Does Disney check age of child??

[rance]

I'm sure I'll get flamed for asking this, but we were going to take the family to disney for my daughters third birthday.I had planned to go two weeks before her birthday, but do to work commitments it will now be a week after her birthday.
Do you think we would have to pay extra (child rate) even if we go in the same month as her birthday or does it have to be date specific.
Thanks

 

[disneydentist]

Unfortunately, it's date specific. The only exception is if the child would turn three during your trip. Then you would not need tickets for the remainder of that trip.

 

[Allison]

It's not based on being the same month, if the child is 3 before the start of the trip, they need a child's ticket.

 

[LisaNJ25]

If you arrive on or after her 3rd birthday than yes, you need to pay for a child's tickets. If you stay starts before her birthday and she happens to turn 3 during your trip than you do not have to pay.

 

[Nikisha421]

I am very sure everyone will weigh in with their own opinions about cheating the system and what's wrong and what's right...lying and fibbing and setting examples...this question comes up once every few months...if you search far back enough in the thread you should find an entire rant on the situation...

...I'll just answer the question posed in the thread title...NO they don't check...

 

[BradyBz12]

According to the rules, if your child is 3 on the day you enter the parks for the first time, then yes, she should have a child's ticket. Totally up to you to decide what you want to do. Disney doesn't consistently ask for proof of age for young kids, but they certainly can if they want to. I've heard reports of them innocently asking the child how old they are - which more often than not means you're busted!

Your call if you want to take the chance. Worst case just be prepared to have to buy her a ticket then and there.

And yeah.... hang on tight and get ready for the flames....

 

[rance]

Thank-you for the quick responses.

 

[Baltazar]

As was stated, you do not need to show proof ...

 

[Hannathy]

But Disney does have the right to ask for proof and have done so in the past.

If you don't have proof they can deny you entrance unless you buy a ticket. Personally I wouldn't want to start the day with my stomach in a knot wondering if they were going to ask or not.

 

[mickeymouse108]

Hi this is not really totally related but I have the same sort of question about my 10 year old daughter we bought adult tickets for her and on our dinner reservations we used her correct age of 10.

my problem is that my daughter still eats kids meals not adult she only eats chicken fingers and sometimes pizza so if we are at restraunt like Le celler can she order off childs menu? she will not eat a adult meal and I really do not feel I should have to buy a adult meal for her we are not using the dinning plan because of this I felt it would be a waist of money because she does not eat that much.

any advise how disney will work this out for us? thanks

 

[Chip's My Hero]

If you are not on the dining plan then you can buy any meal you want. On the dining plan you would/should have to follow the rules that are in place. Hope that helps!

 

[cbrob]

I too have the same question. I have two boys 12 and 9 and because we eat every 2 - 3 hours they don't eat very big meals and will more often then not just get something from the kids menu. They could share an adult meal but you could guess how well brothers would agree to the same meal.
I find the portion sizes to be so Big in Disney and don't want to waste food or money.

 

[Dawgdad]

ahhh - I love these threads. But seriously - do NLOT let it worry you one bit. Take your daughter to Disney World and don't worry about any Disney "age police". Our 2 adopted children are from China and are small children. Last year, when our daughter was 4, we walked right thru the turnstiles without even using her ticket (10 day non-exp park hopper) and no one said a word. And no - when we realized it, we didn't go back and run the ticket thru - she now has a child's ticket with one more day on it then everyone else in our family. Not trying to cheat anything - just sayin...it's not a problem. Choose your own morality, cuz it's totally up to you at that age.

 

[pacrosby]

Disney will NOT ask for PROOF of your child's age, end of story. Exactly what proof would they be looking for? How many people walk around with a child's birth certificate? And even if they did, a birth certificate doesn't have a picture on it so how exactly is that proof. As far as them asking a toddler how old they are? Baloney. Many 2, 3 even 4 year olds don't consistently know their age (mine didn't/don't). They're going to take a toddler's word for it and turn someone away? C'mon people. This attempt to 'scare' the OP into 'doing the right thing' is ridiculous.

If Disney had the right to refuse free admission to a child under 3 without proof of age they would have to publicly post that information on their website, in their parks, etc.

I know I'm going to get flamed and go right ahead but I just have to ask..........are the people who say these outlandish things employees of Disney? Because I could understand 'why' they would make such ridiculous statements. But if these are just regular folk like the rest of us who feel their duty is to be the Disney police they honestly need to take a break from this forum and go make a real difference in the world.

 

[BradyBz12]

This attempt to 'scare' the OP into 'doing the right thing' is ridiculous.

