Best places to eat with picky kids?

[Piglet99645]

Other than the obvious: counter service and character meals, are there any secrets you would like to share about getting food into my kids while we are in the parks?

I do not plan on being strict about veggies and stuff while on vacation, because the fight to get my kids to eat is not worth it overall.... but I do want to sneak in some healthy meals while they are not looking.

Signed:

The mother who let her kid eat pizza three days in a row on vacation one time!

 

[DLtorgo]

I like the kids power packs they sell at lots of the counter service places. You get a string cheese, yogurt, apple slices, goldfish and a drink. My kids really liked it and it is not greasy. Do they like stuffed baked potatoes or corn on the cob? They have both of those at Troubadour Tavern by princess fair.

 

[Piglet99645]

AWESOME SUGGESTIONS! Thank you. I don't remember seeing power packs at WDW in 2005. I thought I would gag when my son was on his 5th cheeseburger of the week....

 

[Aimless]

Does anyone know the price of those packs? Sounds perfect for my 3.5 year old.

 

[skiingfast]

Disney has served more than a couple picky kids. At every counter service they have a couple of the most popular choices for kids to eat. Though Pizza, Fries, Chicken Nuggets, Macaroni and Cheese and Burgers are not what I want to see my kid eat meal after meal. I just remind myself it's a fun trip, not a diet.

 

[Piglet99645]

Does anyone know the price of those packs? Sounds perfect for my 3.5 year old.

According to my Disney Dining App they are $5.99.

 

[Aimless]

Thank you that will be awesome, he is really picky but that contains all things he will eat and it is affordable- can you get them at any of the restaraunts that are on the 25% off dining between certain hours coupon? I think my 11 year old pick daughter would even go for it.

 

[DTDkettleCORNfan]

Carnation Cafe has the following for kids for lunch:

Smucker's Peanut Butter Painter's Palette - Create your favorite peanut butter sandwich from a palette of marshmallows, raisins, bananas and Smuckers grape jelly. With a side of seasonal fresh fruit, your meal is a masterpiece! $6.99

We have never eaten there, but I keep wanting to because I think my kiddos would enjoy this sandwich.

We frequently have the big mickey soft pretzels + a piece of fruit for lunch.

Good luck. I love your "pizza 3 days in a row" comment. I love being more relaxed about eating while on vacation!

 

[Piglet99645]

Carnation Cafe has the following for kids for lunch:

Smucker's Peanut Butter Painter's Palette - Create your favorite peanut butter sandwich from a palette of marshmallows, raisins, bananas and Smuckers grape jelly. With a side of seasonal fresh fruit, your meal is a masterpiece! $6.99

We have never eaten there, but I keep wanting to because I think my kiddos would enjoy this sandwich.

We frequently have the big mickey soft pretzels + a piece of fruit for lunch.

Good luck. I love your "pizza 3 days in a row" comment. I love being more relaxed about eating while on vacation!

I am putting Carnation Cafe into my Favorites on my Disney Dining App IMMEDIATELY! Thank you!

Pretzle and fruit is also a great suggestion.

Note to all: The gourmet peanut butter sandwich is $6.99!

 

[TheColtonsMom]

Thank you that will be awesome, he is really picky but that contains all things he will eat and it is affordable- can you get them at any of the restaraunts that are on the 25% off dining between certain hours coupon? I think my 11 year old pick daughter would even go for it.

I have not seen the new coupons but we used the one at Christmas to get dinner and a power pack for later snacking at Fantasmic! with a coupon at Taste Pilots grill in DCA

Carnation Cafe has the following for kids for lunch:

Smucker's Peanut Butter Painter's Palette - Create your favorite peanut butter sandwich from a palette of marshmallows, raisins, bananas and Smuckers grape jelly. With a side of seasonal fresh fruit, your meal is a masterpiece! $6.99

We have never eaten there, but I keep wanting to because I think my kiddos would enjoy this sandwich.

We frequently have the big mickey soft pretzels + a piece of fruit for lunch.

Good luck. I love your "pizza 3 days in a row" comment. I love being more relaxed about eating while on vacation!

We did the painters pallet last trip and it was a big hit... plus it packed alot of fruit into my kid..in addition to the items above his also had strawberries. He had fun "building" his sandwich and he ate all of it (except the raisins my kiddo is not a fan!) He liked it so much that we now let him "build his sandwich on a cutting board at home on Saturdays.

I believe it is the PCH grill that also has a "build your own" pizza in case you have to do the 3 days of pizza thing again LOL

 

[DahliaRW]

The macaroni and cheese meal (and probably the other kids meals) at cafe market come with grapes at least. And at a lot of the sit down restaurants the kid's meals come with celery and carrots with ranch to dip. So at least there are some healthy sides you can get to go with that cheeseburger!

