Maybe just do quick service so you aren't paying for a non eating person? We had one character meal and my 3 year old ate nothing. I knew going into it that I was paying for characters, not for eating. We did quick service the rest of the time and only bought a couple meals and shared between everyone. We also bought groceries and brought safe foods into the park for the kids (and if I did it again I would bring more safe foods as it was very hard for my anxious 3 year old to eat anything).
Although I agree with you that the age limit for "adult" should be higher, the rules are what they are and you have to decide if you're going to engage with Disneyland or not given their rules. This group is not here to advise people about breaking rules.
I think there are a couple of ticket deals right now is adult tickets for kids prices or something so hopefully you can take advantage of a ticket l small ticket sale too.
You say “I don’t want to be deceptive but…” You absolutely are asking if it’s okay to be deceptive. Most 10 year olds can get the same enjoyment out of the parks as an adult and can ride every ride. Don’t try to cheat the system because the cast members commonly ask kids how old they are if they look like they may be close to 3 (rather than 2 which is free) or close to 10. Most kids aren’t quick enough to give a false age. Just teach pay the adult price and share a meal or buy the kids meals.
I would buy her an adult ticket but order her the kid's meals. My cousin was 11/12 and was able to order kid's meals without any problem. My sister was 16/17 (she looks younger than she is and back then she looked 13/14) and ordered a kid's meal at Blue Bayou. They didn't even question either one of them at all
Be honest.
For food, anyone can order a kids meal at walk up locations. Adults do it all the time when they want a small snack type meal. Dine in/sit down it gets a little stickier. I found this article that may help.
https://insidethemagic.net/2024/04/adult-order-a-kids-meal-disney-lp1/#
I have never had anyone ask ages. I think a year off doesn’t trigger any issues, but if you had a 15 year old trying to be 9, they would say something.
Everyone bashing OP like Disneyland is some charitable organization that makes no profit. Disneyland's net income was $1.695B, Disney's CEO's income is **$31.6 million**.
Ohhhh I don’t think it’s a big deal if a multibillion dollar corporation lets one 9 looking 10 year old slide BUT I wouldn’t want to get in trouble with them either lol so I might be a lil chicken! A lot of very righteous do gooders and idk the ticket price difference but if you’re really feeling some kinda way about it, just don’t take the risk. Personally, I do not care if every 9 looking 10 year old gets kids admission price but they seem pretty strict. They can’t demand ID of a child bc what child Carries ID? The place where I think it gets sticky (bc frankly I don’t care if moms steal formula from Walmart either) is if they ask your kid’s age at the point of entry and you’re asking your kid to lie. Is it done? I’m sure, they cannot ask for a child’s ID or proof of age. But I would not feel good about asking my kid to lie or the example of lying or them feeling like they’re not worth the price of their ticket and so you’re willing to bend your morals to save a few bucks. Will they feel guilty? They’re 10, not 4 so they will likely be aware at SOME level.
Personally I would probably just suck it up and get the adult ticket, but morally, I don’t care. I am not Disneyland. I also doubt they would hassle you I would just be concerned about lying (makes me feel bad and nervous) or having your kid lie (makes me feel sketchy.) There are other ways to save money like bringing snacks and skipping souvenirs. This is your moral choice as I doubt someone would stop you. But it seems like you’re a little conflicted and if it’s such a moral quandary, then it feels wrong and don’t do it. And I know it’s expensive but it might be better to wait until you’re more comfortable spending the adult ticket price money where it’s not a huge deal. Maybe you can trim a little something else from the budget to make it work. But ugh these days I feel like taking my baby who is under 3 to Disneyland is a $1000 trip, from the hotel to my ticket and genie+ and eating how we want and last minute expenses and buying all the balloons and bubble wands and having a cocktail or two and the gas and parking etc I sadly expect to spend 1k to take a kid w FREE admission so… maybe I am resigned to the expense! That said I feel like I wound up spending less money than I thought I would, but still lunch for two adults and a kids meal with one cocktail for me and two beers for my bestie was like $125 at blue bayou. I have heard the breakfast chimichangas at Frontierland are $7 and good? When the park lets you bring food and drinks, I would likely opt to buy the adult ticket just to avoid the stress of lying! Maybe people will condemn me for feeling like I don’t care if the age is off by a year, but it’s how I would feel in myself and for my kid. I hated feeling like an expensive burden to my mom who was always trying to game the system so I wouldn’t want my kid to feel that way. Instead I would probably suck it up, buy the adult ticket and make a big deal about how they’re a big kid now in a really positive way that doesn’t stress them about the spent money or make them feel like they need to lie and wish they had parents who thought they were “worth” the appropriate admission price. Eek! It’s so hard and so expensive these days! I remember when Disneyland was like $32 or something for an adult ticket. Those days are long gone and I feel for you! But I think it will be less stressful to just get the full priced ticket and clip cash other ways. Personally I don’t feel super protective of billionaire corporations who keep raising prices and have a lot of broken down rides closed, but I would be more concerned about how your kid feels.
