Family of 7 so have to book 2 of our kids in inlaw’s room who aren’t getting mealplan

[Bmh4796]

Hello. We are a family of 7. We have 5 children:
Their ages in March 2019 when we are going to be in Disney:
17 girl
16 boy
10 girl
7 boy
3 boy —will have turned 3 the month b4 : /

We are going on a big family trip with my husband’s parents and his 4 siblings (the spouses and kids of his siblings too)

We are staying at the Grand Floridian and since the rooms are so expensive, we are going to try to sleep my husband and I in one queen, our 17yr old girl and 10 year old girl in the other queen, our 6yr old boy on the floor, our will have JUST turned 3 yet old in the pack n play and our 16yr old boy on the sofa. I know it will be tight but Oh well.

So as you know, you have to book tickets and meal plans while booking the room and they will only allow 5 adults and one 2yrs or younger in a room. So we are listing our just will have turned 3 year old in my husband’s brother’s room. His brother is a newlywed and doesn’t want the meal plan and i figured that’s good because For the 5 of us that we can book in our room, we are getting the dining plan (one up from the QS plan) so we can share with our 3 year old at sit downs. He’s not picky. He likes sashimi tuna. Our 10yearvold girl has to get the adult dining plan so she can totally share with him.

The problem we are running into is our 7 year old. I feel like he needs a meal plan, right? 2 of my husband’s other siblings are families of 5 & are getting the dining plan, but they’re at max capacity in their room so we can’t book our 6 year old with them.

The other sibling is still single and is getting the QS plan, so we can’t book him with her.

My mother & father in law aren’t getting the meal plan so we can’t book him with them.

So how do I get my son a meal plan? Or does he need one? Should we share with him? There might be enough food, but it’s the sort of thing with 5 kids that gets old REAL quick. I’ve had toddlers in my life for 17 yrs and I’m over the can i have an extra cup so i can pour half of the milkshake into it for my kids to share. When your hands are full with another kid, pouring that milkshake is a pain a you realize you may have well hade just bought another one if it works with your budget.

So what should I do. My sisterinlaw says share. But we will be using the beach credits for breakfast and then snacks so we will be short on snack credits for him and the 3 year old. I feel like sharing with the 3 year old is no problem but a 7 year old boy and a 3 year old may be a problem/nuisance? And we can afford the dining plan for him, but I don’t know how to get him one since we can’t book him in a room that’s getting the dining plan??

What say you?
PS: before you say why don’t you stay somewhere less expensive and get 2 rooms, that’s not an option. My motherinlaw will only stay at the grand and pays for half of all of our rooms, so we don’t have a choice in where we stay. Well, we could stay somewhere else but i looked into it and getting 2 rooms at any resort on the monorail would be 13,000 and up. I think we will fit just fine in the room so I don’t want to shuck out thousands for another room.

 

[iona]

I'd book your 10 year old in with one of the rooms that doesn't have the meal plan and pay for her meals (and book the 7 year old in with you). The adult meal plan price is steep for a 10 year old unless they have a large appetite. Of course, if you have lots of buffets booked (where you'll have to pay adult price for her) that theory doesn't work...

 

[sponica]

How many sit down meals are you planning on doing? Can you price out the DxDDP? that would give you a ton of credits to pool, probably more than you need...

The other alternative is just OOP on the 7 year old.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

Does the 10 year old prefer kids meals or would she choose/ have the appetite for adult meals? Unless you have a ton of buffets where you'd have to pay adult price for her anyway, I would put her in a room with someone without a meal plan and have your 6/7 year old listed in your room with the meal plan. Kids are a great value on the meal plan, and because QS credits aren't differentiated as adult and kid, that's another little benefit. Then, pay for any additional meals you need OOP. That way the 10 year old doesn't have to have adult meals if she doesn't want to and you are only paying for anything extra that you need. We love the DDP, but we ended up with so many credits left over, even when sharing with a toddler. We found that kids meals were often big enough for the toddler and our 7 year old to share, or oftentimes an adult meal shared between me and both kids. I know you want to avoid having to do too much sharing, but oftentimes the portion sizes are just too large for one. If you find you need more food, just pay OOP for the extras.

