Counter Service Kids Menus Are Really Limited!

[ZPT1022]

(DS is too young for the plan, but, strangely enough, still wants to eat)

LMAO at that one! We have two year old twins and find ourselves in this same position- supposedly our whole family is on the dining plan, yet we need to plan to potentially buy meals for 2/5 of our family at each meal.

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

LMAO at that one! We have two year old twins and find ourselves in this same position- supposedly our whole family is on the dining plan, yet we need to plan to potentially buy meals for 2/5 of our family at each meal.

I thought that was funny too.

I don't know about anyone else's two yr. old, but when my son was 22 months, he ate Pooh "under the table" at the Crystal Palace. I think he ate more than my other two children! At least he was free. That makes up for the CS meal I would have to buy him, at least for us.

I would do a buffet/family style meal everday if I were you guys. Make it for when your kids are usually the hungriest (which in my case could be anytime). Then you'd only have to buy a CS meal and a snack maybe. We either opt for the latest breakfast seating (10:30) or a late lunch seating, usually around 3:00. That way it's almost like both meals with having snacks around it.

 

[akalittleeva]

akalittleleeva... i didn't mean to actually order the food and throw it away, but if you view the CS credit as "free" would you then feel better about leaving CS child credits go unused? and/or possibly substituting an oop or shared adult meal?

If I did order from some of the places mentioned, it would end up being thrown away. I don't see the sense of paying OOP for a meal when I have credits (considered free or not - not by free dining, but how you mentioned earlier) available to use. I don't have a problem with sharing at all and that is what I hope we will be able to do, for convenience and to avoid waste, but I have been hearing on these boards that sharing may be restricted (and I hope it is just a rumour), so we'll have to see - I just don't think I should have to pay OOP when I've already paid for 2 meals and a snack on the DDP - the child CS could be considered free, however, the DDP allows you to pay for everything up front and that is what I will be financially able to do. It touts that you will be provided with basically 2 meals and a snack a day, so I don't think I should have to save extra money to pay for extra meals that are basically already covered by the DDP (we will be having breakfast in our room). And other people on budgets who don't research as much as I have, would show up expecting the DDP to cover the 2 meals and a snack for every night of their stay and then may have to dip into what little spending money they have to pay for more food that technically is already paid for.

 

[KellyFam]

I think the whole thing would be easier to accept, if the actual menus were posted. That way a family could look at the offerings for CS (or TS for that matter), and if it isn't to their liking, don't buy the plan. Really, with the DDP, you are going to pay for something that you really have no idea what it consists of (as far as the food offerings). There are actually people that haven't found their way to the disboards and to allears, and they could possibly be in for a big surprise.

 

[ZPT1022]

I would do a buffet/family style meal everday if I were you guys. Make it for when your kids are usually the hungriest (which in my case could be anytime). Then you'd only have to buy a CS meal and a snack maybe. We either opt for the latest breakfast seating (10:30) or a late lunch seating, usually around 3:00. That way it's almost like both meals with having snacks around it.

We will be there for about 15 days so it is hard to do all buffet/family style. We've planned a few but I think I character buffeted my husband out last year. OOoops. We do have a few planned but he wanted to do more table service. Partly because of my food allergies it is easier to do regular table service but in the end- OH WELL, I am at WDW and NOT in CT!!! That's all that really matters!

 

[gigi1313]

we were buffet'd out a few years ago as well... and while we still do one or two, we have found that we prefer the family style meals... the aycte feature of a buffet in a more controlled atmosphere (ds also has food allergies)...

 

[DumboDash2006]

------- I just hate to pay the entire amount OOP and waste that part of the plan. I can bet I will be paying at Columbia Harbor House, since I know DD isn't going to go for mac and cheese or chilled chicken (yuck!) when the rest of us have chicken strips, fish and tuna!------

I would love to try CHH on our trip next month but I doubt we will as my nephew wouldn't eat one of those meals (chilled chicken with grapes) and can't eat the other (mac and cheese) due to a milk allergy. Due to all his food allergies and pickiness, we'll be eating at Cosmic Rays so he can get chicken nuggets. From looking at the menus that looks like the ONLY CS place in the MK that has chicken nuggets on the kids menu. Strange.

