Disney considers children "adult" eaters at the young age of 10 but I don't really see how or why a 10 year old child should be eating the same size meal as is served to a full grown adult male or female.
My question is why do they think all adults want or need that much food?
Kids are the ones that are growing, who run rather than walk, who skip because they want to, who jump rope willingly and not just because they signed up for a cross fit class.
My son at 8 ordered and ate a kid portion of cheese tortellini at Universal's Lombard's. He was still hungry. So we ordered him another. And just like that the era of him getting kid meals was done.
And amazingly he still knew he was a kid.
Even weirder, at 3 he got a
Disneyland AP, which has been the same cost as an adult AP for ages now. And he was happy and proud to have that card. Just like he's happy to eat a ton and be able to ride everything.
And in his dance classes with his buddies, they still chase each other around (CHASE, as in run, after a 3 hour rehearsal) putting stinky (and I mean stinky) dance shoes in each others' faces, because they know they are kids.
Disney is certainly not concerned about the health of these pre-teen/young teen kids it seems, where is the healthy meal option for these forgotten about kids?
Forgotten-about kids? Seriously?
These kids are the lost forgotten about age group at Disney. The Neverland Lost Boys and Girls of Disney Parks.
I really hope you are joking with this. I'm really concerned to think you might be serious.
...but more a wondering/observation of how kids are being seen and treated more as adults too early.
What era are you comparing things to? A century ago when kids still worked very early? My grandmother was born in 1903 and at around 10 she was a school teacher, traveling by horse in Montana from homestead to homestead, living with families and teaching their kids for a month or so then moving on. Ever read Upton Sinclair and what was going on a century ago in big city factories? Looked into other cultures? Etc? My MIL is from Korea. In Korea the first child gets to be a "kid" until a certain, very young, age, when literally overnight they are expected to act grownup and be in charge of the younger children.
The pretend American "kids are kids" era started at some point in the 50s and is a construct of society starting to infantilize children. IMO.
Oh, and speaking of the 50s (b/c I brought it up and because you were at the 50s Prime Time), my mom was born in '44. Her entire childhood she was forced to eat what was on her plate. She seemed to have an allergy to beef; she was forced to eat it, and she would always throw it up. Every night they had beef this happened. Her father somehow thought it was LESS wasteful for her to eat it them vomit than to just not eat it. Can you even imagine vomiting after every time you ate beef, and you had no choice?
Ah, the 50s, when kids could be kids. And do exactly what their parents said and have no say, no voice, no rights, and throw up most nights... (she also had rather negative things to say about getting clothes ONCE per year and they were form fitting so you had better not grow (same with shoes), and she could hardly even mention the feminine hygiene products at the time without shuddering)
just observing how this age group seems to have slipped away here in the US
We even have a name for it; used to be preteen and now it's the horrid "tween".
It's the time of helping them work into adulthood.
When I started reading this I was sitting at the YMCA, letting DS have some normalcy by playing chess as usual while I mourn my friend who died yesterday. She and I (and a few others) used to meet there on Wednesdays; I was the only one there today because DS had class. So anyway, after a chess game he remembered that he needs to talk to one of his dance teachers about becoming a TA.
The last 2 years (my sig is wrong; he's 12 now) I've been helping him find ways to communicate clearly and not get tongue tied. I've been telling his dance teachers that at 12 I wanted him to communicate with them and I didn't want to be the middleman anymore. Then suddenly at 12 the conversations he needs to have got really serious! (they had been telling him that 13 was the age for Teaching Assistant, then they promoted two kids YOUNGER than him and another dancer!!!) So today he needed to talk to the dance teacher in charge of TAs about it. He was a bit apprehensive, I talked to him a bit. He said "I know what I want to say", took a few deep breaths and went off to do it.
Today was a HUGE step towards his not-that-far-off adulthood, and I am so incredibly proud.
My mom didn't have the time to help me with this. She was an extrovert and I was incredibly shy and introverted, and she just didn't know what to do with me. So I didn't get this sort of thing. Though one time I did speak up for myself, when a girl in 7th grade had been atrocious to me for months, and I finally "told on her". Very empowering.
Anyway, our job is to get them ready, not hold them back.
