When I visited as a kid my aunt always got the DDP. She would always talk about it as if the food were free, and all she had to do was “sign on the dotted line!” As an adult, I wonder if she understood how money works.
That being said, I’m not interested in the DDP and I never get it. When I’m on vacation I typically don’t eat a lot, and I don’t want to be bothered with having to plan how to best maximize my dining plan credits. I also don’t want to have to be limited with what specific foods or snacks are covered by the dining plan. It just seems like a lot of work.
The short answer is yes, The credits are assigned to the entire group of people on the package and not a specific individual. However in our specific instance the group broke into two subgroups one evening which resulted in the imblance of remaining credits
I’m looking at a trip his spring with my two sons, the oldest turns 10 about a week before arrival and won’t qualify for free dining.
If I decide to go this route; I assume I couldn’t just change is birthday in his profile since it was used last year. Would I need to “leave” that son at home and create a new child with a new younger profile?
If getting free dining for one child isn’t worth it, I’d be on the lookout for room discounts instead, since they often are better deals than free dining anyhow. I certainly wouldn’t fake a child’s age, though. Disney has the right (whether we like it or not) to charge based on whatever age they see fit. It is merely up to you to decide whether it is worth it to you or not.
Would you have to purchase tickets for this “other child” to be part of the package? Your real child would then not be eligible for early entry nor would they be eligible to book lightning lanes 7 days in advance. I wouldn’t do this. It’s not worth it for one kid.
I only ever used the dining plan once, in 2019. We were staying in two separate rooms, and got the deluxe dining plan on the room with more kids in it. That was back when on the deluxe Dining plan all the credits were mingled, and you couldn’t tell a difference between child or adult. We were able to maximize every bit of that dining plan, including using all the snacks. I wouldn’t do the dining plan now, though. Based on what I know, though, using the snack credits at festival booths is probably one of the ways that the dining plan is most useful.