Also, just wanted to note that the pack n plays are just standard size ones. My almost 3 year old still sleeps in one on rare occasions at relative's houses, but he has to curl up as his height is about the same as the length of the inside, and he's 38.5" and 28 lbs. He doesn't sleep very well because hes constantly kicking the sides of the pack n play and waking himself up. Even at just shy of 2 and 35" he slept horribly in the pack n play at Disney and ended up in our bed most nights. I know every kid is different and you don't have a lot of sleeping options, but still wanted to mention this because when little ones don't sleep well on vacation, no one can sleep, and it can make for some grumpy days.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

How many sit down meals are you planning on doing? Can you price out the DxDDP? that would give you a ton of credits to pool, probably more than you need...

The other alternative is just OOP on the 7 year old.

Yes, this. Price out the DXDDP. You will get 3 credits per night, per person that can be used at either TS or QS and can be shared with anyone. Currently, WDW also does not differentiate between adult and child credits on DXDDP. Change the guest configuration around and put the 3 and 7 year old in your room and two of the older kids in other family rooms that are not on the DDP. You will then be paying the child price instead of the adult price for 2 people on DXDDP. The cost, then, shouldn't be that much more than doing DDP and you will have a ton of dining credits to share amongst your whole family.

 

[Hikergirl]

Hello. We are a family of 7. We have 5 children:
Their ages in March 2019 when we are going to be in Disney:
17 girl
16 boy
10 girl
7 boy
3 boy —will have turned 3 the month b4 : /

We are going on a big family trip with my husband’s parents and his 4 siblings (the spouses and kids of his siblings too)

We are staying at the Grand Floridian and since the rooms are so expensive, we are going to try to sleep my husband and I in one queen, our 17yr old girl and 10 year old girl in the other queen, our 6yr old boy on the floor, our will have JUST turned 3 yet old in the pack n play and our 16yr old boy on the sofa. I know it will be tight but Oh well.

So as you know, you have to book tickets and meal plans while booking the room and they will only allow 5 adults and one 2yrs or younger in a room. So we are listing our just will have turned 3 year old in my husband’s brother’s room. His brother is a newlywed and doesn’t want the meal plan and i figured that’s good because For the 5 of us that we can book in our room, we are getting the dining plan (one up from the QS plan) so we can share with our 3 year old at sit downs. He’s not picky. He likes sashimi tuna. Our 10yearvold girl has to get the adult dining plan so she can totally share with him.

The problem we are running into is our 7 year old. I feel like he needs a meal plan, right? 2 of my husband’s other siblings are families of 5 & are getting the dining plan, but they’re at max capacity in their room so we can’t book our 6 year old with them.

The other sibling is still single and is getting the QS plan, so we can’t book him with her.

My mother & father in law aren’t getting the meal plan so we can’t book him with them.

So how do I get my son a meal plan? Or does he need one? Should we share with him? There might be enough food, but it’s the sort of thing with 5 kids that gets old REAL quick. I’ve had toddlers in my life for 17 yrs and I’m over the can i have an extra cup so i can pour half of the milkshake into it for my kids to share. When your hands are full with another kid, pouring that milkshake is a pain a you realize you may have well hade just bought another one if it works with your budget.

So what should I do. My sisterinlaw says share. But we will be using the beach credits for breakfast and then snacks so we will be short on snack credits for him and the 3 year old. I feel like sharing with the 3 year old is no problem but a 7 year old boy and a 3 year old may be a problem/nuisance? And we can afford the dining plan for him, but I don’t know how to get him one since we can’t book him in a room that’s getting the dining plan??

What say you?
PS: before you say why don’t you stay somewhere less expensive and get 2 rooms, that’s not an option. My motherinlaw will only stay at the grand and pays for half of all of our rooms, so we don’t have a choice in where we stay. Well, we could stay somewhere else but i looked into it and getting 2 rooms at any resort on the monorail would be 13,000 and up. I think we will fit just fine in the room so I don’t want to shuck out thousands for another room.

