depressing kids menu

[libgirl1]

We have three kids. The middle child has declared 'vegetarianism' at the age of 5 (and no, I don't think it is a phase with her). She claims she likes the animals too much to eat them. I eat fish from time to time (about 2x a month), but tend to stick with more of a vegetarian diet myself, so I am in full support of her choice.
We were thinking of adding the DDP to our upcoming vacation. However, I have visited allears.net and noticed that most of the kids options under the DDP are SAD. How much meaty mac and burgers can one child eat during a vacation? The menus all look the same (pizza, mac and cheese, hotdogs, burgers, chicken nuggets) Honestly, part of me believes that some children have such poor eating habits b/c of things like this- options are not provided unless ordering off the adult menu. Does anyone know if I will be able to order her a meatless entree off the adult menu at quick service locations?
Any help I can get with this is appreciated.

 

[chocovrdmicears]

On the Dining Plan, you will not be able to order of the Adults menu and use a Child Credit - perhaps the Dining Plan is not the best fit for your family? If you pay OOP you can order what you want.
I agree that most of the kids offerings at CS are slim pickings..but, as they say, you get what you pay for. At $11.00 a day ( I think that's what the going rate is for kiddos) - choices are going to be what the price reflects. We have used the Dining Plan successfully for many years. There are lots of places that offer different things - especially TS places (which makes the dining plan a good value to us) - There is a stick somehere here that shows all the kids offerings and there is a nice mix of options - you just need to do a little research before. Off the top of my head I know that Sunshine Seasons, Flame Tree and Wolfgang Puck Express have some other choices.

 

[chocovrdmicears]

Just wanted to add there is a Vegetarian thread on the main dining board -- they may have some better suggestions for specifics there.

 

[DCDisney]

My kids were essentially vegetarians for a number of years and at TS they can also do pasta pretty much anywhere but they ate plain pasta with parm cheese and pizza for nearly every meal as neither liked the mac and cheese. For QS we had to pick locations carefully but there are 1 or 2 places in each park that has something veggie (or easily adaptable). The new mexican restuarant in Epcot for example has a cheese empanada meal for kids. Sunshine seasons had a few options too in terms of sandwiches and asian food. At the time my kids would eat uncrustables so that was a good option for them in many CS locations. If you want to take the time to speak to a manager most will sub a veggie burger for the kids burger. My kids didn't like them though and had cheese in a bun for one meal. The resort QS locations had more flexibility. We ended up using lots of credits for kids meal breakfasts (2 mickey waffles and applesauce and juice they will often sub a biscuit or eggs for the bacon) and then paying OOP for better CS options for lunch.

 

[squirrel]

Some of the TS places have fish on the kid's menu.

For CS you should check out the sticky and see what other options will work, it will be even harder with a vegetarian. There aren't a lot of choices but when you take away all of the meat your left with very little to choose.

I would think they could make a meatless maccaroni.

You might want to e-mail special diets to see what options are available.

 

[catne]

why not skip the DDP and just pay cash...that way you can all order what you want, no limitations. The dining plans don't work for everyone, sounds like they would not be ideal for your family, given your children's choices and tastes. If you want the advantage of prepaying for your meals, buy some gift cards in advance and use those to pay for the meals...a lot of people post about doing that so they don't have to worry about coming up with money whle they are on vacation.

Have you looked at this thread about kids meal offerings at all the counter service places in Disney...covers 'em all.:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2479727

I see a lot of choices that are not necessarily nuggets/hot dog/pizza...though those are prevalent I also see less processed food available. Maybe not too many vegan options, but looks like there actually are some on there (like Vegetable Flatbread at Golden Oak Outpost in Magic Kingdom.)

 

[TDC Nala]

I wouldn't do DDP if your children aren't interested in the kids menus and they will want more "adult" type food. It might still be worthwhile if you do lots of buffets (you'd still have to deal with the counter service though)

Or, if an adult or a child 10 or over is willing to eat the kids meal, they can order the adult meal she wants and switch with her.

One of the tradeoffs of using DDP is the fact that kids' menus are limited (partly because the child's dining plan is so inexpensive).

