Healthy Kids Menus where?

[spr0m]

I know we can give the kids stuff from the adult buffet at those types of places. But the other Disney dinning options have the typical chicken nuggets french fries fare which we try to keep the kids away from. My kids DD-3 and DS-1 rather eat veggies and fish or chicken broiled or grilled. I don't want them to get into bad habits early in life and so far so good. Their cousins on the other hand only eat junk at wouldn't touch my kids meals with a 10 foot pole and my sister-in-law wonders why her kids same ages won't eat better. My kids have had the other stuff and do enjoy dessert they are still kids but I can't do it for 9 days. Which places offer a good kids menu ? Last time we go them the chicken at tusker house and they loved that and asked for more green beans. Any other suggestions I guessing World Showcase

 

[mcnuss]

Hi -- I am in the same boat as you...need to respect the fact that the people we are traveling with don't eat as we do, but not wanting to over-indulge with my DD.

We have found the following to be great choices:

In MK, Cosmic Ray's in Tomorrowland had a nice grilled chicken salad. Columbia Harbor House in Liberty Sq. had good choices too.

In Epcot, the food court in the Land pavilion was super! Everyone is happy there. And in WS there are loads of choices. My DD loved the buffet in Norway, bc we love fish, but it isn't for everyone. In Japan, we had sushi and teriyaki skewers. They also had delish tempura if you want to splurge on fried food. They had some tempura veggies that were yummy!

In MGM, we've always done the character lunch at Hollywood & Vine. That's gone now, so I don't know what we'll do. I think I recall an outdoor food court on the way to the TOT, and they had big fruit plates & stuff like that.

At AK, we've always eaten at the bbq place. The ribs there, while not the healthiest choice, are among the best I've ever had, as well as a very good value for the $$.

I hope this helps you!

 

[SueM in MN]

Here's a link to the DIS site's restaurant database , including information about sit down and fastfood restaurants.
Almost all the places DO have healthy options now. In most places, the chicken and fries menu can have fressh fruit substituted for the fries (although the option might be in small type at the end of the menu listing).
mcnuss listed some of our favorites.

 

[dijid]

I'm the crazy mom that always feeds her kids vegetables at McDonald's (which I know is going to cost me lots on therapy for my kids in the future LOL!)

Anyways...We bring our own fruits and veggies wherever we go. Carrot sitcks can be kept in a cooler if you don't have a fridge. While I'm not the biggest fan of canned veggies, they're better than nothing. We get the Del Monte pop top little cans and throw them in a backpack. We get the pop top lite fruit cups, too or bring apples, pears, grapes, etc.

If you carefully scan the menus, you can find milk and chicken breast sandwhiches. Beyond that I found it too much work to try and search out well balanced meals while in WDW and preferred to bring some of my own food in. Be sure to let your children try new foods while you are there - they might surprise you. My kids absolutely loved the Moroccan food!

 

[Jordan's MOM]

My advice is to avoid the "kid" stuff and look for things they will eat off the adult menu. One adult meal is not that much more than two kids meals and would feed both kids. In fact you could feed the children off your and DH's plate most places.

Some counter service offers grapes or carrot sticks or some even fruit cups with sandwiches. Grilled chicken wraps and sandwiches are easy to find on menus.


Most nicer sit downs will accomidate your needs in a lot of ways. Most any place can fix a plain grilled chicken breast and some stirfry veggies even if it's not on the menu.

Another idea is to eat breakfast in your room from stuff you bring with you or get at a grocery stop. Ceral, whole wheat bagles, oatmeal, yogert etc. can be fixed in the room and at least get everyone off to a good start.

Don't forget to spring for one of those deserts a few times and have a blast.

Jordans' mom

 

[tjmw2727]

The choices have gotten so much better in the past few years, if you are watchful you will find some good choices. We always do breakfast in the room - grab a styrafoam cooler at the grocery store or pay for the fridge. Even at $10.00 a day between having good choices and saving money it ends up being a worthwile expense for us YMMV.

Almost all the counter service now offer wraps and salads, we just don't order kids meals anymore. I often travel alone with my 2 girls we just choose "alacart". The columbia harbor house has a great salad and most of the counter service places will offer fruit or carrots instead of fries & chips.

A few of the AK restaurants are terrific, one counter service place in asia (sorry I can't remember the name) serves stir fri and will do it with or without meat.

We often choose our "sit down" meal as lunch and find lots of great options on the appetizer menu and my girls love soup. We have found some really great soups and salads.

World showcase happens to be where we spend most of our evenings and both the counter and sit down rests have healthy choices.

check out the menu section on wdwig.com and remember that kids don't have to order kids meals. You can split a regular entree, choose soup and or salad or appetizers.

It takes some planning but you can find other things than hot dogs and pizza.

