10 year old ordering off kids menu - restaurants that won't allow this?

[Bitsmommy]

At what age do you all feel the cut off age should be to order off the kids menu? If it was bumped say to 14, would you still try to mooch if your child was that age?

I just have to put my two cents worth in here. I wouldn't use such strong words "mooch" since you really don't know everyone's circumstances. Like ours for example, my son has a Gtube. He is fed through a tube in his stomach over night and that is how he gets the majority of his caloric intake. He is LEARNING to eat. Now, he LOOKS like a normal kid, but only eats recreationally. If someone accused me of "mooching" if I elected to order him a children's meal because:
1. There is NO WAY he could eat an adult portion.
2. His eating is only recreational.
3. Due to his condition he needs plain foods or he would be extremely sick ALL NIGHT LONG and possibly need to be hospitalized.

I would unleash so much crazy, angry, the Good Lord better save you because no one else will, wrath that they would totally think twice about ever doing it to anyone else. Us Mommies can get NUTS if we have to and remarks like that, after all we have been through, will cause it in- a heart beat.

Going to get off my soap box now.

 

[Sadie22]

I'm diabetic and I sometimes order child size portions of healthy foods for myself when I'm eating alone because they're the right size. I have never been refused anywhere. No, I don't usually say I'm diabetic. When DH and I are together, we often share.

Back home, I have a son who's picky because he doesn't want unhealthy items added to his food. (He counts cheese and too much mayonnaise on a turkey club sandwich as unhealthy.) He's learning to order entrees and sandwiches exactly the way he wants them on the few occasions when he doesn't cook for himself. By the way, he's 24.

 

[JJsmama]

We had problems last year at Tutto.. My 13yr old wanted to eat off kids menu but they refused. We were going to pay with an adult DxDDP credit for just a kids meal- they would not allow nor would they allow me to buy him a kids meal oop.

What? That's crazy! How can they stop you from ordering OOP?
I am having second thoughts about Tutto this year. We had a really lovely meal there last year and I stopped to commend the manager / maitre D as we were leaving. He was Sooo rude to me that it erased our good feelings right that instant. Now all these reports about Tutto being difficult about what the kids eat have me thinking of heading elsewhere.

 

[cymbaldiva]

Why shouldn't a kid be able to order whatever they want regardless of their age? So yes if my picky eater kid wanted to order a hot dog off of the kids menu at 14 then I would expect him to be able to do so.

Just one more reason I'm not a fan of the DDP.

Wayyyy back in the day ~ back when Aunt Polly's served food and before those pesky DDP credits, I saw a PB & J sandwich on the menu. (yes, this is also before uncrustables - an actual sandwich) Sounded good to me, so I asked if I could order it ~ they had the sign back then too about selections for Mickeys friends ages 3 to 9, and I can read so I asked if it was ok because I'm certainly no kid. The CM was sweet; she laughed and sold me the sandwich - no muss, no fuss.

I miss the 90's.

 

[bicker]

Note that consumer marketing, especially with regard to entertainment and recreation, vacations and such, tends to recognize serving children as a loss-leader: If you make the cost of bringing children along less, that tends to break through the resistance to making the purchase that is often thicker with parents worried about feeding more mouths than DINKs would have to concern themselves with. ... So, effectively, a overage patron ordering a menu item intended to be a loss-leader is getting more than the eatery was strictly intending to offer.

There should not be any age limit. I'm in my 40's and not a small girl and I often order off the kids menu at restaurants. I do so because either I want a small portion or because of my own food issues I'm happier with something simple. If they told me I could not I would leave. And I have. What they need to do is do away with "kids menu" and just have some smaller simpler items on the regular menu or offer half portions for those who want them.

However, that would destroy the kids' menu's ability to serve as an effective loss-leader for restaurants.

Even beyond that, I suspect that folks (especially parents of young children) would be complaining in droves if kids meals were really just small and simpler versions of regular menu items, priced in the same way as the regular menu items (i.e., not as a loss-leader). The cost of food ingredients is a very small part of the overall budget of a restaurant. Halve the portion, but keep all other aspects of the pricing the same, and you reduce the price by about 4%-5% - now that's something to complain about, paying so little less, but getting half as much food. The pittance nature of the difference in price between a small steak and a large steak has prompted some WDW restaurants to eliminate different size cuts of steak.

What are you paying for when you eat a restaurant meal at WDW? The labor, especially. You're paying for people to greet you, seat you, server you, cook for you, and clean for you. You're paying for the facility itself, the cost of building it, maintaining it, furnishing it with tables, chairs, dishes, silverware, etc. All that is obvious. What's not obvious is that you're also paying the cost of customer acquisition and you're paying an extra premium for the convenience. That is one thing that makes WDW restaurants rather unique - that so much of what you pay is attributable to an intangible. And how much food is on the plate has no impact on how much an adult appreciates being able to sit down and enjoy a nice meal, without the rigmarole of leaving the park midday, getting to your car (assuming you have rented one), driving to someplace else, having your meal, and then coming back.

