Thank you to this board, but our upcoming group trip will be one and done!

Also, do all 12 people have to be together all the time? The last time I went with my extended family, we kind of did our own thing. Like we went to the same park, but rode different rides at different times, then met up for a designated lunch place and time. Visited, shared laughs, swapped family members and then we were off on a new adventure. Just a thought. I hope this isn't your last trip (maybe one with so many people) and above all, I hope you have a great trip with lots of laughs and smiles! Its exhausting, but from the sound of it, you have put in a lot of work and planning and I'm sure it will pay off!
Thanks!

And no way we will all be together the whole time! haha. We all like each other.....and we want to keep it that way.

We have some meals scheduled together and if we are scheduled to be at the same park, we have some rides scheduled, but other than that, each family was able to pick separate FP reservations and parks they wanted to prioritize. My boys are huge Star Wars fans, so we have a heavy HS itinerary. The others in the group won't be joining us for any of that.
 
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Add this to my list!

So Disney is now enforcing kids on the DDP to order off the kids menu. I have NO problem with this. It seems fair. However, I'm reading posts about not every restaurant has a kids menu (Ronto Roasters comes to mind)! How is this possible? Some people are saying you can have your kids order off the adult menu, but they will take an adult credit and you have to have guest services make the adjustment. What?! That sounds like a gigantic PITA and time waster.

Also, Disney advertises kids can get a non-alcoholic beverage with their meal (milkshake, slushie, etc). But I've read they can only do that when those drinks are offered on the kid's menu, which is extremely rare / almost non-existent at QS. Most kid's meals have a drink included and you can't swap out the drink (at least via mobile ordering) to a specialty drink.

This seems to me they are offering a benefit that is almost impossible to use.

If your systems can't handle your policy change, don't implement it until they can!

Kids need to eat off kid's menus? No problem, just make sure there is one at all restaurants. Kids get kid's specialty drinks included? Great, put them on every kid's menu. It isn't rocket science.

Disney just seems to forget parents bring kids there (FP for both groups or just one with rider swap??...inconsistent measuring of heights on rides...kids dining plan inconsistencies, charging full adult prices for a dessert party with alcohol included for 10 years old and up, etc)
 
Last edited:
Add this to my list!

So Disney is now enforcing kids on the DDP to order off the kids menu. I have NO problem with this. It seems fair. However, I'm reading posts about not every restaurant has a kids menu (Ronto Roasters comes to mind)! How is this possible? Some people are saying you can have your kids order off the adult menu, but they will take an adult credit and you have to have guest services make the adjustment. What?! That sounds like a gigantic PITA and time waster.

Also, Disney advertises kids can get a non-alcoholic beverage with their meal (milkshake, slushie, etc). But I've read they can only do that when those drinks are offered on the kid's menu, which is extremely rare / almost non-existent at QS. Most kid's meals have a drink included and you can't swap out the drink (at least via mobile ordering) to a specialty drink.

This seems to me they are offering a benefit that is almost impossible to use.

If your systems can't handle your policy change, don't implement it until they can!

Kids need to eat off kid's menus? No problem, just make sure there is one at all restaurants. Kids get kid's specialty drinks included? Great, put them on every kid's menu. It isn't rocket science.

Disney just seems to forget parents bring kids there (FP for both groups or just one with rider swap??...inconsistent measuring of heights on rides...kids dining plan inconsistencies, charging full adult prices for a dessert party with alcohol included for 10 years old and up, etc)
That’s what I have been complaining about lately too. Not specifically the dining issues but how not kid-friendly things have become. And with every new change, it seems less & less so.
 
I thought the policy was kids had to eat off of a kids menu when there was one offered. If a separate kids menu is not offered, they order off of the standard menu.
 
I thought the policy was kids had to eat off of a kids menu when there was one offered. If a separate kids menu is not offered, they order off of the standard menu.
Yep, that was my understanding too.

But it sounds like, with the new changes, the systems are unable to accept a kid's entitlement to pay for an adult meal, even if a kid's menu isn't offered.

Someone said you can pay for the meal with an adult credit and then have guest services "fix" things. That's a hard pass from me. I don't want to waste time trying to do that.
 
Yep, that was my understanding too.

But it sounds like, with the new changes, the systems are unable to accept a kid's entitlement to pay for an adult meal, even if a kid's menu isn't offered.

Someone said you can pay for the meal with an adult credit and then have guest services "fix" things. That's a hard pass from me. I don't want to waste time trying to do that.


That sounds like a pretty dumb system, if that is what they are expecting guests to do.
 
That sounds like a pretty dumb system, if that is what they are expecting guests to do.
Who knows what they are expecting us to do. I guess avoid QS that don't have kid's menus? That doesn't seem right. I sent an email to guest services, but those answers are so hit and miss and definitely not binding.
 


IMO, you're trying to coordinate with too many people.

Disney World is the most popular theme park in the world. 52 million people visited last year. Naturally a successful trip is going to require a ton of planning.

We went with our 3 year old and both sets of grandparents. We booked dining and FPs way ahead of time, but were able to fairly easily make changes during our trip. However, I would never have gone with a group much larger than that.

You can't realistically expect a 12-person trip to be easy, and shouldn't blame the logistical difficulties of coordinating that many people on Disney.
 
Add this to my list!

So Disney is now enforcing kids on the DDP to order off the kids menu. I have NO problem with this. It seems fair. However, I'm reading posts about not every restaurant has a kids menu (Ronto Roasters comes to mind)! How is this possible? Some people are saying you can have your kids order off the adult menu, but they will take an adult credit and you have to have guest services make the adjustment. What?! That sounds like a gigantic PITA and time waster.

