Anyone else frustrated with kid's menu?

[OneBadApple]

We are are the dining plan and my DS is still considered a child. I have looked at many of the kid's menus and they seem to be all the same, especially the counter service. How many times can a kid eat PB&J, chicken nuggets and mac & cheese in a 6-day period? There are places that have pizza on the main menu, but none on the kid's menu. There are other places that have burgers on the main menu, but not on the kid's menu. Why don't they add things like turkey sandwiches to the kid's menu?

 

[hiddenj]

I have heard, but don't know for a fact, that in many of the restaurants they have unadvertised options. You just need to ask your server which regular items can be made into a kids meal. Hopefully, someone will come on and confirm or deny.

 

[jel0511]

I'm guessing that because a lot of kids (mine included), those items are pretty much their entire diet. Mine could live on those 3 items alone for years. I'm guessing, they based these choices based on what were the most popular kid menu items. My kids wouldn't touch a turkey sandwich with a 10 ft pole, they'd rather starve than eat one.

 

[Kim1964]

We just got back last week from our first ever DDP trip. My 5 yo DD got pretty sick of the kids' menu. Hurricane Hanna's at YC/BC had a meal that was 2 mini-burgers, and that's the only meal she really enjoyed.

With the changes to the DDP for 2008 I am unlikely to purchase it again, but I definitely won't until my 5 yo is 10.

 

[Dani Dani Dani]

This trip to WDW we paid extra and marked my son as 10 yrs old so he wouldn't have to eat off the kids menu. We were just there in April and were totally disappointed with the kids meal choices. Seemed like everywhere we went all there was was PB & J sandwiches, mac & cheese and other stuff my kids would never eat. I agree that there needs to be burgers, hot dogs, pizza and other options for kids.

We actually did check with every restaurant we ate at and all of them said that there were no alternate choices for the kids meals. What was on the menu was it. Very disappointing especially when you're at Pizzafari where they serve Pizza and your kid can't order a pizza on the kids menu.

 

[stingmom]

macaroni, PB&J and nuggest, oh my! i hear ya!

 

[minnie mouse]

I totally agree with the kids choices are horrible.
I ended up splitting my meals with my older daughter because she just didn't like what was on the kids menu.

 

[solferino]

This trip to WDW we paid extra and marked my son as 10 yrs old so he wouldn't have to eat off the kids menu. We were just there in April and were totally disappointed with the kids meal choices. Seemed like everywhere we went all there was was PB & J sandwiches, mac & cheese and other stuff my kids would never eat. I agree that there needs to be burgers, hot dogs, pizza and other options for kids.

We actually did check with every restaurant we ate at and all of them said that there were no alternate choices for the kids meals. What was on the menu was it. Very disappointing especially when you're at Pizzafari where they serve Pizza and your kid can't order a pizza on the kids menu.

No kidding. I don't get the rationale there. I mean there are certainly going to be some kids that don't like pizza, but for the most part I think pizza (especially at a PIZZA place for crying out loud) would be a welcome addition to the kids menu.

DD will be turing 9 this coming trip and I think she's going to be bored with the choices because she likes variety.

 

[luvsJack]

when we were there last (11/06) we had the same problem with the children's menu and the ddp. My dd doesn't eat mac & cheese, nuggets or pb&j! At cosmic ray's when I asked the cm about a hamburger for her, he said she could order what she wanted. From then on we just ordered her what ever she wanted (including pizza at Pizzafari) but I was told that they won't allow that anymore. I can't imagine Disney not getting a LOT of complaints about it. We overheard many parents and kids that sounded awfully irritated about it.

 

[pta-mom]

Yup...I agree too! We are there for two weeks in 25 days & my guys have already been warned about the kid's menu. We are lucky though because though my 9 1/2 year old son must order from the kid's menu, his 11 year old brother will order from the adult menu & they (& us!) have agreed to share. The worse part for poor DS is he hates both fruit & veggies which is the "choices" with whatever else he happens to get!! I suspect his father & I will be eating a lot of grapes, apple sauce & carrot sticks while he gets our fries, potatoes & rice!!

 

[dopeyluvsgrumpy]

Yep theres not much choice for DS. I feel guilty stuffing my face with a new gourmet meal each night while he gets to choose between mac and cheese or chicken nuggets! Though we try to work in quite a few places where the kids eat the same as the adults like LTT, Ohanas, WCC....saves us a lot of problems and makes DS feel better that he gets to eat something different.

