DDP credit use by teenager

[grumpypima]

We are looking at a last minute addition to our September trip. Our DS-16 may decide to come. :thumbsup:We didn't want to take him out of school and he did not want to go on another Disney vacation. Where did I go wrong? He planned to stay with his grandparents who live locally. But things are changing, and he may come with us. I'm thrilled, DS not so much.:confused:

We have the DDP (free dining). How will that work for our DS-16? Since he is 16, he isn’t always on the same schedule we are; and he may sleep in, catch a late breakfast at the resort and meet us at the parks late morning. If we don't monitor the DDP credits carefully, is it possible for him to accidentally use our credits?

[Strmchsr]

I think, though i'm not 100% positive, that he should have DDP credit use on his room key, too since he's 16. However, I'm not entirely sure you could get the free DDP for him. I know you had to book by the end of June in order to get the promotion, but since you're just adding a person to an existing reservation they may give you the promotion. That's something you'll need to check on.

The main point - yes, you do need to monitor your credits because I do believe he will have access to them.

[SBETigg]

My teens "couldn't figure out" how to use the DP credits for CS meals and ended up charging everything straight to the room. We had a few lectures on how easy it is - as easy as charging to the room! And we ended up with extra credits that we were in a rush to use up vs lose over the last couple of days. Kids!

So my recommendation is that you go over the DP with him, make sure he knows how to use it and when, and how many credits are his to use. Once mine couldn't claim ignorance, they were fine.

[omearac]

We were there in Feb. and DS and his BF had no problems. They are both fifteen yrs. They went off on their own about half the time and we were all fine. The CM's know what to do if he just gives them his room key and tells them he is on the dining plan. The only problem we had was monitoring the boys snacks (they can eat several at a time). :D

[IloveDisney71]

I had 4 teenagers with me on the dining plan. We all ate dinner together, so I always used my card for that. For lunches and snacks they were on their own. They knew they only had one counter service per day and one snack so it wasn't a problem. We had two rooms but one package so all of our credits were combined. I made everyone keep up with their receipts and they had to turn them into me at dinner, so I could keep up with our credits. If you have questions, you can call the front desk at your resort and they can tell you how many credits have been used and how many are left. I LOVED having the DDP - it was so much easier for us.

[Jared]

Explain to your son how the credits work. If he understands the rules, everything should be fine. It's really not too difficult.

[MsMin]

It's not difficult but sometimes they don't pay attention or want to eat several snacks at once. I had trouble with my niece last year who came as a guest and was constantly picking up snacks using more than her share. My dad too @ 76 had trouble understanding the concept and would go out and use 2 CS on his breakfast-he wasn't paying attention and just ordered stuff. Then my mom was afraid to use them for anything to compensate.

[grumpypima]

Thanks Everyone! Good info!!