How to dine with an upscale child appetite on DP?

[krissylynne]

I have a daughter who does not, and is not allowed to eat chicken fingers, mac and cheese, and hamburgers. Basically nothing that is not good for you. She is our little epicurian. She loves Sushi, Sashimi, baby octupus, not fried, goat cheese, artichokes . The list goes on and on. What are we to do when we go to dine on the DP and her only menu selections are these items that she will not eat. I have seen where a few restauants will have a good menu selection on the childs menu, but not all. Any reccomendations or advice.

Thanks,
Krissylynne

 

[dodukes]

You may want to call back and ask to "upgrade" her (not free of course) to an adult and pay the difference so she will have all the options of the adult menu. Has worked for a lot of poeple on this board.

 

[Lewisc]

Why not just restrict yourself to restaurants that has the food you want her to eat? Buffets let children eat adult items.

The dining plan might not make sense for your family.

 

[salmoneous]

The dining plan is so cheap for a child you don't have to fully use it to get your money's worth. Get what she will eat on the plan, then plan on paying out of pocket for a few meals.

 

[**pixiedust**]

I have a son who is 6 and also eats off of an adult menu. He will eat chicken fingers and burgers but would rather have an "adult" dinner. Has anyone had experience buying the adult meal plan for a child? Will they let you do it and do the servers understand that you've paid for an adult DDP for the child? I would definetly do this next year if it works.

 

[Lewisc]

The dining plan is so cheap for a child you don't have to fully use it to get your money's worth. Get what she will eat on the plan, then plan on paying out of pocket for a few meals.

GREAT POINT.

 

[**pixiedust**]

I don't agree. If my son wants a $20.00 meal every night then how am I going to get my money's worth by paying for that every night while having already bought the child DP?

 

[robinb]

My 7-year old DD is a vegatarian, so cheeseburgers and chicken nuggets are out for us too.

I think that you can find plenty of places that have non-junk food on the menu for children. For instance, Le Cellier has Pasta and Tomato Sauce - $4.99, Grilled Chicken $6.99 and 6 oz. Grilled Steak - $8.99. The Coral Reef offers Grilled Chicken Breast served with mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables $7.99, Fresh Catch of the Day served with mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables $8.99, Triton's Pasta - Choice of Marinara or Cheese Sauce $4.99. Here is a link to menus so you can make your own choices: http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/menus.htm#epc


You won't find particularly "fancy" food on the children's menu since your child is pretty unique in her eating habits. Another option is for you to share your own appitizer or entree with your DD.

FWIW, I think you will have a much harder time eating at Counter Service restaurants. The vast majority of kids meals there are exactly what you won't allow your child to eat.

 

[Lewisc]

I don't agree. If my son wants a $20.00 meal every night then how am I going to get my money's worth by paying for that every night while having already bought the child DP?

The child meal plan costs around $11. The snack is worth around $3-$4. A character buffet, with tax and tip, costs around $15. You can use the kids CS credit to just get a drink and dessert. Buy an adult item out of pocket.


Even for a TS meal the value of the drink is probably around $2. It's next to impossible not to get your monies worth, if you're doing character meals or buffets.

 

[**pixiedust**]

I will defer to your veteran status and take this under consideration .

I will have to sit down and do the math based on our ADRs.

 

[ilovejack02]

I have been wondering the same thing about my Ds4 he would rather veggies, salads, plain chicken or roast beef, sushi rolls, miso soup, before fries, nuggets, hamburgers etc. If served these things they get one bite and thats about it. When we eat out I usually share my dinner with him and order him a side salad. Ive been wondering too if the DDP is going to be a waste of money for us too, im really going to have to do some homework to find the resturants with the best kiddie menus.

 

[BCV23]

The dining plan is so cheap for a child you don't have to fully use it to get your money's worth. Get what she will eat on the plan, then plan on paying out of pocket for a few meals.

I agree with this too. The cost of the plan would pretty much be covered with two beverages a day plus a snack when you remember to add the taxes and also the tip on the TS meal. Just pay OOP for your daughter's entree and/or appetizer.

 

[Wendi2000]

My son likes the good stuff too... always has. So I just share my meals with him, it's too much food for me anyway so it works out perfectly. It doesn't hurt to ask if you can get a child's portion of an adult meal at the TS restaurants too, the worst they can say is "no", right?

 

[jessica52877]

My son too is in the same boat. But I remember most table service having a decent entree choice, not to mention he can eat some of my food. It is more the counter service I am worried about, hoping that I am remembering wrong about the few kids choices. I also think disney is pretty willing to work with the kids, and make them a tiny portion of something.

 

[Castillo Mom]

I can really relate to you on this one. I very rarely rarely ordered from the children's menu for my boys when they were little. Few restaurants offer anything other than the standard chicken fingers, burgers, pizza, etc.

I would do what others have suggested - use the dining plan where you can and pay OOP at places where they only offer junk on the children's menu or share your meal with her, maybe even order a side of something if necessary.

 

[kcrew]

I have a son who is 6 and also eats off of an adult menu. He will eat chicken fingers and burgers but would rather have an "adult" dinner. Has anyone had experience buying the adult meal plan for a child? Will they let you do it and do the servers understand that you've paid for an adult DDP for the child? I would definetly do this next year if it works.

I did so last month. All you have to do is call and ask for it. If you get an inexperienced CM, ask that they consult a manager. Servers won't have a problem as your card will indicate your 6yo as an adult. Any questions, let me know.

 

[sameyeyam]

I found it very easy on table meals to avoid the "junky kids meals" for my son. There were plenty of options on the kids menu at the sit down restaurants that were healthy. At a couple of the restaurants I asked for vegetables instead of french fries, etc... and everyone was very accomodating.

Counter service was a little harder, but lets face it counter service is more difficult for adults to eat healthy. They also had some wonderful sugar-free desserts that my kids liked even better than the regular desserts at the counter service locations. Also, I noticed that most of the counter service kids meals came with sugar-free applesauce.

I felt like the price was definately worth it for my son and it really wasn't difficult to make healthy kid meal choices.