Counter Service for DDP Kids

[cmjmom]

This is probably a dumb question so I apologize. Do the kids have to order off a kids menu for counter service meals? I thought I read somewhere that it doesn't matter whether or not your a kid or adult when ordering counter service meals. Thanks!

[Strmchsr]

Kids have to order from the kids menu, TS or CS, when there is one available. Not every CS has a kids menu.

[TheRustyScupper]

. . . I thought I read somewhere that it doesn't matter whether or not your a kid or adult when ordering counter service meals . . .

1) It used to not matter.
2) But, WDW started differentiating adult from child coupons.
3) Now, there is no way to escape it.
4) If there is a child's menu, they must order from it.

NOTE: People started to abuse the DDP. One of the abuses was using child coupons to buy adult meals at CS. So, WDW took moves to tighten down the DDP, and this was one of those moves. Unfortunately, people's own greed killed this.

[LibertyTreeGal]

Unfortunately, yes -- and the above poster is right, people abused the system and so it got awful for all of us. :( Which is fine, if your child is used to eating nothing but chicken strips, hamburgers and mac and cheese for a week solid....

My recommendation is to use their CS for breakfast items and pay OOP for lunch, that's what we do. Works out well, and they can easily split an adult CS lunch.

[locodemickey]

We were just there a couple days ago and they did not differenciate between adult and child CS credits. We got adult CS meals for our kids - the guy at the concierge desk said we could do it (not for TS though).

[Mousefever]

There might be some wiggle room on some items on the kid's CS menu. I was annoyed that at many locations the only offering for a kid's dessert was sugar free jello. Maybe that would be OK for a couple meals, but not all week. I started asking if we could substitue a different dessert for the jello and was told that was OK every time I asked.


:dory:

[magicofdisney]

Unfortunately, yes -- and the above poster is right, people abused the system and so it got awful for all of us. :( Which is fine, if your child is used to eating nothing but chicken strips, hamburgers and mac and cheese for a week solid....

My recommendation is to use their CS for breakfast items and pay OOP for lunch, that's what we do. Works out well, and they can easily split an adult CS lunch.
I'm curious how this became "awful for all of us". I'm not trying to single out your response, but this seems to be a typical answer. If we're all following the rules anyway, then this shouldn't affect how we feel. Chicken strips, hamburgers and mac and cheese have always been child fare. If the DDP isn't being used, then a child can order whatever the parent is willing to pay for.

[MizMissy]

Unfortunately, yes -- and the above poster is right, people abused the system and so it got awful for all of us. :( Which is fine, if your child is used to eating nothing but chicken strips, hamburgers and mac and cheese for a week solid....

My recommendation is to use their CS for breakfast items and pay OOP for lunch, that's what we do. Works out well, and they can easily split an adult CS lunch.


Can you tell me where to find hamburgers on CS kids meal? This is a big problem for me because my picky eater DD doesn't eat chicken nuggets, PB&J (PB, but not grape jelly), hot dogs or corn dogs .... only hamburgers. Last year, I had to order the kids meal for myself and let her have my hamburger. When I discovered they did not differentiate betwee kids and adult credits last year, I took advantage of it on CS meals because I was tired of mini corn dogs! Sorry if I ruined it for everyone, but I think it's crazy that I couldn't find a kids meal hamburger option!

[LibertyTreeGal]

Can you tell me where to find hamburgers on CS kids meal? This is a big problem for me because my picky eater DD doesn't eat chicken nuggets, PB&J (PB, but not grape jelly), hot dogs or corn dogs .... only hamburgers. Last year, I had to order the kids meal for myself and let her have my hamburger. When I discovered they did not differentiate betwee kids and adult credits last year, I took advantage of it on CS meals because I was tired of mini corn dogs! Sorry if I ruined it for everyone, but I think it's crazy that I couldn't find a kids meal hamburger option!

Not sure where you can find it on a CS meal now -- menus have changed alot in the last year and a half for kids, you can find it for TS at some places, like WCC -- chicken nuggets is your typical lunch :ack:

[aurorafan]

Can you tell me where to find hamburgers on CS kids meal? This is a big problem for me because my picky eater DD doesn't eat chicken nuggets, PB&J (PB, but not grape jelly), hot dogs or corn dogs .... only hamburgers. Last year, I had to order the kids meal for myself and let her have my hamburger. When I discovered they did not differentiate betwee kids and adult credits last year, I took advantage of it on CS meals because I was tired of mini corn dogs! Sorry if I ruined it for everyone, but I think it's crazy that I couldn't find a kids meal hamburger option!

I was going to ask about this too. My oldest DS likes Chicken nuggets, but won't want to eat them the entire week ;). I'm really surprised they've taken off "typical" kids items, rather than just enlarging the selection with healthier choices. He likes a variety of kids items--pizza, hotdogs, chicken nuggets, hamburgers and tacos being his favorite, but from what I've been reading it looks like he'll only have nuggets to choose from for CS meals most of the time. DH and I have no problem eating the kids nuggets while he eats our adult hamburger, but we don't want to do it the entire week either :ack:. Maybe we should think about going for our afternoon breaks early so we can eat at the hotel foodcourt (POR)--I think it has more choices if I remember correctly?

[LibertyTreeGal]

I'm curious how this became "awful for all of us". I'm not trying to single out your response, but this seems to be a typical answer. If we're all following the rules anyway, then this shouldn't affect how we feel. Chicken strips, hamburgers and mac and cheese have always been child fare. If the DDP isn't being used, then a child can order whatever the parent is willing to pay for.

