Kids ages 10-12 - who thinks....

[ga9497]

I think they've done a pretty decent job of setting the age, personally. Yes, there are some kids who don't have mature enough tastes or big enough appetites for adult meals to make sense at 10, but there are also kids who do have those tastes/appetite at younger ages. We see regular threads about light/picky eaters but we also see regular threads about up-aging kids into the adult plan, and that tells me Disney has pretty accurately hit the tipping point between child and adult.

My kids tastes have always leaned towards normal food fare and not the normal kids menu choices, when DD was 2 her favorite meal was chicken cesar salad. Physically they cannot eat the amount of food that the adult menus included and the reason we do not do the dining plan. Waste of food that they possibly cannot finish. Here is where I can see a junior price, 1/2 portion would make some sort of sense

I too think we will not be seeing that anytime soon as much as I would be for it

 

[Madi100]

My kids tastes have always leaned towards normal food fare and not the normal kids menu choices, when DD was 2 her favorite meal was chicken cesar salad. Physically they cannot eat the amount of food that the adult menus included and the reason we do not do the dining plan. Waste of food that they possibly cannot finish. Here is where I can see a junior price, 1/2 portion would make some sort of sense

I too think we will not be seeing that anytime soon as much as I would be for it

I don't think they need junior pricing as much as they need better kids' meals.

 

[twinmom108]

We just got back from Disney, and did DDP. Just DS (15) and me. At several of the restaurants they asked us if we wanted a child's menu. My 15 YO son was mortified.

 

[Joan1]

I just have one question. Where do you see junior prices? I mainly vacation on the east coast (beach, washington dc, nyc, ocean city MD) and I've never run across "Junior Prices" the best I've seen is some chain restaurants eg. Dennys will let kids under 10 eat free (off of a very limited menu). Most places the kids menu is for 12 and under and is just as limited as disney.
Just wondering. My sons eat like professional linebackers so the kids menu never cut it with us and they diffently don't want chicken nuggets and pizza every meal so I'm just curious

There are a lot of restaurants in the NY / NJ area that will offer anything off the adult menu at 1/2 portion and 1/2 price for kids. There are restaurants that don't have any kids menu and they say they will make anything for them from the menu at a 1/2 portion and price it accordingly. Many restaurants in the Brooklyn area and Atlantic City casino restaurant come to mind. Other restaurants we have been to have usually one or two options that aren't pizza, mac & cheese, hot dogs, burgers.


I started this post as I wanted to see what others thought and I have gotten what I was looking for but there is no reason to be nasty as a couple of responses have been

 

[Joan1]

I don't think they need junior pricing as much as they need better kids' meals.

Very true, they changed the kids menu to make it a healthier choice but made it more of a generic menu. Jiko and Citricos have very nice choices on their kids menus. I like that Le Cellier left the choice of a steak on their kids menu. I wish all of the restaurants offered a couple of other options.

In our opinion - Pizza at Disney is awful, the tomato sauce that they use for the kids meals is awful too. Maybe we are just spoiled that we make homemade tomato sauce

Here is Jiko's menu for kids - why can't other restaurants offer something along the same lines



Appetizers and Sides

Garden Salad - with tomatoes and carrots - $3.00
Mixed Fruit Salad - $3.00
Carrots and Celery Sticks with Peanut Butter - $3.00
Green Peas and Carrots - $3.00

Entrees

Tomato and Cheese Pizza $7.00
Peanut Butter and Jelly with fruit, carrot and celery sticks $6.00
Grilled Cheese with carrot and celery sticks, peanut butter dip and fruit $6.00
Grilled Chicken Breast with mashed potatoes, veggies and fruit $8.00
Broiled Fish with mashed potatoes, veggies and fruit $8.00
Grilled Filet of Beef with mashed potatoes, veggies and fruit $11.00
Macaroni & Cheese with White Cheese Sauce - $6.00

 

[erikthewise]

Has your 10-12 year old TRIED the kid's menu at WDW? The first day it was okay. The second day it was okay. After that, it was, "I have to have this again?" We can go to any restaurant in our area and DD10 can find something she is very happy with. She goes to WDW and the kid's menu is just yuck!

