frustrated with the dining plan About This Page:

[jlhill4444]

Parents that have younger children that eat like adults can purchase the adult plan for their child. We did this in January. Our son is 9 and eats more than I do, so we bumped his age up to 10 and purchased the adult plan for him. He loved the freedom of eating whatever he wanted.

The problem with letting parents decide to purchase the children's plan for kids 10-13 or so would be many parents would purchase the children's plan for much cheaper and if you eat at buffet's primarily, Disney would lose out. I can't see Disney taking the chance that parents will be honest and get the adult plan if their child eats like an adult. (Remember many CM will let you purchase adult counter service meals because these credits are not divided between kids and adults. They are all just plan counter service credits.)

The only way I can see a change happening is if the adult age is raised to 13 or so and all kids get the kids plan unless parents do what we did and bump up their child's age to get the adult plan. Since the price difference of tickets is very minimal, this may be the only option. Although, if the past is any indication, the dinning plan will only continue to become more expensive and not less restrictive, so I really don't see any change in the age requirements.

[Pax]

Originally Posted by jlhill4444

The only way I can see a change happening is if the adult age is raised to 13 or so and all kids get the kids plan unless parents do what we did and bump up their child's age to get the adult plan. Since the price difference of tickets is very minimal, this may be the only option. Although, if the past is any indication, the dinning plan will only continue to become more expensive and not less restrictive, so I really don't see any change in the age requirements.

Um. You do realise, that your last paragraph would have pretty much exactly the same result in the end, as my suggestion? Except parents wouldn't have to lie about their child's age?

Version A (my suggestion): for any child between 8 and 13, parents could choose whether to buy a Children's or an Adult's dining plan, simply by stating their child's actual age, and then choosing which plan to get;

Version B (your suggestion): for any child 13 and under, parents could choose whether to buy a Children's or an Adult's dining plan, by possibly lying about their child's age.

A rewards honesty; B rewards dishonesty. *shrug*

[LilRonGal]

Originally Posted by Pax

So just making the choice of Child-or-Adult plan flexible during those years, might go a long way towards smoothing things over for many families.

THIS!! So much this! Because for now, I'd have Aidan on the kid's plan in a heartbeat. He still orders off the kid's menus whenever we go out to eat at restaurants and he rarely strays from chicken nuggets/bites/fingers/strips/tenders and fries, or mac & cheese. He might get adventurous every once in a while and order some pizza. It's frustrating--I feel like he is missing out on so much--but I was picky as well and I still kinda am (although going hungry during college helped cure me of some of that!), so I understand where he is coming from and never want to make food an issue for him.

At Disney, he is a little more adventurous. He might try the ROASTED chicken and mashed potatoes sometimes. (The kid loves chicken, what can I say?) But a restaurant like Boma would be a complete and total nightmare for all of us because he wouldn't touch a thing there.

So... after that word vomit, the point is that I agree that some flexibility during those years would be fantastic. Kids grow and change so much between 10 and 13, and that definitely includes appetites.

[HollyH]

Originally Posted by jlhill4444

Although, if the past is any indication, the dinning plan will only continue to become more expensive and not less restrictive, so I really don't see any change in the age requirements.

I think you are absolutely right here. Let's face it, Disney has zero incentive to change the dining plans to save people money if they can still sell the plans. If a significant amount of people buy the dining plans even if they don't exactly fit their needs and even if they don't save any money by using them, why change? Most people state that they choose a dining plan for the convenience of it, and convenience costs more.

IMHO, I think Disney has accomplished exactly what they set out to do with the dining plans. They started by offering plans that were a terrific value and they got people accustomed to eating at least a TS a day on property. They got people hooked on the convenience of the plans. And they have steadily raised the cost of them. In the process, they still managed to have a significant number of guest who think the plans are "worth it". Those who choose to opt out of the dining plan still probably choose to eat more TS meals on property than they did before because they have become accustomed to doing so. Win/win for Disney.

[WeLvBCV]

Originally Posted by HollyH

IMHO, I think Disney has accomplished exactly what they set out to do with the dining plans. They started by offering plans that were a terrific value and they got people accustomed to eating at least a TS a day on property. They got people hooked on the convenience of the plans. And they have steadily raised the cost of them. In the process, they still managed to have a significant number of guest who think the plans are "worth it". Those who choose to opt out of the dining plan still probably choose to eat more TS meals on property than they did before because they have become accustomed to doing so. Win/win for Disney.

