Upgrading a child ticket to get adult dining

[Nicnic]

Hi, can I just check about the buffet credits and paying oop for child meals.
We are 2 ad 2 ch (13 and 5) so in Disney we are 3ad 1 ch. I was going to upgrade the 5yo to an adult to bank her credits when we dine at a restaurant eg rose and crown use 3 ad credits and pay oop for kids meal, this I know and have done before but I wasn't sure if this applied to character buffet meals too. I always thought that you had to use the number of credits for the number of people dining at a buffet (4 people = 4 credits must be used), so therefore I couldn't use 3 adult credits and pay oop for a kids buffet. If this is right then this changes my whole dining schedule!! I was begrudging paying $40 for a kids buffet when she would only eat a couple of nuggets!!
Maybe I'm confusing this with via Napoli as I know everyone has to be charged a credit!
TIA

 

[tinkerpea]

The childrens meal selections at Disney World go beyond chicken fingers, french fries, and pizza. You might be worried about nothing. My child has gotten salmon on the kids menu and had chicken nuggets on the kids menu.
I don't think I'd upgrade a child's ticket to get adult dining for a 5 year old, especially if you plan on doing character buffets where the food is exactly the same for both at a much higher price. The child will be drowning in wasted food at TS and QS non buffets.
To answer your other question in the US the tip is based on the amount charged not the size of the eater. A good thing because I'm a big girl
If you upgraded your child to an adult the option would still be there to order a kids entree but it will be adult size and adult charged.

We do this all the time,
If they order a kids meal it will be child sized unless they ask for adult size, and will be the child price.

 

[tinkerpea]

Hi, can I just check about the buffet credits and paying oop for child meals.
We are 2 ad 2 ch (13 and 5) so in Disney we are 3ad 1 ch. I was going to upgrade the 5yo to an adult to bank her credits when we dine at a restaurant eg rose and crown use 3 ad credits and pay oop for kids meal, this I know and have done before but I wasn't sure if this applied to character buffet meals too. I always thought that you had to use the number of credits for the number of people dining at a buffet (4 people = 4 credits must be used), so therefore I couldn't use 3 adult credits and pay oop for a kids buffet. If this is right then this changes my whole dining schedule!! I was begrudging paying $40 for a kids buffet when she would only eat a couple of nuggets!!
Maybe I'm confusing this with via Napoli as I know everyone has to be charged a credit!
TIA

That's not correct.
We upgraded our 3 boys every year from age of 5 there now 10,10, 13.
We did exactly what your wanting to do, backed the twins credits as they always shared a meal, and paid oop at signature meals and some breakfast buffets.
Never a problem

 

[tinkerpea]

We got free Disney dining plan so put my daughter down as 10 (not getting flights) as was willing to pay extra for adult tickets as thought she may prefer adult meals (eats as much as an adult as tall and does lots of sport, will be 9.5). Has anyone else done this? Not like I'm trying to pass her off as younger for a cheap ticket, I'm paying the adult price for the park.

Do it every trip for last 5 years, as long as no flight is involved and you booked the resort and dining seperate it's perfectly fine.

 

[tinkerpea]

We did this twice but put down that he was actually 9 at time of booking. On another occasion when he was already older than that we actually said we had four people in the room so we would get an extra set of dining credits. We then used all the extra credits to eat in signature restaurants every night. We used the extra counter service credits for breakfasts and snacks for the parks. This meant we didn't need to use any snack credits and used them all on the last day for candy to put in party bags at sons party when we got home. We had to buy an extra ticket of course. When I got home I called Disney and told them I hadn't used ticket and they cancelled it and sent me a new one that expired at the end of the next year. I couldn't believe it. My plan b was to sell it on eBay but didn't need to. That was the last time we stayed at Disney. Only stay at Bonnet Creek now..

We was actually planning on doing this next year, and hoping to change the ticket, however now it's linked to a MB I'm not sure how it will work.

