dining plan ?

Avatar for lisab6899
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Registered: 03-25-2003
dining plan ?
6
Wed, 07-18-2007 - 4:59pm

my daughter will be 10 when we go next summer. we are getting the dining plan, however i think 10 year olds have to pay adult price correct?

has anyone had a 10 year old on the adult plan and they didn't like the choices? will they give you a kids meal if that happens?

lisa

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: lisab6899
Wed, 07-18-2007 - 5:17pm

We've been on the DDP twice, and both times my DS12 was considered an adult. He's a good eater, and loves all kinds of different foods, so for us, it was fantastic. He loved being able to order filet mignon at Le Cellier, and the fried chicken platter at 50's Prime Time. We ate a few buffets and family-style restaurants too, and he ate whatever he wanted there. He chose some items from the kids selections, and some from the main selections.

The counter service options were WAY WAY WAY better for him. My DS8 would have gladly switched with my older son...he wanted a cheeseburger and there were no cheeseburgers on the kids menu! At Pop, he wanted a hotdog, but you could only get a hotdog as an adult meal. (dumb if you ask me!)

I'm sure if you wanted to order a kids meal using an adult credit, they could make it work, however you'll be the one taking a loss in the long run. I don't know if I'd be happy paying almost $40 a day for a meal plan and using it for $6.99 kids meals, but that's just me.

If you are interested in looking at menus to see if there are choices your daughter might eat, take a look at www.allearsnet.com

Marcy

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Avatar for laurieh88
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Registered: 03-25-2003
In reply to: lisab6899
Wed, 07-18-2007 - 7:22pm

I have 3 very, VERY bad eaters in my oldest 3 kids, which is why we've never been interested in the dining plan. Mine are "chicken and fries only" kind of kids. :(

If your child is a good eater at 10, I think the adult dining would make your daughter much happier than the kids' menu, as the previous poster suggested.

LAURIE IN OH, Mom to:
Alex, 12.5 years old
Julianne and Leah, 11 years old
Audrey, 3.5 years old

Disneyworld trips in 1973, 1986, 1987, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006
Upcoming Setember-October 2007 trip!!!

LAURIE IN OH, Mom to:


Alex, 1

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Registered: 03-21-2007
In reply to: lisab6899
Thu, 07-19-2007 - 3:02am

I'm interested in more dining plan input, please. We'll be there for 9 nights, 2 adults one child, which automatically puts us at $820 for the plan. That's a LOT of money! It's me in our case, not the child, that makes it 'not worth it'. On a typical day, I can see our eating patterns more or less like this:

Breakfast: Cereal in the room (most days)...or a "snack credit" (pastry from the Main St Bakery for instance, will probably do this twice during our trip)...or a TS Character Buffets (planned for 1 or maybe 2 of the days).
Lunch and Dinner: 2 CS meals to share between the three of us, or if at a TS, DH and I would probably each get an entree and share EITHER an appetizer or a dessert, DS would get his own meal and dessert.
Snacks: Definitely 3 Mickey Bars or 3 Dole Whips, plus later 1 big popcorn to share between the three of us during the parade :)

When I add this up, times the 10 days we'd be there, it doesn't really add up what we'd pay for the DDP. Some days it gets close, but not really...Does this sound right? I really wanted to justify getting the DDP in order to simplify our lives and eliminate all plans of cooler, trail mix, etc...but then again I don't like the thought of all the TIME we'd be spending on getting food when we could be enjoying the attractions, either...so in a way, munching on our snacks while sitting at a show seems a lot simpler than having to line up at a counter or sit at a table...kwim? Can you tell I'm still divided??

Avatar for cl_ktbugsmom
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: lisab6899
Thu, 07-19-2007 - 8:33am

If you like the simplicity of it you could get a visa gift card and load it with say $1000 or a little more than you reasonably think you'd spend on food and then use it just like the dining plan. Don't look at costs when you're at the restaurants, get only 1 appetizer, order off the kids menu, or have your son order off the adult menu.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-25-2004
In reply to: lisab6899
Thu, 07-19-2007 - 8:52am

mammainoregon, I think you know your family best...
BUT the DDP not only simplifies things for you (THe tax and gratuity are included!) it offers you teh most versitility.

At your Sit down meals (You didn't mention now old your child is) you may "Swap" with your child and if they are a big eater, you would order their meal off the adult menu and they would order your meal off the child's. If you have a cooler/ fridge in your room, leftover desserts can be breakfasts and left over meals can be snacks!

You and your DH could order just your meals, have your child eat one of the appetizers and share in the 2 desserts. The "extra" "kids'" TS Credits CAN be turned in for CS credits. (I"m not positive, but I think you can turn 1 TS credit in for 2 CS credits)

You can split meals at CS places and have plenty of credits to eat at more than one CS a day if you plan on doing any "Signatue" Table service places that would require 2 credits, or even use them for breakfasts int eh park, saving your snack credits. Main Street bakery allowed us to use 1 CS credit for a big pastery, a smaller pastery, milk, OJ, AND coffee. Not exactly a "good deal" but at least we didn't have to "spend" 5 "Snack " credits on it, and we still had enough CS credits to use our entire trip thanks to plate sharing. THis was our "breakfast" one day and it fed Dh, myself, DD5, DD4 and DS15 months (Along with the fruit we brought from out room)

most every snack under $4 is included on the plan.

Yes, it seems like a big chunk of $$ up front, but I like that it is "taken care of" before we even set foot on site so we have less $$ to deal with during our trip.

I am a big fan of the DDP can ya tell? LOL!

Last year we got it for free, this your we are paying nearly $100 Per night (Edited) for our family. Still a great deal if you ask me!!! We saved all our recipet last year and noticed there were some TS meals we ahd that were NOT 2 credits, but still would have cost us over $100 per MEAL and we still had "credits" to eat CS and snacks!!

Best of luck to you whatever you decide!

~ELena (Back to teh world in 27 days!!)




Edited 7/19/2007 9:00 am ET by eclownchk
~Elena Princess Of Everyday Adventures! event.png
Avatar for laurieh88
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
In reply to: lisab6899
Thu, 07-19-2007 - 9:36am

We are one of those families that puts food at the very bottom of our list at WDW. The last thing we want to do is have to be at a certain place at a certain time for a sit-down meal. If it was possible to just walk into a place and eat when it fit into our day and when we were ready to eat, we'd be more inclined to use the dining plan....but that's not how it works.

We always have breakfast in our room, snacks mid-morning, counter service lunch, more snacks for the kids if they are hungry, counter service dinner. I have a few snacks packed in my bag, but not much. We spend about $100 for the 6 of us each day on food, approximately.

IMO, it depends upon your family and how excited you get about eating.....if you're eating for fuel or really into the food. There's definitely some great food at WDW, if you WANT to fit it into your day.

LAURIE IN OH, Mom to:
Alex, 12.5 years old
Julianne and Leah, 11 years old
Audrey, 3.5 years old

Disneyworld trips in 1973, 1986, 1987, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006
Upcoming Setember-October 2007 trip!!!

LAURIE IN OH, Mom to:


Alex, 1