children's menus

[mrodgers]

Why is it, restaurants seem to think that children will only eat mac n' cheese or chicken nuggets? This is nearly every restaurant we have ever tried to go to since the kids were born.

I have a 9 year old and a 5 year old girls. I see a kid's steak at Le Cellier or whatever that is (I"m new to the Disney thing with our first trip next summer.) Everything else is mac n' cheese, chicken nuggets, or some other worthless unhealthy food that would go to waste.

My kids don't eat a lot, but they eat normal food. We have a sit down meal every night whether my wife is working or home to cook it. Mac n' cheese or chicken nuggets are fine for a quick lunch, but they eat normal food for dinner.

Would there be any concern with them eating normal entrees in the restaurants or would we be required to order from the kids menu?

I started out looking at this Disney stuff completely overwhelmed, but figured out the parks, resorts, and majority of the vacation plan rather quickly. I'm stuck on the dining part though, because our kids are not going to come close to eating a half BBQ chicken, but wouldn't eat anything from the kids menu either. Even the 5 year old wouldn't eat chicken nuggets, although she does love them for lunch.

I look upon the kids menu as food for 3 year olds or younger. Why can't restaurants have some kind of menu for between the ages of 3 and teen years where they would eat normal food, but not enormous amounts I am seeing on the photos here?

So my question is, are we going to be able to order normal entrees for children of those ages or will that be a problem? I don't know if the ages you state when you book is merely for the resort or if that changes the dining plan as well.

Thanks,

 

[vicki_c]

If you're paying cash, you can order anything you want.

If you're on the DDP, you will have to stick to the children's menu at the majority of the places.

But I think you're underestimating what is offered on some of the kids' menus - I've seen fish entrees, steaks (as you said), soups, salads -- usually at the table service places, something like nuggets or mac and cheese is just one choice out of a few -- most kids menus have 4-5 choices.

 

[Hootch]

that many of the places have the same items for kids and the choices are not expansive. One thing you can do is to schedule some buffets. Some people flinch at the word but I have found the food at Disney buffets to be updated pretty regularly. The menus may show separate items for kids but anyone can eat off either buffet. The kids' items are usually set out on a lower display so kids can see and possibly help themselves to whatever they want.

Another way that we sometimes get around it is that my wife doesn't always eat much. She will order an entree for our nine year old who may eat a lot and a kids meal for herself. She won't do this often because her choices then are limited.

 

[eventamy]

I agree, the childrens menus are terrible. Our choices are even more limited because my kids are pescetarian like I am, eat fish but not other meat. Usually we order something from the childrens menu but this time I'm going to order them a regular entree at some places and have them share it. My daughters are 2 & 6 and don't eat very much but I want to give them some other options other then Mac 'n cheese or pizza every day, every meal. We do not do the DDP though.
I have chosen some restaurants based on their kids menus.
Flying Fish has some good choices for kids.
The Plaza has a grilled cheese


I also like buffets because it gives us more options and the kids can eat anything that they want from the buffet. They usually choose the salmon, tofu at Boma, but mostly the fruit!

I have also NOT chose places because of their kids menu. It's the rare place that does have 4-5 options for kids!

 

[tara32]

I would suggest not going with the DDP and maybe they could share an adult entree? I think there'd be a lot of wastage if they each got an entree. And if you are paying OOP the restaurant shouldnt have a problem with a shared plate.

Fortunately (or not- maybe) my ds has severe food aversions so he wouldnt eat "normal" food , but hopefully we can track him down a hotdog or onion rings. other Ds (1.5) has always liked "real" food and not junk or baby food. so he will eat from my plate.

 

[ktlm]

My DD does not like Mac and Cheese or burgers. She got so sick of Chicken Nuggets (which she usually loves) at WDW that it was hard to get her to eat a meal. CS meals were really hard with her, because there wasn't much she would eat. Also, be careful with counter service, because at a lot of them, the chicken nuggets they serve to kids are different than they serve adults, and they are disgusting. I wasn't real sure what we were going to do for our counter service meals because DD took one bite at the first meal and refused to eat them, and there really wasn't anything else on most CS menus she would eat. I didn't even notice the difference until a Mom in front of me at another CS place told the CM to be sure and get the adult chicken strip meal for her children because they wouldn't eat the kids one. That solved at least one of our problems, as DD would at least eat the adult ones until she got sick of them. The places she did best were Biergarten (I don't think I've ever seen her eat that much at ANY meal and she loved the band and dance floor) and Akershus (they had a grilled chicken meal for kids). She also loved the adult soup at San Angel and the kid's Chicken Quesadilla. She also ate quite a bit of the grilled chicken with Pasta and Marinara sauce at Mama Melrose. The Crystal Palace buffet had a lot of good options for her too. The good thing about the buffets is they aren't limited to the kids choices and can eat whatever they want. To find decent options for kids, you really have to get on Allears.net, and look at every restaurant's kid's menu. We don't do the dining plan- too much food for us and we don't always Order off the kids menu for her.

