How do they track/know TS uses??

[The Hitchhiking Ghost]

Ok - I know the general answer, but wasn't sure how best to phrase this. Not looking to scam Disney, but as we go down the first time with kids (3dd) there is a good chance we may make use of the babysitting services/programs on property. We are also on the ddp.

Here is the scenario, I know you get xx number of TS, CS and snacks, and that when they order the kids have to eat off of the kids menu when available. But say (because you have them in a care program) you just pay oop that night for them, thus not using their TS option. If my wife and I would want to go to a 2TS signature restaraunt, would we be able to use their TS to do this? Basically, does their system track TS by adult/child or does it simply say you are on a 7 night package so for a family of 5 (2 adult - 3 kids) you have 35 TS, 35 CS and 35 snacks and they are all interchangeable.

Or a somewhat related question, we have small kids and the food portions are quite big. Can we use 2 CS (instead of 3) and split them among the three girls, then maybe use the 3rd one to help with breakfast? I didn't know if the DDP requires each person, whether adult or child to use a credit when dining or if you could do as I said.

Thanks for the help. This is our first time going down with kids and am finding the scenarios, especially dining, are going to be a lot different now that there are 5 of us than 2.

[green ranger]

You could use however many CS you want at any given time and split the meals. There were 4 of us last time (2 adults/2 kids) and we would just buy 2 breakfasts and share them and still have 2 CS left over for that day.

I also believe that TS are accounted for by the total, not adult vs. child. So in your example, I believe it would be 35 TS on your card. Hopefully someone else will come along and confirm the TS.

[PopPhan]

You say you have 3DD - What ages? Any 10 or older would take the Adult DDP, under 10 would be Childs DDP.

The TS credits between Adult and Child DDP are NOT interchangeable. I am not sure of the QS credits, but the rule is that if there is a Child menu, the under 10 crowd must order from that. (I guess that actually answered that question!)

Other than that, I believe you can use the credits in any way you like...

[Alligirl]

I do believe that it is against the rules to use your child's TS credits in order to get a 2TS meal. When you go for the 2TS meal it means that you are using 2 of your own credits. Using a child's credits means that you would be paying much less for that meal than the people at the next table using 2 equal credits.

[cajundisneyfreak]

If you are paying adult prices for any of your children then the answer to your question is yes.You can then use those TS credits however you wish.:mickey:

[W24toISMdirect]

The simple answer is that your Room key/ticket yada yada Key to the Kingdom card is linked to account number and linked to that account is your resort room, your park tickets... and you DDP.

For the purpose of account what you actually did was buy a bunch of credit

I.E.

1 TS x Number of Guests x Nights staying
1 CS x Number of Guests x Nights staying
1 SC x Number of Guests x Nights staying

SO

For example if you have 4 guests staying 5 nights you have:

20 TS Credits
20 CS Credits
20 Snack Credits

And each tiem you use your card to buy food, it prints you a reciept with your new balance on it.

Now those 60 credits are you to spend any way you want. You could for instance: Spend 1 snack credit and 2 CS credits one day, then spend 1 snack redit and 2 TS credits (for a premium... or just two TS) meals the next day.

You could be insane and spend all your credits in one day... and then the rest of your vacation in the hospital (for an additonal fee)... it's your call.

Now, here the truth about kid's DDP, and this is where the "BUT IT'S A RULE (according to me)" crowd freaks out and flames me into oblivion (and I could care less), there is NO SUCH THING as a child's Table Service or Counter Service credit. Your DDP is priced according to the ages of your party, and includes a total number of credits, PERIOD. So yeah, if you want to spend child credits on an adult, you can, it's not against the rules (at least not those made up by Disney).

And if you reason it out, it's actually not even unfair or cheating, why? Simple:

Your not actually spending any less than anyone else is, because you spending two credits per adult and then buying food for the kids OOP.

So let's say you have two adults and two kids eating at CRT with the DDP:

They purchased the DDP for 2 adults and 2 children.

They spend 8 TS credits.

Now change it up: You send the kids off to eat with their grandparents or whatever OOP, and just the two adults eat at CRT.

You spend 4 credits... but you buy 2 additional meals OOP, thus financially making up the diffrance anyway.

Simplifying instead of spending 2 credits per person, your spend 1.5 credits and then buying more food OOP.

Sorry for the long windedness.

[VWL Mom]

So yeah, if you want to spend child credits on an adult, you can, it's not against the rules (at least not those made up by Disney).


It actually is a rule as stated under FAQ in the DDP brochure
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/media/wdw_nextgen/CoreCatalog/WaltDisneyWorld/en_us/PDF/2010Dining.pdf

Q. Can Guests 10+ use Guests ages 3-9 meal entitlements?
A. Sorry, meal entitlements cannot be shared between Guests age 10+ and Guests ages 3-9.

[W24toISMdirect]

Ah, ok, I stand corrected... so they did write it down somewhere. Therefore I guess it could be said that your not supposed to do it that way, even if you can.

Though the way I see it if there really was an unfair advantage to be had here, it would take NOTHING for Disney to separate Adult credits and Kid credit.... yet they don't.

[Soccermom12]

When we went last summer I could have sworn the table service credits were divided up between adult table service and children table service. However, the counter service credits were all lumped together.

