Kids' meals are lousy

[daraddg]

My daughter would probably be perfectly happy to eat chicken nuggets every meal but as a parent I'm not thrilled with the lack of choices, we will be there on the dxddp for 10 days thats alot of chicken nuggets, would be nice if there was more variety so we booked alot of buffets to try to avoid that as much as possible.

 

[nicki.momof3]

The horrible kid meals choices is exactly why we upgraded our 3 kids this year.

We are going 12/16-12/25 with free dining (we booked it when it first came out before they changed the dates).

We upgraded our 3 kids ages (6,8,9) to adults. It cost about $75 for the increased ticket prices but was so worth it. We are really looking forward to letting them pick off the adult menus.

Another positive note - the same day (sam call) I booked free dining I also bought MVMCP tickets. I was expecting to have to pay adult prices. The reservation CM let me purchase their party tickets as children.

 

[szubieta]

The horrible kid meals choices is exactly why we upgraded our 3 kids this year.

We are going 12/16-12/25 with free dining (we booked it when it first came out before they changed the dates).

We upgraded our 3 kids ages (6,8,9) to adults. It cost about $75 for the increased ticket prices but was so worth it. We are really looking forward to letting them pick off the adult menus.

We would do the same too. Can imagine being upset at Disney for a menu when it's free.

 

[Jake&IzzyLand]

With the QS, the selections were understandable. I do like how Disney has pop, fries and cookies by request and they give carrots and grapes automatically. Yogurt is a good addition, I don't think I saw that as a choice at the places we were at.

The TS places should have at least one or two different options other than typical kid food maybe something that mimics the adult offerings or ties into the theme of the place.

At home, when going out we will order an adult meal and split it between our two kids that way they are eating a better variety and healthier. My kids are younger though, I'm sure when they can read the menu and order themselves it may be a different story

 

[maxiesmom]

The TS places should have at least one or two different options other than typical kid food maybe something that mimics the adult offerings or ties into the theme of the place.

What I have read before is Disney doesn't want adults ordering a smaller portion that costs less, which is why they don't have smaller versions of the adult food on the children's menu. It does make sense, I know for me Disney's portions are huge!

As far as the menus being limited, you can solve that by doing some planning. Pull up the menus on-line before your trip, and plan your ADRs that way. By doing that have never had a problem with the kids being bored by the food or eating the same thing all of the time.

 

[DJFan88]

Also, there are nuggets and there are nuggets. If you go to the store and buy them, you have many choices, some all around better quality than others. Just wish Disney shopped with that same quality in mind.

 

[Mikey'swife]

I think it is common for kids with behavior issues to have invited food choices I do not seedisney menus to be any different then regular restaurant-in offering , limited options and is vacation.

 

[tar heel]

We don't have "children" who eat kids' meals any more, but the Epcot World Showcase restaurants used to have good options and you could get a kid-size portion of the homestyle meals at '50s Primetime. I hope that hasn't changed. O'hana and the skillet at Wilderness Lodge as well as all the buffets also serves kids the same as adults.

 

[KatieCollette]

I agree. My DS doesn't really care, but I would rather not have him eat chicken nuggets or pasta every day of our trip. For our 8 day trip it will be pretty repetitive.

 

[cavepig]

I find the portions a bit small for those at the upper end of the kid's meal age. The kid's size pizza is really tiny at the CS restaurants and I agree they can only eat soo many of the grapes, kid's cookie, etc. I find it funny when places that have adult hotdogs don't have them for kids. I disagree in the idea though that if you feed your kids 'adult' food from a young age that they won't eat that way when older, my niece (9) and nephew (8) are extremely picky and prefer nuggets, pizza and noodles and have always been offered the 'adult' food at home - so everyone varys. All kids are different and Disney I guess trys to cater it's best to what it sees as the average kid. We've done and we'll be on the dining plan in November, but if you really hate the kid's meals than don't do the dining plan and then they can eat whatever they want - of course when it's free it's hard to pass up.

 

[Sugardimples]

I read these posts about having few options and not wanting to have your child eat chicken nuggets every day. Then I look at the TS menus and I see chicken breast, meatloaf, grilled fish, meaty macaroni, even steak. I don't understand why so many people only see chicken nuggets when they look at the same menus.

 

[Bell30012]

When we were at Hollywood Studios my daughter expressed her opinion of the "sucky" choices on the children's menu. A CM asked her what she would like and she said she wanted the big hot dog meal. She didn't want an Uncrustable sandwich, she didn't want nuggets and she didn't want mac & cheese. She wanted that BIG hot dog meal. Here's a happy 4 year old with her hot dog!

 

[cavepig]

The chicken nuggets are more common in the CS locations I think, but going through TS menus for my trip in November it seems like a lot of them are common in what they have as well, like meaty macaroni seems to show up a lot as well as pizza. The kids appetizers at TS are silly too, most are salad, soup, or carrots/celery meanwhile the adults are eating fried moz. sticks, calamari or a fanicer salad - I just think it's funny that the kids need to have healthy choices but the adults get the richer choices.

