TS Kids Menu Issues

[purple figment]

Since you'll have 3 people on the adult dining plan, that will include 3 apps, 3 entrees and 3 desserts. We found the DxDDP to be a lot of food and could easily be shared with a 4th person. Perhaps your 7 year old could have one of the apps as his entree - such as the California Roll you mentioned at Cali Grill. He could also share entrees (e.g. with someone ordering the curry at Jiko for example.)

Therre's no guarantee that any restaurant will downsize an adult portion because then it starts down the slippery slope of doing it for picky eaters, adults with small appetites, etc. for a reduced price. If you want to ensure that he can order from the adult menu, you can age him up to 10 as others have said, but that will be an additional expense.

At best, you can ask, but be prepared to share your meals. Not too difficult as I mentioned since you'll be getting a lot of food.

 

[jcemom]

We've never had a problem getting DD something interesting and filling enough at TS restaurants. (CS kids meals are another story -- tiny and boring.)

Where are you planning to eat -- the 1 TS places?

At AK: Tusker House is a buffet

At HS: 50's Prime Time has kids meatloaf that comes with an appetizer, Mama Melrose has kids chicken parm that comes with an app

At Epcot: Biergarten is a buffet, Garden Grill is family-style all-you-care-to-eat, Coral Reef has kids Mahi Mahi that comes with an app, Chefs de France has kids flounder, Rose and Crown has bangers and mash, Tutto Italia has spaghetti, Le Cellier has steak and cheese soup

At MK: Crystal Palace is a buffet, Liberty Tree has turkey or bbq chicken for lunch and dinner is family-style all-you-care-to-eat, The Plaza has sandwiches

Etc. While they may not have multiple "interesting" options at each meal, there is at least one.

 

[LilyWDW]

Honestly, either upgrade the child to 10 or don't do the dining plan. The dining plan doesn't work for everyone and it doesn't have to be made to work for everyone. If you don't like the restrictions then don't do it.

 

[momof3ds]

We just got back and did deluxe dining, at Le Celier, our 3 kids were able to order from the regular menu for their entire meal.

 

[sammyjo1871]

We are doing 3 signatures and 5 buffets (inc Akershus) but have chosen to upgrade our dd's (7 & 8) because they too rarely eat nuggets/burgers and they would run a mile with PB&J or mac n cheese! We have free dining so we only paid the difference between the child and adult ticket which is so worth it for us.

The CM we spoke to said that lots of people chose to upgrade.

This is something I never realized was possible. You can upgrade the dining plan from child to adult as long as you're willing to pay the difference? I can see how this would be quite expensive for parents with more than one child, but it's a nice option. We only do the regular dining plan and my son wants the adult options at CS as well as TS meals.

 

[clsteve]

We just got back and did deluxe dining, at Le Celier, our 3 kids were able to order from the regular menu for their entire meal.

Wow, that's encouraging. Were all of them on the Kid's Plan?

 

[Secretselkie]

This. You end up having to upgrade his tickets to the adult ticket and also pay the difference in dining plan. From what people say it's usually worth the price difference.

It is costing us £276 extra for adult rather than child ticket, and the cost of the upgrade of our dining plan from QSDP to DDP for another adult rather than a child... but, I worked out that because of the ability to be more flexible with CS credits it will actually save us £300+

I guess it will always depend what amount/type of food you know your child will eat and also where/how you plan to use the credits... For us it's a good way to do it

 

[Geordietyke]

To upgrade our tickets (14 day Ultimate UK ones) from 2 child to 2 adult ones, only cost us $85 (which is amazing as it's for 18 nights of DDP!), it then allows us 4 adult CS at a time (if we want to) and all those yummy choices at TS for our daughters.

We only learned we could upgrade from this forum

 

[no capes darling]

That is one of the reasons we always did buffets more choices for the kiddos.

This is what we did before hitting the "adult" age. I'm glad to be done with buffets/family style nearly every meal, but having a kid that happily eats nearly anything, it made it way less frustrating for that short timeframe.

 

[Mommy2Jameson]

That is one of the reasons we always did buffets more choices for the kiddos.

I agree that buffets are a great solution! That way everyone can get whatever they want and try everything!

 

[Mommy2Jameson]

This is something I never realized was possible. You can upgrade the dining plan from child to adult as long as you're willing to pay the difference? I can see how this would be quite expensive for parents with more than one child, but it's a nice option. We only do the regular dining plan and my son wants the adult options at CS as well as TS meals.

Yes, you can "up" your child's age, but if I remember correctly, you have to upgrade their park tickets as well? Like they update the age on the reservation so you cant have an adult meal plan and child park tickets.

 

[gtpoohbear]

this is exactly what we are doing.. my DD will also be 9.5 when we go but we have put her on the booking as 10... this will give us more flexibility with the DDP credits and also mean that her and our other DD(4) can effectively share one adult and one child meal between them at TS meals which should mean they can get something they like ...

