Rant food selection for kids...

[Sparkly Pooh Bear]

Ahhh this really really bothered me this trip. I knew going what it was like but the kid's menu every where seems to be diabolic. The choice for our two year old was really bad. I don't want him eating chips at every meal. Thankfully the Steakhouse in the village gave him a little bowl of mash and veg at no extra cost. The Bluelagoon could only offer rice (he doesn't eat it) or chips (again!) and even though Cafe Mickey had mashed potato with one of the adult meals the waiter refused to bring mash for the potato for him even though I offered to pay for it. Very very disappointing. So out of four dinners over four days our 2 year old ate chips three times.

There is certainly an opening for DLP to make money as I know i would pay for a baby dinner consisting of mash and veg.

 

[MickeysFavouriteGirl]

Our dd (13m) didn't have much choice either, nowhere offered her a meal of her own. Luckily I had chicken in rainforest cafe and she shared that with potato wedges and she shared pizza in cafe mickey. Thank goodness I took toddler meal pots with us!

Choice was limited a lot on counter service with the children's meals mostly coming with cherry tomatoes and ds won't eat tomatoes.

 

[adr2.8i]

you probably do have a valid point. im trying to think back to last years trip and remember what my 2yr old daughter ate those 5 days.

from what i can recall it was a diet of fries, hot dogs, pasta,chicken, plenty of fruit and chocolate desserts.

not an ideal diet i know but it was only for a few days.

my wife always carries fresh fruit and snacks like fruit flakes/raisins/yogurts in her bag for the little un to chomp on during the day.

 

[Ware Bears]

Are chips back on the menu for children then? I can remember them removing them from the kids meals a few years ago in favour of healthier options.

I think with an under three the buffets are the best option as not only will they eat free (they can eat from the adult section too, not just the kiddy offerings) but you get the opportunity to give them a wider variety.

 

[Happy Tappy]

The options for 1-4 year olds are pretty poor. Most restaurants do free jars of baby food if you ask but they're only really suitable for kids younger than 1.

On our last trip we ordered kids meals for my 3 year old and he ate hardly any of them. We mostly did it because we felt tight not ordering something for him! With hindsight I should have ordered him nothing, let him eat from ours and then get a sandwich from EoS if he was still hungry.

As you say, most of them seem to come with chips. At home we only really feed him good food (fresh, non-processed etc...) so I suppose a few days of chips don't do him too much harm. It would be nice to have some healthy options though.

For lunch we always try and split meals so we don't end up paying a fortune!

 

[JohnnySharp2]

The thing that surprised me is you can't get a baked potato anywhere.

 

[scampbunny]

Oh yes, nice jacket potato with cheese & beans...... Yum yum yum

 

[lilacgems23]

I found the infant choice awful too. My 2year old can not eat the childs portion as its for upto 12 year olds so is too big for her and therefore a waste of money. When I asked what they would do for her I was told a jar of baby food! 2 year old eating a jar of baby food

 

[A Small World]

Jacket Potatoes arent really common in France at all so Im not surprised you cant get them.

I know some people have mentioned ordering a seperate side order of something as a toddler meal or as Elaine said the buffets are the best option.

Although its a long time since I was looking for toddler meals I dont think Disney is worse than anywhere else - are there any better options in other theme parks/attractions such as Alton Towers etc

 

[Happy Tappy]

Jacket Potatoes arent really common in France at all so Im not surprised you cant get them.

I know some people have mentioned ordering a seperate side order of something as a toddler meal or as Elaine said the buffets are the best option.

Although its a long time since I was looking for toddler meals I dont think Disney is worse than anywhere else - are there any better options in other theme parks/attractions such as Alton Towers etc

Alton Towers is probably a bad example as there's very little there for 1-3 year olds and there are very few table service restaurants there.

Pretty much every family restaurant we've visited in the UK have options for younger kids. Normally it's just a bowl of pasta or something but they do have something.

