New Dining Plan - age dilemma

[Highland_Holly]

OK, so I was getting ready to (finally) book our trip for Oct./Nov. Our daughter turned 10 in March... so (although she is petite - just now wearing size 7/8) I planned on buying her an adult park pass (as required for her age). I am generally not an advocate of telling someone she is younger to get a deal... teaches your kids that lying is OK, blah, blah, blah... although if you ask me, I'M only 29...

When it came to purchasing the dining package part, EVEN THOUGH many (if not most) of the restaurant's child menus are geared to under 12, the dining package must match the ticket. Therefore, my tiny little 10 year old who would never order from an adult menu will be priced as an adult (at $35 a day). So unfair! I can't believe they didn't think of this when offering these packages. So, we can (a) pretend she is still 9 and buy the kid's dining package (and park pass), (b) don't get a dining package for her and buy her meals seperately (what a pain... the whole point of the dining package is convenience!) or (c) buy the package at the adult rate (ugh!) and hope she develops a big appetite between now and October!

So, those of you with 10-11 year olds, keep this in mind when buying your dining packages.

Holly :kiss:

 

[MinnieSummer]

Remember that you can use some of the dining options for character meals or dinner shows that would normally cost a lot more (even at the adult price). I understand your dilemma but would also find it hard to lie about her age -- especially if someone were to ask her how old she was and she blurted our that she was 10. That could be embarassing. Have you tried explaining your dilemma to a csr at Disney? Maybe if you sent them an e-mail they might listen but in the end you are going to end up buying the adult dinner package so -- keep my first suggestion in mind.

 

[ScrappyTam]

I know the delimma that you are in Holly! My dd will be 12 when we hit WDW, and most of the places now have her as an adult. There is no way she will eat the same amount as an adult. This wouldn't be such a problem for restaurants where you pay by the entree, but for the buffets, sometimes the adult prices are almost twice the kids. If she would eat close to that amount, I wouldn't really have a problem with it, but she won't.


And she's tall for her age (she's already taller than me at 11!), fibbing for us would be even more difficult.

It would be nice to have an inbetween price for the buffets.

I know that I don't have any ideas for you, but just wanted to let you know that you aren't alone. I am looking forward to seeing what everyone else has to say.

 

[righttrack]

And my kids (6 and 12) would barely order from the child's menu. They are young, small, but have very sophisticated palates. My girls eat sushi, thai, indian, vietnamese, you name it.

I think the solution is to purchase MYW+D for the adults and don't for the kids. Just pay cash for their quirky, yet unpredictable eating and use the voucher when they are going to order something big. Thats my plan for next time.

 

[Laura]

So why are you even using the dining plan if its just wasting your money? I don't understand. Without the dining plan you'd probably spend less than $20 a day on your daughter's meals, but with it you're spending $37. It seems kind of senseless to throw that $17 down the toilet each day.

 

[Laura]

I think the solution is to purchase MYW+D for the adults and don't for the kids. Just pay cash for their quirky, yet unpredictable eating and use the voucher when they are going to order something big. Thats my plan for next time.

Everyone in your party has to have the same package. You can't do some with and some without the dining plan.

 

[Highland_Holly]

So why are you even using the dining plan if its just wasting your money? I don't understand.

It actually seemed like a pretty good deal UNTIL I realized that my daughter was going to be treated like an adult... the actual point of this post wasn't "what am I going to do?", it was more about pointing out an inequity in the new dining plan. In a perfect world, when I booked, I would be able to buy the adult ticket at the 10+ rate and then buy dining at the 12- rate. It is just unfortunate for those of us with kids at this age that the two things don't match up.

Holly :kiss:

 

[bhg469]

get leftovers and make sure you have a mini fridge, i always have leftover food when we go to sit down places.