Like other people I am not happy about the junk they seem to consider acceptable for children for what is the main meal of their day

My dilemma with whether or not to upgrade is that both of my kids are actually just under a cutoff - or will be. DD will be 9.5, DS will be 2.5. To upgrade both of them (+ ticket upgrades) would be about $1000 for the 7 night stay.

Sure it would be nice to have more choices and not have to worry about sharing. But not sure that it's $1000 nice, kwim? Of course, I could just upgrade one of them, but then which one, and is that fair, yada, yada.

If by chance we got free dining I'd do it in a heartbeat, (but that't not likely in April) otherwise we'll probably just make do this one last time. After all, part of our reasoning for going in April was that it would be a lot cheaper than waiting until after their birthdays in Aug/Sep. Most everywhere we will eat does have one token "good" choice on the kid's menu, but it kind of takes away the whole "choice" concept.

 

[Mommy2Jameson]

My dilemma with whether or not to upgrade is that both of my kids are actually just under a cutoff - or will be. DD will be 9.5, DS will be 2.5. To upgrade both of them (+ ticket upgrades) would be about $1000 for the 7 night stay.

Sure it would be nice to have more choices and not have to worry about sharing. But not sure that it's $1000 nice, kwim? Of course, I could just upgrade one of them, but then which one, and is that fair, yada, yada.

If by chance we got free dining I'd do it in a heartbeat, (but that't not likely in April) otherwise we'll probably just make do this one last time. After all, part of our reasoning for going in April was that it would be a lot cheaper than waiting until after their birthdays in Aug/Sep. Most everywhere we will eat does have one token "good" choice on the kid's menu, but it kind of takes away the whole "choice" concept.

I took my son when he was 2.5 y/o. We did lots of buffets and he was able to get his own plate and eat what he wanted. I did order him a kids meal at 2 TS places. One place charged me, which was what I expected. At Askerhaus, she did not charge me. I was happily surprised.

For QS, most of the adult meals were large enough that he shared with me without any issues. I would get fruit for dessert each time which he would eat.

There is a lot of good information on the Disney Food Blog. I don't think i'm allowed to post a link, but if you search:

Disney Dining Plan FAQs: Kids and the Disney Dining Plan

you should find it easily!
It tells you exactly what is and isn't allowed with the various ages and meal plans!

 

[scojos]

we upgraded our dd who was 8, and was the est decision ever!
i wouldnt upgrade the 3 yrold, just upgrade ur eldest and they can share... its alot of food....

 

[jcemom]

My dilemma with whether or not to upgrade is that both of my kids are actually just under a cutoff - or will be. DD will be 9.5, DS will be 2.5. To upgrade both of them (+ ticket upgrades) would be about $1000 for the 7 night stay.

Sure it would be nice to have more choices and not have to worry about sharing. But not sure that it's $1000 nice, kwim? Of course, I could just upgrade one of them, but then which one, and is that fair, yada, yada.

If by chance we got free dining I'd do it in a heartbeat, (but that't not likely in April) otherwise we'll probably just make do this one last time. After all, part of our reasoning for going in April was that it would be a lot cheaper than waiting until after their birthdays in Aug/Sep. Most everywhere we will eat does have one token "good" choice on the kid's menu, but it kind of takes away the whole "choice" concept.

I agree with the others. Don't upgrade the little one. The difference in cost between a child ticket an an adult ticket isn't much. The difference between no ticket and a child ticket is a lot. Upgrade the older child if you want to, and pay out of pocket for whatever the little one wants -- buffets will be free. That will be less expensive than paying for another park ticket.

 

[carrie6466]

We opted not to do the ddp this year. One of the reasons is that DD 9, doesn't like WDW chicken nuggets, pizza, mac n cheese or pb & j. Last year, she ordered a kids meal at every meal and then shared with DH and I and the kids meal just went to waste.

This year we got AP's and are going to try TiW and see how that works out for us.

Makes me glad to see that she's not the only kid that doesn't like the kids meals

 

[Hopefully]

Great suggestions, thanks much. DD10 will already be on the adult DxDDP, so I think we will go with DD7 on the kids, unfortunately, and share our meals around. for a 10 day stay, it's a significant enough increase in price and we also don't like wasting food (all adult meal portions might be too much for DD7 for 10 days).

But, I am going to try to see if the chef(s) will accomodate us on a few meals by asking if they'll put together a kids sized portion of the regular menu for us. It can't hurt to try and I'll give feedback on the forums to let everyone know if we had any success. I'm hoping some of the resort restaurants might be a little more open to the idea....

Since there seems to be quite a few of us in the same situation, if anyone else tries this before we go in November, I would love to hear how it went and which restaurants were open to the idea.

Thanks again everyone!