He has not yet experienced the "new" kid's menu. As Marvin the Robot would say, "Sounds Awful." He is happy with macaroni & cheese, chicken tenders, grilled cheese, etc. He has to eat vegetables the other 355 days of the year. I am not opposed to "healthy" food as long as it also tastes good. Healthy food that is forced on children and not appealing just reinforces their inclination to "hate" it.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

As you may have guessed, this isn't a new complaint. The subject comes up often. About as often as a DISer has a 9 yr. old that turns 10. Sadly, you will find that this isn't the only thing that changes your WDW vacation experience, when you child ages. We constantly see complaints that there should be more character meals. The thing is, they aren't considering the fact that their child will be getting older. While they can take advantage of all the great activities & great deals offered to younger kids now, that won't always be the case. Some day the same people will be wishing there were less character meals. WDW is a different experience for families will younger kids than it is for families with tweens & teens. It definitely seems like they cater to the 9 & under demographic. It takes a couple years, but you eventually accept the changes or choose to vacation elsewhere. We definitely don't go as often as we used to, but at 15 our DS prefers to vacation 15 minutes north of WDW on I-4.

 

[fan_of_small_world]

I started this post as I wanted to see what others thought and I have gotten what I was looking for but there is no reason to be nasty as a couple of responses have been

I just went back and re-read the entire thread, and I have no idea what you mean by the above statement. I didn't see anyone being "nasty," just people offering different opinions. Several folks pointed out things that affect pricing policies, but I didn't see anyone who wasn't respectful.

As for the poster who asked where you've seen junior pricing (if that's who you are referring to), they simply asked a legitimate question. I had the same one in fact, since I've never seen junior pricing on a menu. It sounds like a great idea, since we enourage our children to eat things other than nuggets and cheeseburgers when we go out. Since there are only two of them, though, and they share similar tastes, we often will purchase an adult entree for them to share.

 

[Colleen27]

I don't think they need junior pricing as much as they need better kids' meals.

I agree. Rather than a whole seperate pricing/menu, they need to bring a couple signature-type offerings to the kids' menu in each restuarant. But I understand why they don't - how many posts do we see about older kids ordering off the kids' menus because they don't like any of the adult meals, or even asking if adults can do the same? I think those of us with younger kids who would enjoy more adult options are a minority among DISers, and an even smaller minority among Disney visitors as a whole.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

My DS11 still eats from the kids' menu because he likes it. We had free dining in August and he would have preferred the kids' menu, but we had him order from the adult menu hoping he might like it! He ate a few bites of each thing and that was that.

In some ways I guess it would be nice if they gave you a choice of buying the child's DDP with the understanding that you would be restricted to the kids' menus, but that's not how it works.

We're not buying the DDP again. If it is free I will THINK about it - we lost money on the "free" dining this year. An AP room discount would have been cheaper. If DS ever starts eating full portions I would think about the DDP. Until then we will go with DDE and let DS order from whichever menu he wants.

 

[Madi100]

I agree. Rather than a whole seperate pricing/menu, they need to bring a couple signature-type offerings to the kids' menu in each restuarant. But I understand why they don't - how many posts do we see about older kids ordering off the kids' menus because they don't like any of the adult meals, or even asking if adults can do the same? I think those of us with younger kids who would enjoy more adult options are a minority among DISers, and an even smaller minority among Disney visitors as a whole.

My children don't so much like adult food as they do like variety. When we ate at Planet Hollywood, they were happy with the menu. I'm not sure what it was with Disney's, but the "healthy" choices were yuck. My kids were thrilled with applesauce until they saw that it was unsweetened. It was one extreme or the other it seemed with their menu. You can get a chocolate chip cookie as a side, but no fries. You can get grilled chicken or a hotdog. My kids did eat the grapes quite a bit. But, chocolate pudding or unsweetened apple sauce, hmmmm. I know this is somewhat off of the junionr topic. But, I think if they made the children's choices a little better then it wouldn't be as big of an issue. We each restaurant in the real world that we go to has a kid's menu. They are all just a little bit different reflecting what is offered at the restaurant. If we go to Pizza Hut, they have kid's pizza packs. If we go to Perkins, they can get pancakes. If we go to Applebee's, they have burgers. Disney just got really boring with their menus.

 

[Goingtoseethemouse]

My children eat next to nothing. My oldest will be 10 soon. He eats 3-4 bites and drinks a ton of milk. He cant even eat a whole Eggo waffle! GO FIGURE!! I cant see paying $25. for him to eat dinner at WDW. It really is a crime to charge him that much