Well, "child fare" depends on what you feed your child. Mine don't eat that stuff, they eat what adults eat -- and that was what they used to be able to eat at WDW prior to 2007 when they changed everything (largely in response to the DDP). We used to be able to order things like salmon off the child menus at TS locations, but now we can't, it's all beefy macaroni, mac and cheese, and chicken fingers, which isn't healthy -- it's fried and fat and sugar and carbs. They think they can make up for it by offering grapes alongside the fried stuff, huh?

The DDP became a hassle in January of 2007 when they started differentiating between child and adult credits, something that would be unnecessary if people weren't trying to cheat the system and get something for relatively nothing.

So anyway, yes, this is our last trip on the DDP the way it is. Right now we get around it by being careful with our ADRs and using the Child CS credits for breakfast items so we can get the boys something healthier for lunch.

But before the changes, it was sure a lot easier to get something healthy for the kids to eat. Not to mention the fact that you didn't have to be rabid about checking to make sure they take the credits off of the right places. Oy vey!

[Figment!]

The following has been part of the Dining Plan Literature (distributed to all Guests who purchase it) since it began:
Q. Can Guests ages 3-9 order anything off the menu?
A. No, Guests ages 3-9 must order from a children’s menu, where available.

The following was added to the Dining Plan Literature (distributed to all Guests who purchase it) for the 2007 plan:
Q. Can Guests ages 10+ use Guests ages 3-9 meal entitlements?
A. Sorry, meal entitlements can not be shared between Guests ages 10+ and Guests ages3-9.

[aurorafan]

The following has been part of the Dining Plan Literature (distributed to all Guests who purchase it) since it began:

The following was added to the Dining Plan Literature (distributed to all Guests who purchase it) for the 2007 plan:

Okay, I understand the abuse that was happening before, but if the 4 of us have 2 adult and 2 child CS credits for each day, and we order 2 adult and 2 child meals, does it really matter who eats what?

[TBY2225]

I wouldn't think so. Last year my DD4 and I shared our meals at both CS and TS. We would order 1 adult and 1 child credit at each meal and share what we had. SOmetimes I would just order an adult CS and we would share. Then I could use her CS for her breakfast another time, or later in the day if we wanted a snack! This worked really well. We were not cheating the system because we did not use her credits for us, we just used them wisely!

[DizneyRox]

Okay, I understand the abuse that was happening before, but if the 4 of us have 2 adult and 2 child CS credits for each day, and we order 2 adult and 2 child meals, does it really matter who eats what?
No, you can share the meals once delivered to the table.

The abouse that was happening was 2 adults and 2 children were showing up for lunch. Ordering 2 adult meals, and 2 child meals, paying OOP for the child meals. THen they would show up for dinner and order 2 adult meals and 2 child meals. Of course again, paying OOP for the child meals, using the unused child credits for their adult meals, which is why they now differentiate between child and adult credits.

[magicofdisney]

Well, "child fare" depends on what you feed your child. Mine don't eat that stuff, they eat what adults eat -- and that was what they used to be able to eat at WDW prior to 2007 when they changed everything (largely in response to the DDP). We used to be able to order things like salmon off the child menus at TS locations, but now we can't, it's all beefy macaroni, mac and cheese, and chicken fingers, which isn't healthy -- it's fried and fat and sugar and carbs. They think they can make up for it by offering grapes alongside the fried stuff, huh?

The DDP became a hassle in January of 2007 when they started differentiating between child and adult credits, something that would be unnecessary if people weren't trying to cheat the system and get something for relatively nothing.

So anyway, yes, this is our last trip on the DDP the way it is. Right now we get around it by being careful with our ADRs and using the Child CS credits for breakfast items so we can get the boys something healthier for lunch.

But before the changes, it was sure a lot easier to get something healthy for the kids to eat. Not to mention the fact that you didn't have to be rabid about checking to make sure they take the credits off of the right places. Oy vey!
I get what you're saying.

I haven't used the DDP since last year. Back then, your receipt stated how many total credits you still had available. How is it different now? Does the receipt state how many adult and how many child credits are available?

[aurorafan]

No, you can share the meals once delivered to the table.

The abouse that was happening was 2 adults and 2 children were showing up for lunch. Ordering 2 adult meals, and 2 child meals, paying OOP for the child meals. THen they would show up for dinner and order 2 adult meals and 2 child meals. Of course again, paying OOP for the child meals, using the unused child credits for their adult meals, which is why they now differentiate between child and adult credits.

That's what I thought, but then the post about sharing from the Disney literature made me wonder :). I would never do what you've mentioned here, just what I said before which is to order what we're allowed (2 adult and 2 kid meals using those credits) and then switch the meals if DS wants something other than chicken fingers ;).

Thanks so much!

[jszczur5]

Okay, I understand the abuse that was happening before, but if the 4 of us have 2 adult and 2 child CS credits for each day, and we order 2 adult and 2 child meals, does it really matter who eats what?

I wouldn't think so. We kind of just pile all the food on one or two trays and the four of us eat what we like. I don't eat carbs, so I don't see how anyone would complain if I let my sons eat extra fries. Surely that's better than food being wasted?

[milhouse]

Disney does have to work on the kids meal shoices especially for CS. There were some big annoyances like no kids hamburger choice at Pecos Bill or no kids cold cut sandwich choice at Pinnocio's. I don't think it's asking too much to have smaller versions of the adult meals that are being served.