Anyone NOT eat at a buffet?

[alice99]

Thanks everyone. I was just wondering if anyone has had experience going to a buffet and having someone not find anything they want on there and what they do in that case.

Last year , we ate at the Buffet in Germany (Biergarten) .
My teenaged son didn't see anything he liked , which I knew would happen, he is similar to your husband.

When we were seated I simply told the server, "My son doesn't like the food and prefers not to eat, is that OK with you?? ". She was fine with it and I did tip her as though my son had eaten. He had a soda.

I can't say that this is a Disney policy, but our server was very acommodating.

 

[alice99]

I would ask at each location, you have nothing to lose. You may be pleasantly surprised.

 

[kmedina]

We were on the deluxe plan last trip. My 3 year old son slept through a buffet and a family style meal. He literally consumed nothing, not even a drink. At the Garden Grill, he did wake up for a split second when Chip walked by but was too tired to eat anything. The server at each restaurant noticed that he was not eating. When both bills came, he was charged a dining credit each time. I am not complaining now nor did I complain then, because I understand why.

I am only bringing it up to tell you that, yes, they will most likely charge your husband for the meal. On top of the fact that he is taking up a seat, he would be paying for an entry in a way. As a previous poster mentioned, you can always ask if he can just sit there without eating. The waiter may not allow that, and then your family would be separated (you mentioned you would not want that). There is no way the waiter can know for sure that someone did not consume anything, so it really does seem to be at the waiter's discretion. Have your husband look at the food options ahead of time. If he cannot find anything on the menu(s) to eat, I would avoid any buffet or family style restaurant. Hopefully, you'll find some restaurants that make you all happy.

 

[cjb-nc]

Talk to the server or hostess before going in, and find out if he'll be charged. My own experience was in the Biergarden, and my wife could not eat. They had no problem with it, and we were not charged.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Last year , we ate at the Buffet in Germany (Biergarten) .
My teenaged son didn't see anything he liked , which I knew would happen, he is similar to your husband.

When we were seated I simply told the server, "My son doesn't like the food and prefers not to eat, is that OK with you?? ". She was fine with it and I did tip her as though my son had eaten. He had a soda.

I can't say that this is a Disney policy, but our server was very acommodating.

Biergarten is one that I was not really crazy about trying, but DH really wanted to eat there (he is part German) but when we finally got there and I saw that not everything was sausage, I found a great variety of things I would eat, and I am a bit picky, but not as much and some is related to my reflux (too much tomato sauce and sausage are the worst). I really enjoyed what I had as well as the experience, so we are going back in January.

In our house, you either eat what I fix or go hungry. I don't cook that often, because DH and I work opposite shifts, so I have stuff for him to fix for lunch and take for dinner, then I fix whatever I am in the mood for when I get home, if there are leftovers and he will eat them fine, if not, dinner or lunch for me. I can't live off pizza and burgers.

 

[psac]

I did this on our last trip. I wrote Disney an email 2 weeks prior with all of the foods DH would eat. Disney wrote me back that he would have no problems at our reserved places to eat.

Did you write a general note, or put the specific issue on every ADR? I think you would need to do the latter, with one note, they are not going to inform your restaurants, and I think having the issue listed on the reservation itself calls everyone's attention to it.

 

[KimR]

It's actually not. He physically cannot eat other things. I have seen him seriously try multiple times and he gags on the texture. It's far beyond being just a "picky" eater but a lot of people don't believe us till they see it for themselves.

Has he tried seeing some sort of therapist for this? His diet is incredibly unhealthy and he is setting himself up for some serious health problems down the road. I don't care how healthy you think he is now, a grown man cannot eat that sort of diet day after day without suffering serious consequences.

 

[budafam]

Has he tried seeing some sort of therapist for this? His diet is incredibly unhealthy and he is setting himself up for some serious health problems down the road. I don't care how healthy you think he is now, a grown man cannot eat that sort of diet day after day without suffering serious consequences.

I am aware of it... he is a stubborn, stubborn human being. I'm sure it's a very scary thing for him to have to get around. I can't imagine being in his shoes (I personally LOVE any kind of food). Eventually I would like to get him to talk to some kind of nutritionist or have him checked out. There's just really not many options if he's not willing. KWIM?

 

[chartle]

Did you write a general note, or put the specific issue on every ADR? I think you would need to do the latter, with one note, they are not going to inform your restaurants, and I think having the issue listed on the reservation itself calls everyone's attention to it.

I think the bigger issue is that TS places are limited to what special requests they can honor.

They can only really be expected to create dishes from ingredients they have on hand. While most TS places have bread, cheese and butter to make a grilled cheese, they don't always have white bread or yellow american cheese.

Expecting them to have those items specially sent to the restaurant would be very difficult since they already have a system for ordering the foods they prepare and may not have a system in place to order other items like white bread. Also sometimes these places only place orders weekly so they would have to be alerted at least a week before.

The only other way for it to happen is if a kitchen staff member personally takes control of your ADR and sees that in two days you are requesting a grilled cheese and they would then have to make sure to purchase the items from a regular store, bring them in and stash them somewhere to make sure they din't get lost.

OP I am in exactly your situation with my soon to be 21 year old son, though not as bad as your DH. He too started at 3 but at least he has added a few new foods over the last few years like hamburgers and even cheeseburgers. I nearly fainted when he tried wings last week, on the bone even. He usually only eats breaded chicken.

He has a limited list of foods to eat so I plan our Disney Meals accordingly. We don't do buffets because first he may not find anything to eat and second he sometimes eats very little (though I'm not quite sure how he can be slightly overweight).

Last trip instead of doing a real breakfast buffet, like Boma where he eats two bagels, for our last meal before heading home, I picked WCC because my DW, other DS and I could get the skillet and he just got pancakes.

Also he eats at odd times so I knew when we ate at the CS in Mexico he could get a hot dog up ahead in the Refreshment outpost and he was happy. Love the UT app with menus.

 

[KimR]

I am aware of it... he is a stubborn, stubborn human being. I'm sure it's a very scary thing for him to have to get around. I can't imagine being in his shoes (I personally LOVE any kind of food). Eventually I would like to get him to talk to some kind of nutritionist or have him checked out. There's just really not many options if he's not willing. KWIM?

Oh, I know what you mean about him having to want to do it. But scary or not, this is way beyond the point of being a mere incovenience to you and your family. Cancer, heart disease, and diabetes are pretty scary as well. This is putting his health at risk and if he won't do it for himself, he needs to do it for you and your child(ren). I'm not talking about a nutritionist, either; more along the lines of a psychologist. It sounds as though he has some sort of true, diagnosable disorder, for which I'm sure there must be some sort of treatment. It should be covered under your insurance as well. Good luck to you.