 

[tinkerpea]

We have upgraded our 3 boys every year on free dining since they was 5, there now 10,10,13.
The twins would share meals which freed up a credit every meal, those was used for signature dining and I paid oop Fpr kids to have kids meals there as they was better at signature meals.
We never once had a problem, some would ask why are they own adult meals and offer kids, we pull just tell them it's correct and there earing off the adult menu.

 

[tinkerpea]

Hi. Sorry about the late addition question but can you upgrade your child to a adult ticket after you have made the booking? We don't go until October and haven't finished paying yet.... Sounds a great idea! Thanks all

Yes, just tell them there is a mistake with child's age,
As not all phone Cm's will change get the date of birth for adult dining reasons.
We got told theu could not do it, so I left it a few days called up and said my twins was down wrong and did it effect anything,they apologised and change it

 

[Elise79]

We was actually planning on doing this next year, and hoping to change the ticket, however now it's linked to a MB I'm not sure how it will work.

I think now they would just change the ticket in you MDE account - so you'd just end up with a spare ticket in there until it expired.

 

[Ruth B]

Yes, just tell them there is a mistake with child's age,
As not all phone Cm's will change get the date of birth for adult dining reasons.
We got told theu could not do it, so I left it a few days called up and said my twins was down wrong and did it effect anything,they apologised and change it

Thank you. No problem doing it, luckily had a very nice CM

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Does anyone know if they will make a kid-sized portion of an adult entree? My 9 year old son will order off the kids menu for the most part, so I don't want to upgrade him to the Adult plan. But there are a few TS restaurants where he may want an adult entree. Rather than paying OOP, I'm wondering if they will allow you to order the adult entree in a smaller portion?

 

[piccolopat]

Unless your 5 year old has a very healthy appetite, could you share your meal with her? That's what we did when our DD was growing up, occasionally ordering her an appetizer as a meal instead. She never ate off the kids meal and to this day (she's 29) she looks for the oddest thing on the menu first. I personally think the dining plan is not worth it but each family should decide for themselves. In some situations IF you have the right family composition and eat everything you're entitled to it can work financially. For us, we like to split appetizers and deserts.

 

[Nicnic]

That's not correct.
We upgraded our 3 boys every year from age of 5 there now 10,10, 13.
We did exactly what your wanting to do, backed the twins credits as they always shared a meal, and paid oop at signature meals and some breakfast buffets.
Never a problem

Thanks for this. Last time we went our DD's were 2 and 10 so we had 3 adult credits per day but I ordered a kids meal oop for the 10yo using only 2 credits as the 2yo was such a picky eater we had to feed her before we went out and for buffets she ate off our plates anyway.

So all I have to do at the buffets is say I only want to use 3 credits, the same as I would at a regular restaurant and pay for a kids buffet? is this any character buffet? were looking at Norway, 'Ohana both breakfast and dinner, garden grill and chef mickey.
I supose it all depends on the price of the kids meal against the price of the meal i would use her credit against. but I will have a look online at the prices.
Thanks again.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

We aged DD when she was 8 for the variety. I mean, this was the kid who asked us to make sure we booked a restaurant with escargot because she had never tried it. I'm not sure she would have had the appetite for it at 5 though.

Once or twice during that 2 week trip, she wanted kids meals, so we payed for those out of pocket and saved the adult credit for another meal. We always seem to plan more meals than credits.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

We aged DD when she was 8 for the variety. I mean, this was the kid who asked us to make sure we booked a restaurant with escargot because she had never tried it. I'm not sure she would have had the appetite for it at 5 though.

Once or twice during that 2 week trip, she wanted kids meals, so we payed for those out of pocket and saved the adult credit for another meal. We always seem to plan more meals than credits.

Do you have to upgrade the park tickets too, or can you just upgrade the dining plan?

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

Do you have to upgrade the park tickets too, or can you just upgrade the dining plan?

You have to upgrade the park tickets, too. Basically, they become 10 for all purposes...which is fair, IMO.