Feeding a 10yr old, how strict on age for kids meals?

[Ginger R]

Yes, I meant at a la carte places.

at buffets/preplated/aycte your child is an adult at 10. I think this question was about regular table service where there may not be anything on the adult menu a child likes or an adult has a smaller appetite.

Oh yeah i know i was agreeing with you. I was just giving an example of our experience.

 

[rdaky]

As long as you're not at a buffet or somewhere like CRT where you have to pay adult price for kids 10 and older, we've never had any issues with kids older than 9 or even adults ordering a kids meal. Sometimes it's not even a matter of what it is, but that the adult meal might be a ridiculous amount of food and there might be something similar on the kids menu.

 

[1GoldenSun]

I've usually never had any problem with my picky 10-year-old ordering off the kids' menu. However, at dinner at BOG last month I asked if he could order the kids' grilled cheese. There was nothing on the adult menu that appealed to him, plus he had been snacking all day and didn't have an "adult-size" appetite. The server said no, but that he could get a "teen-sized" grilled cheese meal. The only difference was that there were two sandwiches instead of one and it did not include a drink and a dessert, and it cost around $15. My son ate ONE sandwich and a few of the fries. I thought it was silly to make him order a "teen" meal when he is ten, but I guess the alternative was an adult meal that he wouldn't have eaten.

 

[robinb]

no one is ever made to order off the adult menu. Just sometimes you will get more of the kid food at a full entree price. But Disney doesn't tell picky eaters they can't have the kid food, ESPECIALLY not 10 year olds. If the server does, I'd ask to talk to a manager.

My DD was forced to order off the adult menu at Marrakesh when she was about 12. We have also been forced to buy adult-sized kids menu meals at BOG (dinner) and the Wave even though she was not hungry enough for that much food.

 

[Lisa F]

My DD was forced to order off the adult menu at Marrakesh when she was about 12. We have also been forced to buy adult-sized kids menu meals at BOG (dinner) and the Wave even though she was not hungry enough for that much food.

As I said, they sometimes make you buy an adult size of kid sized food. It's highly unusual for Disney to not allow you to order more plain food. I would get up and walk out of the place if they made me do that honestly, with a child on the spectrum last thing i'm giong to do is pay a fortune for something he won't eat.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Just back from a week @ WDW traveling with 1 Disney aged child. We ate at the following restaurants on the DDxDP that offered a child's menu but did not insist on it being used:

Yachtsman
Morimoto Asia
HDB
Flying Fish (not sure if they offered a children's' menu)
CG brunch (no children's' menu for this meal)

HTH.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

'Ohana will provide other food like burgers or hotdogs or chicken nuggets if asked, but they won't adjust the price. Kids at buffets can eat anything off the buffet, including the "kid's food" but if they are 10 or older it'll be at the adult price.

 

[Lou'sMommy]

My 13 year old always eats off the kid's menu at The Brown Derby. She loves the kid's side salad and grilled chicken from the kid's menu but isn't interested in the "fancy" food from the adult menu. The waiters there have always been very nice about it - no bad attitude at all.

 

[DisneyTravelers2008]

I order kids meals at quick service places all the time. i get them for myself and my 15 year old who loks more like she is 18.....I have never tried at a sit down / table service place but it seems from this thread several people have (and most had no issues. )

 

[kaytieeldr]

@ElsasFan FWIW, Yak & Yeti is owned and operated by Landry’s, not Disney. We ordered sides of fried rice and egg rolls for our under 3 crowd, and the servers were sweet as pie.

Via Napoli is operated by a different company altogether. I read numerous comments over the years about rude servers there who refuse any flexibility on the Disney Dining Plan. I wouldn’t judge other Disney eateries based on your experience there.

I wonder how many times the servers were actually rude vs perceived as rude for upholding a policy which they didn't make and can't change.

My 13 year old always eats off the kid's menu at The Brown Derby. She loves the kid's side salad and grilled chicken from the kid's menu but isn't interested in the "fancy" food from the adult menu. The waiters there have always been very nice about it - no bad attitude at all.

