Kids eating buffet from our plates

[MadAboutDisney]

Hi,

Over here in the UK when we eat somewhere that has a buffet, like Pizza Hut we never order for the kids but instead we pile our plates up and get the kids a seperate plate and let them take food from our plate.

We were wondering if this would be frowned upon in Disney if we eat in a buffet restaurant. My children are 6 and 4 and just don't eat enough to warrant them paying for a full kids buffet.

Has anyone else ever done this and what was the reaction.

Many thanks for any thoughts.



Paula-Jane

 

[Kae]

kids 3 and under are free, that's it. you would be frowned upon in most places in the US not just WDW. But some places(outside WDW) might have different ages on who eats free.

Kae

 

[bigbabyblues]

I think they charge by the # in your party, we were never asked how many were eating at the buffets. Ages 3 and up have to pay the children's price, which I think is around $10-11 for the character buffets, if I remember right.

Steph

 

[gigi1313]

it's more than "frowned upon" it's not done! if the kid goes in the restaurant, child's fare is paid... the end! (maybe an exception would be made for medical type reason and the child will not be eating) whether the child carries his/her own plate up to the buffet or takes off yours after you sit down, the child is consuming the food and will be charged (over the age of 3yo)... sorry, but that's the way it works!

 

[tjmw2727]

You will be charged the per person price for each person in your party child or adult regardless of what they eat at the buffets - the only exception is children under 3. This is especially true at the character buffets as you are also paying "entertainment fee".

If your children are not big eaters your better off going to a restaurant with a set menu where you can then split a meal, order a kids meal, appetizer or soup for the kids.

Check the menus at www.allearnet.com for details and to see which offer fare that your family will enjoy.

HTH
TJ

 

[NotUrsula]

DS is a non-eater, too. While DH & I enjoy buffets, up until very recently (he's 7) he really didn't eat enough to justify spending the children's price at a buffet.

The strategy we used was to call ahead and speak to the manager to ask if a conventional children's menu was also offered. At MOST of the non-character buffets the answer was yes. (At resorts, especially, multiple restaurant facilities often share kitchens.) When we arrived, we asked our server for a children's menu, we ordered his meals off that, and DS was charged for an a la carte child's meal instead of the children's buffet price. Obviously, if no children's menu was available, we either ate elsewhere or forked over the full child's price.

I'll warn you that desserts were an issue, as he may not have been interested in our meals, but something chocolate was a different matter! We always offered to pay full price if he stuck a spoon onto our plates, but in almost every case, the server did not charge us if he just ate half a piece of my cake, etc. (I suspect that if we had gone back for dessert seconds, we might have been charged, but they almost never cared if it was just part of a single portion.)

NOTE that this does NOT work for Character meals of any kind. (We don't actually do Character meals; DS won't go near Characters at all.) If you are determined to have a Character meal experience, you can feed your child counter-service ahead of time, then have him not eat at all at the buffet. However, you will still have to pay an "Entertainment charge" for the character interaction; the last I heard, that was around $6 per child.
(Except at the Princess breakfasts, it is permissible for individuals in a party to go to a Character meal but choose not to eat anything; in such cases, the entertainment charge will apply.)

 

[gigi1313]

if you really want to do a character experience, and not pay full-fare for a buffet meal, may i suggest the ice cream social at the garden grill in epcot? imo, it's the best of both worlds

 

[MadAboutDisney]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the info, I kind of new this would be the answer.

Trying to decide where to eat over our 3 weeks here is becoming quite a headache now, so many choices - so many varying reviews!!

I used to work in 4* hotels and so have quite high expectations and I just don't want to come away disappointed. Mind you, my children at 6 and 4 aren't going to care one way or the other but I get stressed out when things don't go well and since this holiday has taken 10 years to come to fruition I'm desperate to come away with the best experiences ever.

Here's hoping eh!

Paula-Jane

 

[oogieboogie]

I think if you stick to what's tried and true based on reviews, you should have a great time.

Between the information I got from the DIS and Allearsnet, I have yet to have a bad meal.

Just remember if you are doing Character meals, not to overdo it. One time we had character breakfast and ice cream social in one day, then another character meal the next day and let me tell you, the kids were worn out. They just wanted to eat. They couldn't care less anymore about the characters.

 

[TNT21]

We just got back from Disney yesterday, we went to the Character Breakfast at Crystal Palace.
For the $9.99 I paid for my daughter (she's almost 10), she ate: 3 grapes, half a strawberry,half a hard-boiled egg, and one doughnut hole.
If I had to do it again, I would do the ice cream social and skip the buffet!

Also the service was poor and we never did get to see Tigger, big dissapointment for DD....

 

[fizz13]

This is exactly what is going to happen with our kids in January. Mega bucks, tiny appetite. I will still pay the money though as meeting those characters one on one is special and they are counting the days already,
Claire

 

[disneychrista]

Another good tip is to try to get the latest breakfast seating for the buffet and make it Brunch. Skip breakfast that way you and your family will be hungry and you can get your money's worth.

