Finally and officially have had it!!!!

[brianjdu4]

That's it! I want an answer right now. I am so done with this age 10 being an "adult" foolishness. For WDW to charge these prices for a 10 year old is simply insane and crooked. Yep.. I guess my 10 year old now supports the family, only after studying his piano and spelling words! He also is now of the age to join the military, drive a car, vote, go to "R" rated movies. Yep... WDW informs me that he is an adult! Oh really? This is the biggest joke that they pull on families. And how long have they had this pathetic policy? No one can justify this and defend it with a straight face. All for the glorifaction of the mighty dollar!!!!!!

[Dulcee]

... while paying for our wedding 9 and older was considered an adult for meals

... our local theme park starts charging adult prices at 10

... at our local movie theater adult tickets begin at age 11

... mini golf in town, adult tickets begin at age 9

While I agree its frustrating that your child is a child at home but a "adult" on vacation WDW is right on par with the rest of them.

[Tink1]

..... And how long have they had this pathetic policy? ....

This has been the policy since 1987

so......24 years.


Nanc

[John]

Yep - maybe the could call it something else but bottom line is - it's been in place forever. At age 10, you can pretty much ride everything in the parks.

[DNS]

Bad wording to call the higher priced tickets "adult", but my guess would be, at 10 they figure they can enjoy everything at the parks as much as an adult. No rides would be off limits at that age. Just a guess since 2 big theme parks in this state charge by height.

[Zippy 1]

Boy adult here is not to your kid is around 13. For the movies it isn't until 17. Our local theme park has a middle price for kids between ages 9-13. I do think for meals that Disney could come up with a middle range instead of adult. For park admitance I can see adult because as stated they can usually ride all the rides. But not many 10 year olds eat like an adult. I have a 17 year old DD who does not eat like an adult. There really should be a little room for comprimise on meals.

[wdw dude]

If you're talking about meals, I've seen some 10 year olds eat more than I do.

[darthmacho]

Personally, I think 10 is too young to charge adult fare, I've been aware of the policy for some time. I think it's a pretty frustrating to pay extra for our tickets and dining plan just because my baby will be 11 on next year's trip, but ...it won't keep me from going to WDW and enjoying every minute of it.

[Carol]

I don't believe they are considered "Adults'.

The ticket options are 3-9 OR 10+.

[MarkC]

I don't believe they are considered "Adults'.

The ticket options are 3-9 OR 10+.

Carol is correct. And you do have the option to spend your money elsewhere if you are really unhappy about it. That's about the only to speak to a business-- with your pocketbook.

[Melanie]

I don't believe they are considered "Adults'.

The ticket options are 3-9 OR 10+.

Right, because like others have pointed out in previous posts, at age 10 the sky is pretty much the limit as far as enjoying everything the parks have to offer. I don't have a problem with this.

The food thing is kinda bothersome, but we don't ever do the dining plan, so it doesn't affect us. You can still order off the kid's menu when you are 50 if you want to.

[coloradowendyl]

Curiousity peaked this cat! I checked several amusement park sites for pricing charts and then checked 3 websites for average heights of children.

Cedar Point, Elitch Gardens, Six Flags parks, etc use a criteria of 48 inches or more for adult pricing. Kennywood in PA is 46 inches or taller.

Seaworld and Universal price like WDW: over 9.

Then, I googled for a chart showing the AVERAGE height for children by age (which we know many kids aren't..heck mine were hitting 5 ft in by 3rd grade! One wore a mens 10 shoe in 4th grade and I am only 5'4" so who knows where it comes from!!!) Interestingly enough, all 3 charts I checked had 9 yr old boys on the average at 49 inches and 9 yr old girls at 47-48 inches!

This information tells me that quite a bit of the Theme park industry uses the same age criteria for pricing, however, they market it differently! TomAto-ToeMAto lol! 48 inches sounds better than 9 yrs old!

Interesting...at least to me lol!
Wendy

[tazlikesrobots]

Humm... How about airlines! No child ticket, you have to buy the adult fare, so guess in their eyes a 2 year old is an adult.