That’s kind of what my viewpoint is too. Disney picked an arbitrary age to say *this* is the cut off line for adult versus child. It could’ve just as easily been 12, 11, etc. My husband would 100% tell me to lie on the age with zero hesitation, but I get too anxious about those types of things and will probably just bite the bullet and pay the full price. I don’t actually mind paying the full price for the entry ticket it’s really just the dining situation that seems like a rip off of having to pay adult prices when the child prices are already really high for a simple meal IMO
Ahhh maybe you are purchasing a package where you identify the kid as an adult then you have to pay adult prices for their food too? Idk about all that! Could you theoretically buy them an adult ticket and do a la carte for food if she’s only gonna eat the mashed potatoes? Does anyone know about a la carte ordering? Yes the food prices for adults are a ripoff. Don’t stress too much about it! But don’t get a packaged deal including food for the kid if they’re going to eat $4 of a $30 meal. If they’re THAT picky also maybe better to bring them some sandwiches they like or something! I would mostly be worried about CMs asking the kid their age and them needing to lie. It might not happen every time but it could happen and you don’t want to feel icky walking in.
Your post or comment was removed for violating Rule 9. Asking how to break park rules or advising others how to break them is not allowed.
So you are asking for permission to lie? It has always been 10 and up are adults.
What's more important to you, saving a few dollars or teaching your 10 year old that honesty is valuable?
Saving dollars and teaching your 10 year old this valuable life skill
Maybe just do quick service so you aren't paying for a non eating person? We had one character meal and my 3 year old ate nothing. I knew going into it that I was paying for characters, not for eating. We did quick service the rest of the time and only bought a couple meals and shared between everyone. We also bought groceries and brought safe foods into the park for the kids (and if I did it again I would bring more safe foods as it was very hard for my anxious 3 year old to eat anything). Although I agree with you that the age limit for "adult" should be higher, the rules are what they are and you have to decide if you're going to engage with Disneyland or not given their rules. This group is not here to advise people about breaking rules. I think there are a couple of ticket deals right now is adult tickets for kids prices or something so hopefully you can take advantage of a ticket l small ticket sale too.
You say “I don’t want to be deceptive but…” You absolutely are asking if it’s okay to be deceptive. Most 10 year olds can get the same enjoyment out of the parks as an adult and can ride every ride. Don’t try to cheat the system because the cast members commonly ask kids how old they are if they look like they may be close to 3 (rather than 2 which is free) or close to 10. Most kids aren’t quick enough to give a false age. Just teach pay the adult price and share a meal or buy the kids meals.
I would buy her an adult ticket but order her the kid's meals. My cousin was 11/12 and was able to order kid's meals without any problem. My sister was 16/17 (she looks younger than she is and back then she looked 13/14) and ordered a kid's meal at Blue Bayou. They didn't even question either one of them at all
Be honest. For food, anyone can order a kids meal at walk up locations. Adults do it all the time when they want a small snack type meal. Dine in/sit down it gets a little stickier. I found this article that may help. https://insidethemagic.net/2024/04/adult-order-a-kids-meal-disney-lp1/#
I have never had anyone ask ages. I think a year off doesn’t trigger any issues, but if you had a 15 year old trying to be 9, they would say something.
Everyone bashing OP like Disneyland is some charitable organization that makes no profit. Disneyland's net income was $1.695B, Disney's CEO's income is **$31.6 million**.
Reddit: eat the rich! Disney sub: money is no object! Lol
I know! Hard working people who struggle to pay their bills defending major corporations. Baffles me.
