Child menu age rules strict - DS (PDD-NOS) eats very little?

[sharadoc]

Hi everone. We have gone to WDW many many times before the kids, but stopped in 1996. We're taking our first trip in January with DS, 12, PDD-NOS, and DD, 7. DS eats like a bird, will we be permitted to buy him child size meals, buffet, etc if we ask about it? I hate to pay $30 for a buffet when I know he'll eat some chicken nuggets, fries and bread and butter.

Any dining advice or experiences to share?

Thanks,
Sharadoc

 

[Selket]

Welcome to the Disboards!

I think at counter service you can order what you want - kids meal, etc. They don't really check to see who is eating it.

As for sit-down table service meals I think that they will likely enforce the age (10 and up is adult) for buffets. For meals where you order off the menu perhaps they won't bother.

Another idea is if you do the dining plan you would have to pay the adult price for his meal but you could use those adult meals for other adults in the party and buy his meal "a la carte" That works if you like a lot of sit-down meals.

 

[of2dbeach]

you can also bring in a small cooler with a sandwitch in it. not sure how a sit down type rest would look upon it but i know at like the hamburger places they dont seem to mind as long as you buy a drink or whatever. if you tell people he/she has Special needs ,is a picky eater etc they usualy understand. as far as buying him a child sized meal I dont see why not. I have bought them for myself at counter service rest. When we bring My Autistic son we have asked for Special foods or a peanut butter sand with no jelly and they have been helpful. maybe call and ask ahead of time if there are any restrictions or things you should know ahead of time.i dont like suprises myself so better to ask sorry i couldnt be of more help

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Hi and to both DisBoards and disABILITIES!

If you are not at a buffet or other All-You-Can-Eat anybody can order from the adult or child menus without restriction.

At a buffet or AYCE normally everyone 3-9 is the child price and everyone 10+ is the adult price. If you expect DS to be eating almost nothing at all, let your server know; you may find him being billed at the child price but this does not have to be done. Since anyone may eat from any part of the buffet, if he is eating in quantities as a normal teenage boy, even if he is only eating the less expensive items, expect him to be charged as an adult.

 

[Janet Hill]

As others have said, we've had no problem when ordering off the menu to order our son a child's meal. However, at the buffets, we've always been charged an adult price, so we usually don't go to buffets. When we do go to a buffet, we have taken his food in with us and just ordered him a drink.

 

[sharadoc]

Thanks everyone for sharing. We plan to stay at a Fort Wilderness cabin, since DS gets uncomfortable and won't relax in a regular hotel room. That gives us the chance to eat at home for a lot of breakfasts and some dinners, so lunch will be our main meal out. Based on your advice, a buffet will probably only be used when we do a character meal. I wouldn't want to bring outside food and restrict him, since he'll want to take SOMETHING from the buffet. He hasn't started the "eat everything in sight" teenage boy thing. Maybe he will by the time we go and I won't mind paying the adult price for him. Right now, he's just over 5' tall and just over 100 pounds, so he's skinny!

Thanks for the welcome, too. I have read a few of the autism stories, but I have to stop because I keep crying! DS has LOVED the Disney vacation planning videos forever, but has always refused to go. We're so excited to finally have the chance to take him - he's grown so much more mature and can handle crowds and noise so much better and can even go to the movies without a problem. So now we know he can handle WDW and we can't wait!

Thanks again - I'm sure this is going to be my best resource for the trip. Thanks to everyone for putting in the time and effort.

Sharadoc

 

[SmallWorld71]

I just wanted to add that if you are just doing a buffet for the reason of seeing the characters (which many of us do ), breakfast is cheaper than dinner. You may feel better about paying those prices for someone who doesn't eat much. (Although, lots of kids don't eat a lot at the character meals-too excited-so you are not alone in your pain.)

 

[SueM in MN]

on our recent trip, sometimes 7 of the 8 members of our party at kids meals from counter service places with no problems and no questions asked. we also shared some meals at counter service.

for the character meals and buffets, the server can choose to charge the child price for an older child if they notice the child is eating little and what he/she is eating is mostly from the child menu. That has happened to us at times before. We figure though that there is more than food being charged for at the character meals, so if you think of it as paying for the experience and contact with the characters, that might make you feel better about paying for the child who really is not eating much.

 

[angelbearmom]

The last time we were at DW my ds was 12. He was fairly small and didn't eat much. I was prepared to pay the adult rate for him but at both Character meals we went to he was just charged as a child. I figured the adult cost was worth it for the experience and the pictures we got, but was relieved to see he was just charged as a child. He's now 16. We have a character meal at Chef Mickey's on our first night. I'm not sure whether we'll have him eat from the buffet to start with and see if he eats enough for it to be worth it using a meal credit for him or whether I'll just bring baby food for him. He eats almost nothing at home but I don't know how he'll do when at DW. He's now counted as an adult on our dining plan any ways as he's over 10.

I hope things go well on your trip with your son.

 

[stellablue]

I also wanted to add that you can access all of the menus from WDW restaurants here:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningmain.cfm#disneydining

WDW is VERY accomodating to special diets and food preferences. If you find your son's preferences on a dinner menu, but you are planning to eat there for lunch (or vice versa), you can call them ahead of time and they will arrange for that meal to be prepared for the meal you attend. I have several parents of students who do this when they go on their trips (I'm a teacher).

 

[dclfun]

I just wanted to say I got the "chills" reading about your son's first visit to WDW. I hope it's really special for him and for your entire family. Don't worry about the little things- the CM's at WDW are very accommodating to special needs guests. Think about the big picture of what this vacation means to your family. You've been waiting a long time for your pixie dust and magic.---Kathy

 

[sharadoc]

Thanks so much for your good wishes. We feel really positive about the trip. DS has done the chelation cream for the past two years, and we have really seen a very positive change in his socialization and ability to handle the outside world. We have been able to go out to dinner with NO issues for about the past year, and he's always anxious to go to new places. We really feel that he's going to do great.

Funny thing is that the old Vacation Planning Videos that we have were always his favorite, plus a couple of the Sing-Along videos of WDW. I think he'll feel some familiarity.

We have decided to drive - he LOVES car trips, so our only issue will be how he handles the overnight stop in SC hotel. We're planning to book a suite type room, so hopefully he'll be good. Otherwise, we expect it to go well.

We'll be there for 2 weeks so nothing is rushed and we plan to have a GREAT time. I'm sure I'll be very active on the board between now and then, and will certainly have a trip report when I get back. I'm so happy to have found this board, and especially this discussion group.

Have a great day,
Sharadoc