So you have more people in your room than Disney allows and want to know how to get the DP for the extra person?
Are any of the ILs getting the DP and have extra room in their room? Nevermind I see in your post that isn't possible.
You are aware that if you are caught with more people in your room, you will be asked to leave. Maybe you shouldn't try to break the rules, they are there for a reason.

 

[10CJ]

I would focus on figuring out which room two of your kids are going to sleep in. I would not try to put seven people in a room for 5.

Since you want to get the dining plan I would put two of the older kids in someone else’s room. I would not worry about getting the dining plan for either of them. I would just focus on using the credits you have, then pay out of pocket if needed.

 

[Thing 1]

I think paying out of pocket will be your best best but oh my your room is going to be packed. The sofa really is not intended for a teen boy and I doubt he will be comfortable. I would also be more concerned about having them actually sleep in another room rather than just book them there. Maybe the dining plan will not work well this trip. Paying OOP for everyone is also an option.

 

[Macprincess]

I have three children so I know how frustrating it can be to find hotel rooms that fit larger families. Not to mention how expensive it is. However, rules are rules for a reason. Stuffing more then the maximum amount of people in the room fit for 5 and a baby two and under not only puts you at risk of getting caught and kicked out of the resort but it also is a fire hazard. In addition, have you thought about the fact that the two children who are not a part of your room/dining package will either needed to be listed and paid for via another room (can be with family) in order to have access to extra resort guest hours in the parks as well as possibly access to the pools. Booking fast passes is also going to be an issue. Disney does this to prevent people from sneaking extra people in their rooms.

While it is very nice of your in-laws to cover 1/2 the cost of your room you are either going to need to have two rooms at the Grand Floridian or place two of your children in a relatives room or stay else where and meet up with your family daily. I get that it stinks to be separated from extended family on a family vacation but if you are unable or unwilling to pay the extra cost or have two children stay in a relatives room and added to their room package you are going to have to consider another resort.

If two rooms onsite are too costly perhaps you should consider an offsite 2/3 bed room condo or home and rent a van to meet up with your family daily. We have done this many times in March over Spring Break and a good ball park figure for this depending on location and amenities would run between $800-$2500 for a week.

 

[DisneyOma]

Does Disney still have the 'check the room out' policy going? Meaning they will come into your room every day, and will most likely notice you are over the room limit. Even if you book the kids on other people's room reservations, you'll be risking getting in trouble. It has to do with fire codes. I know that's not what you were asking about but no one here wants you to get charged with either having to get another room or kicked off property, or fined/detained during your vacation. It sounds like a fun one. For what it's worth, kids can't share off your plate at sit down meals if you have the meal plan, can they? I thought they charged each person at the table a full fee, which would include the 3 year old.

 

[LaidBackDad]

I think paying out of pocket will be your best best but oh my your room is going to be packed. The sofa really is not intended for a teen boy and I doubt he will be comfortable. I would also be more concerned about having them actually sleep in another room rather than just book them there. Maybe the dining plan will not work well this trip. Paying OOP for everyone is also an option.

I completely agree with this.
Why on earth are you subjecting yourself to the nightmare that is the DDP and all of its ridiculous restrictions? I can tell you with your group you will easily be paying 30-50% more for the DDP than if you just paid OOP and you won’t have to worry about any of the headaches you have now. For sure you could pay for an extra room at GF (at least for a few nights) with the money you will save paying OOP and you won’t have to worry about getting kicked out of your room for over occupancy and everyone will be more comfortable.

 

[Bmh4796]

Yes, this. Price out the DXDDP. You will get 3 credits per night, per person that can be used at either TS or QS and can be shared with anyone. Currently, WDW also does not differentiate between adult and child credits on DXDDP. Change the guest configuration around and put the 3 and 7 year old in your room and two of the older kids in other family rooms that are not on the DDP. You will then be paying the child price instead of the adult price for 2 people on DXDDP. The cost, then, shouldn't be that much more than doing DDP and you will have a ton of dining credits to share amongst your whole family.

