Children's ages/menus

[EjandMD]

Are the ages on the children's menus enforced? Is this a dumb question? I don't have kids myself, but I'm taking my neice and nephews. My neice is 10 and I noticed that some menus say 12 and under and some say 9 and under. She eats like nothing and in the end it's going to be chicken fingers and pizza. I would also appreciate any imput you experienced parents have about Disney dining and kids.

Thanks!

 

[Allison]

I can't help you much other than to let you know the official age is 9 and under. This changed this year. If you see 12 and under, it means the menu you are looking at hasn't been updated since the age changed.

 

[tinagirl]

#1 - Counter Service Never cares about the age of the patron. I'm 25 and get kids meals when I'm not very hungry.

#2 - I've even gotten Table Service kids meals, but never in "high end" places, but at Beaches & Cream, they expect you to need to save room for ALL THAT DESSERT!

#3 - They have no way to enforce it. They won't go to your table and ask her how old she is. Some 8 year olds look 16. Some 16 year olds look 8. They don't want to offend.

It's not a big deal.

Just remember that if you are on dining plan, to make sure that you have her listed as a child if you TRULY think that is all she will eat. Because if you are paying for her as an adult up front, it isn't the most economical thing to use that adult credit to get kids meals.
(Most people are having this huge debate about whether it is ethical to get things off of the adult menu for the kids off the dining plan. I personally am up in the air on that one, but I have no issue with getting a kids dining plan, if you will be using it on Kids meals for a kid who is just barely past the kid meal age, but that is up to you.)
-Tina.

 

[EjandMD]

Wow! I think that's a little insane! But I'm not going to complain...doesn't do anyone any good! Thanks

 

[EjandMD]

Thanks Tinagirl! My neice is at that age where she screams, "I can't order off the children's menu, I'm 10!" That exclamation cost my mom an extra $10 the other night for too much food that she didn't touch! <---- gosh I sound soooo old!

And we aren't going to do the dining they just don't eat that much, counter service I think we will split. Their mother usually doesn't order anything and eats scraps...I'll probably do that for counter service.

 

[n2mm]

I think it's all in the way you ask the server. We took our grandson (11) in July and then again in September. He was able to order with the kids menu at the following: 50s Prime Time, the Plaza (twice), Kona's Cafe, LeCellier (twice), Concorse Steakhouse, CRT-diner (twice), Yacht Club galley, Whispering canyon-breakfast. We paid adult prices for him at Trail's End since it's a buffet--but was worth the $10.99, since it's chicken, pizza, and jello which are his favorites. One trip he was on the dining plan and one trip he was not on the dining plan. Even though he was on the dining plan, he was considered an adult, so it's not like we used children's credits, all of our credits were adult ones. It's just that he was not going to eat adult food, so no sense in wasting the credit for a kids meal. Several of us also got a child's portion of an adult meal at the 50s PT since we were saving space for desert. Not a problem.

 

[dismom03]

We are kind of in the same spot as you. I have a 10 yr old girl who is very much into the chicken nugget kids meal routine. We have the dining plan and also a 5 yr old with a child's dp on our card. One thing I was thinking about was to order the kid's meal along with our "adult" meals but instead of ordering the same number of meals equaling the number of people at our table, I will be ordering 1 less. I am sure we will have more than enough food for everyone at the table. This of course will not be what we are doing at the buffets...there we will pay TS credits for each person.

I am a very light eater and a full TS meal for me (appetizer, main course, dessert) is way too much food for me anyway. I will be sharing my husband's meals at all the ala carte restaurants we have ADRs at. I could care less about the dessert as I haven't touched one (except to serve them to my family) in over 4 months.

I think you should just order what your child would eat and not worry about it too much. We don't care about whether they charge us a child's TS credit or an adult TS credit. With the DP we have plenty of credits anyway. If you are worried about the "legality" of it, call the Disney Dining and get the phone numbers for the restaurants you are thinking about eating at and ask the manager....that way, you won't have any surprises!

Good luck on your trip and have a "magical" time and most of all, enjoy your dining experiences at WDW!

 

[EjandMD]

Amen Dismom3! You actually are right, my neice will want to request the nuggets and pizza, especially if after 2 meals her brother who is 8 will be eating all the things she wishes she could eat, so I'm probably worried about something I shouldn't.

Last night I thought about it, it reminds me of the movie Supersize Me...no wonder why we have an epidemic of obesity in our youth... hey! Eat an adult portion at the age of 10!

My 14 year old nephew is a little different...this kid eats everything in site! But that's cool he's growning like a weed and is now taller than his Aunt!

 

[iliketoby]

The servers don't care. They wants to make you happy - their tip depends on it. Plus, the servers aren't rich, and they know how ridiculous the WDW prices are. They understand that people sometimes have to try to save some money.

Furthermore, what the heck would they do? Demand a Driver's License?

Just order the food, and don't ask if the server will break the rule. If you force them to say it out loud, they pretty much have to stick with the rules.

Get the kid the food she will eat, and tell her ahead of time to keep her mouth shut.

That's what I'd do, anyway.

 

[sportears]

We had the 10 yr old I don't want to order from the kids menu problem this past July. It was a little uncomfortable. Almost every restaurant we went to ask us if our daughter wanted to order off of the kids menu before we sat down. I said yes. My daughter was quick to say no. I saw dollar bills flying out of the window. Le Cellier, Flying Fish, San Angels, 50's PT, Sci Fi Dine inn all ask beforehand. The only one that didn't was Cindy's Castle for breakfast, and it cost $83 including tip for the 3 of us. That included VERY average eggs, bacon, sausage, pastries, hash browns, fruit, 2 cokes, 1 milk and OJ. I would sincerely rate IHOP quality better.