Drinks for character/buffet dining with 3yo

[stinkerbella6206]

We will be going to Disney for the first time to celebrate dd 3rd bday in late mate-early june. She will turn 3 the last day of our trip, so is considered 2 for the trip. Staying at POFQ, with Basic Dining plan. I have booked several character meals for our little princess (Chef MIckeys, Crystal Palace, Akershus, Hollywood and Vine, Garden Grill, 1900 Park Fare) among other ADRs. My question is, since dd will eat for free off our plates at these buffets/family style meals, will we be able to purchase a drink (like milk) separately for her? I assume a beverage would not be included for her since we would not be paying for her meal? Anyone have experience with this? I thought I would come to consult the experts!

 

[PictureJumpr]

When dining at character buffets and other TS restaurants with a then-19-month-old last September, the servers usually brought a drink in a kiddie cup for him without charging us even though he was not paying for his food (at buffets). In a couple of cases we ended up paying $2 or some such thing for milk at meals but most of the time it was not on the bill. We also sometimes ordered sides of mashed potatoes or rice or veggies for him to eat along with bits of our dinners, and often we were not charged for those either.

Of course, if there was a charge on the bill for $2 for milk or $2.75 for extra rice or whatever, we gladly paid it without any fuss - but this was more the exception than the norm according to what happened to us over that week.

 

[stinkerbella6206]

thanks! That is exactly what I was wondering- we will gladly pay for the milk, but when looking at the menus online, it didn't appear to be an option to pay for just milk (it was usually included in the meals I was looking at). It is also nice to know you could order a little rice or mashed potatoes, too! I would gladly pay extra for this at TS meals- my 2yo eats like a bird, and is extremely picky, so that may definitely come in handy! Did you feel that the portion sizes at TS meals were generous enough to share with a child? Most likely we will end up just ordering her a kids meal at TS restaurants, but I was curious! Thanks again!

 

[PictureJumpr]

Portions are huge all over WDW in general. It was no problem to give Short Stuff some chicken, steak, fish, vegetables off our plates... he's a big eater and so we sometimes ordered mashed potatoes or rice for him too, but in your case this may not even be necessary most of the time.

IMO it would be a complete waste to order your DD a kid's meal to herself if she won't eat much of it at all - at TS restaurants it's $7-11 for kids and those meals are a lot of food. The potential $2-4 for milk and maybe a side order for her is much less expensive. I'm all for buying food for the younger kids but in the case of little ones who won't eat it it ends up just being thrown out, no need to throw away money even if it's just $8.