Children's menus -- ugh!

[juligrl]

Is anyone else as dissapointed with WDW children's menus as I am? My daughter loves chicken tenders and mac & cheese, just not for every meal. She does eat "real food" too. I'm surprised Disney isn't better about this.

 

[gigi1313]

and, see, i was reasonably impressed w/the kids' menus... in addition to the chicken fingers, mac/cheese, hot dog, hamburger options i found the following...

quite a few places have have grilled chicken (off the top of my head: 50s PTC, LeCellier, SciFi,
LeCellier and Flying Fish (among others) have steak
Mama Melrose has chicken parm and calzone
Coral Reef offers a grilled mahi
Akershus has a turkey/cheese roll-up
Chefs de France have great offerings (chicken, beef and fish)
CRT has "minor domo" (a smaller version of their popular Major Domo
LTT (at lunch) has salmon, turkey or corn dogs
Shutters at CBR offers kids' prime rib
WCC has the all-you-care-to-eat skillet
9 Dragons, Teppanyaki, SanAngel all have ethnic options

and of course, all food at the buffet and all-you-care-to-eat restaurants are available to the children, they don't have to take from the chicken nugget/mac&cheese section only...

what restaurants were you considering?

 

[Ms.Mouse]

Is anyone else as dissapointed with WDW children's menus as I am? My daughter loves chicken tenders and mac & cheese, just not for every meal. She does eat "real food" too. I'm surprised Disney isn't better about this.

Yes, and that's why we go on Deb's site (www.allearsnet.com)and choose only a couple of these restaurants. Other than that, we choose restaurants with buffets or those with mini "real food" such as.... LeCellier-Grilled chicken/grilled steak (and his steak was just as good as ours, just smaller!) 50's PrimeTime has grilled chicken and a kiddie appetizer). On the buffets, he would choose anything he wanted on the full buffet. If you look at each menu, you'll find other places that have "real food" We are looking at some of these to try this time around because these look good for kids: Raglan Rd. (looks like it has a decent kids selection), Yachtsman Steakhouse, Spoodles, Jiko, Tony's Town Sq.(pasta dishes but a good variety of them)

 

[ShannonN]

I agree with the above post, my DS got a steak at LeCellier's last Thursday and it was just as good as mine. Not to mention it was a nice change from all the chicken fingers and mac & cheese he ate last week!

 

[chamonix]

A child can eat anything on the menu at any restaurant. They do not have to eat from the children's menu. I know my dd won't eat all the "regular" children's menu items--she doesn't eat mac and cheese, or plain noodles, corn dogs, fried chicken fingers, etc etc. She eats regular, healthy, real food--roasted or grilled chicken, steak, veggies, etc. I don't serve nor order her typical kid food, because most of it is not very healthy (fried, carb-loaded, not whole grains, etc).

Of course, if you are on the dining plan, you might want to post this in the dining plan forum above this one, since having that might restrict/affect your child's choices (I don't know anything about the DDP). For "regular" dining--your child can order anything you are willing to pay for. Maybe you can split entrees/apps with your child. We do this on occasion if she wants more veggies or something. (yeah, I know how weird that sounds!)

The poster above is correct, if you are eating at buffets or TS restaurants, the choices for children are much better than the CS places. Of course, the same is true for the "adult" choices on those menus!

Overall, I have been satisfied that my dd could eat healthy food while at WDW.

 

[P-Dust]

We did have issues with the menu choices for our girls on our last trip in Dec.
I studied the menu's and made ADR's to off-set all the "crap". I did find it hard to ask my girls to "eat half your of broccoli", in a public place. (expert whiners) I decided it wasn't worth the hastle on vacation and that I would "detox"them when we got home.

 

[swimmom]

I have had great luck with plate sharing for my older boys. I have also had lots of sympathetic servers who have graciously allowed us a variety of substitutions. Our last trip, one night at Kona Cafe, we ordered the chix fingers and had some sort of sticky rice and vegetables instead of fries. Good luck

 

[Microcell]

I understand completely what the OP means, which is why DH and I just spent the past two days choosing restaurants for DD 8 to have better choices this time around.

Gigi did a great job finding alternatives. The steak is why we want to go to Le Cellier when we go, both the 8 year old and 4 year old love steak!

 

[juligrl]

quite a few places have have grilled chicken (off the top of my head: 50s PTC, LeCellier, SciFi,
LeCellier and Flying Fish (among others) have steak
Mama Melrose has chicken parm and calzone
Coral Reef offers a grilled mahi
Akershus has a turkey/cheese roll-up
Chefs de France have great offerings (chicken, beef and fish)
CRT has "minor domo" (a smaller version of their popular Major Domo
LTT (at lunch) has salmon, turkey or corn dogs
Shutters at CBR offers kids' prime rib
WCC has the all-you-care-to-eat skillet
9 Dragons, Teppanyaki, SanAngel all have ethnic options

and of course, all food at the buffet and all-you-care-to-eat restaurants are available to the children, they don't have to take from the chicken nugget/mac&cheese section only...

what restaurants were you considering?

