Dining plan, autistic eaters & Guest services

[DisneyDreams4P&B]

So we have finally selected the dates, booked our trip and are preparing for our next trip to WDW with our 2 sons, our oldest who has autism and our youngest who has Sensory Intregration Disorder. We chose the dining plan but had some reservations about doing it again, as it is limited and our oldest son has great difficulty with most of what is offered.

I called and spoke to Maria at Guest Services today and I cannot begin to tell you what a pleasant experience it was. She shared with me how she is a parent of an autistic child (how nice not to have to explain the issues my sons deal with).

I told her that the DDP was sometimes to restrictive for my son (he is on a baked chicken fix now) and his eating issues. She explained that we had several options:

1. We can buy the child DDP and if he wants something off the adult menu we can
a) buy the item outright - when the situation dictated it and save the credit
b) speak to the manager and explain the situation and see if they will allow it as it is a dietary issue as a result of a disability ** but she said she cannot guarantee that they will accomodiate us**
c) upgrade him to an adult DDP (which she didn't recommend)
d) not buy him a DDP and just buy his food outright for the entire stay (which she didn't really recommend either)

She reasoned that for $11.00 a day, the cost of a child on the DDP, and for what I know he will eat for a portion of the time, she said we are finacially better off buying the occassional item or talking to management about it. By the time you buy a snack (which I know he will eat), and find something either table or counter for him to eat, we would already be ahead of the game.

I was so grateful for the time she spent researching and going over all of the information. It saved me a deal of worry and trying to figure out how to make my son happy without breaking the bank.

I am not sure if other ASD parents have struggled with the issue but I was very impressed with how Maria handled it.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Our 11 year old has Asperger's and is an extemely picky eater. We did purchase the Dining Plan because we wanted to try some of the restaurants and we wanted the convenience of having our food prepaid. Since my son is 11, we paid the adult DDP price for him. We also took our 8 year old who is only slightly less picky and we paid the child price for him.

It helped us a lot to read all the menus before making our ADRs. I knew which places had food that everyone would like. My DS11 mostly wants to eat peanut butter sandwiches (no jelly, so Uncrustables are out). Many restaurants were able to make him a sandwich. At other places, I just ordered 2 plain pieces of bread or a plain hamburger bun and side of fries. I always had Jif Singles in my bag and could make him a sandwich on the spot. When reading the menus, try to determine if there's an item that can be modified to suit your son's taste - like if you ask to leave off an ingredient, add something that you bring yourself, etc.

I'm sure we didn't get our money's worth with that kid's eating style! But, the cost of the DDP balanced out with what we ate. I was more concerned with him getting what he liked than with the cost. I am trying to get him to try new things, but we decided WDW was not the place to push new foods and have him be miserable!

So, my best advice is to read the menus and find things he will eat before you make your ADRs. That will save you a lot of trouble when you get ready to order. Hope you have a great trip!

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks both of you for all the information. I'm sure it will be helpful for others in your families' situations.

Here are some links to menus:
DIS Boards menu database

allearsnet.com menus

The menus do change from time to time, but at least you will have some ideas of what you will find.

 

[Selket]

d) not buy him a DDP and just buy his food outright for the entire stay (which she didn't really recommend either)
.

I was just curious if they offered to let you not get him the dining plan if the rest of the family is on it? I thought everyone in the room had to be on it or not on it (which causes problems for some folks of course!).

I also wanted to add that my son has different issues but we have very easily been able to get him items that were *not* on the menu for the sit-down restaurants if we ordered them in advance by talking to the chef before we go. The way we do this is because he has food allergies so they note it on the ADR and give us the # to call to talk to someone about a week before the trip. I realize your child doesn't have allergies but perhaps noting a special dietary need on the ADR (talk to them at the # where you make the ADR) will get you the phone #s to call for your restaurants. They were very willing to make him special dishes or obtain foods not on the menu (even in buffet places) if I talked to them in advance (at one time our big issue was having a hot dog at every meal ).

With CS places it is best to check the menus ahead of time and go from there. The meal plan would definitely be worth it if you arrange those meals in advance.

 

[tacomaranch]

Same with us. When making our ADR's a very nice lady gave us the number for each restaurant we are eating at and asked for us to call a week before we arrive to order food DS will eat. Even thought we are on the DDP having steak MR with strawberries and watermelon for DS almost make eating out pleasant.

 

[Tissa]

Same with us. When making our ADR's a very nice lady gave us the number for each restaurant we are eating at and asked for us to call a week before we arrive to order food DS will eat. Even thought we are on the DDP having steak MR with strawberries and watermelon for DS almost make eating out pleasant.

I didn't know you could do that, last trip we ended up just driving offsite for meals so we could find something ds would eat. This trip we are just renting a house offsite so I don't have to hassle with Disney dining.

