Planning for a trip next fall. Would ideally like to go when DS is under 3 so his ticket is free and he can eat off our plates at the buffets. How does it work if we plan for his birthday week and he turns 3 during our trip? Does we pay for the days for him after the turns 3? Or is he considered 2 for the entire trip?
Note: Once he turns 3, we will not say he is 2 if asked (though if asked about his age, we would say he turned 3 during our trip). I would rather pay than have my kids think it’s ok to lie.
It is the age on the day of check-in for room, tickets, and dining plan. I do not know about individual restaurants–whether you would technically need to pay for him if he just turned 3 that day for example. To avoid that issue, book your buffet and character meals before his birthday, as you can share food off your plate for all types of other restaurants
Thanks. Yes, that is a good idea. His birthday won’t until Day 5 so plenty of time to book our planned character meals/buffets (CRT and Chef Mickey’s) for Days 1-4.
We did this last year with my daughter for her birthday trip. We got mixed answers depending on who we asked.
We booked that trip through Disney and when we did, I asked about her needing tickets/dining plan midway through and they said she is treated the same age through the whole stay as she was upon arrival because “there is no aging at Disney”, however we did have some issues in restaurants and at the park gates when they would ask her age.
Just like you said, they are excited to be 3 and aren’t going to hide it. The one time we explained the situation at the gate and it wasn’t a problem, but we did end up paying for one of her meals at a buffet that fell after her birthday. It seemed to be a different response dependent on the cast member.
I believe the technical answer is however that they are treated as the age they were at checkin for the whole trip. Same as if someone aged out of a kid ticket during the trip they could continue to use it and not need to buy an adult ticket.
I think from our interaction the times we had difficulty were when someone didn’t really know or had not been in that situation before, so I wouldn’t be concerned if you don’t mind asking to speak to a supervisor or someone if they give any issue.
That’s how we felt too, we said she turned 3 on x day when we were here and most said it goes by the age at check in and it was fine. When someone said something different, we just paid - not worth the argument or setting the example of being deceitful as you said.
If you don’t say anything, they don’t know they’re doing something wrong though. It’s a training issue. Even if you want to just pay, you should speak to a manager about it.
The answer is 2. Although the child turned 3, for purposes of your trip, the child is still 2. One should respond this way and feel absolutely no guilt about it. If pressed, press right back with the statement that he was 2 at check-in and remains 2 for the purposes of the trip PER DISNEY POLICY.
Oh no, that’s not what I meant. I was just indicating that I love the sentiment that he’d rather pay than teach the kids to lie. I know that there’s no lying necessary in this case.
We are actually taking advantage of this in January. Our youngest turns 3 on the second day of the trip so will be considered 2 the whole trip. We saved thousands of dollars because with a family of 5 we needed a family suite or adjoining rooms but with a family of 4 and a 2 year old we could have a standard room at Pop.