I agree with a PP. It seems that the DxDDP isn't going to work for your family. If you are paying OOP, you can order whatever you want for them, where ever you are.
I agree you can ask the chefs to "work with you", but I certainly wouldn't expect a positive response. I don't see why you expect them to prepare a childs size of an adult entree for you.
I guess like lots of things in life "it is what it is" and if it isn't right for your family, you don't have to buy it.
Good Luck.

 

[jessica23]

I agree with a PP. It seems that the DxDDP isn't going to work for your family. If you are paying OOP, you can order whatever you want for them, where ever you are.
I agree you can ask the chefs to "work with you", but I certainly wouldn't expect a positive response. I don't see why you expect them to prepare a childs size of an adult entree for you.
I guess like lots of things in life "it is what it is" and if it isn't right for your family, you don't have to buy it.
Good Luck.

Exactly. You aren't being forced to purchase the plan. You can just not do it and not have the issue anymore as you can order whatever your want then

 

[vinotinto]

I have read many reports, and I have not seen anyone been successful at getting a kid-size portion of an adult entree, but I don't think you necessarily will need to go that route. Is this your first time going to WDW with the DxDP? If so, you will find that the amount of food that you will get with the 2 adults and 1 child as adult, each getting an adult app + entree, will more than supplement the 7-year old's meal. There's plenty to share. We are 2 adults and 2 kids and, for example, when we go to Cali Grill, we order sushi as an app and there's plenty of sushi to share with the 2 kids, as the portions are that big.

BUT, it does not hurt to ask if there are any other choices for kids. Speaking of Marrakesh, we were offered veggie couscous as a meal for a child, even though it wasn't in the "official" menu. It's basically the same veggie couscous. I think things like soups and stews - they have them already cooked for the adults - they can easily put a smaller quantity on a plate. But, things that have to be cooked-to-order, they are limited to what is on the menu. Remember all the food is already prepped and cut to portions. It's not just that portioning off the already prepped ingredients is hard, it's also time-consuming for the kitchen to do it mid-way through service. In the Signatures, the presentations can be elaborate, so portioning off a smaller amount can be challenging.

Some of the restaurants have had meal for the kids in the kids menu that are very similar to what they offer the adults. We've eaten at all of the following, so I'll try to showcase some of the choices that we saw that were not just chicken fingers type of food:

1) Angel Inn - 'kids' tacos entree choices were identical to adults' taco choices. App was a fresh spinach salad. Portions were huge. Food was very authentic.
2) Coral Reef - Kids' Mahi Mahi was pretty good. There was also a fish of the day.
3) Tusker House lunch buffet - Kids can choose from anything on the buffet and there were some great choices (salmon, samosas, salads, etc.).
4) Biergarten - Kids can choose from anything in the buffet and there were some good choices as well.
5) Marrakesh - As I said previously, we were offered veggie couscous.
6) LTT - Turkey with mashed potatoes - same stuff they serve the adults.
7) Kouzzina - Greek lasagna, fish of the day.
8) Sanaa - grilled fish with pilaf.
9) Signatures - All of them have a grilled steak or grilled chicken or grilled fish. The fruit salads are wonderful, not just the sad melon and grape cups everywhere, but chunks of real fruit - berries, pineapple, etc.

If after looking through these choices, it does not look like this will fit your 7-year old's eating habits, I would simply cancel the DxDP. At over $250 per day for your family, you can go to each restaurant you want to eat in and order what you want for your family and you probably will not spend that much. The DxDP is great when you have a party of real adults or adults + children under 10 and are going to some character meals/fixed price restaurants, but for a family that has adults and Disney Juniors going to Signatures and non-buffet TS, it seems to me that it is less value. Your choices for the child are limited and you are basically buyinga huge amount of food in advance.

 

[clsteve]

I agree with a PP. It seems that the DxDDP isn't going to work for your family. If you are paying OOP, you can order whatever you want for them, where ever you are.
I agree you can ask the chefs to "work with you", but I certainly wouldn't expect a positive response. I don't see why you expect them to prepare a childs size of an adult entree for you.
I guess like lots of things in life "it is what it is" and if it isn't right for your family, you don't have to buy it.
Good Luck.

You're missing the point of my original premise and question. The DxDDP DOES work for the family. I've run the spreadsheets and have done very careful comparisons of the menus and price points. It is a significant savings fo us and fits our family eating habits. An early TS lunch followed by a later signature dinner is how we usually vacation.

However, many seem to be underwhelmed by the kids menus (offerings and healthiness) and I've never been an "is what it is" person. If the price point is the same, asking to substitute an adult appetizer (using the french onion soup at Le Chefs de France as an example) or a child's portion of the curry with rice (since it's already prepped) at Sanaa, I don't think is that out-of-the box, unusual, difficult, or cost prohibitive for what are considered upscale restaurants. I would not ask or expect them to child-size a filet. We've done this with no issues at establishments all over the globe.

The DISboards are replete with wonderful stories of accomodating CM's in all other areas of WDW. Why does the DDP need to be "it is what it is" if it's an apples to apples switch to their bottom line?