TJ

 

[spr0m]

Thanks for the advice. My kids are 50/50 Cuban Filipino so they eat things some adults I know wouldn't eat even if they were on fear factor lol. We are at OKW for most of the stay so we'll have a kitchen. I just thought we ate to much junk in the parks earlier this month. If the kids have to many carbs we can tell the difference in their behavior. The wife an I do atkins and with our backgrounds no rice is tough and we try and keep the bad things out of the house to avoid temptations. If you give the kids a choice water or soda they'll take the water any day ..

 

[Pammy_from_WI]

We have the same issues, yes my daughter loves the typical junk food, but she is a very big veggie and fruit eater. And being the mean mom I am I try to get her several meals on our trips that don't consist of fried foods. LOL

All the parks do have some great snack stands for fruit and healthty but good treats. What we do is when wandering about just check out the menus of places we pass and note things that sound healthier then fries and a hotdog.

Most places have decent salads too and so we usually order one and share it between us giving her the veggies she likes out of it. We stop for fresh fruit when we see a stand. If we find places with soup we almost always order a bowl, you'd be surprised at the good things in a decent bowl of soup and what she doesn't eat someone in our family will. At AK the Tusker House is great because you can actually get veggies with a meal there and I second that Asian stand, small amounts of choices, but good ones.

I also do like some of the others suggested and just give her things off my plate in addition to what she has choosen or I share an adult meal with her and just order something small after if we're still hungry. Most places serve HUGE portions tho!!

Yes, we are on vacation and I do tend to stray a bit from our healthy eating habits, but I do try to find a happy medium and find better choices too. You will have pretty good luck most places. You just have to ask if you have questions and if they have it most of the chefs will help you out, even at the fast food spots, at least that has been our experience.

Pammy

 

[ahutton]

There is a fast food place in Japan that is very off the beaten path - they have some great fast food options there. So does the fast food/counter service place in Morocco.

 

[Gillian]

since you'll have a kitchen you can also bring your own snacks. I got a big bag of cheese cubes at super walmart and they were handy for my 3 year old (& me!) at the parks. I took a small cooler bag.

Although DS loves fast food, he also loves water! He just likes to eat.

 

[tjmw2727]

I find having lots of cool water available (brita or bottled) and stopping whenever I see a fruit stand and letting the girls have free choice limits the asking for juice lemonade or ice cream later. My girls won't drink soda so I am lucky with that (dad and kids don't like carbonation). We do our fair share of mickey bars mind you but I try to make sure we have a good lunch if not lunch and dinner first. Keeping hydrated before your thirsty helps alot, remember if your thirsty your kiddos are probably already starting to dehydrate so drink before your thirsty.

Our motto is "just 'cause your kids dosen't mean you have to have a kids meal". Appetizers, salads and soups as well as meal splitting for kids is perfectly acceptable. I am seeing more and restaurants here offering more healthy kids meals. Hopefully wdw and other places will follow.

TJ

 

[Vavasmon]

We have also had luck asking for a veggie or steamed rice at many of the sit-down restaurants instead of the fries.

My DD also only drinks water and milk. She eats almost any vegatable you can think of but is very picky when it comes to fruit.


Often, my DD often just shares from our entrees if the kids menu
is only chicken nuggets/hotdogs. I will never forget the s
erver's face at Boma when my 7 year old enjoyed her dinner of
brolied sammon and curry califlower(sp?).

 

[akrake]

has just come out. it is for vegetrarians, but that means HEALTHY meals listed at almost all the wdw restaurants & all over orlando. i got my copy at amazon.com

akrake

 

[crisi]

Of course, vegetarian does not always mean healthy.

(mmmm, deep fried okra. French fries. Potato chips. High cholestrol egg dishes loaded down with cheese. Not to mention desserts, almost all of which are vegetarian. Sometimes my vegetarian days are much less healthy than my meat days - its so easy to carb load without meat - and I'm not a huge leafy green fan.)

 

[Jenn]

There are also fresh fruit stands in all the parks now. Instead of snacking on junk, we had bananas, cheese slices, pineapple, and grapes. It is pricey - but convenient. You could also pick something up to serve with your lunch or dinner.

 

[mcnuss]

crisi - my sentiments exactly. Thanks for saying it.

jenn- everything at WDW is expensive, so I justify my outrageous food costs that way. It's well worth it to make sure our kids eat relatively well while still enjoying vacation.

vavasmom - I'm with ya....imagine if you will a 3 yo in an Italian restaurant ordering calamari and mussels marinara. The waiter told her that he was 30 before he touched a mussel! That's my girl!

 

[jaysue]

My 3.5yr old DS loves Yakitori House, Kimonos and Tangerine Cafe - we generally order for the three of us (Me, DW and DS - other DS too young) and share amongst us

For fruit and other similar we either rent a fridge or stay at DVC if we have enough points

Thanks
jaysue