Infant Dining Question

[attagirlx2]

This is possibly a strange question, but I'll ask anyway. Has anyone traveled to DL with an infant under the age of 2? What did you do about dining? Were you charged for meals for your infant? Could you order them a kids meal and not be charged?

The reason I am wondering is, at WDW when you use the dining plan, everyone in your party has to be on it. But they don't charge for those under the age of 2. DL's dining plan is different because of the dollar value vouchers.

My son will not be 2 when we go to DL, but he eats more than his 5 year old sister. So letting him eat off our plates is not an option. He needs his own food. I obviously planned on buying his food when we were deciding whether or not we could afford the trip. But if they don't normally charge for infants, then that's an added bonus to our budget.

 

[Dukland]

My ds was 19 months when went to DL last year for the first time. We only did one character meal, at Goofy's Kitchen, and we were not charged for him. Although, it was a buffet, but we were able to get him his own plate and food. I hear you, on his eating habits. I swear, when this boy is hungry, he can eat 11 chicken nuggets from McD's!!! His big sister has NOTHING on him!

Anyway, we are going again this year, and we booked and paid for 2 character meals, at Plaza Inn and Ariel's Grotto. We did not have to pay for our ds, as children 2 and under are not charged a full meal. However, some places do say "there may be a nominal charge for children 2 and under". That says to me that it won't be too much, definitely not a full price meal. And again, last year at Goofy's, they didn't charge us anything.

Hope that helps!!

 

[Liltx]

I would think buffets would be free like at WDW but if you order a kid's meal then I'm sure you will have to pay for it. I can't see them giving away free kid's meals. I have a one year old that eats more than her 3yo sister too! We usually do well when they split a kid's meal and also share with us. Sometimes we just order an extra side of rice or something and one kid's meal. But your dd is older. Hope it works out for you. I hate that we have to pay for 3yo character breakfast when I know she will only eat half a pancake but I guess I'm really paying for the entertainment. We are also going to the princess dinner and I'm hopeing that I don't have to order her a meal since it's not a buffet. They'll be four adults eating so they will still make their money. We'll see.

Monica

 

[Shelebeen]

When we were there last year, our son was free eating at a buffet, but we had to pay for his meals at any other place (including Ariel's). Our kids don't eat much so often shared a meal. When we went to Storytellers - the rest of us ordered of the menu and he ate from the buffet.

 

[jocotter]

Our granddaughter was 18 months when we went and she just shared someone's meal (the meals are usually large anyway). The only time we bought her a child's dinner was at Ariel's Grotto, and that was because it was a character meal and we felt like we were partly paying for the experience. No one asked us to purchase a meal anywhere else. My daughter just told them that she would share her meal with her.

 

[MATTERHORN]

Yes, anywhere you eat that is a buffet, you will not be charged. But anywhere that you want to get him a seperate kids meal, you will have to pay for that meal! It is exactly the same as WDW in regards to this. We just let our little one (whichever one that was at the time) share off all our plates. Or let your little guy share with you, DH and a little of DD's and that should work. A lot of the portions there are pretty big. Have fun!


Andrea

 

[attagirlx2]

Thanks everyone for sharing the experiences you have had! It definitely helps!

 

[Mom2micayla]

We've eaten at Ariel's 3x and have never once paid for a meal for a child under 3. All we had to do was mention that our daughter was under 3 and she got her own meal free. This was 3 different times (in the last year), 3 different waiters telling us that. They did get 1/2 portions of the main entree, but that was still way more than my daughter could have eaten. So just make sure that you mention that you have a child under 3 to your waitress and you should be okay (if you do Ariel's). I think they will automatically charge you for your child's plate if you don't make a point of mentioning age.