what do you do with your picky eater?

[ebtbmom]

Does anyone else think it's insane that Disney considers kids to be "adults" at 10 years old???

I am wanting to book some table service meals for our Jan trip, but there's nothing for DS to order from the adult menu, what do I do? Do they strictly hold to the 9yr old rule, how will they know if he's 9 or 11? I'm not trying to be cheap, he's still a pizza/chicken nuggets kind of guy. He will order steak, but he ordered it so much on our last WDW trip that he was sick of it by day 4.

I'm looking at BB, WCT, and AG as possibilities. How is the Steakhouse at DL hotel?

 

[Mugglemama]

i have an 11 year old picky eater as well, and there's no way i'd bother with a pricier restaurant at DLR, because there are so few things he'll eat. we just stick to burgers and chicken nuggets while there, bring in our own food, or we leave and eat meals off site (usually the better choice, IMO).

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Go to allears.net. They have menus for every restaurant at DL and the hotels. You can go through them and only make reservations at the places your DS will eat. We haven't had a problem ordering off the kid's menu for our older picky kids. Sometimes we just order side dishes that they will eat. For example, my older son will always eat a peanut butter sandwich and fries. If they don't have PB on the menu, I'll order two plain pieces of bread and then use Jif Singles that I carry in my purse. That plus a side of fries is fine for him. And sometimes, the restaurant will have an adult portion of chicken nuggets that you can order if they won't allow you to order off the kid's menu. Definitely look through all of the menus first and decide which places are worth going to for your family.

 

[disneylove69]

Your 10 year old can order from the kids meny. They don't have strict rules.

 

[lattemomof3]

DD10 is the tallest in her class, but they still just handed her a kids menu at every place we ate in DLR and she ordered from it. They never asked her age and we did'nt supply them w/ the info!

 

[pixiewings71]

DD13 still orders from the kids' menus at certain places, it's not a problem. Just let them know he doesn't want anything from the adult menu and you're fine. We do this regularly for DD13, and we will do it for DD9 when she turns 10 in just a few days. Also, when we have done this for DD13 the server has let us know that we can order anything for anyone off the kids' menu and it's "double the portion for double the price". Just something to remember. Tell them your DS is 10 when you make the PS arrangements and just ask the server for a kids' menu if you need one.

 

[laranol]

that they would challenge you if you just order off the kid menu. My "kid" is 16 -- she's petite at 5'2 but definitely looks finished growing -- and they still generally give her a kid menu wherever we go. When she drives herself to the restaurant, she probably doesn't need the kid menu... but she handles it with grace. Unlike the 13 yr old boy who takes it personally. We've always had the opposite issue, both kids are "foodies" with very adventurous tastes (carpaccio? escargot? exotic veggies? yum! sushi, indian, thai, everyday) and were refusing the kid menu at 4. we did very well with split plates, which DL never had a problem with. now that the 13 yr old is vegetarian, it's a little trickier but still no real problem although we have to make sure we have at least one "real restaurant" like BB per day at DL since some of the veggie options at counter service are less-than-hearty.

 

[cccdisney]

The only places that will require you to pay for an "adult" meal will be the buffets or all-you-can-eat places such as Celebration Round-up.

 

[dislaney]

They've always let my child order off the kid's menu. It was not a problem at all.

 

[moikturtle]

I haven't found them to be strict about the ages for meals at all. My brother is 22 years old and he's fairly limited in what he's willing to eat and they've never had a problem letting him order of the kid's menu anywhere, even at the Blue Bayou. So I doubt they'll be strict about a ten year old. At counter service places they don't ever ask or care about who is getting the meal (in fact I've ordered a kid's meal a few times from places like Hungry Bear simply because I don't want a ton of food). At sit-down restaurants they've been fairly accommodating for him. I'd recommend that you just ask for a child's menu for up front...if they ask questions just let them know that there is nothing on the adult menu your child will eat and the adult menu items have too much food.

I really wish that Disneyland CA would take on a great idea I saw while at Disneyland Paris. They have a child's menu and they have an adult menu, but then they also have a "teen" menu for like ages 10-15 I think. It's just enough, but not too much and the price is reasonable. My brothers both LOVED having that option. It made them feel special and they got just enough of the kinds of foods that appealed to them.

 

[cruise cruise cruise]

taking this to a completely different spot, with my pickey kids (who are not yet 10) I pack PBand J, cheese sticks and grapes and they eat them before we go into the restraunt. Then while DH and I eat dinner they eat icecream or some sort of dessert.

 

[ebtbmom]

taking this to a completely different spot, with my pickey kids (who are not yet 10) I pack PBand J, cheese sticks and grapes and they eat them before we go into the restraunt. Then while DH and I eat dinner they eat icecream or some sort of dessert.

I had actually considered doing this, but (and I hate to admit that DS is this high maintenance) he won't eat a PB&J if it's been prepared for a while because he says the bread gets too soggy. I can't even get him to agree to take one in his lunch box.

I like the idea of having a "teen" menu that one poster mentioned. I feel that sometimes Disney doesn't try to take care of this age group very much, honestly DS is not very excited about going back this time! He's going to miss Disney Quest, that's usually his favorite thing.

 

[rpezz]

Luv Bunnies - I really love the idea of just ordering bread and taking along some Jif singles. I think I will do that when we go to Cafe Orleans for lunch. I doubt they would have anything he would eat.

Thanks a bunch