Thank you everyone. What is exactly ddxp?

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

Thank you everyone. What is exactly ddxp?

Deluxe Dining Plan. It's one step up from what it sounds like you have. Each person on the deluxe DDP gets 3 meal credits per night that can be used for table service or quick service meals in addition to the 2 snack credits and the resort refillable mug. Sometimes when families have 2 rooms, they will but the deluxe plan for one room and no dining plan for the other room and just share the credits.

For what it's worth, kids can't share off your plate at sit down meals if you have the meal plan, can they? I thought they charged each person at the table a full fee, which would include the 3 year old.

If it's a buffet, dinner show, or AYCTE place (or CRT), then everyone aged 3 or older is charged, regardless of what they eat. For regular restaurants, they don't care who shares or what's ordered. You only pay for what's ordered.

 

[HopperFan]

Hello. We are a family of 7.

We are staying at the Grand Floridian and since the rooms are so expensive, we are going to try to sleep my husband and I in one queen, our 17yr old girl and 10 year old girl in the other queen, our 6yr old boy on the floor, our will have JUST turned 3 yet old in the pack n play and our 16yr old boy on the sofa. I know it will be tight but Oh well.

So as you know, you have to book tickets and meal plans while booking the room and they will only allow 5 adults and one 2yrs or younger in a room. So we are listing our just will have turned 3 year old in my husband’s brother’s room. His brother is a newlywed and doesn’t want the meal plan and i figured that’s good because For the 5 of us that we can book in our room, we are getting the dining plan (one up from the QS plan) so we can share with our 3 year old at sit downs. He’s not picky. He likes sashimi tuna. Our 10yearvold girl has to get the adult dining plan so she can totally share with him.

The problem we are running into is our 7 year old. I feel like he needs a meal plan, right? 2 of my husband’s other siblings are families of 5 & are getting the dining plan, but they’re at max capacity in their room so we can’t book our 6 year old with them.

The other sibling is still single and is getting the QS plan, so we can’t book him with her.

My mother & father in law aren’t getting the meal plan so we can’t book him with them.

So how do I get my son a meal plan? Or does he need one? Should we share with him? There might be enough food, but it’s the sort of thing with 5 kids that gets old REAL quick. I’ve had toddlers in my life for 17 yrs and I’m over the can i have an extra cup so i can pour half of the milkshake into it for my kids to share. When your hands are full with another kid, pouring that milkshake is a pain a you realize you may have well hade just bought another one if it works with your budget.

So what should I do. My sisterinlaw says share. But we will be using the beach credits for breakfast and then snacks so we will be short on snack credits for him and the 3 year old. I feel like sharing with the 3 year old is no problem but a 7 year old boy and a 3 year old may be a problem/nuisance? And we can afford the dining plan for him, but I don’t know how to get him one since we can’t book him in a room that’s getting the dining plan??

What say you?
PS: before you say why don’t you stay somewhere less expensive and get 2 rooms, that’s not an option. My motherinlaw will only stay at the grand and pays for half of all of our rooms, so we don’t have a choice in where we stay. Well, we could stay somewhere else but i looked into it and getting 2 rooms at any resort on the monorail would be 13,000 and up. I think we will fit just fine in the room so I don’t want to shuck out thousands for another room.

There will be no way for you to add DDP to all your children since they will be listed in rooms not booking DDP. Your only option is pay out of pocket for their meals. You could look at Dx but with light eater(s) I would just pay.

The other and bigger problem is that Disney is not going to be okay or think it is fine with you trying to fit all 7 in the room. If you won't consider two rooms that you will fit legally or your MIL refuses to pay half at another resort for you ... then I would discuss with other family members about allowing the children to actually stay with them to avoid any problems.

