Bought DDP for ds, 7...

[Stormy888]

before I looked at the menus. I was horrified! Ds doesn't even like chicken strips or mac n' cheese! He prefers to eat more 'adult' food, and I can't see him eating like that for 7 days.

Now what??!! We booked yesterday!

I am tempted to have him get 'whatever' on the menu's, then him sharing some of the meal I get. I don't know what else to do without upgrading him for the adult plan. And I read somewhere that then I have to get him adult tickets for the park. Is there any way to get around this? Would sharing my meal work? Help!!

 

[Faldred]

It's not as bad as it looks, at least at table service. The generic kid's menu is pretty limited, although there's usually 4 or 5 options, and it's not all pizza, hot dog, and mac & cheese. You can also mix & match any two kid's "side" items for the "appetizer" and "dessert". It also never hurts to simply ask for a kid's size portion of an adult meal, especially at a non-Disney owned place.

For counter service... yeah, it's that bad. Look around for the more unique places that offer something other than the basic "kid" fare, and just deal with the fact that you'll need to do more CS meal planning than you might like.

 

[ancestry]

We are traveling next month with our twins who are almost seven. They also don't particularly care for chicken strips or mac 'n cheese. They will eat it once in blue moon but certainly not every day.

We actually got the DxDP. I booked a lot of buffet style/family style restaurants -- Germany in Epcot, Boma at AKL, Ohana, Hoop De Doo Musical Revue, Crystal Palace for Breakfast, Askershus Royal Banquet Hall etc. and booked other restuarants that have a much better children's menu -- Raglan Road, Teppo Edo, etc.

 

[brymolmom]

Don't panic - just plan accordingly. Really study the menus and only go places with the best children's selections.

If you go to Sunshine Seasons, Main St Bakery, Wolfgang Puck Express, resort food court (POP has turkey sandwich, pasta or burger for kids choices) - you'll have at least a small handful of CS meals that aren't mac n cheese, PBJ or nuggets.

Also - try using the kids CS credits on later breakfast platters - yummy and big enough to share. Then you can share your adult CS meals and supplement with a snack credit to make sure everyone has enough.

And for TS meals - there are LOTS of good choices for kids - take a look. All buffets kids can have anything they want off of it.

Keep in mind that for what you're paying for a kids dining credit - you'd get about 1 snack plus not even a whole TS meal - so really, you're getting a deal even if your kids don't use the CS credit each day. The child plan is so cheap.

It is definitely possible to stay away from those options if you really want to.

 

[Colleen27]

before I looked at the menus. I was horrified! Ds doesn't even like chicken strips or mac n' cheese! He prefers to eat more 'adult' food, and I can't see him eating like that for 7 days.

Now what??!! We booked yesterday!

I am tempted to have him get 'whatever' on the menu's, then him sharing some of the meal I get. I don't know what else to do without upgrading him for the adult plan. And I read somewhere that then I have to get him adult tickets for the park. Is there any way to get around this? Would sharing my meal work? Help!!

Sharing works, but there are plenty of restaurants with better options for kids. My DS, now 11, has always preferred adult food, so we've been down that same road on past trips.

Buffets are good. Kids can get whatever they want from the buffet, not just from the 'kids section'. My son's favorite was Tusker House, but he found things he liked at every buffet we did.

Some of our favorite sit-downs in terms of the kids' menus were The Plaza (both my kids love that they have a chef's salad kids' meal), Teppan Edo (where they have a kids' portion of the hibachi meals) and Tutto Italia (a couple of good pasta options).

Counter service options are tougher. My kids like Main Street Bakery (no kids' menu), Sunshine Seasons (rotisserie chicken, sweet & sour chicken, mini deli sub choices), and the turkey leg place at HS, but we did a lot of sharing adult CS meals on our last trip with the basic dining plan and since we started doing the deluxe plan we barely eat any CS any more.

 

[DisneyWisher]

Go to the top of the this page and click on wdwinfo scroll down and on the left you will see "menus" check them out. GF Cafe offers steak for kids though it says $2 upgrade, I'm not sure if that counts to the DP. Seems I remember someone writing on here that CS are clumped together. Example 2 adults1 child for 5 nights would read as 10 adult TS 5 child TS and 15 CS. If they are clumped order your childs meal separately. While hubby is sitting with your son order 2 cs meals, when you return to the table hubby can go get his. A bit of a pain but it saves any problems.

 

[murcor]

It is disappointing that the kids menus are so *blah*

My kids have always ordered off the adult menus, but I wouldnt eat that trash from most of the kids menues either

 

[WillowBelle]

Pinnochio Village Haus has a turkey cheese wrap on the childs menu. I believe that Columbia Harbour House has a fish sandwich also....although I'm not completely sure.

All of the food is HUGE at the CS places. I wouldn't worry a bit about sharing and noone getting full.

I am in the same situation with DD8. She still counts as a child also and NONE of those CS places are going to fill her up. We're already working on our plan of attack with how to fill her up. Like someone else suggested - do a late breakfast and get your DS some yummy food that way.

 

[cnorth]

If you go through the menus and still can't find a reasonable alternative, you could always upgrade your son to an adult. This will cost more, and bear in mind that once he is an "adult" to disney, he always will be (meaning if you go back next year you would have to do the same thing). I am actually thinking about doing this for my son next year. He will be 8 then, but doesn't eat any of the kids stuff. It was really hard to find things for the kids to eat last year because they want the adult foods.

 

[maggiew]

I don't see one restaurant where there is only chicken strips or mac and cheese. There are plenty of other options, just check the menus. Below I have listed some options for each Counter service place that is not mac and cheese or chicken strips. I assume you were only concerned about counter service because there are lots of GREAT options for kids at Table service places. But if you were concerned about TS too, I can make a list for those too.

In AK:
Pizzafari: Kids pizza
Flame tree: Baked chicken drumstick
Yak & yeti CS: pork egg roll

In DHS:
ABC commissary: Ham and cheese wrap
Catalina eddie's: Cheese pizza
Pizza planet: pizza

In EPCOT:
Electric umbrella: burger or turkey wrap
Sunshine seasons: chicken with mashed potatoes, or minisub or sweet and sour chicken
Cantina: chicken quesadilla
Liberty Inn: grilled chicken salad or PB&J
Lotus Blossom Cafe: Beijing BBQ chicken drumstick
Yakitori house: terriyaki chicken
UK Fish House: I don't think there's a kids menu so fish & chips

In MK:
Casey's: I don't think a there is a kids meal so hot dogs or corn dog nuggets
Columbia harbor house: garden salad with grilled chicken
Cosmic rays: garden salad with grilled chicken or PB&J
pecos bills: hamburger or garden salad with grilled chicken
Pinnochio: cheese pizza
tomorrowland terrace (if open): beef and macaroni or PB&J

Maggie

 

[food4me]

Check the menus for the places that you're considering eating. If he won't eat any of the kids' meal choices, consider upgrading him to an adult. It does cost a little more (and from what I understand, requires that your park tickets for him are the adult rate, too) but he would be able to choose from the full adult menu instead of the kid's menu. Another good choice is to stick to as many buffets as possible. They're great for picky eaters!