Tween dining at table service restaurant

[Mousefan mom]

Just a question--for those in that awkward age stage of kids where Disney considers them an adult (age 10 and older) for dining. Have any of the restaurants given you a hard time? In this case we had done the Disney Dining plan...situation below:

This is a case were our tween wanted to order off the adult menu (she is 11 and we paid for the adult dining plan for her, as per Disney policy) and we were given a hard time about this with our server at Prime Time Cafe in DHS. The server insisted she needed to order off the children's menu "at this restaurant" and would not be allowed to order a specialty drink of a milkshake with her meal, we'd have to pay out of pocket for that. No other restaurant gave us a hard time about this, so I've been meaning to ask if this was normal?

The only reason we had booked this ADR was that our kids wanted the milkshakes. My husband and I ended up advocating and had to be a bit forceful that we had paid the adult price for her dining plan and no other restaurant had given us a hard time--this is when she came back with the "well at this restaurant this is the way it is" comment, and we continued to disagree with her...I was about ready to ask for a manager and she ended up letting my daughter order off the adult menu and get a milkshake as her specialty drink. However, we were made to feel like we were somehow "cheating" by doing this and it left a bad taste in my mouth for what is usually one of our favorite places to eat. Anyone else have this experience? Is this normal or did I just get a server who is new?

 

[HopperFan]

Just a question--for those in that awkward age stage of kids where Disney considers them an adult (age 10 and older) for dining. Have any of the restaurants given you a hard time? In this case we had done the Disney Dining plan...situation below:

This is a case were our tween wanted to order off the adult menu (she is 11 and we paid for the adult dining plan for her, as per Disney policy) and we were given a hard time about this with our server at Prime Time Cafe in DHS. The server insisted she needed to order off the children's menu "at this restaurant" and would not be allowed to order a specialty drink of a milkshake with her meal, we'd have to pay out of pocket for that. No other restaurant gave us a hard time about this, so I've been meaning to ask if this was normal?

The only reason we had booked this ADR was that our kids wanted the milkshakes. My husband and I ended up advocating and had to be a bit forceful that we had paid the adult price for her dining plan and no other restaurant had given us a hard time--this is when she came back with the "well at this restaurant this is the way it is" comment, and we continued to disagree with her...I was about ready to ask for a manager and she ended up letting my daughter order off the adult menu and get a milkshake as her specialty drink. However, we were made to feel like we were somehow "cheating" by doing this and it left a bad taste in my mouth for what is usually one of our favorite places to eat. Anyone else have this experience? Is this normal or did I just get a server who is new?

WHAT? Disney says your DD is a Disney adult, Disney charges your DD as a Disney adult, Disney booked your DD the DDP as a Disney adult ................ so DD is for all Disney ticket and dining (aka financial) purposes an adult. No other restaurant gave you a hard time because you are correct. That CM was wrong and rude (a new one would have asked someone).

My end result would be a diminished gratuity, and asking for a manager as I left the restaurant to share my negative experience. If she was going to try to embarrass you, then she should have to be embarrassed by her manager.

 

[Mousefan mom]

Okay, you validated my feelings! Likely should have said something, but although we've been coming to Disney for years, we are new to the dining plan and we questioned ourselves! Like I said, we walked away feeling like we were cheating the restaurant or something! Crazy now...plus I hate dealing with problems/confrontation when we are in our happy place. Years ago, when our son was this age they wouldn't let him order off the kid's menu at Kona (but they did make him a special not on the menu burger to satisfy his pickier taste at the time)...we just find this is the awkward age at Disney when it comes to dining at the table service places.

 

[TavieP]

She was 100% wrong and not good at her job. I would've given feedback to the manager as well.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Definitely send an email to gues communications. They need to know.

 

[Mousefan mom]

Definitely send an email to gues communications. They need to know.

How do I send it? I'd also like to send one of an exceptionally positive experience I had with a CM.

 

[HopperFan]

Okay, you validated my feelings! Likely should have said something, but although we've been coming to Disney for years, we are new to the dining plan and we questioned ourselves! Like I said, we walked away feeling like we were cheating the restaurant or something! Crazy now...plus I hate dealing with problems/confrontation when we are in our happy place. Years ago, when our son was this age they wouldn't let him order off the kid's menu at Kona (but they did make him a special not on the menu burger to satisfy his pickier taste at the time)...we just find this is the awkward age at Disney when it comes to dining at the table service places.

I used to do this and while very rare ... I now will address it - briefly and politely so that the managers know. They would rather you tell them ... than to leave and give them bad PR, or followup with an email. And for me ... once I say something it leaves my mind and my happy trip continues. When I keep it inside it eats at me the whole trip and home.

Definitely send an email to gues communications. They need to know.

If you have your receipt then you could do this and attach a copy. They will handle it from there.

 

[Canesfan3234]

pro-tip for the people who love the milk shakes at Prime Time Cafe but don't want to do a sit down meal. They will serve them to you at the bar. They will even give it to you in a to-go cup so you can go on with your day.

