Split an adult meal rather than 2 kids meals?

[CandMmommy]

My girls are snackers but not huge eaters, most of the time. If we get a standard grilled cheese kids meal they often split it. However I dont want them to be hungry and my little one 2, may not eat at all some days. That said would it be more practical for them to share 1adult counter service meal rather than 2kids meals? I will share with dd2 when portions are large too...

 

[Mugglemama]

We did this on our trip last week. I bought one adult meal for my 7 and 10 year old's to split every time we ate in the parks.

The kid's meals are SO tiny (like, 4 popcorn-chicken-sized pieces as their "chicken nuggets", and a bag of 8 apple slices - enough food for a toddler/preschooler, maybe), but an adult meal would be too big for one of my youngest 2 kids to eat alone.

It worked out fine...with an adult chicken tenders "meal", they'd end up with 4 decent sized tenders each (about the size of chicken nuggets from Wendy's - some pieces maybe a little larger), and definitely enough fries to share between them. We ordered a cheeseburger for one of the meals and I simply cut it and gave each child half). I brought in applesauce cups and they had those with their meals, as well. We just drank water that we brought in (I don't let my kids have soda very often, so this wasn't an issue for them).

IMHO, the "kids meals" are kind of a joke for any kid over the age of about 4, even though they are marketed to kids 3-9... (so I'd really hate to see the scant offerings that must be included in those "toddler" meals that are marketed for kids 3 and under).

 

[pixielizzie]

I would try and get a look at the portions before I ordered the food. The nice thing about kids meals is they often come with a drink. If in doubt, you could always order conservatively and then get a snack at a cart, like a churro or ice cream sandwich.
The adult portions are often quite large and enough for two adults to share so it might be too much for two kiddos.

 

[helenb]

I don't think all of the kids meals are a joke. I went to Carnation Cafe last summer with my 10 y.o. DD and she ordered the kids make-your-own PB sandwich. It's an awesome meal, and only on the kids' menu. They charged her kids' price, and she did not get 'double' size anything, but it was still plenty of food for her.

 

[pixiewings71]

I don't think all of the kids meals are a joke. I went to Carnation Cafe last summer with my 10 y.o. DD and she ordered the kids make-your-own PB sandwich. It's an awesome meal, and only on the kids' menu. They charged her kids' price, and she did not get 'double' size anything, but it was still plenty of food for her.

did they know she was 10? ime all TS restaurants follow the "double/double" rule that I post about on the majority of these threads.

OP it's fine to share a plate for your kids, mine have done this a few times. We just ask for an extra plate so we don't have to pay the split plate fee.

 

[helenb]

I have no idea what age they thought she was. No one ever asked. We just ordered it for her. She is tall for her age, and but totally flat (definitely looks like a *kid*).

 

[Mugglemama]

I don't think all of the kids meals are a joke. I went to Carnation Cafe last summer with my 10 y.o. DD and she ordered the kids make-your-own PB sandwich. It's an awesome meal, and only on the kids' menu. They charged her kids' price, and she did not get 'double' size anything, but it was still plenty of food for her.

I see what you are saying...and the meal shown above would have been enough for either my 7 year old or my 10 year old, as well.

Perhaps I should have been more specific and noted that the only kid's meals we came across were those at counter service restaurants (which is what the OP was specifically asking about), and quite frankly, a limited selection of them. So, the kid's meals that I actually saw, did seem to be kind of a joke if they were intended for anyone older than the preschool crowd....but it's very fair to say that I personally saw only a very limited representation of the variety of kid's meals around the park (ie: counter service only).

It would also be fair to say that I wouldn't be personally willing to spend $6 or $7 for a PB&J sandwich that my kid had to make herself.

We generally bring in healthy food for lunch, and then often leave to eat somewhere off-site for dinner (we've never found anything at DLR that we really "love", so we go off-site for food we like better)....so I'm not overly familiar with all of the offerings throughout both parks.

 

[helenb]

Fair enough! We don't normally eat at counter service (we prefer to eat breakfast and dinner out of the parks and have a sit-down meal in the middle of the day when the crowds are heavy) so I don't have much experience with those meals!

I guess the lesson is, every restaurant is different! So we shouldn't be afraid to ask here before we go, and experiment while we're there!

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

did they know she was 10? ime all TS restaurants follow the "double/double" rule that I post about on the majority of these threads.

OP it's fine to share a plate for your kids, mine have done this a few times. We just ask for an extra plate so we don't have to pay the split plate fee.

I think this is more for the price fixe meals or if you want an adult portion of a kids option. No one typically cares if a 10 or 11 or 14 year old orders a kids meal at Carnation Cafe, if you ask for a larger portion they yes they'd do the double/double. Now when we went to Ariels' my 12 yr old niece ordered off the kids meal. They of course charged her as an adult, and brought her a double order of the kids mac n cheese.

 

[starshine514]

It would also be fair to say that I wouldn't be personally willing to spend $6 or $7 for a PB&J sandwich that my kid had to make herself.

I agree! PB&J is something my kids eat all the time at Disneyland - I make them one each morning and put it in the backpack for them. It costs me nearly nothing (I usually just bring the PB and get the bread and jelly from the free breakfast at the hotel). I would cringe if we went to a sit-down place and they ordered it while I had a perfectly (nearly free) one sitting in the bag beside them!