However I'll tell you that your use of 'mooch' is offensive and argumentative.

I agree. I've never seen that word used in any substantially respectable way. Folks who feel that adults should not order off the kids' menu, for whatever reason, should call the practice exploitative or abusive (like I do), but not "mooching". We're adults here: Let's use intelligent language, rather than childish language.

 

[melomouse]

DD turning 9 and the DDP came about the same time. For the most part, the kid shocked me by ordering the adult entrees (osso bucco @ Tutto,prime rib @ Kona's).

Now that she's a teenager, things have shifted a bit. We have been to Artist's Point, saved the adult credit and paid OOP ($8.95, I think) for a full-sized chicken breast, potato, veggie and the painted Mickey Cookie! This was 2 summers ago.Sometime during the week, we save another adult credit and get another signature meal....

That said, most of the true "kid's meals" she won't eat anymore~ she's gone thru stages where she's been insulted to get a kid's menu and we are now in the healthier eating stage.

Much has been said about Tutto here - I love the place! We all love the place! However, a few years ago, I asked for a side of pasta for DD - don't recall whether she was ordering a kid's or an adult at the time - I think a kid's meal maybe).. and the bowl of plain pasta was $11 OOP! Go figure!

In my view, the kid's meal at AP was a steal, while I felt totally ripped off for an $11 side of pasta (no sauce, no less!). In the end, it all works out. We're on vacation and Disney wants to please you!

 

[-Hope-]

I was told by a CM that the 3-9 is a guideline for those who'd paid child prices on the ddp- if you paid adult prices and wanted less food then that was just fine with Disney. We didn't eat at Tutto which seems to be popping up again and again so I can't speak for that but everywhere we asked allowed my dd10 to order from the child's menu if she wanted. Many times she wanted the child drink and grapes for dessert but other times she was allowed to get a child's entree while still getting adult sized drinks and dessert choices. Not one person ever made us feel bad for asking or acted as if it were a problem. We were completely honest about her age and never tried to be sneaky about it so I don't consider this to be mooching, exploitative, abusive or dishonest in any way.

 

[kaligal]

OP, I see that everyone is talking about their dining plans. You said you aren't using one. I actually went back to check because everyone is talking about this credit and that credit and I usually avoid dining plan threads, lol.

I ordered from the children's menu in the Brown Derby when I was in my 30s because I have a juvenile palate and found nothing to my taste on the adult menu. I paid for my meal with regular old cash.

They were very nice about it and even offered to bring extra of whatever I'd ordered. Not even a flicker of "Oh, geez, what a pain" crossed their face.

 

[jakenjess]

I'll join those who have said the only place I've had a problem is Tutto. We were not on a dining plan. They wouldn't let my DS order off the childrens' menu, so the closest thing we could find on the adult menu was spaghetti and meatballs. Ordered it with no meatballs and sauce on the side and were charged full price. We had a great meal there, but wouldn't go back with my picky eater DS!

 

[Barnhill9586]

At what age do you all feel the cut off age should be to order off the kids menu? If it was bumped say to 14, would you still try to mooch if your child was that age?

There shouldn’t be a cut-off age for ordering off the menu, imo. Anyone at any age should be able to order what they want and pay a price commensurate with what they order. Just because a kid is 10 doesn't mean that they magically develop a taste for the adult menu and they should be able to order chicken tenders if that is what they want.

 

[Barnhill9586]

What about adults that don't eat huge meals or do not like the offerings at an establishment but are there with other adults who do? Why are the plain foods limited to children under a certain age? I think the age cut offs are stupid if paying OOP. Why shouldn't a kid be able to order whatever they want regardless of their age? So yes if my picky eater kid wanted to order a hot dog off of the kids menu at 14 then I would expect him to be able to do so.

Daisy

This x 1000!

 

[ksc37]

OP here... Thanks to everyone for their replies. Glad to hear most places will work with you on this.

It sounds like I should be okay making ADRs at Artist Point and maybe Flying Fish. I actually like the idea of some of the signature restaurants because some of those kids menus do tend to have a better variety than the awful kids pizza and the beefy macaroni.

At some of our other choices (places without the fancy sauces and sides), I expect he may order from the adult menu.

 

[bicker]

There shouldn’t be a cut-off age for ordering off the menu, imo. Anyone at any age should be able to order what they want and pay a price commensurate with what they order.