The dining plan at disney is MY example of this for myself and myself only.
You stated the above. THAT is why people (rightfully) thought you were talking about the dining plan.
We usually do not get the
disney dining plan anymore because of this age issue.
You stated "usually". That didn't mean you didn't get it on this trip and only one small thing
halfway hinted that you didn't this time.
I'm sure this will soon change and has already started for my oldest but I'm just not rushing him out the door into adulthood any sooner than necessary. He'll have enough time to be an adult, now he needs to be a kid/teenager.
You then went on to say that. Honestly, it almost sounds like you're thinking of withholding appropriate food amounts from your growing boys so they (or someone) can perceive themselves to be younger for longer.
Feeding them appropriately doesn't change the fact that days keep going by and with every moment they are getting older. Nor does it accelerate that process.
But it irked me that my son was refused the kids meal at 50's Prime Time, we overheard a server tell a group of teenage girls that wanted to order kids meals that only those under 12 are 'allowed' to order a kids meal after that its off adult menu only...so they could order just a salad, share or just dessert
When you went to the manager after that, what did they say?
When you declined to order for the 11 year old out of protest, telling them that you would feed him later with something he *wanted*, what did they do?
If this was a problem my 11 year was in tears about, I'm pushing back, talking to the manager, feeding him later, then later having long conversations with my kids on how what is written on menus doesn't put judgment on them.
But I wouldn't have been there because the shtick at Prime Time would cause my own sensitive soul to shrivel up. I wouldn't be there AS a sensitive person and I would definitely not take my sensitive child there.
Not that I got a sensitive one. I got an extrovert who can take teasing (except from me, apparently, which actually just tells me that I don't know how to do it right). Fairly certain he's an alien.
So we don't go there because of me. My guys think it sounds like a blast. Maybe I'll make an ADR for them alone sometimes.
Making 10 year olds Disney adults for tickets and dining is a money grab, plain and simple.
My son has been able to ride everything at Disneyland and WDW since he was around 8. He eats like a horse. It's OK for them to charge us for what he's using.
I do feel bad for those with kids that don't eat. I can't relate to that at all, though. DS doesn't, I didn't. My brother had a long list of what he did not eat, but when he found something he liked he ate a lot of it.
And since DS dances, and he dances at a studio that encourages healthy eating to *fuel* their work, every single child I know (and I know many) eats a LOT. Not necessarily the same foods as each other, but a really good amount of that food.
The only time I felt forced to clean my plate at Disney was at Prime Time and that was so my "Cousin" wouldn't scold me for not eating all my veggies.
One reason I won't go there!
st title is bad, I can see that now lol. Many people read title and post without reading and my main idea is really how 10 year olds and up are not adults and the dining was just an example of how kids are being seen as adults way too early. and how treating them as adults during meals cannot be healthy for them.
I cannot see how it is unhealthy. I'm just mystified. If a child has a smaller appetite, they take some to go. Or you ask the server for exactly what the child want. This isn't rocket science.
You've brought up the dining plan but now seem to be saying you didn't use it on this trip.
You've given ONE example, and the restaurant is KNOWN for teasing and being harsh. I wouldn't have taken that server seriously. But if he had been serious, the manager would have taken me (or, rather, my husband because he is far more reasonable than I am AND knows how to get what is right) seriously.
The OP stated they did not buy the dinING plan on this trip.
They did not.
They talked about the dining plan as an example, they said they don't *usually* get it. LATER they hinted (by talking about the adult portion being charged as twice the kid meal, but that might be a description for that meal on the dining plan as well) that they didn't use it. But in that first post s/he did not state that they did not use it.
OP, I get you. It's frustrating to feel like systems are in place that make it harder to help your kids eat something reasonably healthy and/or what they want, whether that be the food items or the portion size. Research shows that the #1 predictor of how much you will eat at a meal is the portion size provided. Even if you never finish a meal, you will eat more if I give you 10oz of a food item rather than 5oz.
And it's not easy or convenient to... What exactly do PPs propose you do? Ask for a spare plate to scoop out some of your kid's meal as soon as it arrives? Ask for a doggy bag pre-emptively? Tell the child to only eat half? This thread has a lot of preaching, including from people who didn't read your post closely, but not a lot of reasonable actionable advice. (Hence all the assumptions that you were on the
DDP.)