 

[NewbieMouse]

I must have missed something, but what's the "double/double" rule? Up here, that's a coffee with two creams and two sugars

 

[MAH4546]

Disney does not enforce ages on kids meals, ever, except buffets, obviously. Even as an adult, I've ordered kids meals because they are a good snack sized portion.

 

[Malcon10t]

Disney does not enforce ages on kids meals, ever, except buffets, obviously. Even as an adult, I've ordered kids meals because they are a good snack sized portion.

Actually, they do at table service restaurants. My daughter used to order kids meals at Cafe Orleans and Carnation Cafe because she preferred the food (not for size) and they simply would say they could do it, but they had to serve an adult portion.

At counter service, you can get a kid's meal for adults no problem.

 

[jory29]

We did this on our trip last week. I bought one adult meal for my 7 and 10 year old's to split every time we ate in the parks.

The kid's meals are SO tiny (like, 4 popcorn-chicken-sized pieces as their "chicken nuggets", and a bag of 8 apple slices - enough food for a toddler/preschooler, maybe), but an adult meal would be too big for one of my youngest 2 kids to eat alone.

It worked out fine...with an adult chicken tenders "meal", they'd end up with 4 decent sized tenders each (about the size of chicken nuggets from Wendy's - some pieces maybe a little larger), and definitely enough fries to share between them. We ordered a cheeseburger for one of the meals and I simply cut it and gave each child half). I brought in applesauce cups and they had those with their meals, as well. We just drank water that we brought in (I don't let my kids have soda very often, so this wasn't an issue for them).

IMHO, the "kids meals" are kind of a joke for any kid over the age of about 4, even though they are marketed to kids 3-9... (so I'd really hate to see the scant offerings that must be included in those "toddler" meals that are marketed for kids 3 and under).

Totally agree with Mugglemama, with the exception of the Coke Corner having a decent and well priced kids meal with a turkey dog, etc.

 

[Ariel224]

I would try and get a look at the portions before I ordered the food. The nice thing about kids meals is they often come with a drink. If in doubt, you could always order conservatively and then get a snack at a cart, like a churro or ice cream sandwich.
The adult portions are often quite large and enough for two adults to share so it might be too much for two kiddos.

Lol, on our last trip, the kids' meal drink became a source of major contention. The plan was to save money on drinks by having everyone just drink their water from the bottles we carry with us. As many of us know, drinks at DLR can blow a food budget out of the water very quickly! But, the youngest ordered kids' meals everywhere we went, and the "THAT'S NOT FAIR WHY DOES SHE GET A DRINK?" bickering would begin.

 

[Mugglemama]

Totally agree with Mugglemama, with the exception of the Coke Corner having a decent and well priced kids meal with a turkey dog, etc.

Good to know! Thanks for the info!

 

[pixiewings71]

I have no idea what age they thought she was. No one ever asked. We just ordered it for her. She is tall for her age, and but totally flat (definitely looks like a *kid*).

If they didn't question and you asked for a kid's menu for her then they probably just assumed she was 9. DD15 was able to order from kid's menus until she was 13 or so, but she is very small and she didn't eat that much so it worked out fine. Now she eats more so she and I tend to share or she gets her own full meal.

Fair enough! We don't normally eat at counter service (we prefer to eat breakfast and dinner out of the parks and have a sit-down meal in the middle of the day when the crowds are heavy) so I don't have much experience with those meals!

I guess the lesson is, every restaurant is different! So we shouldn't be afraid to ask here before we go, and experiment while we're there!

Honestly, I think every CM is different. Some don't seem to care at all while others do.

I think this is more for the price fixe meals or if you want an adult portion of a kids option. No one typically cares if a 10 or 11 or 14 year old orders a kids meal at Carnation Cafe, if you ask for a larger portion they yes they'd do the double/double. Now when we went to Ariels' my 12 yr old niece ordered off the kids meal. They of course charged her as an adult, and brought her a double order of the kids mac n cheese.

Not in my experience. In fact a server at BB argued with me about DD15 (then 12) ordering from the kid's menu. She didn't want anything from the adult menu, at that point she wasn't too adventurous with food choices, she wanted the mac & cheese and she didn't want a double portion because she wouldn't eat it all. It took me saying that we would not order her anything for the server to say it was OK and then he tried to play it off like he would get into trouble for letting her order from the kid's menu. I would have just had her share with her sister but my youngest didn't want the mac & cheese and since it was her birthday meal I wasn't going to force her to eat sometihng she didn't want. When we eat at BB it isn't an "issue" as both girls love the Tri Tip so that's what they get.

I must have missed something, but what's the "double/double" rule? Up here, that's a coffee with two creams and two sugars

The double/double rule is ordering from the kid's menu but getting double the food for double the price. We were first informed of this option while dining at CO when DD15 was 13, she wanted the pasta from the kid's menu and the server let us know she could order it but it was supposed to be "double/double". At that time DD wouldn't eat that much so the server allowed her to order the single portion. Now that both girls are over 9 (well over) they are able to share a plate with no problems.

Lol, on our last trip, the kids' meal drink became a source of major contention. The plan was to save money on drinks by having everyone just drink their water from the bottles we carry with us. As many of us know, drinks at DLR can blow a food budget out of the water very quickly! But, the youngest ordered kids' meals everywhere we went, and the "THAT'S NOT FAIR WHY DOES SHE GET A DRINK?" bickering would begin.

You can chose to get a bottle of water or milk or juice for the drink, that's what we usually do if we don't get soda and someone gets a kid's meal. Or we get 2 large sodas and the girls share one and DBF and I share one.