upgrading 6 yr old to Adult DDP?

[jsgrand0]

Personally I'd do it and use the extra meals for a few more ts meals for the family. Then just pay oop for the kids meals. For us that would be a win win. The dxdp can be a lot of food but we always need more TS than we get with the regular. So it would work perfectly!

We have 2 buffet meals that I know he would have to use a TS for, but at regular TS, he and his sister would probably share an adult meal...leaving us 5 extra TS...I figure we'll use the extra TSs for a whole extra TS meal, a Breakfast buffet! lol Or, like you said, pay OOP for kids meals...oh well, all depends on whether or not FD is offered.

 

[3pletprincesses]

adult meals are alot of food and there will be lots of waste IMO. I can share 2 kids meals between my 4yo triplets and still have left over. If you look at the menus yo uwill be amazed at what some offer... going from beef skewers to meaty macaroni. I don;t think I would upgrade any of my children because of variety as you can find plenty if you look around. I just hate wasting food.

 

[Wendy5055]

OK...I am speaking from experience here...my dd9 has ALWAYS eaten what grown-ups eat starting around the age of two a chicken nugget has not passed that childs lips (by her choice)! However, eating off the adults menu I find that it is far too much food for her to consume (yet...we get room discounts not free dining) to make it worth the money and with eating appetizers she is not super hungry when her meals arrive.

Knowing this...you can clearly understand what a horrible time she had being restricted for years (we've been going since she was 5) on the DDP/DlxDP. While I don't really want to pay the cost of an adult park ticket for her yet, I have insisted she use the childs dining...it has truly been a difficult sticking point and she has truly had a trying time of it.

However, we began the practice of ordering an appetizer she is sure to truly enjoy such as Shrimp Cocktail or Calamari or any such thing. We all eat each others appetizers. This led to ordering entrees she would enjoy (as well as ourselves)...I have her order things like fruit cups and things we would eat as well. This way we can also enjoy her meal if she eats mostly from ours. It works!!!! Everyone is happy and DD9 is able to enjoy the variety we all have. Nobody has ever told us we could not let my DD9 eat off our plates or tha we were not allowed to share our appetizer with each other...that would be like telling people they could only eat their meals with their right hands and drink with their left hands. You buy it..you eat it how you want.

I guess you could call it Family Style.

Now a word about the buffets...my DD9 has never once been told or directed to ONLY eat off the childs buffet area. While I do know that many children only want chicken nuggets or pizza, that is not my child. However she does not eat more than a few shrimp and some potatoe salad. Plenty of WDW staff has seen her eat from the adult buffet and never says a word otherwise...I personally don't care one way or the other when it comes to a buffet.

Honestly, she has adult tastes with a childs stomach...she just doesn't eat even close to what an adult does.

Sooooo...after all that...if you feel it necessary to get your child the adult meals (even if he will not eat more than a few bites?) and don't mind the cost, then do so. If however, you are willing to share with him so he can have more variety AND are willing to occasionally get his input on what he would like to try (for your entree) then don't.

Sometimes, I know that having more than one child makes the decision more of a struggle because they always want what each other has. If $25 a day avoided this...I would probably do it if I had two children!!!!

I do like a PPs suggestion of just ordering something extra OOP for him if he wants the variety. Many younger children are just fine and dandy with the childs meals...he can even get a Make Your Own Sundae!!!

It's all a matter of how you feel it will work for you and your family.

 

[Wendy5055]

From My DD9:

this is what i think it depends wether or not they have a big appitite or sometimes they dont want a kids meal because they're a piky eater. maybe you could just ask him what he wants. some times hes hungreyer than other times.

 

[pooch]

by a previous poster that you would also have to pay the $11 or so per day to upgrade from the QSDP to the Reg DDP, which it sounds like you are getting.

My 2 cents worth - if there are 3 of you getting adult meals, you could probably feed the 6 year old without ordering anything for him! Adult CS meals are really big. My DD(adult) and I go every year and split a CS breakfast (I get some of the eggs, the bacon & the potatoes - she makes a breakfast sandwich with the rest of the eggs, the sausage & the biscuit & we split the large OJ) then a CS lunch and get our own TS dinners. We take fruit/water to go from the CS meals in lieu of desserts and then also have 2 snack credits. I might spend another $30 in OOP food costs during the week for the occassional appy or a snack not covered (Goofy's make-your-own pretzels!!) It is PLENTY of food for us without being too full. I would look for a CS option in each park that has a child's meal he might like or someone else would help eat so you always have somewhere to go and then go with the everyone share everything strategy.

Breakfast - if you're only planning on donuts/pop tarts anyway, use 1 adult CS and the child's CS to get enough breakfast for everyone (remember to always get the largest drinks available ie, the BIG juice, its covered) Even this may be too much. You could cut it down to just the Adult CS & a snack credit or 2.

Lunch - 2 Adult CS meals to share & still a couple of snack credits left for later treats.

Dinner - Either buffets, family-style, all-you-care-to-eat or, if a full sit-down 3 Adult TS & 1 child's will be a ton of food to share with the 6 year old.

So, this LONGGG explanation to say I don't think the upgrade is necessary.
The DDP is a lot of food and I think you could find great choices for everyone without adding the cost of an upgrade. AND you could use the $ you saved to get something OOP if you need to.

HTH

 

[TDluvsDaisy]

We upgraded by DS7 to the adult deluxe plan. He was much happier with the choices. Naturally he didn't eat everything on his plate but he did a good job with the appetizer and the entree. Even took some nibbles from dessert (he doesn't like many sweets). We thought the cost was worth it going from free regular dining to deluxe and then again paying full price for deluxe with a room discount.

Every family is different. It worked for us because he was eating so much (growth spurt) and he likes a variety.

 

[mwatson011]

We are on the free QSDP (staying value) for 12 nights in August, and we upgraded our DD4 and DD5 to the adult plan. The majority of QS kids meal menu options are pb&j or chicken nuggets. Yes, there are some exceptions. However, we are doing a very lax trip this time, and plan on eating wherever we end up when we get hungry. That being said, my girls don't even eat chicken nuggets, and I believe the pb&j is the uncrustables, which my one dd despises. So, we are paying the extra $25 each to upgrade.

No, we are not going to order 4 adult QS meals at a time and waste food. With 8 QS credits per day, we are thinking we can split 2 meals between the 4 of us, 4x per day. That way we are eating light in the heat, and we can try more things.

As far as the airfare, we booked our entire trip through Disney. When I called to upgrade the girls, the phone rep had to place me on hold to contact their air dept. to keep the correct ages on the plane tickets. We are in the US.

 

[kylieh]

We upgraded DD9 to a 10 year old for free dining, and then upgraded to DxDP. We showed DD the menus to get a rough idea about what she may or may not eat. I was happy to go either way. We also offered DNiece 7 the opportunity to upgrade to adult. She was happy with the child's menus.

I don't have any issues if DD doesn't eat everything on her plate.

 

[squirrel]

In previous years, it made sence to upgrade children while on Free Dining.

Disney has made it a bit harder now that they only offer QSDP for the value resorts.

If you are upgrading to DDP, then you need to figure out if it's worth it to upgrade your child to adult for the DDP. I would think for most families, it's not worth the extra cost. You could buy extra food like an appetizer at the TS, or another side at the CS. That gives you $11 a day, plus the portion of the ticket upgrade each night.

Next year with the DDP price increase it really won't be worth it.