Yep at all those suggestions. Absolutely! DH and I ask for boxes at the beginning of meals and will portion it first if we are being awesome.
But not for our son. That kid figures out when he's hungry and when he's not. He's way more trustworthy than we are! And he has been that way since he was one hour old. I read the Harry Potter books umpteen times while sitting and nursing him; right, left, right, left, sleep, diaper, right, left, etc. He was voracious. He nursed like a typical newborn for a LONG time. When he finally started solids (at around 1.5) he was picky, then would nurse and nurse. Years of this. I trusted him. And I'm not sad that I did. He's very very healthy and very very trustworthy where food is concerned.
I weighed 250 pounds. Yes, I am now losing weight. I hope to never see that number on the scale again.
And my idea is the same as what I have been following. Don't go to places that serve huge meals. Or if I do, take half of it home. Or divide it in half before I start eating, and leave the rest.
Yep!
220 at 5'3", lost 80, have gained a little back but am still in size small and am stronger, more flexible, and healthier than ever.
Box it up, leave it behind. Do what ya gotta do.
I started thinking about what I would eat; is what I will eat worth THAT cost? If so, then I go for it. If not, I don't eat there.
We still did character meals because DH and DS loved the characters. I don't (sensitive, introverted, scared kid of a nasty nasty divorce with abuse in it) and never have. But they loved them enough for me. So I looked at it as a whole lot of character-fun and some food. Now DS is mainly over characters, and DH's enjoyment just doesn't make the math work. The ONLY character meal I can imagine us doing is Tusker House, and that is because of the FOOD.
Anyway, so if you buy a full portion of mac and cheese, and it's, say, $13, would you have paid that much for however much the 11 year old ate? Remember you're at Disney. You likely would. So be happy.
"Wasting" food is not a sin. Those starving children in Africa don't give a good gosh-darn whether you ate all of your hamburger and fries.
All the yesses in the countries that say "yes".
The food on your plate isn't sent to them. The food on your plate doesn't matter to them. Once it's on your plate, in your kitchen, in your house, in your store, in America it doesn't matter to them. They don't care. They might even be GLAD that other people have food.
Food goes out of the house in one of two ways. If you feel that you need to eat less, keep that in mind. It doesn't stay in your body, making you millions. It leaves your body a day or so later. YOU can make the choice of HOW it leaves your house. Does it leave via the garbage, because you protected yourself, or does it leave via the sewer, because you were guilted into thinking of those starving people?
Children should anticipate adulthood, not fear it!
YES.
Childhood is a time of worry and stress, of not knowing what's going on and not being capable enough to do anything about it, even when you do understand. I'd never choose to be a child again!
That sure describes MY childhood!
Honestly I find some kids portions a joke.. my DD at 6 was like "this is it?" when given the child portion mac and cheese.
That's how my son felt when we ate at CRT! He looked at the cheese pizza (we are ovo lacto vegetarian, so that was his choice of food) and gave a "not impressed" look. We had to feed him later.
Drinks while driving (consumming 100s of calories, not moving during a time when one should not be injesting calories)...
Should people be drinking frappucinos while jogging? Because that sounds dangerous. And really unpleasant.
I'd rather do my running, drive to a coffeeshop, and drink something appropriate to my tastebuds, stomach space, and caloric expenditure for that day or so.
... and Shanghai goes by height.
So why here in the US do we have 3 to 9 for kids???
Maybe because a 9 year old American is of the size for most rides at American Disney parks?
You are REALLY letting "Disney adult" rent space in your head, and worse, you're letting your son do it, too. It means NOTHING. It's a matter of "what the average x year old eats" and "what the average x year old can ride". That's IT.
If a server at Prime Time gives you trouble, talk to the manager. If it doesn't work, for gosh sakes, don't order him food he doesn't want. Talk to him later on about making sure he eats what is appropriate to him. Ask the servers (not at a restaurant whose whole point in Being is that they tease you) for what you WANT. If all else fails, go off site to Sweet Tomatoes and pay $9 for a buffet with as great a salad as you care to make, some tasty other food, and call it good!