 

[HunnyJar]

I read these posts about having few options and not wanting to have your child eat chicken nuggets every day. Then I look at the TS menus and I see chicken breast, meatloaf, grilled fish, meaty macaroni, even steak. I don't understand why so many people only see chicken nuggets when they look at the same menus.

I thought the same thing.. At 50's Primetime Cafe on the kids picks section meatloaf is on the list as well as a grilled hot dog. Plus you can order chicken noodle soup as an appetizer. Grand Floridian Cafe has grilled salmon, grilled chicken and for $2.00 extra grilled steak. Kouzzina even has Greek Lasagna. I think if you look around you'll find more options..

A couple more options.. The Plaza offers a turkey sandwich.. Coral Reef has Seared Mahi Mahi.. Rose and Crown offers fish and chips, Shepherd’s Pie and bangers and mash. Tony's has a cheeseburger calzone, multigrain pasta primavera and Mickey ravioli. For $2.00 more kids can have the Canyon Skillet at Whispering Canyon.

 

[HunnyJar]

The chicken nuggets are more common in the CS locations I think, but going through TS menus for my trip in November it seems like a lot of them are common in what they have as well, like meaty macaroni seems to show up a lot as well as pizza. The kids appetizers at TS are silly too, most are salad, soup, or carrots/celery meanwhile the adults are eating fried moz. sticks, calamari or a fanicer salad - I just think it's funny that the kids need to have healthy choices but the adults get the richer choices.

Well, I remember a few years ago there was an uproar with certain parents saying that the kid's meals were too fattening so for awhile french fries were off the menu. Grilled chicken replaced regular chicken nuggets. Slowly things started to go back where there are both healthy and "standard" kid fare.

 

[maxiesmom]

I read these posts about having few options and not wanting to have your child eat chicken nuggets every day. Then I look at the TS menus and I see chicken breast, meatloaf, grilled fish, meaty macaroni, even steak. I don't understand why so many people only see chicken nuggets when they look at the same menus.

They must not do any research on the kid's choices ahead of time. This complaint pops up quite often, but if you spend any time looking at menus, you will see that there are a lot of choices for kids. However you do have to look if you want a wide variety.

 

[JoanneDisFan]

I've raised picky eaters. They only eat the good stuff. Last trip DD was turning 9 and we bought an adult ticket just so she could get what she wanted to eat. There use to be some good choices at the table service. Counter Service it's good to know you can often order an adult meal for kids. Our first trip CRT use to offer smaller versions of the adult entrees, but they have since discontinued that. Wish there was more choices.

 

[katie111]

I think part of the problem is that the kids food is just gross. Have you ever tried the "meaty macaroni" they serve at almost every restaurant? I tried it last night at LeCellier and it was disgusting! The chicken nuggets are also pretty gross, they're almost like dark mystery meat. We're paying OOP right now on our trip & it kills me to pay $9.00 a meal for this stuff. I'm trying to just have the kids split our meals with us or get an app off the adult menu. My kids love "kid" food and they also like some adult food but they just find a lot of the kid food here is jus not good. Give them some Kraft Mac & cheese or a grilled cheese and they'd be pretty happy. Even a decent kids pizza would be nice.

 

[Soarin_04]

I also wish they offered a junior meal plan for kids who are between maybe 7 and 10.

Congratulations! You just solved the problem!

Both my boys are and have always been experimental eaters so they've also preferred the adult offerings.

My issues howeer is with portion size. When my guys were younger, they could polish off the kids meal and still be jonesin' for more -- not a lot more, but a little more. Now that they're "adults" in the eyes of Disney (at 11 and 13), the portions are just too huge for them. It's a waste.

A junior meal plan would be ideal.

 

[Colleen27]

Blame the parents and the children for such a lousy selection, not Disney.

I couldn't disagree more. I think the lousy kids' meals at Disney are a consequence of their non-confrontational guest service philosophy. If they served kid-sized portions of adult meals, servers would be in the position of having to enforce rules pertaining to who is eligible for ordering off the kids menu or else people would use that as a savings technique. Kids meals are generally a loss leader for restaurants (esp those that offer a better selection on the kids menu) that would be an unacceptable ding in revenues.

Since we're talking about a company that uses the honor system for kids ages regarding ticketing, seldom even issue a polite reminder to smokers who ignore the DSAs, or otherwise risk offending guests by enforcing their own rules, I think it is pretty safe to say they don't want to put their front-line restaurant CMs in the position of telling Grandma she can't order the $10 kids steak instead of the $30 adult version. So they address the problem from another angle - making the kids' meal selection so limited in both menu items and portion size that few adults or older kids would be satisfied with them. Now there's no need to enforce the age limit because the vast majority of people over the age of 10 will either want better choices, bigger portions, or both.