NOTE: It is very easy to stay elsewhere (like a moderate with two rooms) and meet up with family at parks and restaurants. I get that it's not ideal or maybe what you want to do ... but to legally stay in Disney hotel rooms you can't have 7 in a room for 5.

 

[Bmh4796]

I completely agree with this.
Why on earth are you subjecting yourself to the nightmare that is the DDP and all of its ridiculous restrictions? I can tell you with your group you will easily be paying 30-50% more for the DDP than if you just paid OOP and you won’t have to worry about any of the headaches you have now. For sure you could pay for an extra room at GF (at least for a few nights) with the money you will save paying OOP and you won’t have to worry about getting kicked out of your room for over occupancy and everyone will be more comfortable.

Oh gosh. I’m glad i asked. We are staying 6 nights so another room is about 6,000 more if i remember correctly. If the hotel has a problem with the occupancy, the couple without kids offered to let some of the kids sleep in their room and the single youngest sibling did too. I’d rather not do that though because navigating the parks with her is stressful - she’s argumentative and body and argues with the kids. The couple without kids are cool - but i don’t feel right putting 2 kids in their room.

Here’s the thing. We’ve been to Disney twice with my husband’s family over the past 10 years with my mother abd father in law paying half of the price of the rooms both times. My sisterinlaw wanted her 2 latest children who have never been (were born after the last trip) to go to Disney so she sweet talked my motherinlaw into paying one more time. We, however, were in the middle of planning a ski trip. But now that we have to use our miles to fly 7 people and pay for the meals and maybe an extra room, we don’t think we can go on our ski trip any time soon. My husband is so irritated by my sisterinlaw doing this that he’s refusing to pay for another room because “this is not the trip he wants to spend money on.” So I’m stuck in the middle trying to do it cheaply when we can afford it, but him just being obstinate - sort of- he really really has his heart set on a ski trip in 2020 now that we have to go to Disney in 2019 so he doesn’t want to spend money in Disney like we normally would. Does that make sense?

 

[Bmh4796]

How many sit down meals are you planning on doing? Can you price out the DxDDP? that would give you a ton of credits to pool, probably more than you need...

The other alternative is just OOP on the 7 year old.

We like the sit down meals at night and i would say we will probably do 3 plus a character buffet of some sort. We really don’t like buffets but will do one for the characters. We usually use the snack credits for a breakfast type of item and then the QS for lunch. I do recall having leftover snack credits last time. So i bought some snacks to take with us in the airport

But I’ll be honest. I have not done the math. Maybe the dining plan is dumb? I can’t live on the quick service type food though. I need some fresh salads and fish etc mixed in for dinner. So i like the sit down meals too.

 

[Bmh4796]

There will be no way for you to add DDP to all your children since they will be listed in rooms not booking DDP. Your only option is pay out of pocket for meals. You could look at Dx but with light eater(s) I would just pay.

The other and bigger problem is that Disney is not going to be okay or think it is fine with you trying to fit all 7 in the room. If you won't consider two rooms that you will fit legally or your MIL refuses to pay half at another resort for you ... then I would discuss with other family members about allowing the children to actually stay with them to avoid any problems.

NOTE: It is very easy to stay elsewhere (like a moderate with two rooms) and meet up with family at parks and restaurants. I get that it's not ideal or maybe what you want to do ... but to legally stay in Disney hotel rooms you can't have 7 in a room for 5.

Are the moderates on the monorail though? I’ve never done Disney not on the monorail. The agent just booked the rooms tonight so i don’t know if i can get out of it now?? I’d really prefer to be comfortable and “legal” so to speak. I didn’t feel like i was breaking the rules too much since Disney allows 5 adults plus a pack n play. So we would be over the limit by only one person. The baby slept in a pack n play at the beach this summer and we didn’t have any problems. But this will be 6 months from now. This is stressing me out

And my heart isn’t in it.

