Children's Meals - Help!

[LauraK]

HI!

I will be going to Disney World in September with my brother, sister-in-law and their 4 children. My husband and I do not have any children so this is the first time we will be experiencing WDW with kids.

I am trying to plan our dining reservations and have been reading the kids menu's online only to find that almost all of them consist of mac and cheese, chicken nuggets or a hot dog! Can this be true?? Are kids expected to choose one of these 3 for every meal for a week??

Hopefully I'm missing something!

 

[dcherry]

Yes, they are pretty limited though you will find some places also offer hamburgers, pizza, fish, PB&J, etc. If you choose a resturant that does not have kids meals then the kids can eat off the regular menu OR if you choose a buffet resturant they can eat anything off the buffet.

 

[medicgirl911]

I think the childrens menu choices are terrible, you have to do alot of research. Counter service seems to be the worst. TS if you check many places you will find some variety. For example there is a steak and I think maybe a fish option for kids. At teppan edo they can get a meat with the noodles, just like the grownups. Ummm at WHispering Canyon Cafe they can get the skillet option also. Of course there is always buffet options which will give kids variety as well, since they can choose anything off the buffet.
personally, I am toying with the idea of upgrading my 9 year old to the adult plan

 

[Colleen27]

There are better kids' menus out there, but it takes some research to find them. Table service are generally better than counter service, because they at least have one 'signature' option on the kids menu in addition to the usual crap.

When it comes to table service, we've found plenty of good choices -

Of course buffets are always good, because kids can choose from everything offered.

CRT has a kids' size version of their Major Domo (shephard's pie type dish).

The Plaza has a kids' chef salad that my kids absolutely loved.

Ohana has the same menu for kids as for adults.

Whispering Canyon has a kids' skillet.

Teppan Edo has kids' versions of the adult hibachi entrees.

Le Cellier has a kids' steak, and on the DDP you don't pay the $2 upcharge.

Rose & Crown has kids' shepard's pie and bangers & mash.


Counter service is a bit trickier. There are still a few places that don't have a kids' menu, but that list is shrinking constantly, and the choices are generally very limited at most CS locations. There are a few that we've been pleased with, however -

Main Street Bakery doesn't have a kids' menu, so the kids were able to choose from the adult sandwiches & pastries.

There are turkey leg places in each park, and as far as I know none of them have kids' menus. My kids fell in love with turkey legs at our local Renaissance fair, so that's an option that has worked well for us, particularly at DHS where most of the dining options are less than stellar.

Sunshine Seasons might be the best counter service kids' menu. They have rotisserie chicken, sweet & sour chicken and a mini-sub sandwich in addition to the PB&J and mac & cheese standbys.

I'm really glad my more adventurous eater is an adult for dining purposes now. Last trip, I put a lot of thought into choosing restaurants with good kids menus and still ended up sharing a lot of my food with him. DD7 is a light eater and a little pickier, so she's happy trying a few bites of the adult meals while having that safe (boring) kids' meal as a backup. For a few years at least, I don't have to give so much thought to which restaurants have the best kids' menus.

 

[TigMaya]

For being a place that caters to children so well in so many ways, the kids food at WDW leaves much to be desired IMHO.

We found that Raglan Road had a fantastic kids menu! Our kids absolutely loved it there, especially the amazing mac and cheese and the desserts. My daughter's desert was served in a martini glass which she thought was very, very cool.

 

[MickeyNicki]

We took our nieces in January and they were not happy with the kids food at all.... we did the 1900 PF dinner and there wasnt much there they liked, the food at Coral Reef was even worse, the pizza was pathetic!

I say, if you can, do TS breakfasts and CS for lunch and dinner..

 

[LauraK]

Wow - thank you all so much for the quick replies!

All of the information was really helpful!

 

[dominicsplace]

I think the childrens menu choices are terrible, you have to do alot of research. Counter service seems to be the worst. TS if you check many places you will find some variety. For example there is a steak and I think maybe a fish option for kids. At teppan edo they can get a meat with the noodles, just like the grownups. Ummm at WHispering Canyon Cafe they can get the skillet option also. Of course there is always buffet options which will give kids variety as well, since they can choose anything off the buffet.
personally, I am toying with the idea of upgrading my 9 year old to the adult plan

I changed my DS's age on the reservation from 9-10 last week. We are going during free dining so the upgrade only cost me $37.50 for 8 days! I figure it will be worthwhile if for nothing else at the CS meals for the week where the kids meals are just not enough. He tried my steak at Le Cellier last year and was looking forward to going back this year. I figure if he eats the NY strip at Le Cellier the upgrade just paid for itself right there! Oh yeah and then I don't have to share MINE either!!!

 

[princssdisnygina]

I changed my DS's age on the reservation from 9-10 last week. We are going during free dining so the upgrade only cost me $37.50 for 8 days! I figure it will be worthwhile if for nothing else at the CS meals for the week where the kids meals are just not enough. He tried my steak at Le Cellier last year and was looking forward to going back this year. I figure if he eats the NY strip at Le Cellier the upgrade just paid for itself right there! Oh yeah and then I don't have to share MINE either!!!

I think we may do this as well. I am going to check the pricing.

 

[princssdisnygina]

I changed my DS's age on the reservation from 9-10 last week. We are going during free dining so the upgrade only cost me $37.50 for 8 days! I figure it will be worthwhile if for nothing else at the CS meals for the week where the kids meals are just not enough. He tried my steak at Le Cellier last year and was looking forward to going back this year. I figure if he eats the NY strip at Le Cellier the upgrade just paid for itself right there! Oh yeah and then I don't have to share MINE either!!!

Ok. I don't know how you did that. Because on a package if you change the age of the child you have to pay the difference for the tickets as well as the dining. The cost of the dining upgrade is $29 a day. We are staying for 5 nights and only got a 1 day base ticket with dining and the cost is $158.00 for the change. We are leaving it as is.

 

[princessjane]

Kid's meals at Disney are terrible. MY son is 10 and even though he can eat off the Adult menu now, he likes Mac n Cheese, chicken etc but at least he can get "doctored" adult meals. We do a lot of buffets. He can get what he wants in as much quantity as he wants. I do know that there are things available that do not appear on the official menu. My son got 2 1/4 lb Hotdogs at Ohana, because he wouldn't eat anything there. So I stick with chef Mickey's, Breakfasts at most places are safe, Crystal Palace, Garden Grill, Liberty Tree Tavern, etc. Variety is important. Even my picky kid would not want to eat pizza, chicken nuggets and mac n cheese everyday. ADr's take me the most time to plan out. I try to fit variety into out sit down meals. Buffets, Buffets, buffets!

 

[dominicsplace]

Ok. I don't know how you did that. Because on a package if you change the age of the child you have to pay the difference for the tickets as well as the dining. The cost of the dining upgrade is $29 a day. We are staying for 5 nights and only got a 1 day base ticket with dining and the cost is $158.00 for the change. We are leaving it as is.

We are going during the "Free Dining Package" promotion so there is no dining charge at all, only the upgrade for the base ticket only which for 8 days is $4.38 per day. If we were not getting free dining you're correct it would be substantially more.

Do you have a 1 day ticket or a 5 day ticket? $158 sounds too much for a 1 day ticket but about right for 5 days if you are not getting Free Dining.