I've noticed most French restaurants don't seem to do much for kids. Most we've visited don't even have kids menus.

 

[Donald D Duck]

Does anyone have recommendations of good table service restaurants for 2 year olds?

Last year we ate in the Manhatten restaurant at HNY and while we ate al la carte there was a full buffet that DD could chose from which was excellent. I'd like to hopefully pick a few places like this for our sep trip!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[freddythebear]

Alton Towers is probably a bad example as there's very little there for 1-3 year olds and there are very few table service restaurants there.

Pretty much every family restaurant we've visited in the UK have options for younger kids. Normally it's just a bowl of pasta or something but they do have something.

I've noticed most French restaurants don't seem to do much for kids. Most we've visited don't even have kids menus.

Its funny that you haven't seen many kids options in French restaurants as I find them to be quite common. Its often a choice of beefburger, ham or pizza, served with chips or plain pasta, then an ice cream and sometimes a drink. I find kids menus over here offer plainer food as opposed to smaller portions.

 

[tinks_1989]

Does anyone have recommendations of good table service restaurants for 2 year olds?

Last year we ate in the Manhatten restaurant at HNY and while we ate al la carte there was a full buffet that DD could chose from which was excellent. I'd like to hopefully pick a few places like this for our sep trip!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Sequoia lodge and new port bay both have restaurants that offer al la carte and buffet.

we ate at cafe Mickey, inventions and auberge with DD and was offered pasta in cafe Mickey and auberge. Like others have said buffets are best with under 3s.

It must be a Disney thing as we went to WDW in February and all DD was offered was hot dog, pasta or nuggets. Luckily we at nearly all buffets so she could have what ever. But i found quick service was harder to get her something. She doesn't like chips and I don't want to give her hot dogs and burgers she wouldn't ever eat it all any way so just a waste.

 

[Happy Tappy]

Its funny that you haven't seen many kids options in French restaurants as I find them to be quite common. Its often a choice of beefburger, ham or pizza, served with chips or plain pasta, then an ice cream and sometimes a drink. I find kids menus over here offer plainer food as opposed to smaller portions.

Maybe I'm just visiting the wrong restaurants

I've found most to be very accommodating though and they'll make something special for kids, they just don't seem to advertise it.

 

[Lisa_C]

The thing that surprised me is you can't get a baked potato anywhere.

You can - in the buffets. My daughter had a heart attack in the Sequoia when she saw the size of it!! Made her trip

 

[Rosabelle]

You can - in the buffets. My daughter had a heart attack in the Sequoia when she saw the size of it!! Made her trip

We had them in the Cheyenne too

 

[HappySlinky]

We ate in the table service restaurant at Newport Bay Hotel and they had a buffet for the kids. We didn't bother with it for our son though so I'm not sure what was on it. He's 4 and can eat a lot depending on the food and his mood, we did a mixture of ordering him a kids meal, ordering an extra portion of something (from counter service) and sharing, and us ordering the 3 course menus and sharing with him. I found that on the whole the food at DLP was much better than I was expecting (I must say that I was expecting it to be pretty rubbish though!).

 

[lush]

This really bugged me on both of our recent trips actually, although I was better prepared the second time around. I even emailed to complain to Disney but their reply was basically that it wasn't their problem. My DD isn't even two yet so I just couldn't justify spending the money on the full menus for her but if they'd offered a half portion for her or something then I would have paid for it.

Cafe Mickey was particularly bad, all I was offered was a jar of baby food! She was 18 months and the size of a 2 and half year old! If they'd even let you order single things off the kids menu it might not be so bad, but I couldn't justify 20 euros for the kids menu when she wouldn't eat most of it!!

Considering the amount of young children they have through there they could look at offering something! Or else don't offer 'Children Under 3 eat Free!' which is what I was told the first time around when I was booking our half board vouchers. That was what p'd me off the most, they make it sound like the child gets something when in reality they expect them to eat off your plate.