?About ordering from the kids' menu

[BuzznBelle'smom]

Hi! I don't usually post on this board (I hang on the Community one), but I have a trip coming up next August, and with ressies now done 180 days in advance, and being due approximately 180 days before our trip (ARRGH!), I'm trying to line things up early. Anyway, here's my question:

I have a DD10, she'll be 11 when we go. She's always been a light eater. We're going on a meal plan, all meals included, and I'm wondering if she'll be able to order off the kids' menu. I'm not looking to rip Disney off at all--I'm happy to pay for an adult meal since we'll be on the plan anyway (a gift from my MIL). I'm just looking at some restaurants like Coral Reef, Akershus, where I think she would just be happier and have plenty of food with the kid's meals. In other cases, I may just let DS8 (will be 9) order the adult meal--he eats every meal like it's his last!

Thanks for your input. I don't see how they would have an issue if we're willing to pay, but I've never done this before. It's tough to think of my little girl as an "adult"!

 

[wishinonastar2goback]

We went recently on a meal plan, and one of our party was a 10-year-old, and she ordered off of children's menus regularly with no problem. Heck, you've already paid for an adult price, what do they care if you order off of the kids menu instead? Only more money in their bank...

 

[Mickey Fliers]

When we went this summer with my cousin who is 16, they regularly let her order off of the children's menu. Mind you, we weren't on the meal plan, but I can't see where they would have a problem with you using her "adult" credit to pay for a children's meal. We ate at Narcoosee's, YC Galley and Rose and Crown. Nobody had a problem with her ordering a kids meal. HTH.

Have a great trip!

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

Thanks for the replies. I figured it wouldn't be a problem if we were paying, but you never know. I just hate to make the kid eat hazelnut encrusted salmon or whatever, when she's really a mac and cheese kid at heart!

 

[sjrogo713]

My DS11 loves all kinds of food, but is not a big "volume" eater, and I really don't like spending $20-30 for an adult entree if I don't have to when he can only eat half of it. At all restaurants we asked for a Kid's menu and and the regular menu so if all they had was PB&J or chicken nuggets, he could order an adult item. The only restaurant that gave us a problem with this was Sci-Fi. He ordered about 1/2 of the time off the adult menu if there was only "Kiddie" food on the childrens menu. He loved the shrimp with penne at the Concourse Steakhouse (Adult menu)and the white pizza at Portobello YC (Adult menu), and Fried "flying" red snapper and fries at Flying Fish (Kids menu), some kind of pasta with shrimp and scallops at Cap'n Jack (Adult menu)

 

[SueEllen]

One word of warning...you cannot order off of the kids menu at Mexico if you are over the age of 9. This is the ONLY restaurant we have ever come across this issue at WDW and the manager would not budge, even though my 14 year old only wanted the kids Quesadilla. They absolutely would not allow it.

All other restaurants will allow this, and I ssuggest if you are using the dining plan and want to order from the kids menu you should consider paying for those out of pocket and saving the adult credits for other meals like a character dining, or maybe a 2 table service meal. That is a better value for your $$.
Sue Ellen

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

SueEllen, thanks for the input on Mexico. I don't think we'll be eating there, since we're planning 2 days in Epcot and are likely to do Biergarten, Teppanyaki, Coral Reef and Akershus. Not sure, still planning, but my princesses "have" to do the princess meal, my MIL and kids speak German, etc. But if it happened in one restaurant, it might happen in another that you just didn't happen to hit.

Saving credits shouldn't be a huge deal--we're going on the three meal a day plan, not the current "Meal, counter service and snack" thing that's so popular. But we'll have a couple extra meals to pay for, since we'll be there for two Sat. lunches due to travel, so saving an adult meal or two isn't a bad idea. Besides, one year we went with BIL's family--they opted to do a day at Universal (heresy!) and skipped several meals. On our last day, we were able to leave a humongous tip ($200) for the people in the Plaza restaurant (a personal favorite) with the "leftover" meals. I thought that was a nice way to do it, rather than just let Mickey keep the $$.