Children's Meals

[peterbo]

My kids will be 10 and 9 when we go to WDW in August. My 10 year old is not a big eater and often will not even finish his kids meal. Does he have to order from the adult menu now that he is over 9, or can he still order from the kids menu? I would not think there would be an issue at counter service restaurants, but at a table service restaurant or a buffet, is there any opportunity to order kids meals, or is the 10 = adult rule strict? It is such a waste of money to pay full price when he will not each all that much, but I hate to have to pass on the character buffets because of this.

 

[Hopefully]

My kids will be 10 and 9 when we go to WDW in August. My 10 year old is not a big eater and often will not even finish his kids meal. Does he have to order from the adult menu now that he is over 9, or can he still order from the kids menu? I would not think there would be an issue at counter service restaurants, but at a table service restaurant or a buffet, is there any opportunity to order kids meals, or is the 10 = adult rule strict? It is such a waste of money to pay full price when he will not each all that much, but I hate to have to pass on the character buffets because of this.

At character buffets (actually all buffets and all all you can eat meals) he will be charged as an adult, no matter how much or how little he eats. He is a Disney adult and they are strict in these cirmumstances.
Are you on the DDP? You will have to pay for adult credits if you are, and they are very strict on that as well.
In most (not all) places he will be able to order off of the childs menu. If you are on the DDP it will "cost" an adult credit. If you are paying OOP, you will pay for the childs meals.
There have been numerous reports of some restaurants not allowing this.
Good Luck

 

[hildarumpole]

If you really want to do character meals, go at breakfast when the cost is less. Ever since my daughter turned 10, we've limited ourselves to one character meal per trip. My kids tend to eat less than normal at character meals, because they get too caught up in visiting with the characters to want to eat more than a couple forkfulls of mac & cheese and maybe a chicken nugget, if we're lucky. We're glad the kids enjoy the character meals, but aside from the entertainment, they are a poor dining value once your children turn 10 yrs old, unless they are really big eaters.

As long as you are paying OOP, there aren't any age restrictions on ordering kids meals at TS and CS.

 

[LilGMom]

If you are paying OOP at a TS/CS than you 10 yr. old can still order from the kids' menu. If you are paying OOP at a buffet/character meal than you will be charged an adult price for him regardless of how much or how little he eats. If you are using the DDP you will have to pay the adult price per night for the DDP for your DS. You will be using adult DDP credits at the TS/CS restaurants but he can still order off of the kids' menu (from what I've seen at WDW and read on here).

 

[Luna_Lovegood]

We have a 14 yr. old with Asperger's who has a very limited diet. Some TS restaurants have let him order off the kid's menu. Others will let him order an adult-sized version of those meals. It varies from place to place.