DOes anyone else have a problem with "kid food?"

[phyllis1966]

Our DD hated the kids menus since she was about 5. We rarely do QS, but back then (6 years ago) even the TS kids menus were repetitive. We always ordered her an appetizer and she shared our meals.

Now that she's 11, she's thrilled to order whatever she wants from the adult menu. Last November, when she was still 10 but a Disney adult, we got Free Dining for our trip (it was our only experience with the DDP) and she had many interesting meals and was very happy.

I agree that the kids' QS choices are pretty pitiful, for the most part.

 

[disneydreamkate]

Thanks to this thread I did a bit of investigating and today I changed my 4 y/o to a 10 y/o. We are paying the difference in the park ticket price for him ($30some) and it will be well worth being able to order from the adult menu for him! No way he would be able to eat cheese pizza and mac-n-cheese at every CS! In the past, I've always planned a lot of buffets...one reason was the poor variety for our youngest. He has always been an adventurous eater!

 

[Jareds_mommy]

Thanks to this thread I did a bit of investigating and today I changed my 4 y/o to a 10 y/o. We are paying the difference in the park ticket price for him ($30some) and it will be well worth being able to order from the adult menu for him! No way he would be able to eat cheese pizza and mac-n-cheese at every CS! In the past, I've always planned a lot of buffets...one reason was the poor variety for our youngest. He has always been an adventurous eater!

You will be happy you did. For us I don't care they can not eat an adult portion, We find US portions to big even for us. Its being abot to eat food they enjoy.

 

[seashoreCM]

1. Book the dining plan with the kid as an adult. Optionally set aside his adult ticket and buy a child ticket for him.

2. Order kids meals and adult meals at the restaurant. Cut up the entrees into pieces and let everyone share.

 

[jenjersnap]

One of the many reasons we love the DxDDP is that we can hit one buffet a day where my adventurous eaters can get their fill of salads and more adult- oriented entrees and then a signature TS where the included appetizers generally go to the kids. We avoid QS for lunch and dinner. The list posted above really proves how pathetic and repetitive the choices are, unfortunately.

Sort of OT but I am glad we are squeezing one more trip in before my oldest becomes a Disney adult because the other two are going to be so jealous. I refuse to upgrade them to adults before their time, LOL. Might have to abandon the dining plans entirely at that point.

 

[disfreak2]

I couldn't agree more. The kids meals were small and limited in variety. Buffets were a good solution for us.

 

[smacky1]

Yes! The counter service kids meals are terrible!!! DD (4) won't even eat them. She had never met a chicken nugget she didn't like until we went to WDW. We have to order the chicken strips from the adult counter service because the kid's nuggets are disgusting

I totally agree with you on this! My ds (3) also LOVES chicken nuggets. But when we were in Disney and ordered these for him, he wouldnt eat them after one bite. Not even with ketchup! He will eat anything with ketchup on it! The adult strips however are very good! Even I like those. This is one reason why we dont use the dining plan.

 

[jennyleettu]

Last time we went it was great for us with my niece because her parents only fed her fast food so chicken nuggets and pizza were staples for us...I'm not sure what we are going to do this time around because DD doesn't eat that kind of stuff.

I think we are going to let DD order off the adult menu and just pay for her meal, unless she decides that she wants what is available on the children's menu.

 

[sunset30]

This worries me actually, my son will NOT eat mixed up food (he's ASD) so pizza, mac and cheese and PB&J are out. I don't want him to live off chicken nuggets for a fortnight, but we are on regular dining plan (free dining)

Our plan is, we have a fair few buffets where he can try whatever he fancies, and get the fruit etc that he LOVES, we have Ohana, where he can eat his very favourite brocolli, and the meat comes in bite size skewer pieces that he can enjoy.

I have packed a bunch of long life 100% fruit snacks for him too, so that on days where he does eat chicken nuggets and fries and what have you, he'll still be getting something sensible, and I was happy to note that oftentimes you can get some apple slices or something as a snack.

But, you know what, it's free dining, we'll just make it work, if he wants to taste things we order off the adult menu, there is no reason he can't do that. And if anyone leaves something *** they don't like it / are full etc, well, we have had the experience of eating there (every one of our TS choices is more about the experience I think!) Without free dining we would no way have done the number of character meals / experience meals, and we have no reason to worry about cleaning plates etc.

The kids choices are disappointing for sure, but I hope we make it work so he (he's 3 btw) eats well, and reasonably healthily...

 

[MistressMerryweather]

I know this post is a month old but I have to put in my 2 cents.
It isn't just the type of foods on the kids menu, but the quality as well. I realize it's *ALL* about money, but come on. The kids get rib meat(and whatever else) all squashed together into a tiny hockey puck of a nugget and the adults get strips of chicken breast? There really is NO reason they cannot provide adult menu choices in much smaller quantities. Just no reason. We recently stayed for 14 days and though you can find stuff "here and there", you really can't do that for 14 days. It's sad really. I love Disney like a crazy woman, but in this they disappoint me in a big big way.

 

[distherapy]

We did the Deluxe Dining plan and had several waiters offer more than the kids' meals to my adventurous daughter, but only charged her for the kids credit. It was an unexpected surprise. There were many restaurants, too, where there was grilled fish or salmon or a filet for her option. We ate at only TS restaurants.

 

[PatsMom]

I am an adult who frequently orders from the children's menu just because I don't eat very much in one sitting. One of the best quick service meals two weeks ago was the child's turkey sandwich at Cosmic Rays - carrot sticks on the side instead of fries. It was really good.

The dining plan doesn't seem to be a great value for those with picky eaters - whether the pickiness is not eating pizza and burgers or the pickiness is eating only pizza and burgers!