 

[GillianP1301]

Wow, I'd be upset if this happened to me. It's so strange really because all they have to do is look it up when they scan your band, which they always do at the start of a meal when you're using the dining plan. It would tell them right there what type of credits and the number are assigned to your reservation. I would've asked for a manger in your situation and not accepted what the server was saying at all.

 

[KenHutch]

This is why I take a picture of every server we have. After the vacation I send Disney an email. Praising the good ones (with the pictures) and outlining the bad ones. One of the longest praises I wrote was our server at 50's. He asked if he could do the antics and we have had a drink get to the half way mark without him trying to give us a refill.

 

[GillianP1301]

I'm now hoping this won't be an issue on our upcoming trip with my 10 year old. Most of the TS meals I'm using the dining plan for are character meals and all our OOP stuff is mostly a la carte, but there are a few non-buffets that I plan to use the DDP for. Hearing your experience has prepared me though because I'll just ask for a manager out of the gate if they start to say he has to order off of a kids menu.

 

[SaintsManiac]

How do I send it? I'd also like to send one of an exceptionally positive experience I had with a CM.

wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

I emailed them about good and bad at Flight of Passage back in January and I got a nice and human response! Good luck!

 

[phyllis1966]

I'm now hoping this won't be an issue on our upcoming trip with my 10 year old. Most of the TS meals I'm using the dining plan for are character meals and all our OOP stuff is mostly a la carte, but there are a few non-buffets that I plan to use the DDP for. Hearing your experience has prepared me though because I'll just ask for a manager out of the gate if they start to say he has to order off of a kids menu.

It will NOT be an issue, so put it out of your mind and have a great time! This is the first time I have ever heard of a server spouting such nonsense. I would have been very upset had this happened to us. That’s just the way I am; it would’ve ruined my meal for sure! 99.9% of servers know that this is not true of the DDP, so don’t give it another thought - have a great trip!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I'll reiterate what the others have said - you were right, the server was wrong. Children 10 and up are "Disney Dining Adults" and you paid the adult DDP price for your 11 year old. That is "not how that restaurant does it". Your daughter was entitled to an adult entree and a non-alcoholic specialty drink. If the server was insisting your 11-year old daughter order off the children's menu while using her adult DDP credits, it was the server who was ripping you off - not the other way around. Yes, contacting guest relations is the way to go. This server needs some re-training on how the dining plan works. Unfortunately, there are MANY CM's at WDW who really have no idea of the in's and out's of WDW, but a server not knowing how DDP works, isn't acceptable.

 

[Mousefan mom]

Please don't let this worry you, however, be prepared just in case. I wish I had been better prepared. I think what may have been confusing about ours is that we do have a 9, 11, and 14 year old...so we had "child" credits too. To make matters worse, when we checked into BC they assigned the child too many (a funny random number--but like 3 times more than he'd need) of credits and we were shorted adult credits--a quick trip to the front desk and the CM fixed this situation for us. We discovered the error by looking at the app mid trip. If it makes you feel any better, we were there 8 nights, we did 8 table service meals and this was the only problem at a restaurant we had.

 

[HopperFan]

As I’m reading through the thread I got an email Reminder from Disney about my Sci Fi Dining Reservation .....

for LAST FRIDAY!

Priceless

 

[GillianP1301]

It will NOT be an issue, so put it out of your mind and have a great time! This is the first time I have ever heard of a server spouting such nonsense. I would have been very upset had this happened to us. That’s just the way I am; it would’ve ruined my meal for sure! 99.9% of servers know that this is not true of the DDP, so don’t give it another thought - have a great trip!

Thank you for that and I know that you're right. I have eating a ton of TS dining at WDW, but always with an under 10 year old, so this trip is new territory for me and it's less than 4 weeks away and I'm all planned and ready to go. All that's left to do really is over analyze and worry a bit, it's in my nature.

 

[helenasue]

That's REALLY bizarre! Usually Disney doesn't care about ages at all. I order kid's meals all the time in the parks because even that is a huge portion. No one has ever batted an eyelash.

 

[gharter]

Sorry to hear about your experience. From your story, you were right, the server was wrong.
Assuming the server wasn't just in character (as they do there), I would have asked for the manager early on in the interaction.
Even at this point, I would either call the restaurant or email them and let them know what happened. If the manager is not made aware of the problem, it will happen again and they can't fix what they don't know about.

 

[MomOTwins]

Please don't let this worry you, however, be prepared just in case. I wish I had been better prepared. I think what may have been confusing about ours is that we do have a 9, 11, and 14 year old...so we had "child" credits too. To make matters worse, when we checked into BC they assigned the child too many (a funny random number--but like 3 times more than he'd need) of credits and we were shorted adult credits--a quick trip to the front desk and the CM fixed this situation for us. We discovered the error by looking at the app mid trip. If it makes you feel any better, we were there 8 nights, we did 8 table service meals and this was the only problem at a restaurant we had.

I'm a little unclear on your chronology, but if at the time you ate at 50s, you in fact had a too many child credits and not enough adult credits on your account by mistake, that makes the server's error much more reasonable, as I expect she looked at the credit ratio and believed your daughter would be redeeming a child credit. A child credit cannot be redeemed for an adult meal. She would have no way of verifying that you paid the adult price for your daughter if it looked in the system as though you had child credits for her.