Daughter Turning Three During Our Stay

[JonnyB.]

We are staying on site and we bought tickets with our package but no dining plan.

I know that my daughter will get free admission into the parks for the entire stay, although I have read some horror stories where either the parents or the child said that she was three and the CM pulled them out of line because they did not know Disney's own policy, but my real question is what happens as far as the dining goes? Will we have to pay for her meals after she turns three.

We are going to try to get reservations at Cinderella's Royal Table on her birthday so that will be prepaid. I'm assuming that if we are not charged at the time we make the reservations that we won't be charged when we get there either. We would very much like to celebrate her birthday without having to worry if in doing so, we are going to incur a $50 charge for meal that she most likely wont even eat. Then, the next day, which will be our last day, we are planning on going to Chef Mickey's. Should we just say that she is two?.

Please advise.

 

[powellrj]

No, she will be 2 for dining during your trip. She will stay the age she was when you checked in, so you can relax.

 

[Nancyg56]

She is two when you check in so she is two throughout your stay. In regards to CRT, be advised that she will not be served a meal, but will be dining off of your plate. CM will allow for her to eat from the buffet. You may or may not be provided a beverage, however I have heard that most people are offered beverages for the young ones.

I have no idea why you were worried about moral lectures because there is nothing outside of the Disney guidelines. Now if you were planning to try t get the meal given as if she was three, but did not pay for her, that would be a different conversation.

 

[lanejudy]

PP’s are correct — she will be considered 2 for the duration of your trip for all aspects, including dining. That said, as a 2 yr old she is expected to eat off your plates; if you wish to order her a child’s meal (CRT or other), expect to pay. I haven’t heard the “horror stories” you mention; if questioned just explain that her birthday fell during your trip.

Happy birthday to the little princess and enjoy your vacation!

 

[JonnyB.]

She is two when you check in so she is two throughout your stay. In regards to CRT, be advised that she will not be served a meal, but will be dining off of your plate. CM will allow for her to eat from the buffet. You may or may not be provided a beverage, however I have heard that most people are offered beverages for the young ones.

I have no idea why you were worried about moral lectures because there is nothing outside of the Disney guidelines. Now if you were planning to try t get the meal given as if she was three, but did not pay for her, that would be a different conversation.

I have spent hours googling this topic and have seen every answer under the sun and the majority indicate that the tickets will absolutely be free throughout are stay, but the character and special dining meals will only be free while she is still two years old since we are not on the dining plan. In any event, I have decided to just do the right thing, and pay if we have to. I really don't want to lie in front of my daughter and I really, really don't want my daughter lieing! However, if a CM tells me I have to pay for something that I really don't have to, that is a different story and I want to have a leg to stand on if I need to argue it.

 

[Nancyg56]

I have spent hours googling this topic and have seen every answer under the sun and the majority indicate that the tickets will absolutely be free throughout are stay, but the character and special dining meals will only be free while she is still two years old since we are not on the dining plan. In any event, I have decided to just do the right thing, and pay if we have to. I really don't want to lie in front of my daughter and I really, really don't want my daughter lieing! However, if a CM tells me I have to pay for something that I really don't have to, that is a different story and I want to have a leg to stand on if I need to argue it.

Your terminology is not correct. A 2 year old does not need tickets to enter the parks, and is not counted towards head count in a resort room. For dining, a child under 3 is allowed to "eat from your plate" at meals, and this means at a buffet or all you care to eat meal the child is given a plate and there is no charge. The child is not given a meal at special event dining such as CRT. You may be surprised with "Pixie Dust" however you are not entitled to anything for your child. There is no reason to lie, your child is classified as a two year old throughout the stay, however that does not mean that her special meals are free. If you a meal at any restaurant other than buffet you will be charged a child's price for the meal you order.

@TheRustyScupper has a 411 that explains Disney policy far better than I can, so hopefully he will chime in.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

When you first arrive, after Security, Guest Services validates your tickets and this is where they will ask her age, but they'll be more interested in telling you to get her a free Happy Birthday button at the stores in Main Street.

Then off you go into the Magic Kingdom!

No CM pulls anyone out of the line for an age reason. Now if your daughter was assaulting another Guest somehow and they wanted to make a Big Deal out of it, sure, you can be pulled from the line. But Disney isn't in the business of embarrassing its patrons - you are tactfully led to another location if CM's need to deal with you.

But none of the non-height restricted rides care about your AGE. Actually none of the height restricted ones do either - again, it's how tall are you? for safety reasons.

Why would they be asking your age in a line? For Dining, after you are seated, IF there are concerns about age/payment, your server will kindly and discreetly deal with that AT YOUR TABLE. The Birthday button will make it more obvious - you may even get a freebie or two, depends on what the restaurant can do. But the 2 y/o Turning 3 is a very normal thing at Disney. Don't try it when they're 4, that is how you have CM's quietly descend upon you with a bill

 

[JonnyB.]