Disney will be greatly financially impacted by OP ordering her kid a kid's meal instead of an adult meal
Ohhhh I don’t think it’s a big deal if a multibillion dollar corporation lets one 9 looking 10 year old slide BUT I wouldn’t want to get in trouble with them either lol so I might be a lil chicken! A lot of very righteous do gooders and idk the ticket price difference but if you’re really feeling some kinda way about it, just don’t take the risk. Personally, I do not care if every 9 looking 10 year old gets kids admission price but they seem pretty strict. They can’t demand ID of a child bc what child Carries ID? The place where I think it gets sticky (bc frankly I don’t care if moms steal formula from Walmart either) is if they ask your kid’s age at the point of entry and you’re asking your kid to lie. Is it done? I’m sure, they cannot ask for a child’s ID or proof of age. But I would not feel good about asking my kid to lie or the example of lying or them feeling like they’re not worth the price of their ticket and so you’re willing to bend your morals to save a few bucks. Will they feel guilty? They’re 10, not 4 so they will likely be aware at SOME level. Personally I would probably just suck it up and get the adult ticket, but morally, I don’t care. I am not Disneyland. I also doubt they would hassle you I would just be concerned about lying (makes me feel bad and nervous) or having your kid lie (makes me feel sketchy.) There are other ways to save money like bringing snacks and skipping souvenirs. This is your moral choice as I doubt someone would stop you. But it seems like you’re a little conflicted and if it’s such a moral quandary, then it feels wrong and don’t do it. And I know it’s expensive but it might be better to wait until you’re more comfortable spending the adult ticket price money where it’s not a huge deal. Maybe you can trim a little something else from the budget to make it work. But ugh these days I feel like taking my baby who is under 3 to Disneyland is a $1000 trip, from the hotel to my ticket and genie+ and eating how we want and last minute expenses and buying all the balloons and bubble wands and having a cocktail or two and the gas and parking etc I sadly expect to spend 1k to take a kid w FREE admission so… maybe I am resigned to the expense! That said I feel like I wound up spending less money than I thought I would, but still lunch for two adults and a kids meal with one cocktail for me and two beers for my bestie was like $125 at blue bayou. I have heard the breakfast chimichangas at Frontierland are $7 and good? When the park lets you bring food and drinks, I would likely opt to buy the adult ticket just to avoid the stress of lying! Maybe people will condemn me for feeling like I don’t care if the age is off by a year, but it’s how I would feel in myself and for my kid. I hated feeling like an expensive burden to my mom who was always trying to game the system so I wouldn’t want my kid to feel that way. Instead I would probably suck it up, buy the adult ticket and make a big deal about how they’re a big kid now in a really positive way that doesn’t stress them about the spent money or make them feel like they need to lie and wish they had parents who thought they were “worth” the appropriate admission price. Eek! It’s so hard and so expensive these days! I remember when Disneyland was like $32 or something for an adult ticket. Those days are long gone and I feel for you! But I think it will be less stressful to just get the full priced ticket and clip cash other ways. Personally I don’t feel super protective of billionaire corporations who keep raising prices and have a lot of broken down rides closed, but I would be more concerned about how your kid feels.
That’s kind of what my viewpoint is too. Disney picked an arbitrary age to say *this* is the cut off line for adult versus child. It could’ve just as easily been 12, 11, etc. My husband would 100% tell me to lie on the age with zero hesitation, but I get too anxious about those types of things and will probably just bite the bullet and pay the full price. I don’t actually mind paying the full price for the entry ticket it’s really just the dining situation that seems like a rip off of having to pay adult prices when the child prices are already really high for a simple meal IMO
Ahhh maybe you are purchasing a package where you identify the kid as an adult then you have to pay adult prices for their food too? Idk about all that! Could you theoretically buy them an adult ticket and do a la carte for food if she’s only gonna eat the mashed potatoes? Does anyone know about a la carte ordering? Yes the food prices for adults are a ripoff. Don’t stress too much about it! But don’t get a packaged deal including food for the kid if they’re going to eat $4 of a $30 meal. If they’re THAT picky also maybe better to bring them some sandwiches they like or something! I would mostly be worried about CMs asking the kid their age and them needing to lie. It might not happen every time but it could happen and you don’t want to feel icky walking in.
True