However, as I mentioned before, that would be only about 4%-5% less than regular price, for a half-portion. So it is only the deeply discounted young child price that should be limited to children 3-9... I do agree with you that it would be nice if the smaller meal itself should be available to all, at the higher price. I believe it is only consumer resistance to there being two prices for the same meal that precludes Disney from offering that.

 

[TDC Nala]

Here is the real problem with that question.

According to many posts here, you can go into one restaurant on one day and ask the server this question and they will tell you "no." Someone else can go into the same restaurant on the same day, ask a different server, and be told "yes."

So there really is no way to get an absolutely accurate answer to this question for any particular Disney restaurant.

 

[x5x5x5x5x5]

I've posted on this before and it makes my blood boil. Any human should be able to walk into a restaurant and order anything on the menu as long as they pay the price listed for it. If you would like a grilled cheese sandwich and the only one offered is on the children's menu and you happen to be 59 then so be it. It's absolutely ridiculous to be told you cannot order something that is clearly offered by the restaurant just because of your age. Absurd. And if I go to a restaurant and am ever treated like this I will leave and never return (Disney or no Disney).

Okay, now that it is off my chest - I do miss real sandwiches (Aunt Polly's pbj).

 

[NMW]

This has me a little worried for our upcoming trip because I have an ADR planned for Tutto Italia.

I'm not so much worried for my DS (who will be 10) who is more adventurous & enjoys food but for my 11 yr old DD who is pickier w/ a smaller appetite.

I was planning on trying to "tweak" the adult choices a little - like asking for sauce on the side or leaving off things she doesn't like (like mushrooms or onions) or subbing french fries (not at Tutto)... things like that. And, for places where she won't like any of the appetizers, asking if she can have something else like fruit or raw veggies (one of the kids' appetizers).

Will that work ok?

Yes, any restaurant will alter a dish by removing sauces, subbing sides, etc. I've had CMs ask me at resaurants, especially signature ones, if my sons wanted their dishes altered. My sons eat anything, so I have always turned them down.

My friends went with their sons to Flying Fish on the dining plan and tried to order off the kids menu. The server told them no, but offered to remove sauces, etc. for the boys. They were fine with this. I believe the boys were 10 and 12 or, 11 and 13 at the time.

 

[PHXscuba]

How much do they charge (OOP) to "adult-size" a child's menu dish at a TS restaurant? I have a DD12 who may choose this option some of the time and I'd like to have a ballpark -- am I paying double what the kids' meal price is for a double portion?

I know the examples you give will vary but a few might help me compare. I think I am leaning heavily toward taking a room discount over free DDP because of the flexibility it would give my teens to order an appetizer or a "large" kids meal if they don't find an adult entree they like.

PHXscuba

 

[maggiew]

Yes, any restaurant will alter a dish by removing sauces, subbing sides, etc. I've had CMs ask me at resaurants, especially signature ones, if my sons wanted their dishes altered. My sons eat anything, so I have always turned them down.

When we went to Via Napoli, they were not willing to give me salad without dressing. I have also read that other people had problems getting pizza minus this or that. But I will say that was when it was first opened. So I am not sure if they are still like that now that they have had time to settle into their system.

Maggie

 

[Wendy31]

Yes, any restaurant will alter a dish by removing sauces, subbing sides, etc. I've had CMs ask me at resaurants, especially signature ones, if my sons wanted their dishes altered. My sons eat anything, so I have always turned them down.

My friends went with their sons to Flying Fish on the dining plan and tried to order off the kids menu. The server told them no, but offered to remove sauces, etc. for the boys. They were fine with this. I believe the boys were 10 and 12 or, 11 and 13 at the time.

Thank you!! I figured (hoped) we'd be okay doing that! I've been reading the menus of the places I've chosen & looking for adult dishes that could possibly be made more "picky palate pleasing"!

She likes fish & chicken & steak, but she likes them plain & doesn't like everything together on the plate - like a chicken breast w/ some "weird" sauce sitting on top of mashed potatoes.

Since we'll have 2 "adult" Disney kids & 1 under 3 kid, I've chosen more buffets than I normally would too - hoping that everyone will be able to find something to eat!

 

[tinkerbelle8878]

I've found that they don't even question it at a CS restaurant. I was paying OOP and wasn't on any dining plan. It was too hot to eat any kind of big meals and I wanted something light. I'm not under 10 and no one cared.

Plus there are times where you just want a grilled cheese. Or a turkey sandwich without any of the froufrou.

I know most cruise lines offer every night a small extra menu of things like grilled chicken, pasta with tomato sauce..that kind of thing. Simple stuff if nothing else on the menu appeals. It would be interesting if Disney did something like this and did away with the actual Kid's Meal heading with the age limit.