Should I really spend money on a Kids meal for a 2 1/2 year old?

[ilovediznee]

Although this will be my 34th visit to Disney in January, this will be our fourth trip with our daughter, who will be 2 1/2 when we go again. In May when we went, I felt that we really wasted a lot of money getting her kids' meals when she would eat two bites. Then we had a lot of leftovers in our refrigerator at OKW and it's not like I can put it in a tupperware container and ask the restaurant we are at to just heat it up. But I also don't want to be limited in what I order just so she can have some of mine. I can't live on chicken fingers at Disney for a whole week!

For those of you who have small children, what do you do? I was thinking about packing cereal, fruit and yogurt for her and then just getting milk for her cereal from the restaurant.

Please advise!!!!!

Thanks!

DianeDisney

 

[ilovefh]

I dont have small children, but that seems very reasonable. If she wont eat most of the meal, then its not worth it to pay for it. The servers at the restaurants usually dont mind either. In fact it happens a lot! Plus on vacation you dont have too much of an opportunity to eat leftovers !

Working at CRT, I saw people do this a lot, whether it was for a picky eater, or because the childs appetite was so small! If she will eat what you bring for her, then go for it!! That way you can enjoy a meal you wouldnt have ordered if you had to share with her!!

Elena

 

[jel0511]

It really depends on the child. I have two one who eats and one who doesn't, like your DD. The one who eats ia an 18 month old eating machine!! He'll eat anything I put in front of him, so I don't mind spending the money on buying him a kids meal, since I know he'll eat it. I even got him a $10 meal at Artist Point, since I was sick of him eating chicken fingers all the time. Now my 4 year old is a different story.. She hardly eats anything, but I still get a meal for her, since she wants to have what her brother has. Usually, most of it is wasted, but what else am I to do. Even if I brought her lunch/dinner with me, she probably wouldn't want it and would want a meal like everybody else. Only you know your child best. If they won't care that they're not getting food like everybody else, and won't eat it anyway, by all means bring your own. I would if I could, but I'd need to carry a HUGE cooler for DS, so I just don't and pay for food. What I also do especially since DS is under 3, is we try to eat at a lot of buffets or family style places. Yes, I have to pay for the bird-eating DD, but DS is free, so I don't feel like I'm wasting money, since DS will eat!! Also, that way my kids can get some more healthy food rather than the chicken fingers at the sit-downs, I feed them off the adult area of the buffet so they can get veggies, meat, potatoes, etc.

 

[disneyterri]

I'm also going to DW with a 2½ year old DD. She, like yours, does't eat very much. I will not be buying any food for her. She can eat off my plate or DH or DS's. If you're staying at OKW again, why not try and get her to eat something in your room before you go to the restaurant and then maybe she can also try some different types of food from what you order. I know it's tough, especially with a picky eater. The buffet idea is a great one.

 

[torismom]

For my dd (4) and ds (1) Iorder one child'smealfor them to split. I also bring juice boxes for them to drink.


I pack the foods they like to eat and bring with me. Loaf of bread, peanut butter, cereal bars, fruit cups,gogurt's, raw carrotts. Easy portable food.


when we eat and the childs meal does not come with a veggie ,I order a side dish of one for them to split.

 

[jwfla422]

I can totally relate. When 4 yr old dd was under 3 we did A LOT of the buffets, more for the money savings than anything because some meals she'd eat barely anything and we didn't have to pay for her.

Now that she's 4 she's still not a big breakfast eater, but she loves the character meals, so I splurge for them. I do have the DDE card which helps a bit. But, it can be annoying when she doesn't take a bite of her breakfast and I'm charged for her. Or when she has a bagel and cream cheese from the buffet and it costs $9.99. Wish the buffets had options for the kids, just a few like a bowl of cereal or bagel, etc for like 3 or 4.99, it would just be a little more fair for the under 6 group. (FW has something like this).

I've also actually brought her breakfast to some of the breakfasts. (she likes oatmeal so I bring it in a container, so I ask for warm milk)...in some cases the server didn't charge me for her since they knew she didn't eat from the buffet. This unfortunately didn't work at CRT's, no chance of that.

Otherwise to be honest with you, when we're at WDW she lives on Chicken strips. On occasion I can order grilled chicken and she will eat some of mine.

 

[ttfn3]

I can totally relate. My DS is not a big eater and I find Disney portions to be quite large. I also find is quite challenging to find anything other than french fries or raw carrot sticks on the kids menus (other than the buffetts). After one day of that, I'm looking for more options for my DS. I often bring food into the park for him. We also share meals with him when we eat. The CM's never have given us a bit of trouble. Of course, my DS will do a bit of whinning when we encourage him to eat veggies, but hey, I want to encourage him to have better eating habits now while I can. Good luck!! (And don't hesitate to pack food for your child or share your food with your child).

 

[robinb]

I can totally sympathize! Just wait until she's 3 and you have to pay for her meal! Not only does my 3 year old DD only nibble at her meals, but she's also a vegetarian. No burgers or chicken for her! *sigh* We bring juice boxes and yogurt with us into the parks. If you're at OKW you can freeze Go-Gurts so they are still cold when you eat them. We almost always break down and buy her something at a sit-down meal, but often feed her Go-Gurts and Dole Fruit Cups when we eat counter service.

As an aside, my husband was grumping that I told CRO that my DD was 3 when making reservations. He has no problem paying for her AP, but he's bent out of shape about paying $9 for a buffet that she won't eat. Honestly, it can't be worse than the almost $15 we spent on mac-n-cheese and milk at the California Grill last year .

 

[wdisneyaholic]

How would you all like to have 3 kids and none of them will eat the same thing!!! It was so frustrating when we went on vaction to order a meal to split between all 3 (they were ages 3 and under) and none would eat. By the time the last few days were there I was feeding them cheetos and apple juice for dinner, because I at least new something was going into their bellies.

This year I will be packing food for them. penut butter and jelly is always a hit with 2 of them and the other will proably nibble from us.

 

[Lesley]

As frustrating as it is to see a meal mostly go to waste, I generally order for my 2 1/2 yo dd. Sometimes she eats ( a lot! ), sometimes she'll only want what her brother has (he's 7, so splitting a kids meal is out....except for those days when he doesn't eat either....!!!!!), and sometimes she won't eat much at all.

I generally try to order a kids meal that I know I'd like...so when she ends up eating half my meal I don't go hungry! And I find the kids' menus extremely limiting...because my kids like all kinds of foods, not just chicken fingers and pasta! Sometimes I wonder if the reason she doesn't eat is that the food is too boring...then again, sometimes all she wants is potatoes (in any form!)

I guess what I'm saying is that my dd is so unpredictable I never quite know what to do myself! We do have the advantage of having a kitchen...so we can take back leftovers...which makes it somewhat better.

 

[Jordan's MOM]

You might want to try asking the Cm that serves you for a suggestion. When my DS was about that age he was very tiny and a very small and picky eater. He was also very cute!!IMHO. I found that by asking the waiter if there was someway he could get just one chicken nugget or a small cup of cottage cheese or whatever, they will try to help you out. Some will not. This will work better at nicer sitdowns where you are paying more for your own meals. I also did a combination of things as did others such as carring yogurt, and finding something on my plate he might eat. We also did a LOT of buffet meals when he was young. A great way to get a little fruit at least in him.


Jordan's mom