strange question from mom of picky eater

[momjkm]

Or maybe not ( for a parent lol): have you ever brought CS food into a TS resutrant in disney?
background:
DS is 12, has mild aspergers and is very picky; With that said, I literally know what resturants serve the one food he eats: chicken tenders. We are planning a trip this June and our other 2 trips revolved around what resturants (TS) served these (it is very limited- only one place in Mk and one place in DHS Ts do).

I like a TS meal as a chance to sit, rest, eat, cool off during a summer trip.
I am really thinking of just ordering him fries and grapes? and myself a meal--- but as I am the only other person "eating" I feel self conscious.... but some places don't even have fries
I know--- I have completely lost it
Jill

 

[TDC Nala]

We had one report of a poster who called a restaurant (Garden Grill) and asked if they could bring in their own food from Sunshine Seasons - they (an adult) didn't want anything on the menu but the rest of the family wanted to eat there. Garden Grill said no. GG is a family style fixed price restaurant though. At all buffets or family style fixed price places, your son can't sit at the table without being charged for the meal, so you might want to stick with a la carte places. The best course might be to buy him his meal and have him eat it before you go to the restaurant, then when he is at the table with you, buy him a drink or fruit or a dessert so he isn't just sitting there.

 

[bangzoom6877]

Will he only eat chicken tenders, or are chicken nuggets ok too? I know there is a difference between the two and that could be very important to a child if they are used to one and not the other. I do recall chicken nuggets on the following TS dinner buffets:

-Boma at AK Lodge
-Crystal Palace at MK
-1900 Park Fare at Grand Floridian

The chicken nuggets were found in the section of the buffet for children. But anyone can get them off the buffet (many adults, including myself, took things from the child's section of buffets!). So those may be some options. You could always call individual restaurants where you would like to dine and ask them if they would arrange something. I have read many positive restaurant reviews that state that the chef made something special for their child (or even for an adult in the party) who could not find anything appealing on the regular menu. They seem to try to work with people for things like that. Enjoy your trip!

 

[momjkm]

Thanks--- he is ok with the different shapes-- -took a while but we have no issue with that. We did 1900 park fare and there were no chicken nuggets - and the "food court" there doesn't have them either---
But capt cooks does and when we went to Kona they got them for us despite them not being on the menu.
Boma we did and I loved-so no hardship there. Going to try the french resutrant at Epcot which seems to have chciken nugget and the capt grille at the yacht club. Le Cellier doesn't nor do any of the Mk resturants except for the Crystal Palace (there was a rumor about Tony's but I tried in January at the resturant itself and was told no);
I do think if a resort food court has them, you can get them (kona and wcc was successful)
thanks
Jill

 

[ChelleinNC]

Or maybe not ( for a parent lol): have you ever brought CS food into a TS resutrant in disney?
background:
DS is 12, has mild aspergers and is very picky; With that said, I literally know what resturants serve the one food he eats: chicken tenders. We are planning a trip this June and our other 2 trips revolved around what resturants (TS) served these (it is very limited- only one place in Mk and one place in DHS Ts do).

I like a TS meal as a chance to sit, rest, eat, cool off during a summer trip.
I am really thinking of just ordering him fries and grapes? and myself a meal--- but as I am the only other person "eating" I feel self conscious.... but some places don't even have fries
I know--- I have completely lost it
Jill

I'm not sure when your last trip was, but Disney changed the chicken tenders to nuggets last year. They're very similar, but not exactly the same. DD15 said she liked the tenders better, DS12 liked the new nuggets better than the old tenders Which leads me to believe they're exactly the same taste, just different shape

Just wanted to make sure you knew they had changed

 

[JESW]

Oh, I feel your pain! My ds14 is an Aspie and is sooooo picky in what he eats! One of the reasons we bought DVC is so that we can feed him at "home" so the rest of us can then go out to a "real" place to eat!

My ds likes pizza, but NOT the new stuff they have with the kids meal. He likes the pizza from the cart in EPCOT near Test Track. He will eat at The Land pavilion and get something like white rice. One of the weird things he will eat is the cheese platter at the different signature restaurants like California Grill. Bagels and cream cheese and plain white pasta with sauce on the side are a couple other things he likes. The kid is close to 6' tall and over 200 lbs. but you would never think that due to what he eats! (he would NEVER touch a chicken nugget...)

Good luck!

from another Jill.....

 

[ZeroToHero]

My brother also has mild aspergers and I remember that we brought him a little PB&J (that's all he would eat back then) with us. We didn't eat at buffets though, except for the Crystal Palace, and I think he ate some things there. We even brought PB&J to CS restaurants though. I still remember being at Pecos Bill's, and him eating his sandwich.

I would said call ahead if you want to, and ask. And then bring it anyway. If they give you a hard time about it, just explain. Will he have a GAC? You can always show them that. Disney is supposed to be accommodating...

 

[TillyMarigold]

There's an ongoing dining report now from a family who has one child with similar issues (among others), they've gotten her fries and fruit at every TS place.

 

[pudge the fish]

A GAC will not help for food- it's only good for rides, stairs etc..not used in restaurants

have you thought about calling the restaurants and explaining the problem.
I know many places can GET chicken nuggets if they are not on the menu, but you need notice

He CAN order a kids meal even if he is 12- they may charge him adult price and give him an adult sized portions- WDW is wonderful for special needs, but planning ahead helps A LOT!