 

[bluejasmine]

------- I just hate to pay the entire amount OOP and waste that part of the plan. I can bet I will be paying at Columbia Harbor House, since I know DD isn't going to go for mac and cheese or chilled chicken (yuck!) when the rest of us have chicken strips, fish and tuna!------

I would love to try CHH on our trip next month but I doubt we will as my nephew wouldn't eat one of those meals (chilled chicken with grapes) and can't eat the other (mac and cheese) due to a milk allergy. Due to all his food allergies and pickiness, we'll be eating at Cosmic Rays so he can get chicken nuggets. From looking at the menus that looks like the ONLY CS place in the MK that has chicken nuggets on the kids menu. Strange.

Why dont you grabb nephews dinner from somewhere else to go and then eat at CHH its worth it I promise, the peace and quiet, just take the stairs up to the second floor and sit near a window over looking liberty square, its cool and relaxing..

 

[frayedend]

Okay,

So I did some checking and I think I found a way around the problem (if I had known the kids menu issue before). It only works when there is free dining.

I decided to price out the vacation with 2 kids at 14 years old and with 2 kids at 4 years old. Did I hear correctly that after 11 they get adult dining plan?

Okay, so rack rate package with all the same options, no dining plan. Total price (deluxe, Ft Wilderness, 8 day hopper plus water) 2 adults, and 2 kids 14 years old the rate total was 2936.62. Now if you do the 2 kids as 4 years old the rate is 2862.00 The difference is only $74. I would have gladly paid the extra 74 bucks to get my kids the ability to order adult. I guess I would have had to lie and say my kids were older. That is probably a no no also, but why would it make a difference since if they weren't older Disney would certainly sell me the package.

I must point out that this did not work when pricing with the dining plan (when it isn't free). Then the difference was almost 500 bucks. And I would also not ever lie about the ages of my kids simply because if there was an emergency (fire or something) you want them looking for the right kid.

 

[Delaware Mike]

Why dont you grabb nephews dinner from somewhere else to go and then eat at CHH its worth it I promise, the peace and quiet, just take the stairs up to the second floor and sit near a window over looking liberty square, its cool and relaxing..

Oh yeah....what she said! Sitting upstairs on a hot day is the bestest!!!!

And the DW says the bathrooms upstairs are super clean...

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

We will be there for about 15 days so it is hard to do all buffet/family style. We've planned a few but I think I character buffeted my husband out last year. OOoops. We do have a few planned but he wanted to do more table service. Partly because of my food allergies it is easier to do regular table service but in the end- OH WELL, I am at WDW and NOT in CT!!! That's all that really matters!

Yeah, I hear ya. I can get "character'ed" out myself.

 

[ZPT1022]

Yeah, I hear ya. I can get "character'ed" out myself.

LOL! We already have a few in our traveling party.... but seriously it's not so much about being tired of the characters because with the ages of our kids, getting to see the characters in a controlled setting and not waiting in a line outside to see them is very nice, but we really do get tired of the buffet fare and find ourselves enjoying a more typical dining experience. There are still some we do every trip- Liberty Tree Tavern, for example. We're trying Chef Mickey's again after not going for 6 years. We like Boma. We're doing the Ohana dinner which is family style, so the 2 year olds will be free. I think we're doing the Boma breakfast the day before we leave (anyone been? how was it?) but that seems to be enough buffets for us. I know it would make sense to do more and not have to pay for the twins but there is such a huge world of dining beyond the buffets that we don't want too. What other family style meals are out there? Immediately I think of Ohana and Garden Grill but I'm not remembering any others off the top of my head

 

[LSchrow]

I don't know about anyone else's two yr. old, but when my son was 22 months, he ate Pooh "under the table" at the Crystal Palace.

am i reading this correctly?

 

[!@#$%]

We eat lots of exotic, foreign, and unusual foods at home. I make everything fiery hot, and we cook foods from all around the globe from authentic cook books.
Last year this same question of the rather boring foods for kids annoyed me too. But I realized when I got there, that I would tell my son... "You can order this, or this, or this..." and he always happily agreed on something offered, and he never seemed very sad. He's autistic too, and he usually gets mad when he dont get what he wants, but maybe he was happy to get "normal" food for a change!!!
Neither of my children had any problems with what was offered. The children meals were often kinda cutely prepared, (mickry ears and such) and they couldnt be happier. They never once complained when we had a fancy meal, and they had a PB&J.

My autistic son has a problem where he dont like to throw things away. For example; We have to sneak old candy wrappers from his room, because he saves everything. He always wanted to save the black mickey mouse shaped plates. We found that if we explained the situation, the servers would often take away his plate and return with *his* plate all clean and shiny! Of course it was new, but he didnt know that. We used them over and over at home. Theyre even dishwasher safe.

Now stop worrying.