We had an eight year old with us last trip and we just let her order what she wanted. Generally the kids meals were fine for her but if she wanted something from the adult menu, she was OK to order it.

 

[SEC]

I don't like the limited kids menu. My 2 year old eats real food, not chicken nuggets, pB and j and Mac and cheese.

 

[PatsMom]

I don't like the limited kids menu. My 2 year old eats real food, not chicken nuggets, pB and j and Mac and cheese.

Hate to break this to you but chicken nuggets, pb&j and mac and cheese are "real food". They are just not the foods you choose to feed to your two year old. Lots of other parents obviously have different opinions or simple economics (lack of sales) would lead Disney to change the children's options.

But there are lots of other options besides the ones you listed. Menus are available in several places so just plan ahead for food that you will feed your child. Two is easy - no charge at buffets. Or split your meal with them.

 

[pixarmom]

Does anyone else have a problem with the kid menus at WDW? Lat time we went our youngest was 7. We had the dining plan and ended up going to buffets most of the time. How many times can a kid be expected to eat nuggets, pb&j (ds is allergic), and mac and cheese? Our son doesn't care for any of the foods on the kid's menus. He will be 9 on our next trip and I can't even find a way for Disney to let him eat off the adult menu. Is this a problem that only our family has?

This is one of the reasons (among many others) that we no longer use the dining plan. We have APs this year, and we bought a TIW card, which works perfectly for our family of 5. Even without the TIW card, we wouldn't go back to the dining plan.

Our oldest (now a pre-teen) has disliked the WDW kids' menus for a long time. But he doesn't like kids' menus anywhere - so for us, the problem is not unique to Disney. And I know how he feels - I didn't like kids' menus as a kid either - not at Disney or anywhere else. So he orders an appetizer for his entree or we share entrees and get soup or salad to start. Without the dining plan, we have lots of flexibility and he can always find something he likes. As lots of previous posters mentioned, you can upgrade your little one to a "Disney adult" on the dining plan if he/she has more grown-up tastes.

Our two younger boys love the kids' meals. Yes, they often repeat mac and cheese, chicken, hamburgers, etc., but the meals often come with carrots or fruit. If not, we share from our adult meals. And it doesn't bother us much because we haven't found another vacation destination that has great kids' meals anyway.

 

[Belleandtinker]

First off, we don't use the dining plan.

For our DS5, we try to rotate the meals around just like I have to do at home. I also preview the kids menus (alittle) before going so I know the menu items better. For example, if I know they will have pizza on the menu for dinner we don't get pizza for lunch.

At the end of the day - "we're on vacation!"

Good luck!

 

[brergnat]

Why does this topic keep coming up?

Just STOP buying the DDP!!!! You are doing exactly what Disney wants you to do...you're "falling for it".

You can feed your kids whatever you want, as long as you are willing to PAY for it. The DDP is a money making scam. OF COURSE they are only going to offer junk when they are only charging $12/day for a kid to eat. Exactly what sort of quality do you expect for that for two meals and a snack?

There is plenty of food variety available at WDW. You just can't expect the best food options for your child if you are not willing to pay for them.

If people en masse simply stopped buying the DDP, and started letting their kids eat off their own plates rather than shelling out the $$$ for the crappy kid's meals, you can bet that Disney would change the kid's offerings. And, for the record, I don't understand why more families don't just do this. I would, if my kids would actually eat the same things as me. The portions are way oversized, and plenty for an adult and young kid to share. My struggle is that my kids are autistic and have major food issues. One will only eat mac and cheese and pizza in restaurants. The other will only eat hamburgers or chicken strips in restaurants. It's annoying as all get out to deal with this, so I for one am glad that WDW has these sorts of foods readily available for kids.

 

[Belle5]

I guess I am the only one who is perfectly fine with the kids' options. My DS7 is the world's pickiest eater and mac and cheese, cheeseburgers, grilled cheese, and chicken nuggets are about as adventurous as he gets. My other five were great eaters--especially DS13 who was eating sushi and all kinds of stuff since he was tiny. We always let him fill up on the kiddie food and then we would share some of our adult food with him.

 

[maxiesmom]

There are more than hamburgers and chicken nuggets offerd on the kids menus. You just have to look a little.

The Diamond Horseshoe offers a turkey sandwich. Cosmic Rays and Pecos Bills offer a salad with chicken. Pinnochios offers P B & J or mac and cheese. And that is just the quick service stuff in MK. If you do want to use a table service credit you can find things like grilled cheese with tomato soup (at the Plaza) or ravioli (Tony's Town Square) or meaty maccaroni (Liberty Tree).

Do some research and you will find there is a lot more offered for kids than burgers and nuggets.

 

[MSLRAC]

There are more than hamburgers and chicken nuggets offerd on the kids menus. You just have to look a little.

The Diamond Horseshoe offers a turkey sandwich. Cosmic Rays and Pecos Bills offer a salad with chicken. Pinnochios offers P B & J or mac and cheese. And that is just the quick service stuff in MK. If you do want to use a table service credit you can find things like grilled cheese with tomato soup (at the Plaza) or ravioli (Tony's Town Square) or meaty maccaroni (Liberty Tree).

Do some research and you will find there is a lot more offered for kids than burgers and nuggets.

I totally agree! We had the DxDP last trip and opted for 3 TS meals per day. I was really worried at first (mainly because of threads like this),that my kids would be stuck with mac & cheese, burgers, nuggets and pizzas for two meals a day. But with a little bit of research, I quickly found other options all over the world. During our trip, DS ate one pizza at Tutto and DD6 had one burger at The Wave. The rest of our trip, they ate fish, steak, shrimp, grilled chicken, turkey, salads and pasta dishes.