3y/o, buffets and eating issues

[Harmony]

My son, who will be almost two, was born with several health issues. As a result, he developed severe eating issues. We work with an OT and speech therapist and I work with him all the time.

We are still dealing with his oral aversions and since they don't disappear overnight we will probably be dealing with these issues for sometime. (thinking...right before kinder)

So if we go to WDW once my child is 3...even with all his eating issues...will we still have to pay full buffet price? I'm finding this a bit hard to swallow...esp considering the fact that he sometimes takes *literally* one bite and that's enough. I can't imagine paying $10 or more for a buffet for my three y/o who may (or may not...there's always the hope that he will eat a lot one day...LOL) eat only ONE bite of something.

I realize that I'm jumping the gun a bit, esp considering the fact that he is still only 23mos...but it's just something for me to think about. I guess we'll have to plan another trip right before he turns three.

 

[ducklite]

Although I can empathize with you, a lot of three year olds barely eat. It's pretty typical at that age to graze. So in reality your child eating only a bite or two is no different than probably 30-40% of all children in his/her age group.

Anne

 

[Harmony]

Actually, it is different, quite different. I can't explain it 'cause unless you've been through it...you wouldn't understand it. (and thank your lucky stars, you don't! LOL) I understand that all toddlers are 'picky' eaters but this goes beyond that. That's why it's even harder to accept it. Like I said before, I'll just have to go before he turns three.

 

[SandrainNC]

Hi Harmony! I know sort of how you feel about this. My son's first trip was November and he was 3 (almost 4). He has Down syndrome so he is delayed in some things (speech, etc.). He does love to eat though, but is picky about what he eats. And yes, I paid $10 for him to eat just mashed potatoes at Chef Mickeys. I try to look at it this way. I choose to take him to a buffet. If I really want to take him, then unfortunately I have to pay that price for him. I think it is crazy to charge the same for a 3 year old (disability or no disability) and an 11 year old (ok, soon to be 9), but anyway, if I want to go eat there, I just pay it. You could just ask when you get to the restaurant though and explain the situation. They may not charge you. You never know until you ask.

I thought paying for his tickets was worse than paying for the food though. Even though he is almost 4, he cannot get out of it what a typical 4 year old would (cognitively around 2). But, again, I like going to Disney and I know how the prices are set up, so it is my choice. This is the logic I use on myself not to get upset about the prices.

Sandra

 

[shellybaxter]

Harmony,

I'm so sorry about your child's health issues. I can't imagine how difficult it is to worry about his special needs, worrying about the "regular" needs of a child is hard enough. I know it's not the same, but LOTS of young children don't eat at Disney for LOTS of different reasons. I took my four and a half year old niece to the PSB in Norway. She ate exactly two bites of fruit and one bite of cinnamon roll. She was too excited about seeing the princesses. She wouldn't even touch the eggs, bacon, sausage, or potatoes. But the food wasn't the reason I took her there. I knew meeting the princesses would be the experience for her, and that's what I paid the $12 for, not for food. I knew she wasn't going to eat anyway. If you want your son to have the character meal experience, then make the ADR and pay the $$$. If you don't, then have breakfast at a regular sit down or counter service, order your breakfast, and let him share with you. There are lots of choices at WDW. You don't have to feel like there is no way no to get "ripped off"

 

[ducklite]

Actually, it is different, quite different. I can't explain it 'cause unless you've been through it...you wouldn't understand it. (and thank your lucky stars, you don't! LOL) I understand that all toddlers are 'picky' eaters but this goes beyond that. That's why it's even harder to accept it. Like I said before, I'll just have to go before he turns three.

That might be your best bet. As an FYI, my neice ate exactly two french fries at one of the buffets, and a single spoon of applesauce at another. We still paid $10 for her each time. Maybe avoiding buffets and just having your son eat off your plate might be an option for you as well.

Anne

 

[GADISNEYGIRL]

Just a question here~would it be acceptable to take something in to the restaurant for the child to eat, as long as the adults are paying for their meals? I don't know about this, just thought I'd throw it out there. DS turned 3 during our last trip, so we had to pay the child's price for our last two character meals. However~when we eat CS or even a regular (not buffet) table service, we often take him an Uncrustables to eat (never had any problems with CMs by doing that). Yes, you can buy them at WDW, for about $5~but why do that, when I can bring a box from home? He is a pretty good eater (though not 11.99 worth!!), so we will continue to pay for the character meals. But you might ask if you can bring in your own food for your special needs child!

