Child wants adult meals...

[CrazedDisFan]

My dd age 9 does not, in general, like the children's dining options. Is there an ethical way to handle this? For instance can I pay for her to be an adult? Do I need to just say she is 10? I don't want to manipulate the options and get her adult meals and only pay the child price. We would not feel comfortable doing so.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Yeah, you need to say she's ten. It'll cost you a little more for her ticket, and a lot more for her DDP, but if she's going to order from the adult menu, well... one of the restrictions of the plan is that children MUST order from the childrens' menu when available (and most restaurants at Disney have them).
Or eat at a lot of buffets - there, she's not limited to the kids' selections.

 

[Lollipop's Mom]

Can you still not pay the 9 yr old rate on the tickets, but purchase an adult dining plan for her? Or stick to buffets most of the time, and the few times you are at sit down meals, have her order from the kids menu. Its a $30 difference in price per day. Maybe still more economical to have her on the kids plan and order a couple of extra things here and there and pay OOP for them.

 

[magicmouse2]

You would have to pay oop or get her the adult dining plan. You probably could not get adult meals with the child credit, most restaurants have sussed this one as people were using child credits to purchase adult meals and paying oop for the childs meals. My DD has just turned 10 and I could have said she was 9 to save money but I know she would prefer the adult meals too as there is too little choice for kids and she is picky, especially with counter service.

 

[Anewman]

Let me play the devils advocate.

Ethical would not involve any lies. And if you say she is ten on the reservation you would be required to pay Adult park ticket price for her, and maybe(not sure) the extra adult in room fee.

IMO you have 2 truly Ethical choices.

1. Buffets, she can eat all the adult food she wants.

2. Order the kids meal(so she gets her drink and dessert), and order an additional Adult entree for her and pay out of pocket for it. Combined with the $11 that you payed for her childs credits you could pay about $25 for the extra entrees(per day) and still break out even when compared to buying her the adult meal plan. Plus you would not have to pay for adult park ticket prices on the package.

 

[bicker]

Your best bet is to explain what you want to Disney, and ask them if you can purchase an adult Dining Plan for your 9 y/o. Either they'll allow it or not. (I've read reports both ways, but most in the affirmative, if I recall correctly.) If they don't then you need to decide whether the Dining Plan is right for you. It may not be.

 

[CrazedDisFan]

Thank you all for replying.

We discussed this issue further this morning and decided to just have her get the child's dining plan. Our main source of decision was that she can share at all table services. By sharing I mean order her child's meal allotment and then if she isn't satisfied, have some of our food that we have ordered. Of course, if there simply isn't anything she chooses to eat on the child's meal we will order OOP for that particular meal. This will leave us with leftover child credits, but it will still be more cost effective.

We plan on dining at 4 table service restaurants that are buffet or family style. This only leave us with Le Cellier, Kona Cafe and one more to be determined. I think we can make it work out.

Again thanks for the help and insight.

 

[patsal]

Last year my DD used the child's plan, begrudgingly at first. Over the course of the six day trip she became fine with it. For the most part, since we were travelling with extended family we ate at many buffets--Crystal Palace, Breakfastasaurus, and Garden Grill. For the other two dining credits we ate at Prime Time and Cap'n Jacks. CS left somethings to be desired, but since this was not a DVC trip we didn't have the kitchen and she needed to eat breakfast. Her CS was used to buy her breakfast and I just added a hotdog, burger, chicken planks ala carte to the rest of the CS order and we had plenty of food. Most TS have great children's choices and with an appetizer and dessert your DD will not feel deprived in the least.

 

[ReneeA]

Since LeCellier is one of your non buffet style meals, I would stick with the child's plan. LeCellier has a great childrens' menu with a 6oz steak and also a grilled chicken that is great. Kona's kid's menu doesn't look as good, but says that you can substitute a chicken breast for chicken strips.

Check out www.allearsnet.com for menus. Sounds like you'll be fine.

 

[gigi1313]

for some of the restaurants where ds was not thrilled w/the children's selections (and he saw big sis getting adult meals w/lots more options) we went oop for an extra appy for him or had him/dd split both the adult and the kids meals or even i ate a few chicken strips and shared my meal with him...

you can make it work...

 

[shaycamp21]

I have found Kona in particular is very accommodating and will allow children to order adult appetizers (which are quite large) and I am sure they would make a smaller portion of a adult meal to suit your daughter.

 

[CrazedDisFan]

Thanks again! Portions aren't our biggest concern. The biggest concern was the actual food itself. My dd orders things like grilled chicken and steamed broccoli, chicken ceasar salad, grilled salmon with dill sauce, etc. She is not your typical young eater. She prefers the grown up fare, but I am going to go over some menus with her prior to the trip to show her good options that fit her tastes.

A hot dog here or there is fine with her, she just doesn't prefer to eat that. Her sister on the other hand prefers chicken fingers and ranch dressing all the way every day.