Tipping question for those of you who have upgraded child to adult on DDP

[KarmaCat]

I am considering upgrading my 9-year-old to an adult on the DDP so that he can order off of either the kids' menu or adult menu at TS restaurants... but I have a question about tipping.

If he is technically on the adult dining plan, will we be expected to figure the tip at buffets and character meals based on the adult price for him, or will the fact that he's still 9 years old mean that he will be "billed" as a child for the meal?

The difference between child and adult prices at places like Boma, Tusker House, Crystal Palace, etc. is significant! I'm hoping he can still be "billed" for the kids' meal price, even though we will be using an adult credit for him, and then we can tip accordingly.

Anyone have experience with this?

 

[jo-jo]

I have no experience with the dining plan with child/adult credits, but with the price difference why would you do this if planning to eat at buffets?


I'd say stay with him as a child and if you eat at a non buffet TS, let him order kids meal and something extra. If you are only doing this at a few meals, you'll probably come out ahead. I believe the difference between adult meal plan and child if about 40 dollars a day.

 

[KarmaCat]

With free dining, the cost to upgrade him would just be around $21 total, and my son has a large enough appetite that even adult-sized portions of kid menu items would be a much better option. I think that is $21 well spent!

 

[nugov2]

If it was me I'd tip more. IMO you tip based on the total cost of the meal not on the age of the people eating, so if you are paying more for his food you pay more for the tip.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

We usually tip on the amount of the full bill no matter what the age is.

 

[goofyintoronto]

I believe that since he will have "adult table service credits", they will "charge" him as an adult. Therefore, you pay the tip based on the adult rate. It doesnt matter how old he really is since you did upgrade to the adult DP.

Im sure someone will correct me if im wrong thou....

 

[jahber]

He would be billed as an adult, I'm assuming. That's what the register would automatically do, based on your entitlements. But how much would it have to be to not be worth it? If you ate at 10 buffet dinners with a price difference of $20, that's $40 extra in tips, max. Are you planning on eating at 10 buffet dinners? Even if you are, that makes the difference between the plans a total of $61. If he really eats as much as an adult, it might be worth it. It wouldn't be for me. In fact, I'd just allow him to order a la carte a couple of times. But that's just me.

 

[jo-jo]

With free dining, the cost to upgrade him would just be around $21 total, and my son has a large enough appetite that even adult-sized portions of kid menu items would be a much better option. I think that is $21 well spent!

We've never done the dining plan (free or otherwise) with kids involved. I had no idea what the up charge would be. For $21, it makes more sense.

We are on the other side of the coin. Next time we do a family trip, our DGD will be an adult. The shrimp at Ohana weigh more than she does. To pay adult prices for her will be painful.

 

[MOpGrad2013]

Adult credit = adult price.

 

[KarmaCat]

We usually tip on the amount of the full bill no matter what the age is.

Oh, so do we! I just wanted to get an idea of what the full bill would actually be, just to assist with my budget-building.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

Oh, so do we! I just wanted to get an idea of what the full bill would actually be, just to assist with my budget-building.

What I usually do is I sit down with my husband and we go restaurant by restaurant picking the food we most likely would get when we go and we add it all up including the kids and then we figure out the tipping based on that. I put it all into an excel worksheet so it's easier to add everything up.

This year it was a little trickier for us lol. We had me and my husband and my 8 year old who are all on the dining plan. Then we have our will be 20 month old as well. What Disney says to do with the under 3 crowd is share your food lol...my 20 month old has a big appetite and hates sharing so I had to also figure out how much oop expense we would have to pay on top of the tipping expense lol. But we figured it all out so that's good. If you need the buffet prices check out allears.net they have all the buffet prices listed there.

 

[Amanda999]

Oh, so do we! I just wanted to get an idea of what the full bill would actually be, just to assist with my budget-building.

The full bill will be based on the adult price. Unless you choose to pay oop for him for the buffet. Then, because he is 9, they will charge you the child price of $14 or so, and then the dining plan credits for everyone else. The adult price for each adult dining plan credit will be on the bill.

 

[PlutoPony]

If he shows as an adult for the dining plan, he will also show up as an adult (or at least 10+) for the room and any tickets you might have in the package. So in Disney's eyes he WILL be an adult and they'd have no reason to consider him a child. If you want to pay OOP for him as a child, that's a different story

 

[disney-inspired]

With free dining, the cost to upgrade him would just be around $21 total, and my son has a large enough appetite that even adult-sized portions of kid menu items would be a much better option. I think that is $21 well spent!

I don't see how it's only $21 to upgrade your child to adult dining?

Quick Service Dining Plan: PER NIGHT
Kids: ~$16
Adults: ~$42
Difference in price (PER NIGHT) = $26 x (x amount of nights of your trip)

Standard dining plan:
Kids: ~$20 per night
Adults: ~$60 per night
Difference in price (per night) = $40 x (x amount of nights of your trip)

Am I missing something here?

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

I upgraded DD when she was 8 - she just preferred "adult" foods. I tipped on the billed amount, so if we were using the dining plan for a buffet, I tipped on the adult price. We had more meals planned than we had credits for, so on the cheaper meals or the few where she wanted a kids option, I paid out of pocket for her and saved the credits for another meal. We got one or two more TS that way over the course of a 2 week trip.

 

[KarmaCat]

I don't see how it's only $21 to upgrade your child to adult dining?

Quick Service Dining Plan: PER NIGHT
Kids: ~$16
Adults: ~$42
Difference in price (PER NIGHT) = $26 x (x amount of nights of your trip)

Standard dining plan:
Kids: ~$20 per night
Adults: ~$60 per night
Difference in price (per night) = $40 x (x amount of nights of your trip)

Am I missing something here?

With the free dining promotion, the cost to upgrade is just the difference between child and adult park ticket prices. The actual dining plan still remains free.

 

[jo-jo]

With the free dining promotion, the cost to upgrade is just the difference between child and adult park ticket prices. The actual dining plan still remains free.

I had no idea you could do that. As I said before, we never looked at dining plan with kids.

But anyway, aside from TS, it would be worth the upgrade for the bigger CS too. It sounds like your son needs more than 3 or 4 chicken nuggets and a cup of applesauce that comes with a kid's CS.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Adult credit, he will be billed for an adult meal.