Kid's Menu-yuck!

[jrjac]

Does anyone agree with me that Disney needs to revamp their kid's menus? Don't get me wrong-my son loves mac & cheese and the occasional hotdog.
Yet once we get to Disney, he is going to be dissappointed with the kid's menu! mac & cheese (by many different names) hotdogs, chicken nuggets-how much of this stuff can one child eat?! We will, of course, pay out of pocket for what he wants-it's his vacation, too! Just wish Disney would rethink their kid's menu. Does anyone agree with me?

 

[Suzanne74]

Personally, I think they have gotten much better. They used to never offer, fruit, applesauce, soup, fish sticks, grilled chicken, fish, corrot sticks etc... Look at the menus at allearsnet - there are some places that seem to have healthier counter service then others.

 

[maggs]

My gripe is 'Why do all the kids menus have to be high fat and the same?'
I never feed my kids food like that. They want to eat proper food as that is all I ever give them. Where are the salads, grilled chicken, fish etc?
I wonder why Disney and others of course, presume that that is what they want!! It certainly isnt what I want my kids to have. Their favorite restaurant was (not now of course) Akershus and outside Disney, Sweet Tomatoes.
I felt like I was on a one woman mission until at long last TV chefs have spoken out! Excuse my rant - I feel very strongly about this!

Maggs

 

[Christine]

The kids' menus are slightly better at Citrico's and Artist Point. But I agree with you, they stink.

On our last trip, when we went to Restaurant Marrakesh, two of the kids in our party split an adult entree of chicken kabobs over rice. They were very happy with that.

Also, I know many people hate the buffets, but that is one place where my kids can get a variety of "normal" food for a change.

 

[stinkerbelle]

I know a few kids have been disappointed by this - but my favorite kids meal (yes - I'm not a big eater - at a CS place I'll get a kids meal!) is at the columbia harbor house.

cold grilled chicken strips
chunks of cheddar cheese
grapes
gold fish crackers
small drink
for under $4. SOOOO yummy! (and much better then all the other fried fare offered IMO)

 

[HookdonWDW]

Check with your server. A lot of the restaurants have alternative children's dishes that aren't listed on the children's menu. I'm with you. We eat real food at home, and we eat real food on vacation. Also, the restaurants will work with you and substitute an alternative side for the ever-present french fries.

We must be doing something right, because when we go to a restaurant, ds's first question to the waitstaff is whether or not he can substitute something else for his fries, lol.

 

[disneymom727]

I think it is comparable to most every other restaurant out there. When we go to a place like Chili's for example my son can get pizza, mac & cheese, grilled cheese, etc. Why should Disney be any different? I think, like another poster said, it had gotten better. I bring along healthier snacks for my son to have during the day and for breakfast. None of us in our family eat as healthy when we are on vacation as we do at home. You are usually more limited and are eating out ALL the time. I guess I just expect the same type of kids menu as when we eat out any other time.

 

[Palendat]

I think Disney should do better because, unlike other restaurants, they are trying to keep us on property for a week or longer. If my child has a high fat meal like Chili's or McDonalds once or twice a week, well that is two out of 21 meals. At Disney, the kids are expected to eat these mac and cheese meals 14 out of 21 meals!!!! Many Disney visitors can't afford too many of the sit down meals at places where there are more nutritious children's meals. I too would like to see MUCH more variety from DIsney's kids menus.

 

[Palendat]

I'd also like to add, from my previous post, that simply more VARIETY would be welcome. As a parent, I can make sure that they are getting nutricious snacks, but Disney could help make my job easier at meal times with a wider range of options. That's not to say that a single restaurant should offer that many more choices, but property wide, if each menu offered one unique kid's menu item, that would help alleviate the boredom that my kids find at Disney counter-service restaurants.

 

[lovethattink]

My 15 month old is a huge salad fan! We've noticed ALOT of the kid's menus have changed at the counter service restaurants. At Columbia Harbour House our son ate the chilled grilled chicken and cheese, grapes, and crackers. At American Adventure, he ate the chilled grilled chicken on a bed of lettuce with applesauce and ranch dressing on the side. For us this is great because he really likes salad and chicken.

 

[dznyntnh]

It ameks me laugh, the usualy posts are complaints about how picky everyone's kids are. Now everyone's complaining that the offerings on the kids' menus are not varied enough. You can't have it both ways. Most kids are picky and seem to like the same things day in and day out. Basically, like anywhere else, they need to please the most people. It's comfort food, which after a long day in the parks is what is going to make most kids happy.

 

[rcraw45425]

ROTFL! My younger daughter is a real pill, she likes "healthier" food options like grilled chicken with steamed veggies, hates mac & cheese, will eat pasta with red sauce, but not every meal. Won't touch PB&J at all. Also hates ketchup, mustard, mayo but likes worcestershire and A1 sauce, go figure. SHe always looks at the adult menu and will usually wind up sharing with me if she finds nothing available on the kids menu. Older DD, on the otehr hand, could care less as long as there is pizza or chicken nuggets!