 

[mrodgers]

Wow, fastest board I've ever been on, haha! And I am on a lot of forums from racing, to motorcycles, to cars, to RC flight, to photography....

I am looking at all the menus from the link in the header of this board trying to narrow dinner reservation choices down to present to the wife so we can chose 6 meals. I must admit, I find a few of my thoughts looking around to be selfish as this is my vacation too Dagnabbit!!! I've been working the past 15 years at the same place and this is my first non-working vacation too!

Ok, I am hunting down some of the buffets and had planned on putting some of them in the plan.

The quick meals or counter services look easy to sort through to decide what my kids will/can eat. The sit down places are difficult never having been there.

To tell the truth, I've been looking at photos and I think I could just ditch the wife and kids and bus over to AK for the Flaming Tree for myself. Ribs, chicken, pork, beef, and turkey all smoked! That's 5 meals just for me! I could eat twice every day right there with that menu!

I have a coworker helping me plan stuff as he just went last week and has gone for a few years now. I told him it sounds like I am just going to come home gigantic.

 

[ktlm]

And while we're at it, why do restaurants think that all kids only like cheese pizza? My DD hates cheese pizza because she thinks someone forgot to finish making it. If they have anything other than cheese, it's always Pepperoni. How about a little sausage (DD's favorite) people?

 

[koolaidmoms]

We are right there with you. I have two hearty eaters DS, 6, and DD, 9 who are also fairly adventurous eaters. We have been using the DDP for the past several trips and for us we try to schedule mostly buffets or family style restaurants for lunches or dinners. We find breakfast is too early to keep them full for most of the day.

CP, Tusker House, GG (family style), LTT (Family style), Boma, Cape May Cafe, Biergarten are some of our favorites. I have my dining reviews of the first three with some pictures in my blog (link in my signature). The rest with pictures will be up after our next trip in about a month!

If we do an early dinner we will order 2 adult CS meals usually combos that are fairly hearty and will split those for lunch. CHH sandwhiches, CR's rib and chicken combo, any country in Epcot has combos, etc... are great to split among the 4 of us.

Hope this helps some.

 

[abubu919]

Also go to allears.net and they have all the menus from the restaurants in Disney. They can give you alot of insight on what they offer for both adults and kids. I do remember though at 50s Prime Time Cafe I ordered the pasta with meat sauce and it came with vegetables and fruit and it was delicious.

 

[TDC Nala]

And while we're at it, why do restaurants think that all kids only like cheese pizza? My DD hates cheese pizza because she thinks someone forgot to finish making it. If they have anything other than cheese, it's always Pepperoni. How about a little sausage (DD's favorite) people?

While the child's dining plan is still relatively inexpensive, don't expect pizza other than cheese or larger size children's meals. It's also likely that they're classifying meat on pizza for children as outside of the "healthy" image they're now trying to project.

Awhile back WDW tried switching all their children's menus to "healthy choices" like grilled chicken and vegetables. Desserts were yogurt, fruit or jello. The outcry from parents was so great that they brought back the chicken nuggets, mac and cheese and cookies and ice cream.

 

[B-Ride]

In the words of the Grinch (after all it is almost Christmas), the best way to describe the children's menus are "Stink, stank, stunk".

As others have recommended, go for buffets. Also, you can share items so your kids can nibble off your plate if they are getting sick of the same old chicken nuggets.

 

[ShannonMB]

I love almost everything about Disney EXCEPT the kids meals! Most of them are suckish at best. My DD LIKES kid junk food like pizza, chicken nuggets fries, etc. Unfortunately, half of the places' pizza is the nastiest microwave pizza I can possibly imagine. And the kids' nuggets mentioned above!

When I grew up I had cousins whose parents would feed the kids hot dogs for dinner, then a couple hours later sit down to a lovely adults-only steak dinner. This was not for special occasions, either, but the norm. I was NOT raised that way. I was raised that what's for dinner is what's for dinner for everyone -- as each member of the family was worthy of the same quality meal. Granted, it was often franks and beans, chicken, or some sort of casserole more often than steak, but we were never treated as second class citizens at the dinner table just because we were the kids.