Wow, and I actually thought this thread (usually a very hot topic) was going really well ...until this particular post. None of the PPs said anything at all to "scare" the OP into making a decision one way or another about whether to buy their child a ticket. All any of us said was that there is a chance Disney could ask, that it's in their right to do so, but that in all likelihood it wouldn't happen. And there have been posts by people who've had their kids asked their ages - whether Disney made a stink about it or if the parents just decided to "fess up" and buy a ticket isn't even the point. The point is that it could happen and the OP should be aware of that.

I don't personally care if people choose to follow the rules or not - that's completely up to them. But they should be aware of what the rules are (and that's what the OPs original post asked) just in case they happen to be there on the one day Disney actually decides to enforce their own rules.

I'm neither a WDW CM, nor a busy body know-it-all looking to play "morality police" for the Disney Corporation. I am someone that would really like to help people be prepared and know what to expect so they can avoid any potentially unpleasant surprises (or at least be ready for them) when they get there.

And now, I'm expecting this thread to go straight into the toilet.....

 

[dd50]

I don't think they would ask the age of a child. One of my girls was always big for her age and they never asked.

If they did ask her age when she was two she would have replied "8". She liked that number and always used it.

 

[BradyBz12]

If they did ask her age when she was two she would have replied "8". She liked that number and always used it.

Love that!

 

[Peanut Giggleface]

Hi this is not really totally related but I have the same sort of question about my 10 year old daughter we bought adult tickets for her and on our dinner reservations we used her correct age of 10.

my problem is that my daughter still eats kids meals not adult she only eats chicken fingers and sometimes pizza so if we are at restraunt like Le celler can she order off childs menu? she will not eat a adult meal and I really do not feel I should have to buy a adult meal for her we are not using the dinning plan because of this I felt it would be a waist of money because she does not eat that much.

any advise how disney will work this out for us? thanks

I wondered about this myself with my 10 year old. She is a very picky eater and I was thinking dining time was going to be a nightmare. When we made our ADR's she was listed as an adult, so naturally I thought she would be eating from the adult's menu. But having gotten back not too long ago, I can say don't worry about it. Every place we went to from counter service to table service didn't ask her age and automatically gave her the kid's menu. At one place, Sci-fi Diner, the waitress gave her the choice. She chose the kid's menu and everything was just fine. I think Disney understands that some kids are picky and at age 10 are just not ready for the adult menu. It was never a problem for us and we were there in December. HTH

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Love that!

Me too, very cute.

I agree that they won't check your child's ID. If they are just turning three, in all likelihood, they look two.

 

[pacrosby]

Wow, and I actually thought this thread (usually a very hot topic) was going really well ...until this particular post. None of the PPs said anything at all to "scare" the OP into making a decision one way or another about whether to buy their child a ticket. All any of us said was that there is a chance Disney could ask, that it's in their right to do so, but that in all likelihood it wouldn't happen. And there have been posts by people who've had their kids asked their ages - whether Disney made a stink about it or if the parents just decided to "fess up" and buy a ticket isn't even the point. The point is that it could happen and the OP should be aware of that.

I don't personally care if people choose to follow the rules or not - that's completely up to them. But they should be aware of what the rules are (and that's what the OPs original post asked) just in case they happen to be there on the one day Disney actually decides to enforce their own rules.

I'm neither a WDW CM, nor a busy body know-it-all looking to play "morality police" for the Disney Corporation. I am someone that would really like to help people be prepared and know what to expect so they can avoid any potentially unpleasant surprises (or at least be ready for them) when they get there.

And now, I'm expecting this thread to go straight into the toilet.....

Oh, but I didn't say 'all of you' did that. MOST people did just reiterate the 'policy' and others did only mention that they supposed they 'might' ask. Sure, I agree nothing wrong with that. There was one who's words suggested otherwise; who suggested (or ok just flat out said) that Disney does have the right to ask for proof and had done so in the past. For a toddler? I'm sorry. The OP was talking about a toddler and that's simply not possible (unless the so-called toddler was really an 8 yr old and the parent was completely out-of-line). They do not have the right to ask a parent of a toddler for proof of age and to deny free admission without it, it's as simple as that. I wasn't trying to throw this thread into the toilet. Rather I was trying to eliminate all this continued back and forth about "they never asked me"/ "they might ask you"/"they never asked me"/"others have been asked"/"they might ask your child" etc. etc.

To be perfectly honest initially I had quoted that specific post in my reply but thought better of it because I was afraid they would not appreciate being thrown under the bus. But now I see that I should have because it made it appear I was pointng my fingers at the bulk of the respondants. My apologies.

IDK, I guess it's just that I've been reading so many posts lately where the moral police do come out to play (and pointing out policy is not make someone one moral police; it's giving misleading information whilst pointing out the policy and sometimes even suggesting the sky might fall if they don't follow the rules to the letter) . I just find myself scratching my head at these folks and wondering 'who' they are and 'why' they feel the need to do what they do.