 

[marivaid]

No kidding. I don't get the rationale there. I mean there are certainly going to be some kids that don't like pizza, but for the most part I think pizza (especially at a PIZZA place for crying out loud) would be a welcome addition to the kids menu.

From what I've heard here the problem was they can only make pizza in one size at that CS, so the pizza that came with the kids meal was the same size as the adult's. Too many adults were ordering kids meals for themselves to save $$ so they had to get rid of the pizza option for kids.

Not sure why they couldn't just cut the pizza in half for the kids' meal

 

[kandb]

We were there in March and they did not separate kids and adults CS meal credits if your on the DDP. We would sometimes order 1 adult CS meal and let our children split it. You can't do this for TS but you can for CS. Linda

 

[Mom2Evie]

At places like Toy Story Pizza and Pizzafari, you can order pizza for you child. When it's an individual pizza, it works for both the adult and the child. I didn't realize it, but the CM at Pizzafari explained it to me.

I found the child's menu a bit limiting for Counter Service, but there were lots of things for her to try on the TS menus where we dined.

 

[caroline1851]

The menus do look really limited. I think we're going to try and hit as many buffets as possible, that way the kids will have more choices (I hope).

 

[mb1976]

Well, my son will be bored with those choices. He loves vegatable soup for instance! I guess if there is something else he wants perhaps we will fork out the money for it. Depends on the price. Course well can always give him a couple bites of ours. Even if he does have his own meal.

 

[Katiebell]

At buffets, your kids will have all of the same choices as adults, and can eat as much as they want. Boma was fabulous, and so was the breakfast buffet at the Crystal Palace.

As for other places, you just have to look around. PT 50's serves grilled fish, hot dogs, meatloaf, soup and salad. Mama Melrose's has grilled fish, pizza and pasta, fruit salad, and sundaes. Sci Fi has burgers and hot dogs. And that's just TS at MGM.

If you are looking for good kid's choices for CS, look at Epcot. Kids can order quesadillas, BBQ chicken drumstick, teriyaki chicken with rice and veggies, hamburger or pizza (the last two in Morocco, of all places!)

A lot of it is attitude. If you go into it thinking, "All of the kids' menus stink, they are all the same, my kids will be bored, my kids will hate it," then you are probably right. You will set up that expectation for yourself and your children. If you go into it thinking it will be fun to try new things, and see what different places serve, your kids may feel the same way. And if you are on the DDP, a lot of people feel the adult meals are just too much food, so share a little with your kids, and they will be fine. And they will each have a snack credit every day for an extra treat

 

[fumipappa]

I agree with OP. That's why we are not planning to get DDP.
By OOP, we can order adult meal for kids. My DD8 and DD6 can share one adult meal together...

 

[OneBadApple]

I'm so glad that I'm not the only one to feel this way. I have a feeling that we will end up buying some adult CS meals OOP for DS. I did warn my DD11 that she may have to share with her brother. For TS, we have Chef Mickey's, 'Ohana, Garden Grill, 50's PTC, Tony's Town Square and Whispering Canyon Cafe, so I think we are pretty much set there.

A lot of it is attitude. If you go into it thinking, "All of the kids' menus stink, they are all the same, my kids will be bored, my kids will hate it," then you are probably right. You will set up that expectation for yourself and your children. If you go into it thinking it will be fun to try new things, and see what different places serve, your kids may feel the same way. And if you are on the DDP, a lot of people feel the adult meals are just too much food, so share a little with your kids, and they will be fine. And they will each have a snack credit every day for an extra treat

You are so right about the attitude and the amount of food. My DD is a light eater, so she should be able to share with her brother. Plus I'm trying to watch my weight, so he can have some of my food.

 

[dodukes]

Yup...I agree too! We are there for two weeks in 25 days & my guys have already been warned about the kid's menu. We are lucky though because though my 9 1/2 year old son must order from the kid's menu, his 11 year old brother will order from the adult menu & they (& us!) have agreed to share. The worse part for poor DS is he hates both fruit & veggies which is the "choices" with whatever else he happens to get!! I suspect his father & I will be eating a lot of grapes, apple sauce & carrot sticks while he gets our fries, potatoes & rice!!

On the kids meals, you can always ask for substitution for fries for your ds. When I took my friends kid in feb, thats exactly what we did, there was no way that i was ging to eat fries and him watch while he ate carrot sticks..LOL. You can also sub at the ts places as well. Can't you tell fires are popular over ehre..lol