 

[brymolmom]

I think that skipping the DDP and paying OOP is the way to go for you. That way - you can order whatever it is that your kids will want. The kids DDP is SO CHEAP that obviously the offerings have to be very limited or WDW would lose more money. However, if you might be interested in a buffet meal every day (so that the kids can eat whatever they want - adult food too, and lots of non-meat options), then the DDP probably will work out to your benefit. You might just need to buy a few meals OOP for the kids (but still getting your money's worth since the buffet meal every day will be covered by the cost of DDP).

Some other ideas:
You CAN get SOME variety on kids menus - just look at ALL of them.
Try using kids CS credits at the resorts (lots of variety) and/or for breakfasts (lots of good Vegetarian options for that too - like Mickey waffles).
Split adult CS meals - they are big and can be done.
Use snack credits for one child or ALL children for a meal or two (bagel plus fruit plus a cookie = meal).
Go to Main ST Bakery to use some CS credits - again, good for non-meat options and variety.
Go to Wolfgang Puck express in DTD once or twice on your trip - you will get more than your money's worth on those CS credits.

Just keep in mind if you opt for the Dining Plan that you're only paying $12 a day for the kids...so truly the CS is 'bonus' anyway since you will likely use that up easily in your one TS meal a day (especially if you stick to character meals and buffets). So don't worry about paying OOP for a few 'upgraded' meals for your child if and when needed.

 

[SnipsNSnails]

I ditto the above poster. The DDP for a child is more than worth it if you plan on doing a lot of buffets/family style. From the sounds of it those would be your best options anyway for the large variety of foods available. Most buffets are around $15 for a child, so paying $12 for the DDP for the day means not only that you save money on the buffet but the CS and snack are a bonus. The kids CS meals come with grapes and carrot sticks if she likes those so if an adult orders and entree that she will eat, they can share with her and someone else can eat the child entree. There are some meatless options for children, namely PB&J and macaroni and cheese and you can ask at the CS for vegitarian options for a child. There are several places that offer salads usually which chicken which can be left off I'm sure. And if there is nothing at the CS everyone else wants to eat at, at the very worst you can run elsewhere for her meal. Or like the PP said, buy her something OOP and save her CS meal for a breakfast another time.

My oldest son is not a meat eater, he will eat chicken nuggets, but other than that the only meat he will eat is bacon. So hamburgers are out as well as meaty macaroni. There is usually an option for him that will work. We are doing a lot of buffets which are great for him as he loves fresh fruit and veggies and things like corn, bread, and rice. The buffets offer fruit and salad and bread in abundance for him.

 

[3pletprincesses]

I agree about the kids menu. Not much choice around the world for QS and most 1 credit TS. that's one of the reasons why we went with the Deluxe plan in a few days. I did DDp last fall with the girls and had some problems. They didn't really like the food as it was blend and had little choice and little veggies and they love their veggies. Thank god for all the buffets we did. At least to go to eat grown up food almost every day.

 

[Wendy5055]

I would suggest the buffets are great places. I lean more towards vegetarian myself...although, I eat chicken and turkey so I am NOT a vegetarian. I find a wonderful variety of foods at the buffets.

An additional note about the buffets is that many of them are Character Meals and it is a nice way for children to meet/greet and get autographs of the characters without taking additional park time standing in lines. We have utilized the character meals for a number of years this way.

Good Luck with your planning and I hope you enjoy your trip!

 

[chocovrdmicears]

I also wanted to mention in regards to the *Meaty Macaroni* dish on most of the kids menus - You can order it without meat. DD has had the the pasta plain with red sauce on the side or plain with butter and grated cheese as several places.

 

[vinotinto]

I don't think the regular DDP will work for you. I would recommend either go completely OOP and just order what your family wants to order. As the PPs said you could then order multiple adult meals and share. Or upgrade to the DxDP, which will allow you to do more TS, more buffets, and you will also get adult appetizers which will allow you to share more of your food with your kids. For example, you could do a TS buffet breakfast, which will have multiple choices and a nice signature dinner, which will have better choices for the kids and you will get an app over the DDP (more stuff to share with the kids).