What do kids get on the DDP?

[ccnykamp]

The table service and snack credit for kids is pretty stragiht forward. However, what to kids get for a table service meal? I know they need to order their entree off the kids menu if available, but do they get an appetizer and dessert as well?

[Rick Blaine]

From reading the description of the DDP it certainly sounds like kids get to order an appetizer, entrée and dessert. It also sounds like if any of these are not available on the children’s menu, they can order off the regular menu. That’s the way it seems to read, but maybe someone else can come along with a definitive answer. Unfortunately the answer is usually “it depends on the server”.

[Figment!]

Starting in the Fall of 2006 Disney's table service locations began to convert all table service kid's meals to include a children's appetizer, children's entrée, children's dessert and children's beverage. This effort was combined with their "healthier" menu change over, as well.

At this point I think you would be hard pressed to find a participating table service location that does not offer a kid's version of all of the meal elements for a table service credit.

[Rick Blaine]

...At this point I think you would be hard pressed to find a participating table service location that does not offer a kid's version of all of the meal elements for a table service credit.

That makes sense. I checked a few menus and they had not been updated to indicate this. I think maybe restaurants were getting tired of giving kids ten dollar appetizers with six dollar meals.

[PrincessJadesMom]

We chose to use the DDP for our upcoming trip. My DD (age 6) has some expensive taste for a little girl. She would prefer steak and crab legs over chicken nuggets and mac & cheese any day. Is she going to be disappointed with the DDP?

[magicofdisney]

We chose to use the DDP for our upcoming trip. My DD (age 6) has some expensive taste for a little girl. She would prefer steak and crab legs over chicken nuggets and mac & cheese any day. Is she going to be disappointed with the DDP?

My twin 6 y/o girls and 8 y/o son were highly disappointed. Although the DDP offers children an appetizer and desert, the selection are very limited.

[bicker]

We chose to use the DDP for our upcoming trip. My DD (age 6) has some expensive taste for a little girl. She would prefer steak and crab legs over chicken nuggets and mac & cheese any day. Is she going to be disappointed with the DDP?

Very possibly, and you may want to think twice about getting the Dining Plan. The Dining Plan is crafted to appeal to guests looking for a pretty standard product (i.e., what typical DD6's would eat) for a low price. At $10.99 per day, for two meals and a snack, expect small portions of simple foods.

[PrincessJadesMom]

When using the DDP, can adults give their children a little of their adult dinner to try? I think my daughter would be satisfied as long as she got to have a little of "the good stuff".

[bicker]

As long as everyone at the table orders a meal, they won't give you any trouble whatsoever about sharing between folks at your table. There have been some issues recently with different offices within Disney putting out directly conflicting policy statements about sharing in general on the Dining Plan, but so far it seems like the "forces on the ground" are enforcing a policy that would only prevent folks from sharing with folks who aren't on the Dining Plan and who haven't ordered their own meal.

Keep in mind that parents can always share with their children under three years old. That's explicit.

[cindymouse6]

Just returned from WDW and used the DDP for the first time. 4 adults, 4 kids. Great value if you want to eat only at WDW. DH kept up with dollar value we spent on TS (table service) meals and we never spent less than $240 for 8 --- so we basically at lunch free with a free snack! Review the DDP FAQ's on the main Dining discussion board and print out the available snacks and their locations. I had not seen this prior to going and wish I had it. Thought I was stuck with ice cream items or coke/water. What we found:

CS (counterservice) meals are treated all the same whether adult or child. Therefore, a child can order either an adult CS entree or a kiddie meal. Kiddie meals do not come with fries or soft drink unless requested. They are small versions -- we found the 4 & 5 y.o. ate well off the kiddie menu. The twin 7y.o. eat more and got adult items. Ex: the chicken tender meal came with 4-5 tenders and fries. The kiddie "nugget" meal came with 4 small nuggets. When you use a CS meal, you get a balance on your receipt for everyone in the party... so kids can order adult items.

Tip 2: you can order bottled water with CS meals --- get water instead of coke so you won't have to buy waters later of use a snack credit to get water.

Tip 3: some places have better "dessert" than others for CS. We scouted out places that served Rice Krispie MM bars or ice cream items so we could save up the "snack" credit we would have used to buy the ice cream bar later in the day. We used the saved up snack credits to buy breakfast items -- thus getting basically 3 meals a day this way. We sometimes gave the kids cereal or yogurt in the room and adults used the breakfast snacks. Also, kids many times won't use the CS meal during the day -- they fill up on ice cream or get hot and eat off my plate. Saved up CS meals can be used for breakfast -- scout out places that serve breakfast. We stayed at OKW and they serve a full breakfast (eggs,bacon,potatoes, bisciut) as a CS meal --- so make your CS meals stretch.

We ended up on the last day with 10 CS not used and 12 snacks not used... Didn't think of the breakfast idea till the last day...

TS meals are treated differently for kids --- kids get their own menu and cannot order an appetizer from the adult menu. Only certain places even offer an appetizer for kids. When using a TS meal, you will sign a receipt for adult TS usage and child TS usage and a balance of how many are left for each.

Didn't know most character breakfasts only used one TS meal... wish I had.

Make sure you get PS before purchasing... we had 8 people and it was hard getting PS one week before arriving.. and got bad times... so call well in advance.

Use the DDP for the Fantasmic dinner pkg --- and that was awesome!!! Definitely do that -- 2 of the 3 restaurants only use 1 TS meal (Derby counts as 2).

We found this a non-stressful way to dine on vacation. This contained the cost and the 12y.o. who orders the most expensive thing on the menu could order ANYTHING he wanted and he loved that and I didn't grimace! But it did contain how much he ate and that gave him structure and limits plus a lot of choice.

Hope this helps. Highly recommended! Only downfall is you are tied to "eating" at certain times and places and won't cancel since you prepaid --- limited our ability to go with the flow.... We ate more food than usual... Dessert at every meal??? gained weight to say the least. And we tried things we wouldn't normally try since there was no extra cost to us --- that was nice. Wait staff is great with helping you maximize your TS meal -- ex: Capt'n Jacks--- you can order 2 lobster tail entree ----OR--- order any other entree and add one lobster tail for free.
Enjoy!

[bicker]

Just one correction. Folks are not allowed to get adult CS meals for children on the Dining Plan. Disney's enforcement may be lax, but the rule is very clear: Child meal entitlements cannot be used for adult meals.