 

[ZeroToHero]

A GAC will not help for food- it's only good for rides, stairs etc..not used in restaurants

have you thought about calling the restaurants and explaining the problem.
I know many places can GET chicken nuggets if they are not on the menu, but you need notice

He CAN order a kids meal even if he is 12- they may charge him adult price and give him an adult sized portions- WDW is wonderful for special needs, but planning ahead helps A LOT!

I didn't mean in the sense of getting him food, I meant in the sense of if a CM gives them a hard time about bringing food in, explain the situation, showing the GAC if needed, to prove you're not lying. I wasn't sure if it would help. We never had a problem with food, but I didn't know if it's changed since 2 years ago.

 

[bookwormde]

We have always found the WDW restaurants to be very accommodating to our DS Aspersers, in addition (really subtraction) to the standard limited “aspie” diet he is also a self professed vegetarian (who does not eat vegetable, except corn on the cob), we survive on French fries and grilled cheese sandwiches (which most of the restaurants seem to be a able to “conjure up” even when they are not on the menu).

Quite honestly if the restaurant could not accommodate your child’s needs I would be surprised if they objected if you “ran next door” (to a CS) to get something for him (actually think that this is where some of the items the restaurants got for our DS came from.)

bookwormde

 

[kaytieeldr]

There was very recently a similar thread (on, I think, the Community Board) - although the child was 'just' picky.

Pretty much, the consensus was that most restaurants will not allow outside food to be brought in and consumed by patrons, simply for health code reasons.

All you can do is ask. And get names (and titles) if the answer is yes.

 

[momjkm]

The kid is close to 6' tall and over 200 lbs. but you would never think that due to what he eats! (he would NEVER touch a chicken nugget...)

Good luck!

from another Jill.....[/QUOTE]


LOL... so get that! we went on a family cruise last year and that was more of a challenge- he will eat grapes, strawberries, apples and bananas- I was taking the strawberries they used to decorate platters of cheese, desserts ect for him


""There's an ongoing dining report now from a family who has one child with similar issues (among others), they've gotten her fries and fruit at every TS place."' Thanks I have been reading it....


I think I am going to branch out--- at least for lunchs--- I am tired of buffets (except boma )

Jill

 

[disnut8]

but some places don't even have fries
I know--- I have completely lost it
Jill

If the place has a kids meal, they will have fries, trust me. My husband will very frequently substitute fries for his side dish and he's never had a problem. It might not be listed on the menu but they have fries. Don't feel strange about asking for things that might not be on the menus. The servers are more than willing to work with you to get you what you want and will eat.

 

[disneyfan'08]

Turf Club at Saratoga Springs Resort has a buffalo chicken nuggets appetizer. You can order them without the buffalo sauce. I've done this many times. French fries are an available side dish.

 

[natebenma]

Last August, we brought a slice of pizza from Pizza Planet into the 50's PT. After a little bit of ribbing "What, you don't like Mom's cooking!?! it was fine. My son had really bad nausea during the trip- we were on the DxDP and he didn't want to be near food most of the time- we ended up cancelling a bunch of reservationsand ended up with leftover credits. The pizza was the only thing that sounded good to him.

 

[CarKey]

My friend brought chicken nuggets from the McDonalds CS at Epcot into Teppan Edo. Our lovely waitress brought her chopsticks and even offered to heat up the nuggets. Also, at Ohana her daughter sat with the rest of us at the table but did not eat and she was not charged. Bottom line, Disney is accomodating to families.

 

[momjkm]

WOW. thanks everyone--the last post about mcdonald's in Epcot made me smile as we found it by accident last July. We were on our way to an illuminations cruise (that I found to share on the DIS boards btw) and we had had dinner at 1900 park faire-- and there was no chicken tenders there--- despite menus I previewed said there were. He ate a roll and grapes and "water, no lemon please:". Anyway, I was upset and he said don't worry mommy, just enjoy yourself. It was a moment I will always treasure--- he may have issues with social cues ect but he is in tune with me (a little too much sometimes but that is another post lol)
thank you everyone Again,
Jill

ps we stopped and got chicken nuggets from that epcot area (before canada) and all was well....

 

[mimi'sgirl]

Last Nov. we had ressies @ Biergarten and my kids 3 and 5 would not eat any of the food. The waitress saw this and did not charge us. I did not get them plates but showed them what they had. She was very friendly and accomodating since they do not serve kids meals there in addition to the buffet. My ds is very picky (due to a speech problem) and I did bring snacks (crackers etc.) and a pbj sandwich in the restaurants. I think if you explain your situation when you are there they will be able to help you. Good luck.

 

[BuzzLightYear3]

My oldest DS, almost 16, is also very picky, but Disney has always been very accommodating. When he was around 12, they noticed he wasn't eating at O'Hanas, so they asked what he likes to eat (chicken fingers and fries) and brought it right out for him. Wasn't something I really wanted to encourage (he doesn't have Aspergers), but it was like a piece of "Disney Magic" for him!

I expect they will be very accommodating wherever you go....that's what makes it Disney!