Two Year Olds Free at Character Dining on DDP?

[Katems]

Hello, if two adults and one two year old book a MYW package Plus Dining, is the two year old still free at the character breakfasts and dinners? Is the two year old ALWAYS free at a character meal, regardless of whether or not one has the dining plan? Thanks!

 

[renessa]

The two year old will not be on the plan....but they will eat free at buffets.

 

[mom2alix]

Children under 3 are free at buffets and can eat off your plate for free at other restaurants. My experience with DS 18 months was that they also gave him a free milk at the buffets as well as at PTC and WCC. The only place where we had to pay OOP for his milk was at Teppenyaki.

 

[Katems]

Hmmm...this means the two year old can't get any snack credits, correct? And she can ONLY eat off Mom's plate? Mom isn't likely to order chicken nuggets or hot dogs... What does one do then? Order off the kid's menu and pay out of pocket for the two year olds who are supposed to be free?

 

[Katems]

Is there any way to buy the dining program for a two year old?? Why won't they sell it to you if you want it?

 

[lyzziesmom]

I just got back from a trip with a turning-2 year old, and believe me there is plenty of food available on the plan without needing to buy it for the baby. They can eat for free at buffets, and share off of anyone's plates at any meal. Even with giving my DD just a little bit of each thing off of mine & her sister's plates, there was more than enough to satisfy everyone. I think the 3 of us threw away more food than we were able to eat. Gotta love the DDP!!

BTW, why are you only feeding your 2 year old hot dogs and chicken nuggets? Can't they have a variety of 'regular' food? (I am someone who was fed only 'kid' food as a child, and now I have the worst eating habits, EVER. Trust me: expose them to as many foods as possible while they are young, you will be surprised at what they may like!)

 

[Lesley]

At all fixed price meals a 2yo will be able to eat for free....in almost all cases, including a drink (I don't recall having to ever pay for an extra drink, but then again I don't always look hard at the receipt). This is with or without the dining plan. The 2yo in a party with the dining plan is not included in the dining plan....so if you have a 2yo who needs her own kids' meal (some days mine does, some days she doesn't) you will have to pay OOP for those.

As far as I know the only way to get the dining plan for a 2yo is to say she's 3yo and also buy a park ticket for her (not sure how it would work for DVC where you're not required to buy a park ticket). I don't think that would be the most cost effective approach though. While I don't see any reason they wouldn't want to sell you a paid dining plan for a 2yo...there may just be a problem with how they are booked in the system since you need to be on a package? I don't know. It certainly would be more convenient to not have to deal with paying oop for a 2yo at a lot of places...including counter service.

 

[jessica52877]

I think by disney using the term "free" for children under 3 it meant more for most average two year olds. No two kids are the same of course and disney can in no way spell it out for each and every two year old exactly this or that.

My husband and I were discussing that it seems if things are written out in stone then people seem to find a problem with it. I was happy with what my 2 year old was offered free, sure beat paying for everything! As I am sure the OP will be too.

We tend to have my son drink lots of water as it is, especially at parks so I just ordered him water at every meal. He has milk in the morning and the evening in the room, which I did just get with my snack credit. It was no big deal.

He tends to eat "regular" food so that wasn't an issue eating off our plates. I will say I often sacrifice what I might want to order for something a bit simpler but I choose to do that versus paying OOP. Having a child to me is about sacrifices!

I think once you go and see all the food you'll be happily surprised what your 2 year old will eat and that you won't need to be ordering a meal at every restaurant. Have a GREAT time!

 

[Cinderumbrella]

We went last fall with DS2.5 and we were on the dining plan. He was free at all the buffets and family style meals. If he wanted my food, he ate off my plate. If not, we paid OOP for his food (its only about $4-$7 at most places including a drink). Most restaurants gave him his own drink for free when he ate off my plate.
It's really not that much of an inconvenience to pay OOP- the servers are used to it.
Have fun!!!

 

[mjmcca]

Even if you are not on the DDP any child under 3 is free at the buffets and family style restaurants.

 

[brymolmom]

Wow - I'm surprised how many times this has come up and that some people are upset that they don't have a meal plan for their dc who is under 3. I LOVE the fact that they consider all under 3's 'infants' - you don't have to pay for a park ticket and they can stay in your room for free, etc. Believe me - it works out much better if you want your kid to have $5.00 mac n cheese at a restaurant to pay for that rather than have them considered a 'child' by Disney.

And if you don't want to pay for your child - just eat at buffets.

There is so much food on the DP that you can share, but if you don't want to - bring some PB&J from home and have him/her eat that for CS meals.

It would be tough to allow people to buy DP for a 2 year old child, why wouldn't a family with an infant (or 6 mon old, etc) just pay $11 a day for this extra person and eat at all of the best places with the extra credits? How can Disney determine whether a 9 month old child should be able to get it vs. a 2.5 year old child? I'm sure some 9 mon olds eat as much as some of the 2 year olds I know.

All I know is I have a dd who will be 3 about 3 weeks after we return from our upcoming trip, and I, for one, am NOT COMPLAINING! She's riding this trip for free for the last time and I'm going to enjoy every moment.

By the way - IMO when Disney advertises that families eat for 'free' I'm guessing that they in the fine print are really referring to all paying guests. Since a 2 year old isn't a paying guest, no DP credits.

 

[mom2alix]

Hmmm...this means the two year old can't get any snack credits, correct? And she can ONLY eat off Mom's plate? Mom isn't likely to order chicken nuggets or hot dogs... What does one do then? Order off the kid's menu and pay out of pocket for the two year olds who are supposed to be free?

I think you'll find this actually works well in favor of the guest. With apps, entree, and dessert at TS you can probably find something the little one will like. They can have anything off the buffets, which make those a really good deal for families, especially with the free drink.

For CS meals, I had no problem ordering something DS could share, but even if I had to pay OOP for one CS kids meal per day it would be cheaper than buying him the DP and DS can be a big eater. Truthfully, sharing was no problem as I felt stuffed for our entire trip and we never order DS his own CS meal except for the last day and that was only because we needed to use up the credit.