Hiya Kassandra,
Welcome to planDisney! I’m so sorry you are getting conflicting answers; that is never fun when you are trying to plan a magical vacation for yourself and your family. I hope that I can help clear things up for you.
As you know, once Mouseketeers become three years old, your toddler becomes a “kid” at least in Disney terms. This guideline is pretty straightforward, but if your little one is going to turn three while you are on vacation, there is a little nuance, so this is likely where the conflict is coming from. Since you mentioned you have a
dining plan, I assume you have a
Walt Disney World Vacation Package. A Vacation Package is a type of booking that includes your theme park tickets with your resort hotel reservation and can include a dining plan. If you have one of these, your child’s age for the trip is determined by their age at check-in, since the system cannot process two different ticket types in the same booking. So, in this scenario, if your child is 2 at the start of your vacation and you have a Vacation Package, they will be considered 2 for the entire trip. So that means they will not need theme park tickets for the trip, and they also will not be counted on the dining plan. If you did not have a Vacation Package, Kassandra, you would need to purchase a theme park ticket for your child as soon as they turned three.
I hope this was helpful, Kassandra. Before I let you go, don’t forget to get your little Mouseketeer a celebration button for your trip. My little loved everyone saying “Happy Birthday” to her when she visited for her birthday, and it just made the day feel extra special. If you need anything else, please come back and see
us. We would be happy to help you have the most amazing family vacation.
Happy Planning,
Ashley F.