changing toddler for dining plan

[delauzons]

My family is going to DW on Aug-19-27th. We have 3DDs(2, 7, 11) I am thinking of calling and changing DD-2 to 3 so she will have meals. If I switch all our tickets to 1 day passes do you lose the advanced purchase discount when I want to change them at the Poly to 8 day PH. Also can I change only 4 of us at checkin?TIA!

 

[jeannief]

I personally would call and ask if you can buy the plan for her without getting a ticket. Some people have said that is possible. If not, just pay for her meals oop, since the potential savings loss and hassle won't make up for the meal savings. Plus if you eat at any all you can eat buffet type places you won't need to pay for her anyway.... so I'd just pay out of pocket.

 

[Letsbgoofy]

I assume you are getting the free dining plan? Don't you think they might question how your daughter suddenly got another year older? And why you suddenly want to change your tickets to one day base tickets? It sounds like you want the best of both worlds - free dining credits for your daughter who is not yet 3 and doesn't qualify for the plan, and not to have to buy her a park ticket because she is still 2.

 

[amarberry]

OP- see the end of this thread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1099028

There are several of us who have been successful with adding our 2 year olds onto the dining plan. It appears that unless you are DVC, you will need to buy your child a 1 day base ticket, but this ticket can be saved and used on your child when they require park admission since the tickets don't expire until 14 days after first use.

Letsbegoofy- this really isn't different than what AP holders are doing this year and did last year to qualify for the free dining promotion. In order to participate in the dining plan, you must purchase a ticket which OP will be doing and what I am have done. AP holders buy a 1 day base ticket to get the free dining and save it for later too.

Disney advertises (especially with the new Magical Beginnings program) that "kids under 3 eat free", but that isn't really correct. Kids under 3 eat free at buffets and set priced meals, but if you order a meal off the kids menu at the other restaurants, you pay. That's fine, it makes sense and all, but like I said, kids don't really eat free as Disney advertises. Many families, mine included, cannot easily share meals, so we need to purchase a meal for DD. I would rather have DD included on the dining plan. We had a ton of trouble on our trip in January. TS servers kept trying to deduct TS credits for DD's meals even after we explicitly explained that we were paying out of pocket for her.

I, for one, wish that they would give parents the option to add on the dining plan (and I'm referring to when the dining plan is purchased, not just "free") for toddlers who don't require a ticket. We tried unsuccessfully to add DD onto the dining plan on our January trip. I am very glad that I ran across this "creative alternative" to purchasing the dining plan for DD. If we return in January 2007 before DD turns 3, we will likely purchase her a 1 day ticket so we can include her in the dining plan then too.

 

[delauzons]

Thanks so much for the info! I am still deciding if I should just pay OOP for her at the TS meals. We are really not doing any buffets as my family doesn't really like the food at them. Also we have done them all, we wanted to try new places. I agree-I think you should bew able to purchase it for under 3. Most 2 year olds need more than just off of the adult plate(besides not wanting that) Thanks again!

 

[brymolmom]

I agree that it would be nice to purchase the DDP for the under 3 crowd - BUT...since they are free guests at the parks and resorts - I'm not surprised they don't let you. Who's to stop you from 'making up' a child?

Personally I think if you want this creative alternative, you need to treat your child like a 3 year old and pay for admission, count them as a member of your room, etc.

And I wish people would stop commenting - or they might start considering 2 year olds as children instead of infants.

 

[noahynav]

I called and was honest with the CM about having a 2yr old and she said we just needed to change him to 3 yrs old and buy a one day ticket for everyone. We did that and canceled our 7dy tickets. We can just upgrade them when we get there. You get the cost of the one day ticket towards our upgrade.

 

[PaulaSB12]

My family is going to DW on Aug-19-27th. We have 3DDs(2, 7, 11) I am thinking of calling and changing DD-2 to 3 so she will have meals. If I switch all our tickets to 1 day passes do you lose the advanced purchase discount when I want to change them at the Poly to 8 day PH. Also can I change only 4 of us at checkin?TIA!

When I read the title I imagining someone was trading in ofspring for food, good trade mabye one up from trading old car for a new one????????

 

[Letsbgoofy]

this really isn't different than what AP holders are doing this year and did last year to qualify for the free dining promotion. In order to participate in the dining plan, you must purchase a ticket which OP will be doing and what I am have done. AP holders buy a 1 day base ticket to get the free dining and save it for later too.

The difference is that the OP is lying about the age of her child in order to get free dining credits for the child. AP holders are not lying. In order to book the package, you are only required to purchase a one day base ticket.

Personally I think if you want this creative alternative, you need to treat your child like a 3 year old and pay for admission, count them as a member of your room, etc.

I agree.

 

[n2mm]

If you change the child's name in the CRO computer, they will be a year older forever in Disney's eyes. This is a two-sided sword. Yes they will get the DDP, but you are also required to buy them a ticket with your package and it will show 5 people in your room....hopefully you booked a room for 5 people. So you pretty much have to take the bad with the good. Kids meals are not that expensive and I believe you mentioned that you are staying at the Poly....sorry, but if you can afford the Poly, then you can afford kids' meals. We just returned and bought the dining plan (DVC), and paid for our granddaughter's meals because she was not part of the plan as she is only 13 months old and a big eater. Paying $6 or $7 a meal for her to eat is not a big deal.

 

[delauzons]

I am the OP. I just wanted to let you know I called Disney reservations and told them I wanted food for my 2 year old. She said," I think we can just change her to 3 in the system and you need to buy her a one day pass. " She said she needed to check with a supervisor and put me on hold for quite a while. When she came back she said it was all taken care of and was no problem. She said she changed the passes to one day passes which we could change at checkin. I never lied or told her my daughter was a different age than she was. Just thought I would let you know what i was told. Truthfully if i paid OOP it would probably cost less than the one day pass but my husband loved on the DDP not feeling nickel and dimed and having bills every where we went.