I bet she would enjoy the Cobb Salad.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

We have only had 2 restaurants refuse a child over 9 ordering off the kids menu- Tutto Italia and the Plaza. Both were very insistent that they couldn't order off the kids menu

 

[fredsgal]

I order ALL my meals off the kids menu or I will sometimes order an appetizer only if the kids menu has nothing appealing. (History gastric bypass) I usually get the Mickey grilled fish however I usually turn down the dessert that may come with it. I have stopped going to buffets as they are a poor value for me.And, may I add, I have never had any problem from any waiter in any restaurant on Disney property.

 

[Lilsia]

We also dined at Tutto Italia and felt that the waiter gave us attitude about it,

The servers there are almost always on the rude side. None of them seem like they want to be there. I think it is a culture shock to them. In Europe they are used to serving you on their own schedule. Americans are used to much better/prompt service. American servers work much harder and faster then they do in most countries because of the tip culture.

 

[Lilsia]

That’s good to know. Maybe we’ll give Yak & Yeti a try next time. Everyone else seems to love the restaurants that are part of the Tutto Italia group, but we haven’t had a great experience at one of them yet. (I think. San Angel Inn is not owned by the same company, right? We have had two great meals there.)

Just feed her before somewhere else.

 

[Lilsia]

We have only had 2 restaurants refuse a child over 9 ordering off the kids menu- Tutto Italia and the Plaza. Both were very insistent that they couldn't order off the kids menu

I don't get that at all. If you are paying for something OOP, then who cares what you order. Some people just order appetizers or just go in for dessert and a glass of wine. If a server told me what I could and could not order at a restaurant, I would get up and leave. Don't put up with that, ask to speak to a manager. If they are giving it to you for free then they can dictate what you will eat, otherwise it is your money. And I don't care if Disney calls a 10 yo an adult. If they can't get a job and move out, then they are still children.

 

[evilqueenmindy]

We don’t eat buffets because the nephew doesn’t even eat a decent kids portion half the time, so even a kid buffet is a ripoff, but for the regular TS places, I just say “4 adults and a child” and they give me a kids menu, I’ve never been asked how old the child is.

 

[evilqueenmindy]

For table service, if you have a reservation, all your info is on your reservation. Your child's ages are hooked into the reservation. No server has ever asked us how old my kids were, even when they were 9 or 11 and close to that cut off. They knew how old they were because the info is on the reservation from the MDE account.

However, you don’t have to link dining reservations to anyone else’s MDE. When I’m making last minute reservations or trying to nab a hard to get table, I usually just book myself and however many guests. If I feel like it, I’ll add my party’s MDE accounts later.
I’m not at all condoning anyone lying about anything (I don’t actually care one way or another) just saying the information is not necessarily on the reservation

 

[LBlovesM&WDW]

THIS is my concern. We have this booked as of now. The rest of the family will order a pizza the split. She doesn’t like any kind of sauce. She will eat a smal bowl of spaghetti w/ no sauce. She wouldn’t come close to eating an adult size plate. Maybe we should just switch this one.

Thanks for your experiences everyone. Yes, I’m aware at family type and buffet meals she’lol be charged as an adult. That’s why we don’t have any of those planned.

If your group is getting pizza, are you going to Tutto or Via Napoli? Just so you know, they do serve pizza w/o sauce at Via Napoli.

 

[ktak08]

We ate dinner at BOG last week, and both my 11 and 12 yr olds ordered off the kids menu. The waiter knew they were older than 10, but didn’t say anything. Also, during breakfast at BOG, I ordered a kids meal without issue...we were with a tour guide who got us the dinner reservation so not sure if that made the difference.

 

[Karebear]

We ate dinner at BOG last week, and both my 11 and 12 yr olds ordered off the kids menu. The waiter knew they were older than 10, but didn’t say anything. Also, during breakfast at BOG, I ordered a kids meal without issue...

That is funny. I had kids those ages and the waitress let them order off the kids menu but told me that we would have to pay for their drink and dessert since they were over 9 (which I was fine with).