 

[Becky2005]

I would just wait and see, especially working with the Speech & OT. My DS-5 has speech issues & motor skill issues and one of them is somewhat oral aversion to things (but the weirdest thing is he doesn't usually have a problem with eating things???? Unless it's stuff that gets stuck in his teeth and then he has problems! ).

It used to be such a HUGE struggle just to get a toothbrush in his mouth but after he had been doing speech a while & OT (didn't start that until this past year), the speech therapist had started doing some oral desensitizing stuff. He now tolerates it (no toothpaste yet though)...he even went to the dentist and I was *amazed* at how well he did (he wouldn't let them use any polish either but let the hygienst do the cleaning with just her tools, etc... Something I thought they would have to knock him out to do!).

He didn't start his Speech until 3 years old but just the fact that he was able to tolerate the dentist shows a huge improvement! Since you have about a year to go with that before he is 3, he still might not eat much but could be more than you can fathom.

Although, you might choose just to not go to the buffets if it's still the case by then.

 

[christinadei]

I would think that bringing your own food for him woudl be a solution. As I understand it, Disney is very catering to special needs children. If you just explain that he has special needs and you brought your own food, I'm sure they wouldn't charge you. It would probably be up to whoever was in charge that day though, so some may and some may not. Hopefully by then he'll be eating better.

 

[disney funseeker]

Sorry to hear about your son's health issues

For the character meal buffets, you'd still have to pay full price but for any other buffet you can order from the child's menu.
Even the child meal sounds like it would be too much for your son though. What we do sometimes is order something not even on the menu. But something we think the restaurant might have.

Sometimes we would order just a small plate of rice for dd and then it would only cost us a couple of dollars. She would be happy and so would we.

 

[Harmony]

Ya know...bringing in his food might be a good option. I just hope that they will allow that.

I'm really hoping that he is eating much better by then! That in itself would be worth $10 a buffet! LOL

If he is still having issues by the time he is 3, I guess we will have to do meals other than buffets.

Thanks for all the tips/ideas! I know that a year can bring forth alot of change...and I'm praying for positive change everyday...but there are days when it seems like it's taking "forever." I guess I first posted this 'cause this morning was another "test of wills." I just couldn't get him to eat breakfast. It's a struggle. But there are days when he surprises me and eats...not alot...but much better. Those days I think "good, we are finally getting past it" but then there are days when it seems like we will be at this stage forever.

Our OT and Speech therapist are proud of him so that should tell me that he is on his way to making great improvements.

Again...thanks everyone! (for listening)

 

[MagicalMom]

I think they charge an entertainment fee if you don't eat at the character meals. You could probably call to check.

 

[SueM in MN]

I think they charge an entertainment fee if you don't eat at the character meals. You could probably call to check.

This is correct.
The food is only a part of the Character meals. The entertainment provided by the characters is the other part. If someone can't eat (like people who are tube fed/can't have food by mouth or adults who have had stomach stapling and can only eat small quantities) they will still be charged an entertainment fee. It's less than the regular fee for whatever age they are, but it's not free, even if you can't eat at all. It is fair because they are still getting the same character interaction, whether they eat or not.

What people who were not able to eat have posted is that they were told when they made their reservations that they would be charged the regular fee, but it could be reduced to the entertainment fee by the server. Ask when you check. Since the server takes away the plates, he/she knows who is eating, but........
realistically, most 3 year olds without special needs don't eat enough to make it "worth" the price for the food part. Because of that, I would not expect them to give the entertainment fee for a 3 year old unless they eat absolutely nothing at all (no tastes). If you look at the Character meal as entertainment rather than food, it's easier to "swallow".

Unless your child is on such a special diet that it can't be provided by the restaurant, they would not be likely to let you bring food to a buffet. The chefs are very good at providing things for special diets/special needs, so they could provide food without you bringing it in (especially since it sounds like he will eat regular food, if the texture/type is something he can tolerate).
It's different at a restaurant where you order off the menu, because then you pay for what you eat and if you choose to not order for your child and give "tastes" off your plate, that's perfectly OK there.

 

[beattyfamily]

I also have a special needs DD who has sensory/swallowing issues and is a VERY picky eater and eats practically nothing.

I still do some buffets to see the characters and I pay for her regardless. She's been going to them since she was free; 1 year's old. It's my choice to do those meals. I should pay regardless of what she eats or doesn't eat.

Last year, we ate at PSB and she ate NOTHING and I mean NOTHING. I still paid for her meal. She LOVED the Princesses so it was worth it to us.

We all have choices to make that best suites our families personal issues. We choose to do the meals anyway, even though we don't always get our money's worth.

