Can we share at the Cali grill?

[Tinker74]

Or even not share...just order two meals for Dh and I. DD6 and Ds14 do not like anything on the menu...well perhaps there will be something for DD..but not Ds .
Can I just give them our desert..We will probably feed them at the food and fun center before the cali grill meal.
I would have loved this to be a meal just for Dh and I but Ds is too old for kids club and even though he will be almost 15 I won't leave him alone.
Plus we are hoping to catch the fireworks there and I know both of them would enjoy that.

 

[bicker]

That's one of the scenarios which may be problematic -- the problem would be that there is no way to ensure that the TS credits you're NOT using for DD6 would eventually be used for her, so as to comply with the rule prohibiting use of child meal entitlements for adult meals. Disney does not yet have any effective way of ensuring compliance with that rule. There have been members reporting that they've been preventing from doing as you suggest. Be prepared either way, or if you need more information, this is one of those things that only Disney can answer.

 

[Lisa F]

Why don't you get your son one of the appetizer flatbreads as his main course to enable you to share credits? The kids meals at cali grill actually look pretty good, especially the rice krispie "sushi" dessert!

 

[twinmum]

We had a wonderful meal at the Cali Grill 3 weeks ago. Both our DS8 (twins) had the grilled chicken breast and liked it.

As this was our first night on the DDP, we did ask lots of questions. The waiter explained that as there were no specific appetizers on the kids menu, they could order any of the appetizers on the main menu (note: there are a few limitations on the sushi, as the deluxe sushi platter and the "snake in the grass" sushi have been moved to the entrees. I had one of the sushi offerings that was still an appetizer and DH had the tuna 3 ways. Both were very good!). My DH and I suspected the boys wouldn't eat much main course if they had a first, but in the end we did order something. I knew at least 1 of the boys might "help" me with my sushi. We ordered 2 duck foie gras (DH was rubbing his hand in glee at the thought!). Well, guess what? It turned out that 1 of our sons absolutely loved the foie gras!

I know this doesn't answer your question, because we did all eat dinner there. There were lots of other TS where we split meals because I couldn't fathom leaving that much food. This was never a problem. I'll admit that sometimes servers go out of their way for us - one of our DS has cerebral palsy and people just want to help. Still I suspect you won't have a problem splitting. I do agree with other poster that there's no certainty on how you use the kids credits later in your stay.

One final point - do not, I repeat DO NOT, miss out on the rice crispie sushi. It was very cute, and yummy as well! We are not dessert lovers and took home 2 orders and rice crispie sushi and some mixed berries. Both were delicious.

It was a great start to our vacation dining. Too bad first one boy, then his twin, came down with a stomach bug (fevers and all) 2 days later...we had to cancel Victoria & Alberts for our anniversary...everybody say oh, poor thing...!

I hope you'll enjoy Cali Grill as we did!

 

[Tinker74]

Thanks for the help! ...I think I will go and see what happens. My son will basically only eat very plain foods..no sauses or anything. Even just plain icecream ..We had problems last year...he ate nothing at Ohana even though we used a credit and nothing at Chef mickeys.
Perhaps I'll feed the kids before hand and they can just sit with me and dh whilst we eat if they are not allowed to share. I'll play it by ear.
I don't even mind about the waste of credits...as it will be our last night...its just the food I don't want to waste...there is no way they will both eat more than a coulpe of bites in cali grill...unfortunatly.
Last year I used 2 credits for my son to come to CRT with us for breakfast..he ate two bites...sooo frustrating.

 

[Calgary DISHeads]

What we did was explain that we would be using 2 adult credits and paying the rest OOP, even though technically all four of us were adults. In fact both kids DS12 and DD10 were given kids menus. DS12 ordered a flatbread off menu and DD10 ordered a cheese pizza from kids menu. We shared apps and desserts. Both kids ordered fancy drinks and we had wine. We had fully anticipated paying for the kids drinks but the fabulous server used them as the drinks for the two adult meals. I would anticipate that it's a server to server thing but we never ever used four credits for the four of us anywhere and never had any problems.

 

[bicker]

That's one of the "advantages" of your children growing older -- once they're 10 years old, this Dining Plan complexity goes away.

 

[honeymo78]

Since your son doesn't like sauces he can always order something without it. Does he like steak? The beef filet can be ordered without sauce, or sauce on the side. If he doesn't like the starch that comes with it, I have found CG to be very accomodating - getting mashed potatos without cheese or just plain rice.

 

[Tinker74]

No he doen't like steak...But he does like plain chicken fillet....not mash those..he will only eat potatoe in the form of a frie
He wouln't touch the appetisers or deserts..I think its a good idea what someone said above...just pay out of pocket for something for him..perhaps a plate of fries or something.
I keep hoping he will grow out of this fussiness...I don't know how he will cope taking a date to restaurant when he is older.

DD is not quite so bad...but still woyln;t touch the particular appetisers and desets listed for cali grill. Perhaps a plate of fries for her too.
Or just bring her along a colouring book to keep her happy....she eats like a mouse so probably wouln't want to share anyway if shea eaten earlier.

 

[lastminutemom]

No he doen't like steak...But he does like plain chicken fillet....not mash those..he will only eat potatoe in the form of a frie
.

Once my son discoverd that french fries were potatos -- he stopped eating them.

 

[Lewisc]

I don't think I'd make a dinner reservation if I knew in advance half of my family won't eat anything on the menu, particularly at a restaurant that may require a wait for a table and an hour or more to dine.

It's certainly possible the restaurant will be able to adjust the menu to accomodate your kids but if you don't think that's possible I'd look at other restaurants.

 

[Tinker74]

For those exact reasons we didn't do Cali grill this year...even though I liked the sound of the restaurant...we were even staying at the Contemporary
But my Dh was not overly impressed with disney food in general and his one wish..his only request for our holiday next year is that we go to the Cali grill.
It would have been nice to go just the two of us but we are on a family vacation and Ds knows Dh wants to go here and is more than happy to forgoe a burger joint for once ...after all the rest of our two weeks is centered around the kids. So not going is not an option....plus iam looking forward to it>

 

[twinmum]

Hello again - one of my sons is quite picky and while he will eat a variety of proteins (chicken, beef, pork, fish etc) he does prefer it plain. He was just fine with the grilled chicken breast at the Cali Grill.

Hope you're able to enjoy it!