 

[BeckyScott]

I was curious about this too... DS is a picky eater, and we want to do Dining Plan just to save me some hassle. However, his pickiness is pretty much typical kid-food. Cheese sandwiches. Chicken nuggets and fries. Mashed potatoes. Plain pasta. He's a carb boy. I figured most places, even the sit-downs and the buffets, would have something appropriate for him. And worse-case scenario, if we asked, a cheese sandwich isn't brain surgery to fix? Yes? Is it worth me calling to make special arrangements? The only place I see that we're planning on eating at that may be an issue is Biergarten (DH's pick), and even they have plain chicken and potatoes I can smash up.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

I was curious about this too... DS is a picky eater, and we want to do Dining Plan just to save me some hassle. However, his pickiness is pretty much typical kid-food. Cheese sandwiches. Chicken nuggets and fries. Mashed potatoes. Plain pasta. He's a carb boy. I figured most places, even the sit-downs and the buffets, would have something appropriate for him. And worse-case scenario, if we asked, a cheese sandwich isn't brain surgery to fix? Yes? Is it worth me calling to make special arrangements? The only place I see that we're planning on eating at that may be an issue is Biergarten (DH's pick), and even they have plain chicken and potatoes I can smash up.

At all of the buffets that we ate at we saw chicken nuggets and usually mac and cheese, tater tots and pizza on the kids section. My husband is an extremely picky eater and usually goes to the kids section to fix his plate. We also saw the chef come out to the table at a couple of the restaurants and talk to the family when someone had food issues. My cousin's son is autistic, but he will eat anything and everything, so we haven't had any issues with him.

PrincessSuzanne

 

[DisneyDreams4P&B]

I was just curious if they offered to let you not get him the dining plan if the rest of the family is on it? I thought everyone in the room had to be on it or not on it (which causes problems for some folks of course!).

She did say that we did not need to purchase the plan for him but she explained that with what he will eat at certain places that we were better off buying it and then just supplementing the meals that are not on the menu and can't get worked out by the staff/management.

Right now I am looking on allears.net at their menus so I can plan accordingly but like most everything else, who knows what he will be in the mood for that day. It could be a grilled chicken day at a place that has mac-n cheese (another fav). You know what they say about the best laid plans...I am hoping that by bringing some of his beloved snacks like strawberry fruit n cereal bars and Pirate of the carribean fruit snacks that it will help in times that he is not exactly happy with his choices.

BTW - If your child is like mine and you want to bring cereal bars but they always get crushed in your bag. Glad sells a snack size throw away container that you can fit 3 cereal bars into. Keeps them uncrushed, dry and is not bulky or cumbersome.

 

[leanan]

The school shrink and I call my daughter's eating style the wet slimy stuff meal plan. She loves tofu, noodles, rice, etc. She is milk allergic so that makes eating out with her double fun. At least at sushi places she will eat Miso soup. You can always get plain pasta with oil at italian joints. She only eats certain hotdogs. I am not sure if I could get her to eat the ones from Caseys but those are the right type. She adores the pretzel dogs at Auntie Annes at the mall. That I find a bit odd.

Oh yeah I must share something only another mom of an autistic child could appreciate. She yelled at the waitress in as seafood restaurant because they had only breaded shrimp on the kids meal. SHe wanted her shrimp steamed peel and eat style darn it. That poor waitress did not know what hit her when Nyssa told her off. She was not rude to the waitress but hysterical and upset would be words to explain her that night. If anything she always manages to surprise me and make me laugh.

 

[Selket]

DisneyDreams - I hope the meal plan can work out. If he as a fairly low # of favorites you could ask them to have all of them on hand. Really I think the easy stuff (mac N cheese, chicken fingers, hotdogs, burgers, etc.) they can pull out without too much wait (they seem to use these underground tunnels to actually obtain an item from a different restaurant).

Our chef at CP once took William's order and I had given him some either/or and he actually came out with platters of ALL of it - Took him and 2 guys to carry it. Wowza! William just chose what he wanted and the rest got sent back (without us touching it - I'm guessing some of it like green beans unseasoned coudl be used in other dishes). It was just really nice of him. Some things are easy for them to find (rice, noodles, etc) - only really unusual requests (black olives by themselves, etc) might need pre-order.

Good luck!

 

[Newcastle]

Although our autistic son is a very picky eater, our biggest problem with the dining plan is that there is no way that he will tolerate sitting at the table for the length of time that it takes to consume a table service meal. Thus, our table service credits would have to be used for counter service meals...not a good use of our money in my opinion. I have heard of people trying to order "take-out" at the table service restaurants but with little luck. Anyone else have any experience with this?

 

[isyne4u]

The school shrink and I call my daughter's eating style the wet slimy stuff meal plan. She loves tofu, noodles, rice, etc. She is milk allergic so that makes eating out with her double fun. At least at sushi places she will eat Miso soup. You can always get plain pasta with oil at italian joints. She only eats certain hotdogs. I am not sure if I could get her to eat the ones from Caseys but those are the right type. She adores the pretzel dogs at Auntie Annes at the mall. That I find a bit odd.

Oh yeah I must share something only another mom of an autistic child could appreciate. She yelled at the waitress in as seafood restaurant because they had only breaded shrimp on the kids meal. SHe wanted her shrimp steamed peel and eat style darn it. That poor waitress did not know what hit her when Nyssa told her off. She was not rude to the waitress but hysterical and upset would be words to explain her that night. If anything she always manages to surprise me and make me laugh.

My son HFA son orders "naked" shrimp at RL!!

tara