I completely agree. I have two friends who did just this. "Oh the dining plan is so great we will save so much $$$$" One it was paid for by a husband and I was too late stopping them. (Though via email helped their touring plan after they got to WDW) The other's husband had been a CM for years. But it's been 15 years since he was there and he does not read boards. She does not want to hear a word I say because he knows it all. I keep quiet.

[Tishypops]

Originally Posted by jlhill4444

Parents that have younger children that eat like adults can purchase the adult plan for their child. We did this in January. Our son is 9 and eats more than I do, so we bumped his age up to 10 and purchased the adult plan for him. He loved the freedom of eating whatever he wanted.

This is what I will be doing on our next trip




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[HakunaMatata]

Originally Posted by nurse_mom

We have went back and forth on this so many times. The fact is our kids love Table service meals. Most Character Meals are buffets. No matter how many times I figure out the calculations. We always break even or come ahead with the dining plan. I usually never let the kids get dessert at home if we go out. This is our vacation. So if dessert is what they want.......well i'll fork out the extra cash.

This has been our experience too - we come out ahead with the DDP and we all really enjoy it. It took us a while to even try the DDP, but once we did, we were hooked. For us, the desserts are less of an issue - by our calcuations we come out ahead even without them (we generally don't eat desserts at restaurants). The buffets are costly, and we go to a few of those each trip, as well as some other more expensive choices. If we paid OOP, I'm not sure we would choose those, even though we love them.

[Canada Amy]

there's no way I'd pay for a dining plan. we've had free dining these past two trips. next time I expect to order plenty of wholesome food and pay OOP for meals that we eat out.

[disneygramma]

Originally Posted by phoebec

On our previous trip (2 years ago) I was a BIG fan of the dining plan. We did the deluxe plan and it saved us A LOT of money. All three of my kids were under the age of 10. We used quite a few credits for counter service and still came out WAY ahead. Now I am looking at prices for our trip next year and it is frustrating. First, the cost of the deluxe plan went up almost 30 dollars pp from last year. There is absolutely no way I can justify spending almost 100 dollars a day for food for an eleven year old. So, the deluxe plan is out for us. Next, I look at the regular plan. I did the math and at best, we would be breaking even, especially since there would be some additional out of pocket meals with the basic plan (my kids are 3 meals a day people). Having the kid that turns 10 really throws any value of the dining plan away and that is frustrating. I really think they need a junior plan for kids 10-12. We like to do the character buffets so he will be paying an adult price for those as well even though he doesn't eat like an adult. At the counter service and a la carte ts restaurants we will have more flexibility because he can order of the kids menu if we pay oop. But it is really making me question even doing character meals when we will have to pay 40 dollars for him to eat one plate of mac and cheese and maybe a cookie. That just seems wrong to me. Sorry for the rant!!!!!!! So I am wondering if we should do the dining plan and pay a few extra oop meals and break even (especially if we are doing buffets), or if I should do oop the whole time, or do oop and just do counter service and avoid the buffets since there is no way he will eat 40 dollars worth of food? Decisions, decisions.....................

I agree, we have used the dining plans every year since 2004, we even used the deluxe in Dec. for our anniversary, but this upcoming trip in June, nope not gonna use it, no matter how we crunched the numbers none of the dining plans are worth the money. So we are going to do OOP the whole trip (all 10 days), Yup, Disney has rasied that plan so much that it no longer is worth it for families with those tweeners (our grand daughter is 12 and never eats nearly enough for paying adult prices, she is a lite eater and at times very picky, she tends to stick to mac n cheese, nuggests etc., just has no taste for other things and doesn't eat much of what she does get), so long dining plan!

[juliek75]

That is why we are waiting until fall and going for the free dining. It just seems ridiculous amount of money to spend now that all my kiddos would be counted as adults, but like someone else said about their husband, mine would be stressed out the entire trip having to see the money leave his hands each meal. He's a cheapskate by heart. One year we did go without the dining plan and Mr. cheapo made us eat french fries for lunch everyday!! When we have the DP then we can order what we want and he is less stressed, therefore less grumpy.