[Alaska Disney Fan]

Ah, ok, I stand corrected... so they did write it down somewhere. Therefore I guess it could be said that your not supposed to do it that way, even if you can.

Though the way I see it if there really was an unfair advantage to be had here, it would take NOTHING for Disney to separate Adult credits and Kid credit.... yet they don't.

So what your saying is even though they state you can't do it, and you pay a different price for a childs dining plan than you do an adult. If you can get away with it, do it? This is one of the reasons prices go up or they add additional rules or subtract additional benefits(IE removing the appetizer, then removing the tip, and next year removing the dessert) to otherwise good programs-some people will always try a to find a way to "work" the system and get something they didn't pay for.

[cer]

It is my understanding that the Table Service credits do have adult/child distinctions and cannot be used interchangeably. However, if your child is 10 or older (therefore considered an adult by Disney - and you have paid adult price for his/her dining plan) I believe you can use those credits toward signature dining and in no way be breaking any rules.

That is my understanding, at least. :thumbsup:

[DizneyRox]

Actually, even if your child is under 10, you can add them to the reservation as an adult (tickets AND dining) and be fine. There is little difference in the cost of tickets, however the cost difference in the dining plan is pretty significant.

[TheDuckRocks]

When we went last summer I could have sworn the table service credits were divided up between adult table service and children table service. However, the counter service credits were all lumped together.

I agree, I think Disney closed the loop hole in the Adult VS Child credits for TS meals this past year. I could swear on my receipts this past April they stated "2 adult credits" as being used at TS somewhere.:confused: I could be wrong as my DH usually takes care of the paying for meals while at WDW.

[buzznwoodysmom]

In November our TS credits were divided into adult and child credits. After a meal when you get the printout it states how many credits you have remaining. It clearly stated how many adult TS credits and how many child TS credits were remaining. So unless your children are 10 and over and are using adult credits the original poster will not be able to use their children's credits for a 2TS meal. We had a date night and instead of using the dining plan and our children having more credits left over than we would have we just paid out of pocket for our signature meal.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

If you paid for child TS (under 9) you would not be able to use them for 2TS, if you paid regular adult price then yes you can.

[The Hitchhiking Ghost]

Thanks everyone. I knew I'd get some good and accurate answers.

We weren't looking to take advantage of loopholes, but I could forsee potentially trying to have one night to ourselves and using Disneycare for the kids, which made me think we might have some unused or available TS credits that my dw and I could use.

Last time we did dining plan (2008?) it was just two adults so had no idea if they tracked them by adult/child.

Kathy at MJ just booked out MYW package with free dining - so now it's time to enter the ADR fray :party:

[DizneyRox]

Kathy at MJ just booked out MYW package with free dining - so now it's time to enter the ADR fray :party:
Doesn't everyone in the room get free dining, adults and children alike?

[TikiGoddess]

TS are divided into adult and child credits. CS are not. And yes, you can split meals between people. My DH and I split a lot of CS meals between us on this last trip and ended up with enough credits to cover breakfast on certain days.

Kathy

[Alligirl]

This is one of the reasons prices go up or they add additional rules or subtract additional benefits(IE removing the appetizer, then removing the tip, and next year removing the dessert) to otherwise good programs-some people will always try a to find a way to "work" the system and get something they didn't pay for.

Wow! I hadn't heard about the dessert being subtracted next year! The first time we got the DDP it was a great deal. It covered tips, appetizer & dessert, but it seems to be getting less food for more money each year.
I'm not really sure that we would go with the DDP next time. Do you guys feel that you are still getting a better deal with the DDP than paying OOP? Just wondering.

[DizneyRox]

Wow! I hadn't heard about the dessert being subtracted next year! The first time we got the DDP it was a great deal. It covered tips, appetizer & dessert, but it seems to be getting less food for more money each year.
I'm not really sure that we would go with the DDP next time. Do you guys feel that you are still getting a better deal with the DDP than paying OOP? Just wondering.
Couple things...

1. There was only a rumor of the dessert getting removed, and currently it's STILL INCLUDED, but I'm not convinced it won't disappear at some point. But for now, it's there.
2. No, I don't think it's (DDP) a better deal than OOP, at least not for us. In a recent comparison, we figured out costs three ways, TiW, OOP and DDP and the DDP would have been the most expensive cost for us (by about $300 or so). TiW was the cheapest, and OOP was in the middle. Not a huge spread, I was expecting the TiW card to save us significantly more, but it's something.

[MagicalGuest]

Here's a tip for breakfast: The dining plan gives you so much food that my family almost never uses the daily snack. We're not big breakfast people, so we use our snacks toward breakfast (ie, fruit bowls, bagels, etc.) and our CS meal for lunch. Also, I learned on our last trip in Aug. that you can count 3 unused snacks as 1 CS breakfast.

[mrmcgiv]

when we had DDP in 12/08 our cs credits were not designated as adult vs child but our TS were clearly designated as adult vs child.
When we went Col Harbor house we asked if we could use a child's CS credit to get an adult chicken strips meals as they had no selections our kids liked there. The worker told me yes, no problem. But we did nto make a habit of it.