You guys are still cracking me up!!

[frayedend]

I haven't been to the World since August but my friend just asked me about the DDP and I figured I'd check the boards for any updates.

And I can't believe all the nonsense that is still going on here.

First, someone saying they had to eat their kids Chicken strips and give the kid the burger. Well, Chicken Strips aren't on the kids menu, only the nuggets right? So if you ordered the strips with a child credit then you beat the system anyway.

My point is this...I never ever, not even once, got question when ordering an adult counter service for my kid. I had my kid with me and ordered 2 Adults and said "I'll pay for his if I have to, he doesn't want the kids meal" and they said..."No problem we can put it all on the dining plan"

Pizza Planet, they said, "We don't have a kids menu so the kids order from the adult menu on the ddp." (they then gave my kids a gigantinormous tub of coke, just like the adults).

So it appears they separated the TS credits. No worries. The TS places always had pretty good choices for the kids and if not enough then the adult meals were more than enough to share.

All I can say to newbies is DON'T WORRY! The DDP is worth it. The convenience alone is worth it. And even if you have to buy a few meals, it's still worth it. Go with this attitude and you'll be fine. Seriously, they were very very flexible. CS breakfast places let you use snacks for some things so the kids didn't waste credits. It's Disney, Don't worry! (just don't make Tigger angry )

 

[Tigge50447]

I used the dining plan last time and plan on using it in 2 weeks. The 1st time was free so all was good no matter what they gave us for food, I mean it was free can't beat that. This time I decided to pay for it. I figured it was easier to know we would be eating someplace and it was already paid for would make the trip more enjoyable not seeing a bill for $70 bucks for 2 people at dinner. Here's a tip for those of you going with young children or even those adults. My mom's grandmother did this back in the day but now with the modern technology of ziplock baggies, pack a few and save those cookies or whatever in a baggie and bring it back to the hotel, why throw it out when you might want a midnight snack back at the resort

 

[DisneyKidds]

Well, Chicken Strips aren't on the kids menu....

There are a half dozen or so places that have chicken tenders or chicken strips on the kids menu.......primarily in the resorts as opposed to the parks.

 

[Lewisc]

My point is this...I never ever, not even once, got question when ordering an adult counter service for my kid. I had my kid with me and ordered 2 Adults and said "I'll pay for his if I have to, he doesn't want the kids meal" and they said..."No problem we can put it all on the dining plan"

So it appears they separated the TS credits. No worries. The TS places always had pretty good choices for the kids and if not enough then the adult meals were more than enough to share.

All I can say to newbies is DON'T WORRY! The DDP is worth it. The convenience alone is worth it. And even if you have to buy a few meals, it's still worth it. Go with this attitude and you'll be fine. Seriously, they were very very flexible. CS breakfast places let you use snacks for some things so the kids didn't waste credits. It's Disney, Don't worry! (just don't make Tigger angry )

GREAT ADVICE, particularly the section I bolded. At least one poster reported CS credits were being separated adult and child. At least one poster said there is a "grace period" going on so dining guests who checked in during 2006 are getting the old rules. It's not clear if the seperation of CS is being delayed or if Disney is going to let to just let kids order what they want.

NO BIG DEAL, go to a CS restaurant that has something your kids will eat, ask if you can get a child sized portion of an adult item or JUST PAY A COUPLE OF BUCKS FOR an adult burger. The kids meal plan costs $11;the snack is worht $3-$4 and a character dinner costs around $15 with tax and tip.

 

[janets]

NO BIG DEAL, go to a CS restaurant that has something your kids will eat, ask if you can get a child sized portion of an adult item or JUST PAY A COUPLE OF BUCKS FOR an adult burger. The kids meal plan costs $11;the snack is worht $3-$4 and a character dinner costs around $15 with tax and tip.

Lewis, I like your suggestion of asking to de-combo an adult burger meal and use the drink and fries (unless of course they start refusing to let you get fries as a side w/ kids meals on request) for the kids, but has anyone done this and have an exact price for doing so? In this post you say "A couple of bucks" but in others I've seen something about saving $1.50 over the combo price (which means somewhere nearer to $5).

We usually don't do buffet meals so while the $10.99/night for kids is more than covered by the price of such a meal, if I have to pay $5 per day per child for each day of our stay, then really, I'd just rather they increased the cost for kids to $15.99/night and let me order then what they want. Of course, others might not agree.

 

[JimMIA]

So it appears they separated the TS credits. No worries.

Actually, they've separated both the TS and CS. I'm at a loss to explain how they hope to enforce the kid's CS credits, but they are definitely seperate. I guess the only enforcement is if you use adult CS's for children, you'll run out of adult CS's and have a bunch of kid CS's left over.

But they are definitely tracking both -- folks have posted scans of their receipts showing both tracked.

 

[jodifla]

GREAT ADVICE, particularly the section I bolded. At least one poster reported CS credits were being separated adult and child. At least one poster said there is a "grace period" going on so dining guests who checked in during 2006 are getting the old rules. It's not clear if the seperation of CS is being delayed or if Disney is going to let to just let kids order what they want.