[Kelly66]

We were glad we had not done the DDP on the last trip because we found the overall food service throughout the World MUCH LESS appealing. Wherever you bought a burger, Beaches & Cream to Casey's Corner, it was the exact same burger. Used to be we could find different appealing food at AKL marketplace, but not anymore. We ended up dining at the Dolphin several times just to get something different. It may be a cost savings for Disney overall, but to us having the same garbage at the resorts that you HAVE to eat in MK park was horrible. I used to defend high prices inside the parks because of Location, location, but eating the same meal over and over got tired quickly.
Even as an adult (albeit 4'9"), I just like to eat several small meals a day, but that is all together impossible now. Nachos at EPCOT is $12? I feel like DDP or not I am forced to buy a HUGE amount of food that will go to waste. I think I had this happen at Pizzafarri at AK, I couldn't get just a slice of pizza or salad I had to buy BOTH-even without the DDP.
As for the tweenagers, my daughter came up with this smart idea on her own-she would order the kids meal and ask for a side soup or salad. Most places let us buy it as a side to her kids meal or added to one of the adult meals........... Only problem with that was that once she started eating adult meals, then she wanted soup and salad with those too.

[feonag]

My issue with the kids meals is not the amount of food you get but they type. I do not cook chicken nuggets and french fries at home so why should that be what is offered to kids. I would like to think that most people feed their kids normal food and not buy them McDonalds every day. If you start out not feeding them the junk when they are young then they would not be "picky" about the food they get.(of course this does not include children with medical issues)Give them smaller portions of the adult meals, like roasted chicken and mashed potatoes with a veg. I know these are available at at least 1 place in each park but who wants to go eat at Cosmic Rays every day.

[Pax]

Originally Posted by feonag

If you start out not feeding them the junk when they are young then they would not be "picky" about the food they get.

Could you be a little more insulting ...?

Seriously. Kids being picky about food is not always the result of being "[fed] junk when they are young".

I, for example, was a very picky eater as a kid. It wasn't from a medical or psychiatric condition. Nor was it due to being fed junk food - I was a kid before microwaves, for one.

But I hated the taste of bell peppers, squash, eggplant, zucchini, and liver. Still do, in fact.

Added to that, I hated the texture of cooked onions, solid bits of tomato, and similar - plus, the above items. And cucumbers with large "seed areas". Pickles, same thing.

Then there's my aversion to almost every kind of shellfish out there; it's not an allergy, it's not even the flavor - for all I know, Lobster is pure ambrosia - it's the idea of eating something multi-legged and exoskeletal. They might as well be spiders, roaches, beetles, and other not food critters, to me.

And finally, straight-up tomato - as opposed to ketchup, spaghetti or pizza sauce, etc - is a tast so vile and disgusting, that my worst horror story from Basic Training for the U.S. Army is having to eat two stewed tomatoes.

...

My mother did not raise me on a diet of chicken nuggets and french-fries. Like I said, I was a child before the advent of microwaves, and on top of that, we were always quite poor. Our first microwave was a gift from my grandmother, when I was sixteen.

My father was an absolutely gifted cook, and my mother was always pro-healthy-eating - and always fought tooth and nail with me over what I would or would not eat. One night, they absolutely insisted I finish what was on my plate, including vegetables I did. Not. Like. I think I was six years old, or maybe only five.

I sat there (with no toys, no books, no TV, just a quiet kitchen, and a plate of now-cold food in front of me) until around 3am, when they finally gave up because they wanted to go to bed. Note, dinner had been at ~6pm ... I was so adamantly opposed to eating those vegetables, I sat there for nine hours ... and it wasn't me who relented.

The next day, guess what plate was brought back out of the fridge? Yep: those vegetables. And guess what I did? Yep: sat there, refusing to eat them. All day long.

...

Some kids, just will not eat some foods. Nothign short of strapping them to a chair and literally FORCE FEEDING them, will change that.

[GingerJ]

Sean, !

We've had this conversation before, and it's nearly as bad as discussing politics, because we can't sway opinions that are set in stone.

It seems some of the people whose children eat everything are absolutely convinced that they did something right that everybody else screwed up somehow.

The reality is that science has recently discovered that people fall into 3 categories: Non-tasters, about 25%, who go for super-spicy foods (presumably because their taste buds are less sensitive); tasters, about 50% (the "normal" people); and super-tasters, the remaining 25%, who are extra-sensitive to, say, bitter tastes. I had finally realized I was over-sensitive to bitterness even before this came out, because I cannot eat vinaigrettes because of the bitter taste or drink coffee, again because of a bitter after-taste.

So science has proven what most of us already knew: Taste is a very individual thing.

Ginger

PS: I once sat at the table for 4 hours because of pickled beets!

[Pax]

Originally Posted by GingerJ

It seems some of the people whose children eat everything are absolutely convinced that they did something right that everybody else screwed up somehow.

Yep ... instead of just, you know, saying "wow did I ever get lucky with my kids!"