10 year old and dinning plan?

[paigeandmorgansmom]

I have a very petite, picky 10yr old. She barely eats as much as our 6 yr DD. Is the meal plan a good idea or should we just pay for the meals OOP. I just can't see spending that much for her food. I know I have to pay full price at the character breakfast and lunch we have planned, but is it worth just going ahead and doing the meal plan, since we do plan on 4ts meals the 5 days we are there?

 

[LizinSTL]

I have a very petite, picky 10yr old. She barely eats as much as our 6 yr DD. Is the meal plan a good idea or should we just pay for the meals OOP. I just can't see spending that much for her food. I know I have to pay full price at the character breakfast and lunch we have planned, but is it worth just going ahead and doing the meal plan, since we do plan on 4ts meals the 5 days we are there?

It depends on what meals you have planned. If you are going to all preplated or buffet meals, then you are paying for her as an adult anyway at those. Look at the menus on allearsnet.com and decide where you may end up eating, check out the prices and do the math for your family.

I found that as long as the total cost of the meal per adult was $30 or more, the dining plan didn't make you lose money. Don't forget beverages are included w/ the ddp and so is tax and tip so add 24.5% to any calculations for that. For example at Cape May dinner buffet, beverages are not included in the price... your dd would be 25.99 + 2.00 (coke) + $6.86 tax,tip = $ 34.85.

 

[idreamofdisney24/7]

We just came back. I have an 11 year old that eats like a 9 year old. Only chicken fingers and pasta with butter most of the time. It killed me to pay an adult price for her on the dining plan. But, it was well worth the money.
At Whispering Canyon there was nothing on the menu that she liked so I asked Jeffro if there was an adult sized chicken strips with french fries and he said he definitely could whip something up..he did!!
At Planet Hollywood my daughter didn't want all the pasta dishes..so I asked for an adult size portion of pasta with butter and they got that for us..
At Concourse Steakhouse, we got an adult sized hamburger for my 8 year old and my daughter got the child's chicken strips..we just swapped their meals and the waitress was absolutely fine with that..
She also got a steak with mashed potatoes at Le Cellier that we were so proud of her when she ate half of it!!
Even though she didn't eat much..it was well worth the price..especially if you have another child that may possible eat something on the adult menu and get the kids meal for the older child..your just swapping their dinners when they come to the table and your not cheating Disney.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

I think that you really need to figure out approximately what you would spend OOP to feed your family at WDW. Take a look at the menus here and at AllEarsNet.com to get an idea of pricing. The add 6.5% tax and gratuities at any TS restaurant. If the dining plan comes out cheaper, then you have your answer.

 

[Lesley]

I think it could be worth it if your dd prefers kids' meals and kids' portions...if you didn't use her credits for meals and paid OOP. Then you could sort of "bank" all of her adult meals and use them for the actual adults in the party. We might do this for our 11yo ds at a few places. He can be a big eater, but I don't think he'll be able to keep up the pace all week. We'll use any extra table service credits we have left near the end of our trip.

Of course this will not work at buffets/family style/pre-plated meals since you will need to pay the adult price for her at these places (or use her adult credits).

 

[NMW]

My oldest turns 10 1 month before we go. We got the DDP. When we were there in Dec (not on the plan) he ate adult CS every day anyway. The kid choices at most places did not appeal to him. Even our DD 4 ate "adult" burgers at some places because of the weird kids choices at some of the places. Pecos Bill comes to mind-all 3 of my kids got adult meals there-very weird kid choices! We may avoid that place on the DDP.

I don't think we will have a problem with TS either. He likes steak a lot and you can get that everywhere. He likes prime rib, pork, chicken, and meatloaf too. If he doesn't finish it all, I don't really care. My 7 year old would probably finish it anyway!

I think you just need to look at the menus and see if there is anything your child would like and then make ADR's for those places. For instance, we changed Raglan Road to Wolfgang Puck because of our son.

 

[Lesley]

Oh, I definitely agree on the counter service kids' meals, NMW. My 6yo won't even eat the chicken nuggets at WDW and we bought her a couple adult counter service meals our last trip (mostly chicken strips, which she loves!).

My previous suggestions mainly apply to table service meals. This is much the same as many have suggested to use child credits as adult credits...only in this situation you'd just be saving adult credits. I've only once been told my 11yo could not eat off the kids' menu at a table service restaurant...most will even allow adults to order off the kids' menu.

 

[wdwobsessed]

I think it could be worth it if your dd prefers kids' meals and kids' portions...if you didn't use her credits for meals and paid OOP. Then you could sort of "bank" all of her adult meals and use them for the actual adults in the party. We might do this for our 11yo ds at a few places. He can be a big eater, but I don't think he'll be able to keep up the pace all week. We'll use any extra table service credits we have left near the end of our trip.

Of course this will not work at buffets/family style/pre-plated meals since you will need to pay the adult price for her at these places (or use her adult credits).

This is what I am planning on doing for our 10 year old. There has been some discussion about this SAME topic on the thread "New Dining Plan Brochure" or something like that. I was told over on that thread that this was not using the plan as intended ... to order him a C meal and use an A credit for it.

Amazing!

I would think what you described would be fine and is what we plan on doing.

WDWO

 

[akalittleeva]

I may do this too for my ds10 - I will not waste an adult credit on a children's meal - like it was said earlier, he can have a great appetite, but I'm don't think he could eat that much for every meal. We'll see what the future holds with the credits (pooled or not) and what Disney is allowing by the time my trip arrives.