 

[HopperFan]

Are the moderates on the monorail though? I’ve never done Disney not on the monorail. The agent just booked the rooms tonight so i don’t know if i can get out of it now?? I’d really prefer to be comfortable and “legal” so to speak. I didn’t feel like i was breaking the rules too much since Disney allows 5 adults plus a pack n play. So we would be over the limit by only one person. The baby slept in a pack n play at the beach this summer and we didn’t have any problems. But this will be 6 months from now. This is stressing me out

And my heart isn’t in it.

No moderates are on the monorail, only deluxe, but they offer buses that drop you off right at the front gate of MK. To AK and DHS, moderates have better bus options that take less time and for Epcot, bus is likely about as fast as taking two monorails.

Problem is that your youngest at 3 does not qualify for the "infant" status. He will be a full child needing a ticket and needing FP+. He will count in the room count as a child. So you are talking 2 Adults, 5 Children, 0 Infants - putting you two over. It doesn't matter if he can/will sleep in the pack & play, only his age matters.

Disney has done a good job of boxing folks in to telling them about all guests due to their room occupancy restrictions, tickets, FP+ requirements, ADR requirements .... and they are not flexible.

If you booked two rooms it would also give you two bathrooms and enough beds for everyone. But if kids can sleep with others in their rooms that works too to avoid any Disney problems. Just make sure your tickets are all accessible to you so you can book your kids FP+ - if they are booked as room packages.

 

[Bmh4796]

No moderates are on the monorail, only deluxe, but they offer buses that drop you off right at the front gate of MK. To AK and DHS, moderates have better bus options that take less time and for Epcot, bus is likely about as fast as taking two monorails.


Problem is that your youngest at 3 does not qualify for the "infant" status. He will be a full child needing a ticket and needing FP+.
He will count in the room count as a child. So you are talking 2 Adults, 5 Children, 0
Infants - putting you two over. It doesn't matter if he can/will sleep in the pack & play, only his age matters
Disney has done a good job of boxing folks in to telling them about all guests due totheir room occupancy restrictions, tickets, FP+ requirements, ADR requirements .... and they are not flexible.
If you booked two rooms it would also give you two bathrooms and enough beds for
everyone. But if kids can sleep with others in their rooms that works too to avoid any Disney problems. Just make sure your tickets are all accessible to you so you can
book your kids FP+ - if they are booked as room packages.

Thank you for your reply. Y'all are all right. I am SO glad I joined here.

I just looked at the contemporary because I really want to be on the monorail. If I book 2 rooms at the Contemporary it will only cost 1500 more than if we went the squish them all into one room route at the GFloridian. Earlier the only room that was coming up at the contemporary was 5 or 6,000 more than if we squeezed in illegally at the GF. I think that 6,000 dollar more room was a suite so that's why it was so much more. Since I was entering my entire family that is the only room that would come up at the contemporary. Just now, I broke us up into my husband, our 3 boys in one room then me and our 2 girls in another room. Those 2 rooms added together will only cost 1500 more that if we squished in like sardines at the Grand Floridian. So I will book 2 rooms at the Contemporary.

Questions:
I'm totally cool with the 1500 more as is my husband. Is the contemporary getting shabby? Should we forgo the monorail to stay somewhere else that's not on the monorail but is in the same price range for 2 rooms?

If I book 2 rooms, I have to put myself in one and my husband in the other while booking since we are the only ones in our family over 18. Will this be a problem with fast passes etc - being split up during the booking process? I kept seeing replies worried about the reservations and fast passes so now I'm worried about 2 rooms even though everyone in both rooms are my family members.

Also, I'm thinking I will actually put our 17 year old and our 10 year old in the second room so I can be with my husband. Is there a way to make sure the rooms are next to each other?