Also, Disney advertises kids can get a non-alcoholic beverage with their meal (milkshake, slushie, etc). But I've read they can only do that when those drinks are offered on the kid's menu, which is extremely rare / almost non-existent at QS. Most kid's meals have a drink included and you can't swap out the drink (at least via mobile ordering) to a specialty drink.

This seems to me they are offering a benefit that is almost impossible to use.

If your systems can't handle your policy change, don't implement it until they can!

Kids need to eat off kid's menus? No problem, just make sure there is one at all restaurants. Kids get kid's specialty drinks included? Great, put them on every kid's menu. It isn't rocket science.

Disney just seems to forget parents bring kids there (FP for both groups or just one with rider swap??...inconsistent measuring of heights on rides...kids dining plan inconsistencies, charging full adult prices for a dessert party with alcohol included for 10 years old and up, etc)

It seems like a mess to me too. Some places are also not allowing more kids meals ordered than kids on the plan even if you weren't on the plan you could order an adult a kid's meal. This makes no sense to me since all other credits can be used however you want to use them.
 
IMO, you're trying to coordinate with too many people.

Disney World is the most popular theme park in the world. 52 million people visited last year. Naturally a successful trip is going to require a ton of planning.

We went with our 3 year old and both sets of grandparents. We booked dining and FPs way ahead of time, but were able to fairly easily make changes during our trip. However, I would never have gone with a group much larger than that.

You can't realistically expect a 12-person trip to be easy, and shouldn't blame the logistical difficulties of coordinating that many people on Disney.
Thanks for your reply.

While it is true, planning for 12 is harder than planning for 4, my criticisms are based on the planning process in general. I would feel exactly the same, if my group was smaller.

Having to decide on everything so far in advance is dumb. Not knowing the park hours / special events offered when the planning windows open, is dumb. Not allowing you to pre-book FP at different parks, when you have a park hopper, is dumb. I could go on. Obviously other people are fine with this process. There is no shortage of guests.

Currently, there is zero availability, for parties (2 and up) for the times (or times within 2+ hours) / restaurants we booked at. Also, zero FP availability for MMRR, MFSM, SDD, 7DMT, FOP for any days / times during our trip. So it's a good thing I booked when my windows opened.

So while there is a possibility we could make changes during our trip, it's highly likely we wouldn't like the options.

I'm glad it worked out for you.
 
It seems like a mess to me too. Some places are also not allowing more kids meals ordered than kids on the plan even if you weren't on the plan you could order an adult a kid's meal. This makes no sense to me since all other credits can be used however you want to use them.
I sent an email to guest services about this to try and get things clarified.

The response came today, and no joke, it was just a copy and paste of how the dining plan works. Word for word the same as the info on the DDP page. Terrible response. Nothing original. Nothing that actually addressed my issues.
 
I sent an email to guest services about this to try and get things clarified.

The response came today, and no joke, it was just a copy and paste of how the dining plan works. Word for word the same as the info on the DDP page. Terrible response. Nothing original. Nothing that actually addressed my issues.
I got another email from them today, after I "kindly" asked them address my actual questions.

They said specialty drinks are not available at QS, only TS, when offered. While that's not great news, at least it's an answer I can work with.

Regarding no kid's menu, they said you can use a kid credit on an adult's meal. I just replied back this is contradictory to actual reports from the park. Posters on here are saying the systems won't allow it, even if there is no kid's menu. So it's super frustrating they are giving out info that appears to be wrong. I have again asked for clarification, so we'll see...
 
That's good to know about the specialty drinks. I think we're going to avoid places without kid's menus just to keep it simple. I feel like there is too big of a chance of a mistake.
 
Just my 2 cents - we've been to DW every year or 2 for almost 30 years (and 4 times since Nov. 2018) with groups varying from 4 to 10. The last trip was with 10 and it was by far the best trip since fast pass + came out, mainly because we didn't plan. We did have 1 ADR at Trails End, & making sure we were there in our window was probably the most stressful part of the trip (for me, anyway.) We were able to make a few fast passes here and there, but nothing for the big headliners. If we really wanted to ride them we waited in line. We're lucky that we can go as often as we do & don't feel like we have to see everything every time, but after our last trip I feel sorry for people who can't. Others may feel differently about it, but I'm through making a bunch of plans. We'll see what we can when we can, and if it ever gets to the point where we don't feel like it's worth going, we'll find something else to do with our vacation dollars (like Universal Studios - the blow Disney away in this regard, IMHO.)
 
Just my 2 cents - we've been to DW every year or 2 for almost 30 years (and 4 times since Nov. 2018) with groups varying from 4 to 10. The last trip was with 10 and it was by far the best trip since fast pass + came out, mainly because we didn't plan. We did have 1 ADR at Trails End, & making sure we were there in our window was probably the most stressful part of the trip (for me, anyway.) We were able to make a few fast passes here and there, but nothing for the big headliners. If we really wanted to ride them we waited in line. We're lucky that we can go as often as we do & don't feel like we have to see everything every time, but after our last trip I feel sorry for people who can't. Others may feel differently about it, but I'm through making a bunch of plans. We'll see what we can when we can, and if it ever gets to the point where we don't feel like it's worth going, we'll find something else to do with our vacation dollars (like Universal Studios - the blow Disney away in this regard, IMHO.)
Based on your history, I'd probably feel exactly the same if I were in your shoes. Been there, done that, right?
 
Honestly, we just didn't do a dining plan. When we did the math, it just didn't make sense. It was a relief because we didn't have to worry about using all our dining credits. Also, with a 3 year old who sometimes just doesn't want to eat, or wants to eat off our plate, we didn't have to worry.
 

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