 

[POOHDRMR]

I went in Sept with my nephew(3) who is special needs to the 1900 park fare and we were not charged anything for him.He did not get a plate or have any food but he did drink his bottle while there.Our server asked if he would be eating and we told her no he can not eat solid food yet and she didn't charge the entertainment fee.He did spend a bit of time with the characters also.

 

[aidansmom]

I'm really kind of taken aback by the info in this thread - if charging an "entertainment fee" for individuals who are so severely disabled they cannot eat is truly Disney's policy, then I'm horrified!! I'm just curious as to how they make distinctions in their willingness to accomodate people - if I am able to get a free refrigerator in my room for my child's medication, then why shouldn't OP be able to bring food into restaurants to accomodate her child's medical condition?? It just seems incredibly unfair and arbitrary. Does anyone know the official policy on this?

Harmony, good luck! Hopefully things will have improved by then and this will be less of an issue anyway.

 

[TnKrBeLlA012]

I find this topic very important. How can Disney think to charge a child of three a buffet price. I had this happen at Ohanas. The waitress did not know my daughter was two. So she charged me 11.00 for three minute pieces of bread and a leaf from my salad. I said even if my daughter was three I would never pay you that kind of money for what she ate. She will be two for many years. Any child under five with a paying adult should be free!!!!This is Disney's way of taking advantage of families!!!! Disney should be in everyones reach not just the wealthy or those of us who have to save for years just to be able to go.

 

[shellybaxter]

Any child under five with a paying adult should be free!!!!This is Disney's way of taking advantage of families!!!!

I respectfully disagree. I've taken my niece to WDW and DL since she was 2 and a half. She eats when shes not distracted by the characters, which means that when we go to a resturant she either eats and I expect to pay for her, or she enjoys the characters and I still expect to pay for her. When she was four we went to Ohana. I asked the waitress if there was a child's optional menu. She listed off a bunch of things Dn could have. She suggested that we still pay the child's buffet price so that Dn could have whatever she wanted. I agreed. Dn ordered a PBJ and french fries. While she was waiting with us she ate some bread. When our appetrizer tray came, she had a bit of salad and some rice. She liked the salad, but not the rice so much. Then her PBJ came, she didn't like it, because it was an uncrustable and had grape jelly. The waitress noticed she wasn't eating and asked if she wanted something else. Dn, who is very outspoken, said she wanted chicken nuggets. The waitress brought some chicken fingers. Dn ate those. She also had a piece of steak when the meats came to the table. And she had some pineapple at the end of the meal. It would have been crazy for disney to not charge us for her. I was THRILLED that they were so attentive and treated her so well (they also brought her a ton of those little umbrellas to play with) and that she so enjoyed the cocconut races and the hula hoop contest. I was very happy to pay for her meal, and for mine and DH because they were very good meals. Disney is a FUN place to go, but its expensive and you have to pay more for things there than you do at home. I'm willing to do that, if I wasn't I wouldn't go, or I'd pare down the things I do, but I wouldn't expect Disney to give me things for free so I would enjoy myself more. I think that unreasonable.

BTW - this is in no way a response to the OP - but to the opinion expressed in the quote at the top of my post.

 

[LAWalz23]

My niece and nephew were 3 1/2 (twins) when we took them the first time and my sister paid for them at each buffet because it clearly states that children over 3 are charged. Whether they ate or not, or how much they ate was irrevelant. The only time she didn't pay was at H&V because my nephew became ill at the restaurant and they all had to leave, having eaten about 2 bites each. And my brother has a child that only eats plain pasta and white bread and he pays the full buffet price for him when they go. No doubt it is hard to have a special needs child but as others have said it is not unusual for 3 years olds to eat very little at a character buffet and still pay full price. Most of us go for the characters not the food anyway. My family feels it is worth the money to get time with the characters without have to stand on line in the parks.

 

[beattyfamily]

My niece and nephew were 3 1/2 (twins) when we took them the first time and my sister paid for them at each buffet because it clearly states that children over 3 are charged. Whether they ate or not, or how much they ate was irrevelant. The only time she didn't pay was at H&V because my nephew became ill at the restaurant and they all had to leave, having eaten about 2 bites each. And my brother has a child that only eats plain pasta and white bread and he pays the full buffet price for him when they go. No doubt it is hard to have a special needs child but as others have said it is not unusual for 3 years olds to eat very little at a character buffet and still pay full price. Most of us go for the characters not the food anyway. My family feels it is worth the money to get time with the characters without have to stand on line in the parks.