Actually, those are some good suggestions, but when you plan a WDW trip in 2 weeks it's hard to get those ADRs. We were mostly doing counter service (Columbia Harbor House, Backlot Express, POP Food Court, Electric Umbrella), but Rainforest Cafe was a little dissapointing on that front. Whispering Canyon was the only one I felt good about her selections -- maybe scince I was eating the same thing, but lesson learned. Read the menus and make those ADRs!

 

[Ms.Mouse]

A child can eat anything on the menu at any restaurant. They do not have to eat from the children's menu. I know my dd won't eat all the "regular" children's menu items--she doesn't eat mac and cheese, or plain noodles, corn dogs, fried chicken fingers, etc etc. She eats regular, healthy, real food--roasted or grilled chicken, steak, veggies, etc. I don't serve nor order her typical kid food, because most of it is not very healthy (fried, carb-loaded, not whole grains, etc).

Of course, if you are on the dining plan, you might want to post this in the dining plan forum above this one, since having that might restrict/affect your child's choices (I don't know anything about the DDP). For "regular" dining--your child can order anything you are willing to pay for. Maybe you can split entrees/apps with your child. We do this on occasion if she wants more veggies or something. (yeah, I know how weird that sounds!)

The poster above is correct, if you are eating at buffets or TS restaurants, the choices for children are much better than the CS places. Of course, the same is true for the "adult" choices on those menus!

Overall, I have been satisfied that my dd could eat healthy food while at WDW.

Yes, you're right.... If you're NOT on the dining plan, you can order and pay for whatever you want on the menu for a child, On the dining plan, you're limited to the kid's menus.

 

[Chloesmom]

Last year I found that pretty many all places could and would substitute fruit for fries. We got grapes, slices apples, melon, berries among others. Also, if you ask a lot of places have things not on the menu like a chicken breast or a smaller steak. Don't get me wrong DD loves all the junky kids menu foods but she is diabetic and those things dont fly . I try to keep her on healthy food at meals so she can have Dole Whips and mickey bars.

 

[Wendi2000]

Yes, you're right.... If you're NOT on the dining plan, you can order and pay for whatever you want on the menu for a child, On the dining plan, you're limited to the kid's menus.

But there is SOOOOO much food on the dining plan that it is very easy to share adult meals with the kids (and save those credits for later). My 4-year-old is a salmon freak... (maybe because it was the first meat I ever gave him???) I order an appetizer that I know we'll both enjoy, and since we both love salmon, we order a lot of that in WDW and share. We save credits this way and are always full from our meals and have more credits for other days this way.

I think WDW offers a really good variety for kids, I'm impressed with it.

 

[n2mm]

Here's a tip: the 50s Prime Time will prepare a child's version of any of their adult meals. I often get the child's version of the pot roast just to save room for desert.

 

[ducklite]

Actually, those are some good suggestions, but when you plan a WDW trip in 2 weeks it's hard to get those ADRs. We were mostly doing counter service (Columbia Harbor House, Backlot Express, POP Food Court, Electric Umbrella), but Rainforest Cafe was a little dissapointing on that front. Whispering Canyon was the only one I felt good about her selections -- maybe scince I was eating the same thing, but lesson learned. Read the menus and make those ADRs!

Actually it's quite easy to get ADR's two weeks in advance, just not for some of the most popular places. This past Saturday I got Jiko for that night at 6:00pm, and Kona Cafe for the next day at 6:00pm.

The only near impossible places to get last minute are Cindy's, Chef Mickey's, California Grill, and Le Cellier.

Anne

 

[Barbers2005]

I have to say, I thought it was easy to find healthier choices for Dd4 at most restaurants, including CS. Here's where we ate our last trip:

Tusker House- rotisserie chick. drumstick, mashed potatoes and applesauce
Pinnochio's Village Haus- PB+J, jello and cheese crackers
Flame Tree BBQ- baked chicken wings, applesauce and corn on the cob
Cosmic Ray's- salad with grilled chicken slices, applesauce, cheese crackers

Our TS meals were mostly buffets (Crystal Palace, Biergarten, Hollywood +Vine) or family style (Ohana, WCC). These restaurants all had lots of choices, including salads, veggies and leaner meats. The two TS meals that we ordered from the menu were LTT and Le Cellier. At Le Cellier, Dd had steak and corn. The adults at the table shared their various salads/appetizers with her, so she made out really well. At LTT, Dd got the Pilgrim's Feast with turkey, mashed potatoes, carrot chips and a blueberry muffin. For the entire trip, Dd only had chicken nuggets once, at ABC Commissary, and that was because she really wanted them.

Looking at the OP's list of restaurants (Pop foodcourt, Columbia Harbour House, Backlot Express and Electric Umbrella) I was a bit puzzled that the OP had trouble finding something for her Dd on the kid's menu. All of these CS places have at least one "real food" item on the menu (read: not chicken nuggets, hot dogs or mac-n-cheese). Maybe her Dd didn't like the healthier choices that were offered, but that isn't really Disney's fault.