Eating on the dining plan with an infant

[Rich M]

We are taking a 23 month old with us and i know we don't pay for him on the dining plan and park tickets but are we just suppose to feed him off our plates or can we ask for something for him? can we order a kids meal and pay out of pocket for it if need be? He loves rice and stuff and even eats salmon with us so we don't mind sharing with him but sometimes we just need a side of fries to keep him happy.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

At buffets he can have his own plate free of charge.
At other TS and QS locations he can share from your plate or if you'd like to purchase him a kids meal that's fine too but it will not be covered with the dining plan so you'll be paying OOP.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

23 months was no infant in our family. And they ate everything.

 

[Rich M]

23 months was no infant in our family. And they ate everything.

Exactly. he eats everything but what can I do about it. We are on DxDDP so wondering what we could do except for ordering off the kids menu if he doesn't like what we have. Hopefully we find something at each place he likes.

 

[Faldred]

Well, as noted, at buffets, et. al., you can feed him anything you want, no problem. At other places your options are:

• Share a portion of your meals with him
• Order something (kids' meal, side dish, appetizer, whatever) additional out-of-pocket specifically for him
• Bring food for him with you to the restaurant
• Feed him at slightly different times than your sit down meal using snack credits

To be honest, I've done all of the above at various points.

 

[Rich M]

Can you use a snack credit at a TS for the infant for like a side of fries?

 

[Faldred]

No, you can't use snack credits at TS locations.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

You can't use snack credits at the table service, but you can somewhere right before and carry it in for your child.

 

[scard192]

any TS place that had a pasta dish, one adult would order it with the sauce on the side and give the toddler plain pasta and then put the sauce on.

 

[FallsChurchDad]

We went in 2015 with a voracious 19-month-old and free dining, and it worked out great. There were 3 adults and one kid, plus the infant, so we all just shared a bit, and it left us more room to use our snack credits later! We only ended up doing one all-you-can eat (Ohana), where each kid must have put away 2000 calories on waffles and fruit alone.

We knew we could order some stuff for him out of pocket, but we never needed to. At table service places, you have to pay a tip anyway, so it's no big deal to add an extra side or kids' meal out of pocket, if you want. When finally leaving WDW, we still had 2 QS meal credits and 4 snack credits left, which we just used at the resort QS to take away a big pizza and a bunch of Odwalla drinks for the long car ride home.

Also, we did pack some fruit, bars, etc. that we brought around with us (e.g., grapes in tupperware). These were great for the 19-mo-old when waiting at rope drop in the stroller, or when he started to get cranky at 10:30 am, etc. It doesn't make great financial/practical sense to carry around a bunch of your own food when you have the DxDDP, but young ones are happier eating small meals more frequently, so you might just want to accommodate that for your infant.

 

[Rich M]

Thank you all for the advice. We plan to hit Wal-Mart the first day we get there to get diapers and stuff so we don't have to pack them so we will grab his favorite snacks and bring them with us also. He loves eating what everyone else is eating more than having his own anyway.

 

[jessiegirl1982]

Just want to add, when we took our 19 month old, Akershus did give my son a kid's meal for free. All other non-buffets, he ate off our plates. Also, since you have the deluxe plan, you will have even more food with the app's.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Akershus may not be a buffet, but it is a fixed price restaurant. You won't have to pay for your child at any fixed price restaurant. At a la carte restaurants you will if you want to buy something separate for them.

 

[BabyPiglet]

We have always had plenty of food to share with our toddler. A lot of TS also brought him a drink (bottle of water, milk, etc) for free, too. They're very accommodating!

 

[Nancyg56]

You can always order a kids meal for him at restaurants that are not fixed cost. He will not need to "eat off of your plate" at buffet or AYCTE meals, but will be able to have his own plate of food.

 

[WantToGoNow]

I have shared with children several times and we always had enough between us to keep the little one happy. My dd turned 3 during one trip and was a good eater and it still worked out - this was the one time I questioned whether she would have enough. This trip will be myself, my adult dd, my vegetarian dd13 and my 2.5 grandson. He is not a big eater (he takes bottles with medical formula and has a gtube for backup) so we will have no problem feeding him.