Whats up with Kids menus?

[pascalstongue]

[QUOTE=MondaysChild;46827804]I am with you that my 5 year old would certainly want your choices more than the choices at BOG. And I may be crazy but I am glad for the different menu. We will be there eight days and using the dining plan so the thought of my kid eating chicken, pizza, and grilled cheese for some 14 meals -wow! She would love it!! But for me, I am working hard to get my daughter out of the chicken nugget rut and if disney magic won't help her try something new, well, I am in trouble!"

I totally agree. We are staying for 14 nights on the dining plan and the thought of my kids eating nothing but Mac n Cheese and fried foods for two weeks leaves me cold.
I am so glad that there are a few other choices.

[goofyintoronto]

Originally Posted by Bonniec

I don't agree. There's a ton of restaurants there all serving mac n cheese and chicken nuggets. I think it's about time they have a restaurant serving something healthier. IMO, they need a lot more places serving it.

Originally Posted by Hopefully

I totally disagree with you!!!!
I think it is great that there are finally kids menus that are expanded beyond the nuggets and pizza offerings.
If your children don't like those 2 menus, there are many, many other restaurants that will work for you.
Horray for those that want something more for their children.

I agree with these two! Its about time they offered healthier options instead of the same junk for kids.

If your kids want chicken nuggets, there's a million places around that serve them.

Sent from my Galaxy SII

[almburr]

I'm glad they are adding other options to their kids menus. My kiddos will eat PB&J and mac and cheese sometimes but it is not a staple in their diets. Mine tend to lean towards steaks,crab legs, pastas with shrimp. So when I planned our trips I looked over the menus and chose according to their tastes. DS7 on his birthday trip loved bangers and mash.

Each kid is different. Im just glad WDW doesn't think every kid survives on mac and cheese, and nuggets.

[NicoleK1974]

Originally Posted by mjl1969

We are trying to decide between BOG and Whispering Canyon for a night of our trip and was looking at the Kids Dinner Menus. Is it me or is something strange here?

First of all, there are only really 4 choices,

Secondly, I really dont see any standard kids staples .. Grilled Cheese, Chik Nugs, Hot Dog, plain pasta wbutter, etc ... instead we are given the choice of Fish of the Day, Multigrain Cheese Dippers, Beef Macaroni, and a Cheeseburger.

I have a 3 & 5 yo .. anyone know of a 3 or 5 year old that would touch "Fish of the Day"? Understand that kids menu is for older kids too, but cmon would it hurt to have a simple kids food option for those picky or young kids? Even a cheeseburger in my mind is not friendly for the youngest of kids.

You think they would make a standard grilled cheese if we asked them?

And for those saying Disney needs to keep it more healthy thats fine to each their own.. just bring back some simple offerings as an addition.

Anyone agree?

My 4 year old would choose the fish of the day over a cheeseburger or chicken nuggets any day!

Last year when we were there she was so happy to be offered steak and broccoli at CRT that this year she specifically requested it.

Of course I raised her from birth to eat adventurously.

She loved getting crab legs at Fulton's and sushi at Epcot.

I'm glad they are giving more (and slightly heathier) options.

[SmileEar2Ear]

What I don't get is why Disney seems to make the menus "all or nothing". Either the kids menu is only chicken nuggets, hamburgers and Mac and cheese, or it is grilled chicken, fish and steak. Why not a mix of both sets at ALL restaurants? 2 options could be for the "picky" eaters and 2 options could be for the more adventurous eaters. It seems to me there are a lot of people unhappy with kids meals at Disney on both sides of the issue. If they just did a combo of both everyone would be happy.

[disnut8]

Originally Posted by mjl1969

We are trying to decide between BOG and Whispering Canyon for a night of our trip and was looking at the Kids Dinner Menus. Is it me or is something strange here?

First of all, there are only really 4 choices,

Secondly, I really dont see any standard kids staples .. Grilled Cheese, Chik Nugs, Hot Dog, plain pasta wbutter, etc ... instead we are given the choice of Fish of the Day, Multigrain Cheese Dippers, Beef Macaroni, and a Cheeseburger.

I have a 3 & 5 yo .. anyone know of a 3 or 5 year old that would touch "Fish of the Day"? Understand that kids menu is for older kids too, but cmon would it hurt to have a simple kids food option for those picky or young kids? Even a cheeseburger in my mind is not friendly for the youngest of kids.

You think they would make a standard grilled cheese if we asked them?

And for those saying Disney needs to keep it more healthy thats fine to each their own.. just bring back some simple offerings as an addition.

Anyone agree?

I'm looking at the menu and at Be Our Guest, you can get the pasta without the sauce, just ask. So it's multigrain but it's not going to kill your child. And Whispering Canyon has a cheeseburger and I don't know of very many kids who wouldn't want that, otherwise McDonald's would be so out of business.

This reminds me of the time I took my son to the Grand Canyon and the one thing I really wanted was a nice dinner for the two of us along the canyon. I looked at menus and saw there was ravioli on there so he would be fine. Turned out to be spinach ravioli. We joke about it all the time now but you know what? He ate it and is still living. One of the nicest nights of my life.

[Lita]

Originally Posted by Bonniec

I don't agree. There's a ton of restaurants there all serving mac n cheese and chicken nuggets. I think it's about time they have a restaurant serving something healthier. IMO, they need a lot more places serving it.