Your terminology is not correct. A 2 year old does not need tickets to enter the parks, and is not counted towards head count in a resort room. For dining, a child under 3 is allowed to "eat from your plate" at meals, and this means at a buffet or all you care to eat meal the child is given a plate and there is no charge. The child is not given a meal at special event dining such as CRT. You may be surprised with "Pixie Dust" however you are not entitled to anything for your child. There is no reason to lie, your child is classified as a two year old throughout the stay, however that does not mean that her special meals are free. If you a meal at any restaurant other than buffet you will be charged a child's price for the meal you order.

@TheRustyScupper has a 411 that explains Disney policy far better than I can, so hopefully he will chime in.

Ok. I should not have said free. What I meant to say is that we would not have to pay for a meal for her whereas if she was over three and we made a reservation we would have to pay for a meal for her whether she planned on eating it or not.

Many times employees at establishments don't know there own policies and this includes CMs. I have read many. many instances where a child was, in fact, charged for buffets after they turned three in the middle of their stay. No where in Disney's Terms and Conditions is this situation addressed, so if I am told that I need to pay for her, I have two choices. One, I argue with the CM and get really irritated on her birthday or our last day there, or Two, I just pay the extra money for her and get really irritated that I got ripped off after already shelling out 6000 shekels for our vacation.

 

[Nancyg56]

Ok. I should not have said free. What I meant to say is that we would not have to pay for a meal for her whereas if she was over three and we made a reservation we would have to pay for a meal for her whether she planned on eating it or not.

Many times employees at establishments don't know there own policies and this includes CMs. I have read many. many instances where a child was, in fact, charged for buffets after they turned three in the middle of their stay. No where in Disney's Terms and Conditions is this situation addressed, so if I am told that I need to pay for her, I have two choices. One, I argue with the CM and get really irritated on her birthday or our last day there, or Two, I just pay the extra money for her and get really irritated that I got ripped off after already shelling out 6000 shekels for our vacation.

I think the issue is that while you know what you meant, there are others who are reading along. It is important to me that I share enough information so there are no misunderstandings for those folks.

I imagine that while you may run into a CM who is confused in regards to the aging policy there will be more who are able to clarify the situation. I would just plan to enjoy your DD's birthday.

 

[MomOTwins]

We have eaten at Cinderella's Royal Table with a toddler under age 3 twice and both times were provided with an additional meal from the children's menu at no charge. The first time I specifically pointed out to the server that our little one was under 3 when they asked for his order, and she explained they provide the additional meal because there is no option to order a separate children's meal a la carte like there would be at any other sit down, non-buffet restaurant.

 

[smiths02]

We have eaten at Cinderella's Royal Table with a toddler under age 3 twice and both times were provided with an additional meal from the children's menu at no charge. The first time I specifically pointed out to the server that our little one was under 3 when they asked for his order, and she explained they provide the additional meal because there is no option to order a separate children's meal a la carte like there would be at any other sit down, non-buffet restaurant.

I had the opposite experience. I went with twin 2 year olds. I asked for an extra blueberry muffin so my children would have something to eat. I was questioned, looked at funny, and then the waiter begrudgingly brought the muffin. They were offered drinks. The adult breakfast was not large enough to share.

I also have to say that at most restaurants, we were directly asked the ages of the children (we went when the twins were 2 and when they were 3 and when my oldest was 9 and then when he was 10). Personally, I would just answer that your child is 2 and not feel like it is lying, if it goes further say she was 2 when the trip started and no one ages at Disney.

 

[smiths02]

I wanted to clarify, we were not asked dining age or age at all at events that we had booked through MDE and pre-paid. So they did not even ask us at CRT or the dessert party (but they did everywhere else). In fact, my son turned 10 BEFORE a trip but since we had pre-paid before he turned 10, we were charged child price for a dessert party (we had the correct birthday in MDE).

 

[JonnyB.]

I don't see why they just scan your child's ban to figure out what age they are? If there band does not include a ticket than they are under 3 and if their band includes a children's ticket than they are under 10 simple. Now, i know that would only work for restaurants inside one of the parks, but still, it's a start.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Your terminology is not correct. A 2 year old does not need tickets to enter the parks, and is not counted towards head count in a resort room. For dining, a child under 3 is allowed to "eat from your plate" at meals, and this means at a buffet or all you care to eat meal the child is given a plate and there is no charge. The child is not given a meal at special event dining such as CRT. You may be surprised with "Pixie Dust" however you are not entitled to anything for your child. There is no reason to lie, your child is classified as a two year old throughout the stay, however that does not mean that her special meals are free. If you a meal at any restaurant other than buffet you will be charged a child's price for the meal you order.

@TheRustyScupper has a 411 that explains Disney policy far better than I can, so hopefully he will chime in.

Tiny correction. If you have multiple children under the age of three, only one will not count towards occupancy. I know in this case there is only one child under three, but I wanted to clarify for others reading the post.