Kids' meals are lousy

[Colleen27]

Sorry to say it, but this all comes down to money. WDW doesn't charge enough for a child's DDP to offer a better selection & better quality. That's fairly obvious, if you look at it objectively. If you want your kid's to have better quality food, you'll have to pay quite a bit more for it. My guess is Disney has discovered most people (not all) would prefer to put up with a lower quality in order to feed their kids cheaply. If you want a higher quality, you'll need to pay OOP for the adult options. As with all things dining relate, DDP controls what is offered.

I don't think that's true. First of all, the difference between what they are serving and decent food is in many cases pennies. Restaurants all over the country offer far better meals for half of what Disney charges for a kids' meal. Kids' menus are frequently loss-leaders for restaurants and the kids' DDP is the same for Disney - it is a great deal meant to draw people in, but profitability relies upon the fact that the adult DDP isn't nearly as good a deal.

And I don't think it is the DDP driving kids' menu decisions at all - the majority of the people touring the parks on any given day aren't on the DDP, and it is those people (not the ones who pre-paid via DDP) who might look to kids' menus as a way to save money on meals. Good kids meals mean having to enforce the kids' menu age restrictions and Disney is loathe to enforce rules. It is easier/more in keeping with their non-confrontational customer service approach to have kids meals so lousy that adults won't order them to save a few bucks.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I disagree. About the costing quite a bit more. I have a 9 year old son who is an adventurous eater and eats a lot more than me at most meals. And, no he is not the least bit overweight, just a growing boy. LOL He loves to try new things...like escargot, crab legs, calamari, sushi. He loves ribs. And I knew at meals where I could order ribs but where he'd be stuck with mac n cheese or chicken nuggets, he'd be disappointed and starving. Through reading the boards here, I discovered I could upgrade him to an adult. So basically I'm paying an adult price for his ticket with dining so he can order off the adult menu. It only cost $23.43 more total for a 4 night package. Totally worth it. If you have younger ones that you think would prefer to order off the adult menu, I would recommend exploring this option.

What I'm saying is the cost of the child's DDP would have to go up significantly, if WDW raised the quality of the kid's meals substantially. Junk foods are cheaper. That's just the way it is. If they provided higher quality ingredients, the cost would have to be passed on to the consumer. Consider yourself lucky in that you have free dining so you only have to pay for the ticket upgrade. If you were paying for an adult's DDP vs. a child's, you'd see there's a significant difference in price.

 

[TDC Nala]

I discovered I could upgrade him to an adult. So basically I'm paying an adult price for his ticket with dining so he can order off the adult menu. It only cost $23.43 more total for a 4 night package.

If you're not on free dining you will also have to pay the difference between the child and adult dining plan. What is listed here is just the difference between the child and adult park ticket, apparently the poster is on free dining.

 

[ejrj]

The difference in cost between an adult park ticket and 9 year old is only $6 a day?

 

[TDC Nala]

The difference in cost between an adult park ticket and 9 year old is only $6 a day?

The difference will depend on the length and type of ticket purchased.
But for the multiday tickets they are really not much more expensive.

 

[vossjemi]

If you're not on free dining you will also have to pay the difference between the child and adult dining plan. What is listed here is just the difference between the child and adult park ticket, apparently the poster is on free dining.

Yes, we do have free dining, so it is just the difference in cost of the child/adult ticket.

 

[neatokimmo]

Yes, we do have free dining, so it is just the difference in cost of the child/adult ticket.

I did the same thing, no way was a I feeding DD chicken nuggets for a week. One, she wouldn't eat them and I'd be stuck with them lol Uncrustables gross me out in the biggest way too. I didn't pay more than $30 I think to upgrade her to an adult ticket.

Now she will be able to order her own piece of roasted chicken with veggies without grubbing mine up