plan. This is unlikely to be allowed at all in any restaurant that is not operated by Disney.)

As for an option to upgrade, yes, you can upgrade if you register your daughter as being 10 years old. You would pay the difference between the adult and child dining plans plus the difference between the adult and child park ticket, if you are on a package with tickets.

 

[robinb]

My 14-year old DD *still* eats kids meals at many TS restaurants. Unless you are going during "free dining" I would just leave it the way it is and buy snacks if she's hungry.

 

[WantToGoNow]

My dd10 never complained about portions at TS until this last trip (2 months before her birthday). Her brother was on the adult plan and has a smaller appetite so she'd take what he didn't want.

The CS kids meals have not been enough for years but the adult meals would be too much. Our solution was to split 2 adult meals between her and two adults.

 

[jennie3675]

If I had free dining when I booked would the upgrade be free?

 

[robinb]

If I had free dining when I booked would the upgrade be free?

If you booked with "free dining", you would have to pay to upgrade your park pass from a child to an adult. Once you do that, the upgrade from a children's dining plan to an adult dining plan is automatic and free. Disney currently allows this kind of upgrade but may close the loop hole at any time.

 

[LisaTC]

My son hated the kids choices when we were there 2 years ago. I wish I would have been on this forum, back then, and known I could have asked for a kids size portion of the adult menu. The choices that they have for the kids is awful. My son is not a chicken nugget/pizza kind of kid. He likes "real" food and was very disappointed in his choices. We were getting great meals and he was getting blech. Needless to say, I shared my dinners with him.

THIS! Same with our DD

If you booked with "free dining", you would have to pay to upgrade your park pass from a child to an adult. Once you do that, the upgrade from a children's dining plan to an adult dining plan is automatic and free. Disney currently allows this kind of upgrade but may close the loop hole at any time.

We upgraded during FD on our last trip for our DD. It only cost about $25 more for the week and was worth it as the selections were much better.

If you don't have free dining, I would offer than perhaps you could order an appetizer or another side to supplement as that would be cheaper than upgrading her to adult. Please do make note of her allergies in your reservations. Disney is good about noting these.