 

[kdtwiss]

I agree with the buffet suggestion, that way kiddos get to choose anythng.
Aside from that - I think WDW is just going with what the majority of children eat. Unfortunately - the majority is eating crap. My kids included. That said - we chose our restaurants last time based on the fun factor. This time I am choosing based on menu. All these restaurants have a much more varied children's menu:
Kona Cafe
Spoodle's
Concourse Steakhouse

CS - I would suggest ordering an adult meal to be healthier. Also- you can pack a cooler with fruits and yogurt and veggies if you like. I don't think anyone would object.
I am hoping our choices this time will be better for the kids, of course they may just be disappointed with the lack of fun stuff - who can tell with kids?>

PS = if you think WDW is bad - have you seen kid's lunches at school? KETCHUP fullfills a vegetable requirement. LOL

 

[lovethattink]

ROTFL! My younger daughter is a real pill, she likes "healthier" food options like grilled chicken with steamed veggies, hates mac & cheese, will eat pasta with red sauce, but not every meal. Won't touch PB&J at all. Also hates ketchup, mustard, mayo but likes worcestershire and A1 sauce, go figure. SHe always looks at the adult menu and will usually wind up sharing with me if she finds nothing available on the kids menu. Older DD, on the otehr hand, could care less as long as there is pizza or chicken nuggets!

Same here. Ds(15 months) loves fruit and veggies, and ds(11) won't touch them. He lives on Mac and cheese and pizza.

 

[maggiew]

Just choose to eat at the places that have the better choices. For example:

In AK, Tusker house has a chicken leg, mashed potato and applesauce meal.
In MGM, Backlot Express has Chilled Seasoned Chicken with Vegetables - chilled chicken served with carrots, celery, broccoli, and ranch dressing, applesauce and choice of child's size milk, juice or soft drink.
In EPCOT, Yakitori house has Teriyaki Chicken with mixed vegetables, steamed rice and a child size soft drink (my little DD loves the yakitori chicken!!).
In MK, Cosmic Rays has Chicken Noodle Soup served with cheddar crackers, applesauce, and choice of child beverage OR Garden Salad with Chicken served with ranch dressing, cheddar crackers, applesauce and choice of child beverage OR Roasted Chicken Drumsticks - served with mashed potatoes, applesauce and choice of child beverage.

These are just a few quick examples for the counter service places. You can look at the menus for the sit down places and see similar.

One of my little DDs favorites is to get a big fruit cup. There are fruit carts aroung the parks. We got a huge fruit cup (like a parfait cup size) at a fruit stand in AK outside of the Safari entrance. We also got a big fruit cup at MGM in the food area between RNR and ToT. These fruit cups have cut up watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes, honeydoo, etc.

Or you can have your child share an adult meal with you. I can never finish the meal at the sit down places. This is what we usually do. One DD shares with DH and one shares with me. We have never left hungry and we never order an extra appetizer or entree. Sometimes we get dessert if there is one we really want to try.

I have posted some of my kids' meals from WDW on the "Post your disney food pictures here" thread, but here are a few examples:

Kids Steak and mashed potatoes from California Grill

Kids PB&J at Whispering Canyon Cafe

Kids Terriyaki chicken from Yakitori House

Fruit Appetizer from Tempura Kiku

Maggie

 

[frannn]

baby food. This time, I'm going to skip the baby food (but will still pick up applesauce packs, oatmeal, granola bars, fresh fruit, etc), and either buy her a kid's meal, or buy an adult meal for DD12 and DD2 to share. DD2 can put away a lot, and she loves most everything, including both fries, salad, chicken fingers, vegies, etc. I'm going to buy her "real" food whenever possible, but hope that most of what we buy at CS can be construed as finger food, since she can mostly handle that herself. Anything messy, like soup or rice, we help her with.

 

[PattnFmly]

We've planned a lot of buffets for our upcoming trip. That way, everyone, including DH & myself, can go with the whim of the moment. My DS's by the way, will not eat anything that really needs to be chewed. So no steak, grilled chicken - hot or cold, and they don't do soup or stir fry either. They actually live on pbj's, nuggets, pizza, hotdogs etc. I try to feed them a variety, I cook a variety of things, but they opt to go hungry until breakfast at home. I don't make two meals, they just choose to not eat. I don't want them to do that on vacation! At home its one thing, we're usually just playing games or coloring in the evening, but WDW is busy and I want to make sure they eat something!

 

[maggs]

It's comfort food, which after a long day in the parks is what is going to make most kids happy.

Perhaps that is true for most (not mine)but I am glad that things may be changing. They certainly are in England. Although the kids menus are different to those in the States, they have been equally unhealthy. Jamie Oliver has changed how kids eat in schools and now the focus is on hospitals. I will not feed my kids any processed food, so I guess that is why Disney kids menu dont appeal to them. I am going back next year so it will be interesting to see how the menus have changed

Maggs

 

[Julia M]

With three kids, I have a bit of everything.

Oldest ds likes the hamburgers/chicken strips/pizza kind of meals served at many restaurants, so he's okay (no, he doesn't eat like that at home.....I make him eat what we're eating, but on vacation I don't )

DD doesn't like pizza, french fries, etc, but will eat a hamburger.....she actually doesn't like much meat, but does like pasta, fruit, salad, many veggies, yogurt, etc.

Youngest ds will eat alot of different things, but loves cheese and pasta, fruit and veggies.

We have the dining plan, with 2 kids as "adults". I plan on "mixing up" the credits.......oldest ds may eat a kids meal, but youngest an adult meal.

I'm also thinking of ordering one kids meal, and one adult meal, for all three kids to share, and having dh and I have an evening out.

Julia

 

[jrjac]

PS = if you think WDW is bad - have you seen kid's lunches at school? KETCHUP fullfills a vegetable requirement. LOL

I agree completely, kdtwiss! The school's "nutritional" (ha!) menu includes french toast sticks?! Fried white bread with syrup. Geeez!