I agree with you. My kids eat real food. I am glad that there are more options than just yhe typical macaroni and cheese and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

[Sparkly]

I hated the horrible plastic bright yellow mac & cheese from the kids menu when I was nine! Put me off eating mac & cheese in the US because I thought it was always like that :lol:

Nine year old me's favourite meal off the kids menu was probably the peanut butter and jelly sandwich!

[tinytinkmom]

Originally Posted by SmileEar2Ear

What I don't get is why Disney seems to make the menus "all or nothing". Either the kids menu is only chicken nuggets, hamburgers and Mac and cheese, or it is grilled chicken, fish and steak. Why not a mix of both sets at ALL restaurants? 2 options could be for the "picky" eaters and 2 options could be for the more adventurous eaters. It seems to me there are a lot of people unhappy with kids meals at Disney on both sides of the issue. If they just did a combo of both everyone would be happy.

I agree!!!

[chocovrdmicears]

Honestly? You can't swing a mouse by it's tail and NOT hit someplace that serves nuggets, mac n cheese or pizza for kids. Enough of it already. One of the BIGGEST complaints about the kids options on the Dining Plan, is that they don't service enough of options - So now they offer other options.

[minnie mum]

Originally Posted by SmileEar2Ear

What I don't get is why Disney seems to make the menus "all or nothing". Either the kids menu is only chicken nuggets, hamburgers and Mac and cheese, or it is grilled chicken, fish and steak. Why not a mix of both sets at ALL restaurants? 2 options could be for the "picky" eaters and 2 options could be for the more adventurous eaters. It seems to me there are a lot of people unhappy with kids meals at Disney on both sides of the issue. If they just did a combo of both everyone would be happy.

If restaurants expanded their menus to include everything that everyone just might want to eat on any given night, they'd all have to be buffets or have a 10 page menu, and it would be doubtful that they would turn a profit.

Guests have access to the online menus before they even arrive at the parks. People can make ADRs 6 months in advance. What is so difficult about selecting a restaurant based on the food that is advertised? (again, assuming no dietary restrictions).

[North of Mouse]

When children are offered different foods at home, they will more than likely develop tastes for more than just *kid* offerings.

Our children ate from the table what was cooked, so learned they couldn't have PBJ, or macaroni whenever they wanted it. There was no getting up and making, or having it made, any other food than was on the family dinner.

[SmileEar2Ear]

Originally Posted by minnie mum

If restaurants expanded their menus to include everything that everyone just might want to eat on any given night, they'd all have to be buffets or have a 10 page menu, and it would be doubtful that they would turn a profit.

Guests have access to the online menus before they even arrive at the parks. People can make ADRs 6 months in advance. What is so difficult about selecting a restaurant based on the food that is advertised? (again, assuming no dietary restrictions).

I don't think they would need to include every option, but at least provide a varied menu from both sides of the fence with a total of only like 4 options. People would still have to look at menus and pick what best suits their child. For example, one restaurant would offer chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, grilled chicken and fish. The next could offer hot dog, pizza, steak and shrimp. It wouldn't really be that hard. Its not much different than the sides they offer now at CS. Fries are usually an option, but then the "healthy" sides vary by location and may include carrots, grapes, applesauce, yogurt, etc. I usually keep an eye on those so that my kids can have variety throughout their week instead of only having grapes and carrots. Setting the menus up this way would help the majority of people avoid chicken nuggets all week, but would still offer another "kid friendly" item for picky eaters.

[shan136]

What I don't get is why Disney seems to make the menus "all or nothing". Either the kids menu is only chicken nuggets, hamburgers and Mac and cheese, or it is grilled chicken, fish and steak. Why not a mix of both sets at ALL restaurants? 2 options could be for the "picky" eaters and 2 options could be for the more adventurous eaters. It seems to me there are a lot of people unhappy with kids meals at Disney on both sides of the issue. If they just did a combo of both everyone would be happy.

I agree with this statement. I don't think it would be cost prohibitive or inconvenient for WDW to have a larger children's menu. Most restaurants in WDW and elsewhere have a decent selection of "Adult Entrees" why limit children to only a few selections.

We have just started planning our October trip and I am trying to plan out our ADRs but the limited children's menus are making it tricky as I don't want my own dining experience to be limited to what my kids will eat on the "Children's Menu".

[Kwaschitz]

Originally Posted by mjl1969

We are trying to decide between BOG and Whispering Canyon for a night of our trip and was looking at the Kids Dinner Menus. Is it me or is something strange here?

First of all, there are only really 4 choices,

Secondly, I really dont see any standard kids staples .. Grilled Cheese, Chik Nugs, Hot Dog, plain pasta wbutter, etc ... instead we are given the choice of Fish of the Day, Multigrain Cheese Dippers, Beef Macaroni, and a Cheeseburger.

I have a 3 & 5 yo .. anyone know of a 3 or 5 year old that would touch "Fish of the Day"?

At age 3-5, the ONLY option on any of the kids menus my son would have touched is grilled fish. His favorite has always been salmon, followed by ahi tuna, then mahi mahi/other white fleshed fish. We hated kids menus that only had "kid staples" because he turned up his nose at every. single. item. Now, at age 7, he'd still pick the fish most of the time but would agree to the cheese dippers you also listed (but neither of the others - he doesn't care for beef at all really other than a few bites of steak every once in a while).

When we were faced with more typical kids menu options, we were generally able to get them to make minor substitutions (for example, he wouldn't eat chicken nuggets then and disney was happy to sub grilled chicken though I can't remember which restaurant).