NO BIG DEAL, go to a CS restaurant that has something your kids will eat, ask if you can get a child sized portion of an adult item or JUST PAY A COUPLE OF BUCKS FOR an adult burger. The kids meal plan costs $11;the snack is worht $3-$4 and a character dinner costs around $15 with tax and tip.

But as DDP buyers have told you, they feel they are spending enough already, and don't want to have to buy extra just because WDW can't figure out how to have decent kids' meals, a total travesty considering their key demographic.

And if you've got 4 kids, paying OOP adds up quick if you've also shelled out the big bucks for the DDP and high priced rooms that go along with them.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Then I guess the Disney Dining Plan doesn't necessarily work for everyone.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Truer words were never spoken---

 

[DCDisney]

But they are definitely tracking both -- folks have posted scans of their receipts showing both tracked.

CS are still pooled and not designated adult or child as of January 9th. The scanned receipts were TS only.

Yvonne

 

[JimMIA]

I guess you're right. Now that I go back and look closely at the scans, they ARE for TS only.

 

[JimMIA]

But as DDP buyers have told you, they feel they are spending enough already, and don't want to have to buy extra just because WDW can't figure out how to have decent kids' meals, a total travesty considering their key demographic.

And if you've got 4 kids, paying OOP adds up quick if you've also shelled out the big bucks for the DDP and high priced rooms that go along with them.

I'm sure you're right in many cases, but those families would probably be better off without DDP. I'm sure Disney tries to create packages that offer good value for most families, but there's no such thing as one-size-fits-all.

There are other choices if this plan doesn't fit a particular family.

 

[Nancyg56]

I'm sure you're right in many cases, but those families would probably be better off without DDP. I'm sure Disney tries to create packages that offer good value for most families, but there's no such thing as one-size-fits-all.

There are other choices if this plan doesn't fit a particular family.

I think that individual families would do well to check out the menus and then determine whether their family would benefit from the plan. We have used it twice and found that in the course of our trip we were way ahead by purchasing the plan. My DGD at least got what we paid for, and if we purchased OOP it was not a lot. This time we have a PB backup and plan on just running with it. If she uses her snack and averages one meal a day we will be happy.

Does anyone remember back when the CS meals were just baskets? It was the same throughout the parks (okay, there was just Mk and part of EPCOT then) You got a hotdog or hamburg FF and a soda. No changes nothing separate. It was about $3.85 apiece and my DH could eat 3 or 4 sandwiches. It was all or nothing. His nephew was into weight training and swimming....his lunches were even more. While there may be areas for improvement on the DDP, and the CS restaurants may not be perfect, we always remember that first trip and are happy with the price as well as the variety we now have.

 

[Pedler]

Does anyone remember back when the CS meals were just baskets? It was the same throughout the parks (okay, there was just Mk and part of EPCOT then) You got a hotdog or hamburg FF and a soda. No changes nothing separate. It was about $3.85 apiece and my DH could eat 3 or 4 sandwiches. It was all or nothing.

Ahhh... but do you remember the handwiches?

 

[Nancyg56]

Ahhh... but do you remember the handwiches?

No. What were they. I have to confess that my kids were 8, 10, and 12, and my nephew was 17. I have honestly tried to block parts of that trip from my memory.
OT for sure, but at that time the Big Red Boat was just introduced and there was a notice in our room offering a 3 day cruise with the Disney package. My DH said it was a good thing we did not know about it.....he would have drowned them all . We were at Disney between Christmas and New Years Day so that might explain that.........

 

[salmoneous]

But as DDP buyers have told you, they feel they are spending enough already, and don't want to have to buy extra just because WDW can't figure out how to have decent kids' meals, a total travesty considering their key demographic.

If the buyers think they have already paid enough at $11/day, then they should't get the plan. But it's going to be kinda tough feeding kids for less than $11/day, especially if they don't like kids menus and are going to order adult meals.

 

[bkfree]

If the buyers think they have already paid enough at $11/day, then they should't get the plan. But it's going to be kinda tough feeding kids for less than $11/day, especially if they don't like kids menus and are going to order adult meals.

Exactly! The TS and SC each day for my two adds up to moe than $11 a piece so if I have to buy a $8 lunch for them to split, we are still way ahead. After intense study of the options, surprisingly and oddly the only place that caused a pause on choices for kids is MK, Ironic isn't it. The most kid oriented park is the most difficult to feed them. But once I actually made ADR's and planned our park days and times, it turns out that our dinner at CP one evening and snacks for two days are the only actually eating we will be doing at MK, so we are quite happy with the DDP and our trip that starts on this Sat.Wish I had those brain cells back I burned up worrying about this for the last few months.
This realization has me wondering how so many of you seem to be eating so many CS meals(even TS) at MK? We do at least 2 days at MK and sometimes another 1/2 and still manage to eat at other venues and we stay on site and since we fly, we do not even use a car at all.

 

[smiller]

Ahhh... but do you remember the handwiches?

Please - someone tell me about these! I remember reading all about them in the old Birnbaum guides but never saw one in person.