It sorta irks me that Disney treats kids as second-class diners with so many of their choices. They should get the BEST meals, there of all places. We choose a lot of buffets for this reason, I (like a PP) look at kids menus before deciding on ADRs, and if all else fails and I'm dying to try a place, I will order something for myself I think DD would like to share.

 

[mousebymarriage]

I have to agree that the kids menu options are horrible. The last time we were there my DS was 6 and he was so sick of chicken nuggets (he doesn't eat mac & cheese and a few places offer PB&J but he doesn't eat peanut butter plus it's a partially frozen smuckers uncrustable thing). My son doesn't have a huge appetite but he eats regular food and is willing to try new things. Halfway through the vacation I would sometimes let him order off the adult menu and I would get a kids meal so he wouldn't have to eat chicken nuggets every day. Oh and they give you grapes with the kids meal which is a great option but, they only give you like 6 grapes, are they kidding!

 

[aanderson5]

My DS will not eat mac'n cheese, nuggets or WDW pizza. The last trip we tended to use his CS credits for breakfasts. The only CS lunches he had were from Earls (pizza sandwich) and WPE (linguini) which he liked a lot. We all tended to share our CS meals so he ate what we did. For TS we went to buffets, Ohanas, the Tea at GF (OOp) and Big River Grill (OOP) where he shared with me.

We eat the same way at home. We eat out a lot and DS rarely eats off the kids menu. He would rather have soup, salad and steak. We usually order him soup or share an appy and he has some or whatever we are having.

 

[ogreenlee]

The buffets at Disney aren't like buffets anywhere else, really. Try not to picture "Super Grand China" when you think of it. They're nicely laid out and don't look like troughs. It is a great option for kids who like normal food.

My little girl doesn't like meat, by nature. She is even starting to not like fish. It's weird, but she has an adversion to animal. I'm like you.. I could eat BBQ everyday, so it doesn't come from me! LOL

Narcoosee's is a signature restaurant, but has filet mignon on the kid's menu, also baked fish.

Liberty Square inside the Magic Kingdom is a "family style" restaurant, and if you eat there for dinner, your kids can eat from the food brought out for everyone. Chicken, pork, roast... those type things.

Tony's Town Tavern inside the MK has a decent looking child menu.

Definitely look at the menus at allears.net and make sure to look at the "family style" restaurants and buffets for your widest variety.

 

[MyTwoPrincesses]

I'm concerned about this as well. One of my DDs loves chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, and pizza and the other despises mac and cheese and chicken nuggets. She does like pizza though, but not every day. Neither one cares of spaghettie with red sauce. Both of my kids love soups and rice dishes though and my older child in particular is an adventurous eater (though not big on fish). Since this is our first trip to WDW, we figure we'll see how it works and what substitutions are possible. We also have 2 breakfast buffets planned and 1 dinner buffet. That said, the TS options seem better than the CS.

 

[Ela1972]

Hi,
When we went last March DD's were both fed up with Childrens meals by day 2 DD10 (was 9) ordered off adult menu

DD4 ordered off kids menu. I did find in quite a few of the TS restaurants on the "wrong" side of the menu was a combo deal starter of fruit or similar the chicken or fish skewers/kebabs then ice cream.
Wasn't sure about the skewers/kebabs at first but they were lovely. After first time we always looked for this option.

BTW DD4 will not eat mac n cheese, burgers or peanut butter so this limited our options.
At home she eats small versions of our food.

Don't panic you will always find something. Just have a good look round before you go. BTW at columbia harbour house the fish is excellent (even though in breadcrumbs) especially for a CS.

Have a great time

 

[JennyT2]

I agree, buffets are great for this. My kids love Biergarten and Crystal Palace. LTT is awesome for kids who like "adult" food as well. I know lunch (or CS) is trickier - but we always make sure we eat at cs that have large adult portions ie. Cosmic Rays or Sunshine Seasons. At Cosmic Rays me and dh both order the 1/2 chicken and ribs combo and then 2 kids meals and we all mix and match so everyone has a bit of everything. Sometimes we also order oop for a bowl of soup to beef up the kids meal.
Neither of my kids eat mac n cheese, and they are not huge chicken nugget kids either but I don't think we have ever left a cs with them being hungry.

 

[mhsjax]

And while we're at it, why do restaurants think that all kids only like cheese pizza? My DD hates cheese pizza because she thinks someone forgot to finish making it. If they have anything other than cheese, it's always Pepperoni. How about a little sausage (DD's favorite) people?

I agree, but at least you kid will eat cheese, What the heck are you to do when you r kiddo can't eat cheese or dairy, It becomes extremely difficult. My kids also have much more mature taste than what is offered on the kids menu.They really do need to think about adding some different things.