Insanely picky eater - best restaurants for picky kids?

[FreFam5]

My oldest is a picky eater - extremely picky eater. No meat at all very little other stuff. We need to find restaurants for our October trip that will satisfy his pickiness while also feeding the other 4 of us!!!

Any suggestions????

 

[toystorymom]

Why not try some of the buffets, there is always something for everyone.

You could try Chef Mickey's or Crystal Palace, wide selection of food and characters too.

 

[gigi1313]

when my kids were little, we always did breakfast buffets 'cause we knew there would be something they would like... and if they had a good filling breakfast, we would be less concerned about the rest of the day (popcorn makes a good lunch according to my dd!)... as one outgrew the pickiness and the other didn't, we typically would eat wherever we wanted and grabbed ds a hot dog from a stand or a slice of pizza from a CS enroute to our dinner and let him graze and eat dessert... i realize it's a bit more costly but imo you cannot put a price tag on avoiding a meltdown!

even now, although my kids are adventurous, ds swears there is nothing he likes at mama melroses (he's been 2 or 3 times) so he has requested a pit stop at pizza planet (can't have anything to do with the lure of the arcade games could it?) on the way... i said "sure!" we're on vacation!

 

[Maggie'sMom]

For TS restaurants, I had the best luck with buffets. That way DD wasn't limited to a kids' menu and we always found something that she would eat.

CS restaurants were trickier because they only have a couple kids' meal options, and a lot of times they just weren't appetizing. You didn't say if you were on the dining plan or not. If you are, l found the best way to use DD's credits was to buy her a CS breakfast at the hotel. She loves pancakes and waffles so those were a good bet for us. Then I'd usually split a CS lunch with her and maybe buy an extra side of something I knew she liked. Adults have a lot more options at CS restaurants on the dining plan than kids do. If I bought her one of the kids' meals at a CS restaurant, she very seldom ate much of it at all.

Check out the menus on allearsnet.com and you can get an idea of what restaurants have things your DS likes to eat.

 

[FreFam5]

when my kids were little, we always did breakfast buffets 'cause we knew there would be something they would like... and if they had a good filling breakfast, we would be less concerned about the rest of the day (popcorn makes a good lunch according to my dd!)... as one outgrew the pickiness and the other didn't, we typically would eat wherever we wanted and grabbed ds a hot dog from a stand or a slice of pizza from a CS enroute to our dinner and let him graze and eat dessert... i realize it's a bit more costly but imo you cannot put a price tag on avoiding a meltdown!

even now, although my kids are adventurous, ds swears there is nothing he likes at mama melroses (he's been 2 or 3 times) so he has requested a pit stop at pizza planet (can't have anything to do with the lure of the arcade games could it?) on the way... i said "sure!" we're on vacation!

So - can you bring food in to the restaurants from another place?

 

[Irish Twins]

Hi! We have the same problem as you. Here are places that worked for us and places that didnt.

MK
Crystal Palace best dinner choice of the trip
Cosmic Rays worked for lunch
Columbia Harbor House worked for lunch
CRT was not good for breakfast (preplated meal)

DHS
Pizza Planet worked for lunch
Brown Derby bad choice for dinner

EPCOT
Biergarten very bad choice for dinner and a picky eater

Chef Mickeys Great choice for breakfast and I would imagine dinner

Hoop De Doo Revue- they brought out mac & cheese so it was ok

All Star Movies many great choices for lunch & dinner

Hope this helps! Have a great trip!

 

[aribelle]

What exactly WILL he eat? You said no meat, does that mean he's vegetarian? Because every TS restaurant will have a vegetarian option....the buffets will have a fruit bar and salad bar selection. Counter Service are a little more difficult, but you can review the menus at allearsnet.com/menu/menus.htm to see which have something he'll eat.

If it's more "picky" than that, give us some examples of what he normally eats and we may be able to guide you to the places that serve the food he'll eat. One of the great things about Disney, too, is that they seem to be willing, within reason, to accomodate different eating requirements....no guarantees of course, but it's a possiblity. I know that some people will flame the idea of a "picky" eater having an eating requirement....I have learned that it can actually be a requirement. I have friends with a preteen that would rather grow weak from hunger than eat other than what she wants (the parents tried to "starve" her into submission but that backfired with almost 2 days of not eating), so while I don't personally have this issue (my kids will eat dern near anything, lol) I have great symphathy now. When we first met my friend and her daughter I thought she was just an indulging mom who didn't put her foot down and tell her daughter to eat what was fixed for dinner and not go about making a completely separate menu for the daughter only......boy did I learn better! My kids went through the "I don't want that" phase and I simply refused to make a separate meal for them, you eat what's served or make yourself a PBJ sandwich basically. But with this friend it goes well beyond that....the times they have tried to force her to eat she would get sick, violently so....and refusing to fix her special foods she'd simply not eat and she's already so thin and frail from the little she'll eat, that was pretty bad. She's been to doctors and eating disorder specialist but not diagnosised as eating disorder for some reason. Pretty sad to watch all they go through trying to feed their child.

Anyway...sorry to get off track....but tell us some of the typical things he eats at home, and we can try to find similar in WDW.