Lastly, is it rude that I don't want to put my children in my sister in law's room nor in the couple without children's room? I know I'm going to get grief from his entire family over this because they want us all to be in the Grand Flo, but I want my kids with me in my room. Period. It's hard to keep 5 ducklings in a row when your 5 ducklings are scattered about & I don't want to have to get them from those rooms and chit chat with the inlaws about where we are going and when blah blah blah every time I need to get my kids. The single sisterinlaw only likes my husband of all her siblings so she's clingy but she's SO difficult (it's why her other siblings avoid her - they're blunt). She ends up arguing with my kids then eventually I lose my cool because trying to accomodate and take into consideration the ideas and desires of children ranging from 17-3 at Disney is challenging enough without an adult child inlaw sticking herself into the middle of it, ya know? But again, his parents are gonna be like "why don't your girls stay with Liza? They can totally stay with Liza." I feel like if I'm paying the difference (not asking them to buy the second room) then they shouldn't give me grief, right? Or am I being bratty?

Thanks everyone. I should probably have hired a therapist rather than taken this to the Disney Boards. LOL

 

[Shanti]

Hello. We are a family of 7. We have 5 children:
Their ages in March 2019 when we are going to be in Disney:
17 girl
16 boy
10 girl
7 boy
3 boy —will have turned 3 the month b4 : /

We are going on a big family trip with my husband’s parents and his 4 siblings (the spouses and kids of his siblings too)

We are staying at the Grand Floridian and since the rooms are so expensive, we are going to try to sleep my husband and I in one queen, our 17yr old girl and 10 year old girl in the other queen, our 6yr old boy on the floor, our will have JUST turned 3 yet old in the pack n play and our 16yr old boy on the sofa. I know it will be tight but Oh well.

So as you know, you have to book tickets and meal plans while booking the room and they will only allow 5 adults and one 2yrs or younger in a room. So we are listing our just will have turned 3 year old in my husband’s brother’s room. His brother is a newlywed and doesn’t want the meal plan and i figured that’s good because For the 5 of us that we can book in our room, we are getting the dining plan (one up from the QS plan) so we can share with our 3 year old at sit downs. He’s not picky. He likes sashimi tuna. Our 10yearvold girl has to get the adult dining plan so she can totally share with him.

The problem we are running into is our 7 year old. I feel like he needs a meal plan, right? 2 of my husband’s other siblings are families of 5 & are getting the dining plan, but they’re at max capacity in their room so we can’t book our 6 year old with them.

The other sibling is still single and is getting the QS plan, so we can’t book him with her.

My mother & father in law aren’t getting the meal plan so we can’t book him with them.

So how do I get my son a meal plan? Or does he need one? Should we share with him? There might be enough food, but it’s the sort of thing with 5 kids that gets old REAL quick. I’ve had toddlers in my life for 17 yrs and I’m over the can i have an extra cup so i can pour half of the milkshake into it for my kids to share. When your hands are full with another kid, pouring that milkshake is a pain a you realize you may have well hade just bought another one if it works with your budget.

So what should I do. My sisterinlaw says share. But we will be using the beach credits for breakfast and then snacks so we will be short on snack credits for him and the 3 year old. I feel like sharing with the 3 year old is no problem but a 7 year old boy and a 3 year old may be a problem/nuisance? And we can afford the dining plan for him, but I don’t know how to get him one since we can’t book him in a room that’s getting the dining plan??

What say you?
PS: before you say why don’t you stay somewhere less expensive and get 2 rooms, that’s not an option. My motherinlaw will only stay at the grand and pays for half of all of our rooms, so we don’t have a choice in where we stay. Well, we could stay somewhere else but i looked into it and getting 2 rooms at any resort on the monorail would be 13,000 and up. I think we will fit just fine in the room so I don’t want to shuck out thousands for another room.

You and your family need to face the fact that you can't really afford the Grand Floridian right now, since you can't afford the number of rooms that you need. It's one of the most expensive deluxes- there are more affordable options in the deluxe category. I recommend getting standard view rooms at Animal Kingdom Lodge. They're priced about the same as the more expensive moderate rooms, yet the resort is one of WDW's very best. Ask for rooms on the Kudu Trail, and you might luck into an animal view. The garden wing at the Contemporary is another good option, as is Wilderness Lodge.

I also agree with the posters advising you to ditch the meal plan. You'll likely save money by paying out of pocket, and it will definitely be less complicated.