 

[Zoemakes5]

LaBrea bakery has some of the broadest options, huge selection. Taste pilot's has a good slider kids meal and some good adult options.

Do your children like breakfast foods? If you go across the street, you can get breakfast 24 hours a day at either Denny's or IHOP (and maybe Millies?).

I have to say one of the toughest things about being on vacation is not so much finding something for them to eat as much as it's how to find something that I like where they'll eat. I like Naples in DtD for one of those options, as they have a wide variety in addition to pizza and during the dinner hour they have artists doing balloon animals that come around to the tables. La Brea is another one in that category. For more of a quick service I LOVE going to Red rockets/Pizza port. The kids can get spaghetti (with or without the sauce) and a meatball or a mini pizza. Honestly, the kids meal is really enough for me most of the time, except I love the chicken fusilli pasta and chinese chicken salad there too much.

We frequently do a large later breakfast that also serves as lunch and then do a snack in the afternoon. Takes away some of the pain in planning.

 

[Jedana]

Signed:

The mother who let her kid eat pizza three days in a row on vacation one time!

That's ok. We had ice cream for lunch last time we went. I was "the best mom EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" according to my 7 year old.

 

[Piglet99645]

LaBrea bakery has some of the broadest options, huge selection. Taste pilot's has a good slider kids meal and some good adult options.

I have to say one of the toughest things about being on vacation is not so much finding something for them to eat as much as it's how to find something that I like where they'll eat. .

Taste Pilots has BEER! Everybody wins!!

And no kidding on that last part...... If I never see McDonalds again in my life I will be fine.

 

[pixiewings71]

That's ok. We had ice cream for lunch last time we went. I was "the best mom EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" according to my 7 year old.

Love it! We do backwards dinners sometimes, we have ice cream for "dinner" and then we eat a meal for "dessert", it's great fun!

OP there is also fresh fruit available thru the parks, street vendors will have it ready to buy, also snack packs with things like carrots and ranch dip, pineapple spears (altho I didn't see those last week, but I wasn't looking either), most kids meals come with either fries or apple slices as an option, DD11 usually chooses apples and DD14 goes with fries. lol Remember you're on vacation, it's OK to do pizza 3 days in a row because it's not a normal thing you do. That's what we tell ourselves anyway.

 

[DahliaRW]

I have to say one of the toughest things about being on vacation is not so much finding something for them to eat as much as it's how to find something that I like where they'll eat.

ITA. I think DL is great for this, though. My kids will eat mac and cheese for every meal if I let them. And most of the restaurants in DL have that. I was surprised last visit, my 6yo LOVED the monte cristo at Cafe Orleans and ate a good chunk of mine. So next time I know to split that with him instead of getting him his own meal!

 

[Gisele]

At separate tables..... No, really.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Be sure to check out the menus on allearsnet.com. I also have picky kids and always go through the menus before our trip. I make a list of places where everyone will find something to eat. It saves us a lot of time walking around and looking at menus in the parks. Also, don't forget about Whitewater Snacks at the Grand Californian. You can reach it easily through the Grand Californian entrance/exit in DCA. They have a huge menu and we frenquently find it much less crowded than the park restaurants.

 

[mariezp]

The mother who let her kid eat pizza three days in a row on vacation one time!

Three days in a row... on vacation? Sounds perfectly acceptable to me! My whole family would eat pizza every night of our 2 week vacation if I would go along with it. As long as I don't have to cook I let them eat pretty much what they want while we are on vacation BUT I do have to draw the line on pizza EVERY night.

My daughter is pretty picky too. She tried the power packs last year and loved them! She was so happy to have something besides mac & cheese... which she says tastes horrible at DL... and chicken strips. She shared a Chimichanga with me and liked it fairly well. She liked the hot dog from Coke Corner, the corn dog from the little red wagon and the pasta at Plaza Inn. And, she likes fish so we were good to go at RFC, BB, and Stage Door Cafe.

Outside of the park she can always find something she likes at Denney's. (Their chicken noodle soup is a lifesaver when you have a sick child!) And, I must confess that we did one meal at McDonald's since the adults made all the other dining choices.

 

[DisSarahK]

Definitely eat at Carnation Cafe--my children LOVE it there and *you* will love it there too! Whitewater Snacks at the Grand Californian also is a place we always eat at even though we've never stayed at the GC. We usually eat there for dinner one night--it is affordable (for a meal, at least!) and we can find food that our children like and that is reasonably healthy.