 

[NotUrsula]

If your children are 6 and 4, avoid the problem by not taking them with you to those meals when you want to eat in peace. They are old enough to go to the Kids Clubs. Check out the kids clubs, and let them play and eat with other children while you eat whatever you like, however you like.

The kids clubs at WDW are one of the best value-for-money deals on the planet, IMO. They will be fed there, too; it is included in the price of the service.

 

[swilshire]

Originally posted by MadAboutDisney
I used to work in 4* hotels and so have quite high expectations and I just don't want to come away disappointed.

Oh dear, Paula-Jane, I predict a bad outcome here. I've had many meals at the World that I've enjoyed, but my tastes are much simpler. I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed with the majority of your meals. They tend to range from barely OK to quite good, but I'm not sure many of them will be in the 4* category.

As suggested, read all the reviews and restaurant boards you can find and hope for the best. Lowering your expectations might make for a happier visit.

JMHO.

Sheila

 

[sorchamac]

The unofficial guide probably has the most informative restaurant reviews, other than allearsnet.com

 

[Tromba]

We ate an "all you care to eat" dinner at Ohana's when our son was 4. He fell asleep in his stroller before we could order and was crashed out for the entire meal. When we got the bill, a child's meal was included, so we asked the waiter to reconsider since it was obvious that our son never touched a bit of food. He did, and subtracted the child's fare.

 

[Stimpy]

Originally posted by Tromba
We ate an "all you care to eat" dinner at Ohana's when our son was 4. He fell asleep in his stroller before we could order and was crashed out for the entire meal. When we got the bill, a child's meal was included, so we asked the waiter to reconsider since it was obvious that our son never touched a bit of food. He did, and subtracted the child's fare.

We had the opposite happen at Chef Mickey's. DS was also 4 and fell asleep at the table after eating about 2 french fries. We fully expected to be charged for him anyway and we were very surprised to see the CM already took it off the bill. We left him a VERY good tip (tip plus almost enough to cover the kids' meal)

BTW we got some really cute pictures of DS sleeping at the table with the Characters. One of my favorite's is of Mickey patting his head while DS was laying across 2 chairs.

 

[ladyelle]

The kids clubs at WDW are one of the best value-for-money deals on the planet, IMO. They will be fed there, too; it is included in the price of the service. [/B]

I don't necessary think the kids clubs at WDW are the best value-for-money deals on the plant even if it does include a meal. The cost is $10 hour per child. It certainly depends on your circumstances; but, I have 5 children so that's $50 per hour.
Granted we did book the kids for one evening at the Peter Pan Club, which was the highlight of their entire trip, so my busband and I could enjoy a quite dinner at drinks at Citros. We hardly ever get a babysitter to go out to dinner so we really enjoyed ourselves. It was a pricey evening out $100+ for dinner and $150 for 3 hours of childcare.

 

[NotUrsula]

If you have 5 children it would make more sense to hire an in-room sitter, though that is certainly not as much fun for the kids.

Most of us don't have that many young children, though; so for the avg. family, it is a much better deal than an in-room sitter, which starts at around $100 just to have one come out, plus the cost of feeding the kids. For the avg. family with 3 children, a club comes out to ~$60 for 2 hrs. Subtract the price of the children's meals from that (which you would have paid anyway had they eaten with you) and the cost goes down to no more than $45. If the meal you are eating is a buffet, that's $10/child, so the club ends up costing only $30 for 3 kids for 2 hours. If you eat early before the lines get long, 2 hours will be plenty of time.

We pay our home sitter $10/hr., and we only have one child. To have a safe, kids-only place on vacation where DS can be fed and enjoy himself while we eat is priceless.

 

[ladyelle]

Originally posted by NotUrsula
If you have 5 children it would make more sense to hire an in-room sitter, though that is certainly not as much fun for the kids.

Most of us don't have that many young children, though; so for the avg. family, it is a much better deal than an in-room sitter, which starts at around $100 just to have one come out, plus the cost of feeding the kids. For the avg. family with 3 children, a club comes out to ~$60 for 2 hrs. Subtract the price of the children's meals from that (which you would have paid anyway had they eaten with you) and the cost goes down to no more than $45. If the meal you are eating is a buffet, that's $10/child, so the club ends up costing only $30 for 3 kids for 2 hours. If you eat early before the lines get long, 2 hours will be plenty of time.

We pay our home sitter $10/hr., and we only have one child. To have a safe, kids-only place on vacation where DS can be fed and enjoy himself while we eat is priceless.

Actually, it would not make more sense to hire an in-room sitter for five children. If there are more than 4 children they need to have 2 sitters come to your room; therefore, you are paying double. Also, I do not feel comfortable leaving my kids with a sitter in my room. I do feel much more comfortable leaving them at the kids club. I think the kids club is GREAT! We absolutely loved our quiet evening out and I have already budgeted to have two nights on our next trip. IT IS PRICELESS - I totally agree.