I was not a picky eater as a kid at ALL but I don't recall ever eating grilled chicken with Ancient grains or whole wheat pasta. I think Disney chefs are sometimes out of touch with the realities of kid's likes and dislikes.
I have two picky eaters due to autism sensory issues, and I just have to sigh and pass on a lot of good restaurants at WDW because they can't seem to strike the balance and just offer both kid preferred foods and small versions of the adult menu items.
Same for my kiddo (spectrum/sensory) and the challenge is real for a foodie mom, lol. Kids menus are always checked first, although he (since our last trip) has developed a fondness for grilled meats and I try to mix and match... he won't eat rice or couscous or quinoa or orzo or anything small textured and he also won't eat fish, but if a restaurant has fries anywhere on the menu and grilled steak or chicken on the mickey check meal, we should be good because he will eat both of those things. Also mac and cheese. He will eat plain pasta with butter but i loathe to give him that for a meal, it just seems so unsatisfying as a main meal. I prefer for him to have some protein.
I will say (and sorry to be OT) that buffets were the best with him in 2014 because he was JUST starting to try new things and it was no pressure to try new things.. even if he put it on his plate and changed his mind it was no biggie and i knew he'd have enough to eat. Since then he really got into the kids shows on food network and has been making an effort to try new things (in 2014 grilled meat was not happening but carved meats with no grilled lines on buffets were a hit) and has added lots of stuff to his diet... he is now taking a small apple daily for lunch when 2 years ago he would not touch ANY fruits or veggies at all and for a while it was peeled and sliced only, now he will just eat an apple but it has to be small, completely unbruised and sweet. We have taco tuesday (I never thought he'd eat tacos, "too spicy") and I make them the way I like them and he loves that, and he also LOVES teriyaki chicken, which opened up Y&Y and Ohana for me (I know they will bring him some mac and cheese at the latter too), fried chicken and bbq pulled pork and ribs, which opens up HDDR without a special menu as well... he is excited about trying the naan bread at Sanaa and their grilled chicken should suit him even if i have to pay an extra $3 for a side of mac and cheese (I wish EVERY menu had this option to be honest, I would love to pair it as a side instead of a main meal). I had a lot more choice for our trip in december than I had back in 2014. We are doing the DxDDP for most of our trip and 2 TS meals a day... breakfast (most days) and dinner and not a lot of buffets for dinner because there is only so many buffets I can take
BTW all of this was accomplished by just offering, taking ALL pressure off of trying, NEVER making drama about food and allowing him to change his mind if something repulsed him even at the last minute (after it was on his plate). I did try the hard line approach with him making him try 3 bites and fighting over food and pretty sure that set us back a couple of years in the food stuff.
Anyway sorry to be so off topic. Before I had kids I was all "picky kids are made by lazy parents who don't offer them enough variety" but I kept my opinions to myself, just kind of rolled my eyes privately. My child was breastfed until he stopped on his own. I made all of his baby food - he never once ate jarred. I ate a varied diet while pregnant and while breastfeeding. I introduced him at a young age to all kinds of ethnic foods. In short I did "Everything right", I put in a ton of time and effort. And then he became his own little person with his own stuff and here we are, doing a happy dance that I can grill some teriyaki chicken thighs and feed us both the same thing
I think a lot of us are just trying our best to raise happy, healthy kids and letting them eat fries and a cupcake at one meal on vacation so the whole family can enjoy a fabulously themed restaurant is not going to kill that
As the parent of a "picky eater" I don't feel like a very expensive trip to WDW is the place to draw a line and fight about food. It's a time for fun and happiness. If you're going to fight about food, do it at home.
