Kid's Menus (At Least For Dining Plans) SUCK!!!

[TDC Nala]

Yes, but the park pass plus the dining plan difference appears to have been too much for her. It might not be too much for someone else though. Most of the time you see upgrading kids to 10 happen during free dining, when it's necessary to pay only the difference in park passes.

 

[antkim]

Yes, but the park pass plus the dining plan difference appears to have been too much for her. It might not be too much for someone else though. Most of the time you see upgrading kids to 10 happen during free dining, when it's necessary to pay only the difference in park passes.

Here is what the poster said which is what I was commenting on:

"Well, I just thought I'd try and add our son to the adult DDP and remove him from the kids......turns out (unless the agent was wrong) if we do that we have to change him to the adult park tickets......so things will stay as they are. If anyone know if this is not the case and I just got an uninformed agent please let me know".

From that statement it appears that she was aware that the price would increase for the dining plan but was not aware of the increased price of park pass...again, this is only $35 increase that I was hoping to help her understand. The dining plan is much more for an adult however the park pass price increase is not as substantial.

 

[TDC Nala]

The OP then declined to upgrade their child even after the price difference for the tickets was posted. I suppose I am assuming they checked what the cost is and decided that even though the difference in the park tickets is relatively low it's more than they wanted to pay.

It's still a pretty substantial increase when you add together the $30-40 for the park ticket plus the extra cash per night for the adult dining plan.

 

[Dixiemom]

As the OP, I will attempt to make this clear. The combined cost of the ticket upgrade AND and dining upgrade was not worth it to us. True, $273 isn't a king's ransom, but there are other things I'd like to spend our vacation dollars on. Next year he will be 10 and we will have no choice. This year we do and as I have said repeatedly we will just share our food with him, let him get an appetizer every now and then if he likes and keep him on the kid plan. Didn't mean to be confusing.

 

[princessallegra]

You're funny.

I wish they kept the 07 plan where the appetizer was included. Since then, it hasn't made a bit of sense for my family, so I guess that's why I'm all "then don't get the dining plan."

ITA that they should have left the appetizer. That was a huge loss for us, we loved that extra indulgence we normally don't get in our everyday life. The thing that really really gets me, is that they don't allow you to choose either a dessert OR an appetizer on the "new" regular DDP. I think I should be allowed to get an appetizer and not forced to get a dessert! I rarely eat dessert, and feel this is a huge annoyance. But I still see the tremendous value in the DDP, and will always use it while at WDW.

 

[Dixiemom]

ignore please

 

[kandb]

The bottom line is the reason there is chicken nuggets over grilled chicken is because that is the majority of what kids want. Even with McDonalds, most kids want nuggets not grilled chicken. If disney changed all their nuggets to grilled chicken there would be thousands of parents saying "my kids don't eat grilled chicken they only eat nuggets".

 

[Dixiemom]

That is true about the chicken nuggets, which is why we started our kids outo early by ordering the grilled breast that they use on the grilled sandwiches. As they have gotten older I would get the nuggets every now and then and either use a ton of napkins to absolrb the mountain of grease or I'd peel off the breading.....I do want to point out also that my gripe wasn't specifically with the nuggets (although I may have made it appear that way), we also don't eat red meat, so there goes Mr. Hamburger. In the end it's just up to everyone to do what they feel is best for their family.

I did not realize how much it would cost to switch from the kid dining to the adult dining, the park tickets (once I found out the difference) was not the issue. I had not been told the difference in the dining switch at that point.

 

[Princess Sleepy]

I think Disney makes very strange choices regarding what they consider healthy. For example they have changed all the buns to cardboard... I mean wheat, yet they serve a double cheeseburger with bacon. I am pretty sure that if you are eating a double cheese burger with bacon and fries you do not care if you bun is whole wheat. Same thing with pizza, I will not be going to Pizzafari anymore because their pizza on wheat is just horrible. Don't even get me started on Casey's hot dog buns.

I guess it all depends on what you're used to. My DD6 and DD3 eat only whole wheat and find white to be disgusting. I was in a hurry once and tried to serve them those crescent rolls out of a can as a "treat," they wouldn't touch them. We are happy to find whole wheat options for them and for us. BTW, I love bacon cheeseburgers and much prefer a wheat bun.

 

[otterpop]

Ahhh...the chicken nugget.

It has to be the best invention of all time! And here we have Obama and Gore getting Nobel Prizes...hmmmm!

Seriously...For table service, the buffets are great for kids because of the variety. For counter service, DW has more than enough healthy choices and variety for kids, but you have to plan accordingly. As mentioned above, DW caters to the "average" child, and the "average" child likes nuggets and fries.

Since it sounds like you are not doing a DP, then you can always order off of the regular menu. Order a salad and split it. If you are worried about having your child eat nuggets, then you are also probably worried about the large amount of food you get with the regular meals. Order and split a healthier "adult" meal and you get the best of both worlds; your child gets a healthy(ier) meal and no food goes to waste!

My family and I will be going in a few weeks and I can't see my kids eating nuggets everyday (even though one of them probably would if given the choice!) and we will probably do the above (split), if needed.

But, as already mentioned...remember, you are on vacation. One week of nuggets isn't going to add to the obesity problem. But, now that I think of it, I bet if you added all the people that are doing a DP together, they probably are (myself included!)!!!

Just go and have fun; Hakuna Matata!!!

Evan

 

[Wendy5055]

I thought I was the only person who sat there peeling chicken nuggets for my dd!!!

Now that my dd is 8, she does not like the childrens food choices of nuggets, pizza, burgers quite so much as when she was 4 or 5. I think that is probably what so many parents encounter when the children become a little older but are not yet WDW Adults. However, we are doing the DxDP on our April trip and she will be a child on that...I just cannot/will not justify paying adult prices for her (yet!).

I had her choose what restaurants she liked the best and we are combining traditional served meals with buffets...she will not starve. She also picks from my plate a lot and I do attempt to get appetizers that she would eat as well (I generally eat the fruit cup and she eats the calamari). We are the people who actually use our snack credits while on vacation for ice cream, popcorn, slushies, drinks etc...every day if we want. I have learned from previous trips how to use up all the snack credits so we only have a couple left (if any).

For us, it is balancing the buffets with traditional served meals so that she can have more options...everyone seems happier this way.

 

[jets]

Our family went in 2007 and are going agian this year we will be using the DDP. My kids will eat a steak at the yahtsman and grilled chicken at Tutto Italia. At Mama Melrose they will most likely eat grilled fish. This is not to say that they will not have chicken nugets at some point but these options are on the kid's menu at DW.

 

[Lauraubie]

If you are unhappy with the selections on the kids menu at a specific place why don't you just purchase your child a meal from the adult menu? I'm not saying for every meal, that would be silly. But you could for a few CS meals. Try to minimize the chicken nuggets.

Also, at our local restruants, we ask all the time if our daughter can have grilled chicken cut up instead of deep fried chicken nuggets. Most places have no problem doing this. It wouldn't hurt to ask. Worst case they say no. I have not asked at Disney, so I don't know if they would do this or not.

Personally, I agree that it would be nice to have healthier options, but it is vacation and for $12 a day for a kid to eat 2 meails & a snack, I am not complaining.

 

[lojikal1]

For my family, WDW is a godsend... our DS4 is allergic to wheat, corn, dairy, eggs, nuts, strawberries, etc. ... when we go to WDW each and every chef comes out to greet our lil' guy and make him a special order meal... complete with non wllergic versions of his favs...