Then again I've seen plenty of adults that act as 2 year olds, so can see how they arrived at that conclusion

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

still considered child until 18 for resort pricing though...dining and tickets are 9 and older...I do think parents should be able to judge if their child needs adult meals though...I think they should be able to purchase kids meals at least until age 12

[magicofdisney]

In my town, many restaurants use 12 as the cut off age for children's menu selection. There are 1 or 2 that use age 10. We've rarely had an incident when the child plate didn't fill up one of our children. I too wish it were different. As a pp stated, it's been in place 24yrs now, so what are you going to do about it?

[MNNHFLTX]

still considered child until 18 for resort pricing though...dining and tickets are 9 and older...I do think parents should be able to judge if their child needs adult meals though...I think they should be able to purchase kids meals at least until age 12

The age-related ticket pricing for the parks has never bothered me, but I agree that there could be some leeway related to meals.

[Aurora]

There is no such thing anymore as child pricing, no matter what they call it. If they didn't have a 3-10-year-old price, people would start screaming, but a one-day ticket is only a $6 difference anyway, very little to actually help the budget.

Restaurants, theme parks, movie theaters, airlines -- all use different criteria to determine when people will pay full price.

Originally "child" pricing was used to entice parents to bring their children along at lower prices, to make things more affordable for families and to make sure the parents kept spending. Parents and children rode virtually all the same rides. The child/adult distinction has been phased out except for the youngest age groups, and people continue to pay. And as I said above, the lower price is little more than window dressing.

We don't have to like it, but as MarkC said, the only way to really change things is to vote with our wallets.

[NewmanFamily6]

I believe it is silly as well but like others have said it will not stop me from going

[1DisneyNut]

We don't have to like it, but as MarkC said, the only way to really change things is to vote with our wallets.

This is exactly what we did...voted with our wallets and have gone elsewhere on our vacations this year. We were going to WDW twice a year but they keep raising prices during a recession along with gas prices soaring. They have also changed other policies to take away from the guests and boost the corporate profits. One thing that they did to save money that burns me up is reducing Fantasmic to a couple nights a week so we didn't get to see it last summer....it is our favorite show.

We started getting a little frustrated with the changes which we feel has taken away from the magic and turned WDW into a corporate money grab. We reduced to one trip a year back several years ago and then decided to go elsewhere this year. For our summer vacation this year we went to the beach, stayed in a condo that we rented for a whole week for what we pay for a few days at similar accommodations at WDW (two bedroom condo/villa). We went to very nice restaurants every night, went to attractions, miniature golf, go carts, etc. every day and still spent half as much money as we do at WDW.

Sure we could go to WDW and try to keep the cost down by staying in one of those little rat hole hotel type resorts but we hate them and we don't stay in those type accommodations elsewhere so we aren't about to do it for a week at WDW. The value just isn't there anymore. It is definitely still a lot of fun and I love the place like a kid but they finally crossed the line to where I just can't justify the expense anymore when I can go on trips and cruises with top notch accommodations and dining for 1/3 or more less than what mediocre accommodations and dining cost at WDW.

It seems many others feel the same as we do because Disney is constantly having to run discount promotions in an attempt to lure in visitors. We have gotten two discount pins this year for a discount to be used within a few months. We looked at the pricing using the pin and then tossed it in the garbage and said no thanks.

[buzznwoodysmom]

I have no problem paying the same price for my 11 year old's ticket as I do for my own. He can ride and enjoy everything I can, why should his ticket be cheaper????

Now the food really bothers me sometimes. Not only do I have a very picky eater for an 11 year old, he is also allergic to seafood and poultry. Feeding him is tough, and he tends to eat very little at a time. Paying adult prices for him at places like Ohana's, where he ends up eating a small portion of steak and a bowl of Mac N Cheese, really is hard to swallow.

However, no one is forcing me to go to WDW or eat at WDW restaurants with my "Disney Adult" child. They are a buisness and choose to charge what they do. If you don't like it that much you completely have the option of not going.