 

[momandseandodisney]

Why not try some of the buffets, there is always something for everyone.

You could try Chef Mickey's or Crystal Palace, wide selection of food and characters too.

I totally agree

 

[Loverly]

Mine only ate mac and cheese or cheese pizza-which I could find on every kiddie menu at WDW

 

[disnut8]

Yes, it would be helpful to know what he does eat. And his age. He's got to eat something!

The thing about buffets is that you will have to pay the price no matter if he eats enough for a linebacker or if he eats one cracker.

 

[disnut8]

So - can you bring food in to the restaurants from another place?

I think the poster meant her son eats at Pizza Planet before they all go to Mama Melrose. He's fed enough so he doesn't have to order anything while there.

 

[TDC Nala]

I think the poster meant her son eats at Pizza Planet before they all go to Mama Melrose. He's fed enough so he doesn't have to order anything while there.

This will work if the second restaurant is an a la carte restaurant - but if your family is attending a buffet or pre-plated all you can eat meal, the general rule is that they will charge for everyone at the table (age 3 and older; under 3 won't be charged) whether they eat or not.

 

[pigby]

Hoop De Doo Revue- they brought out mac & cheese so it was ok

/QUOTE]

Hi I have a similar problem -did you request the mac and cheese specifically? (and in advance)

My DD won't eat mac and cheese either - do you think they would bring out pizza if I asked nicely?

 

[bkfree]

My son is also a picky eater, ASD and sensory issues. But we have no problem at our WDW trips due to 3 things.

1) As others stated, buffets work great for all of us. We love Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, 1900 Park Fare. We also do these for Dinner or Lunch, breakfast is much easier to find cheaper and acceptable things for us.

2) I peruse and make notes of all the CS and TS non buffets that have things he will eat. I then make a cheat sheet for each park. CS we sometimes all eat at the same one, or he and DD may eat at one and us at another, especially at WS.

3) We have also gotten him food to go at a CS and taken it to the TS where the rest of us are eating. This works out great and apparently many do this because our waiters nary blinked an eye, brought my son a plate and a drink without being asked.

Doing menu research before hand is your best offense.
I spent alot of undue stress over this issue.
Also its vacation, so if he wanted to eat pizza three meals in a row of Chicken nuggets everyday for lunch, so what, he was happy and fed and Magic for him.

 

[Bob NC]

Just go where the other 4 of you want to go. One thing I can guarantee you, sooner or later he's gonna eat.

 

[hroyale]

I also have an insanely picky eater. He has ASD as well.

This is one of the reason why I'm planning so far in advance of our Jan 09 trip. I'm targeting places (even cs) that may or may not have food he would eat.

But I will also probably rely on the method that I use when we dine out now. I pack a bag of some of the foods he will eat. (String cheese, lunch meat, a slice of bread and some fruit.) Sometimes I will purchase a meal for him, and hope that he'll eat it (mostly hot dogs) but he may or may not eat it depending on how over stimulated he might be. There are some restaurants that I know he will eat side dishes (usualy fruit) and I can just order those. I have never had anyone say anything to me about this practice. The more snacks I "sneak" into a restaurant, the longer the entire group can linger and run up our bill. I'm sure experienced wait staff realize that.

My DS is 4. And foods I've sneaked in include the standard pre-school snacks of pretzels, gold fish, crackers, cookies, fruit (apples, mandarin oranges, grapes), cheese, lunch meat, yogurt, applesauce.

HTH,
Heather

 

[Irish Twins]

Hi! Regarding the HDDR. I asked for the mac & cheese. I have heard from other people on this that you can request food from Trails End -, I believe it right next door. I felt funny asking so I just asked for mac & cheese. She filled up on the cornbread the mac & cheese and was fine. I was also told after we went that we could have requested no strawberries on the strawberry shortcake.

Hope this helps!

 

[gigi1313]

I think the poster meant her son eats at Pizza Planet before they all go to Mama Melrose. He's fed enough so he doesn't have to order anything while there.

that is exactly what i meant... he usually will "pick" at food once we get to mama melroses... we order him a meal 'cause we're on the dining plan and one lonely TS won't go very far! (dh and i also like to try different things, so we'll sample what we order ds! teehee!)

 

[gigi1313]

This will work if the second restaurant is an a la carte restaurant - but if your family is attending a buffet or pre-plated all you can eat meal, the general rule is that they will charge for everyone at the table (age 3 and older; under 3 won't be charged) whether they eat or not.

as i said above, we "pay" for him (w/a credit) anyway... that way he can drink and have dessert and pick if he's so inclined (and if he's not, we pick for him! LOL!)

we also fed him before biergarten for fear he would not like any of the offerings and he surprised us by eating twice! LOL!

 

[lindsmom]

DD is fairly picky, and she pretty much ate mac & cheese, chicken fingers (I know OP said no meat, but other people are reading too), pizza and fruit for a week. Oh, and shrimp, but she's unique that way. I agree with others to pick the restaurants you like (we did almost all buffets); worst case your child will eat bread and fruit, you can grab something later on at a cart. JMO, of course...