Kids table service meals

[TikiGoddess]

Hi all,

I have two children who eat like birds. They are ages 6 and 8. When we go to a table service restaurant, we normally order each child a meal, and most of it goes uneaten. But it seems like them sharing a meal would be too little (plus they like different things).

So I'm brainstorming for our upcoming trip in July. If you have any experience in this area please share!

We are going to Crystal Palace (where this debate does not apply), 50's Prime Time, and Tokyo Dining.

1. Could we order separate items from the kids menu, rather than the entire meal? I noticed that most menus have a complete "appetizer-entree-dessert-drink" combo. My kids will usually only eat the entree.

2. If we do opt to share a kids meal (or an adult's meal) between the two of them, would the restaurant allow it, and perhaps even split it onto two plates?

3. Any other suggestions on how to feed two little birds?

Kathy

[mom2morgan]

I don't think you can order "parts' of a kid's meal - they usually do come "complete" and portions are pretty small. You certainly WOULD be allowed to order one and split (whether they'll put it on separate plates or just bring you a separate plate is going to vary from place to place). I do think, though, that the kids meals are really small for sharing, and that doesn't solve the problem of them liking different things. Could you maybe just order from the appetizer menu, or share off an adult's plate, or some combination like that? Also - are you paying out of pocket or using the dining plan? Have you looked at the menus ahead of time? If you aren't sure what these places serve, pm me and I'll help you out.

[TikiGoddess]

I'm thinking we can order one kids meal and then order a side of something. My youngest eats fruit like it's going out of style, so maybe I can get her a fruit salad and that plus the regular meal will be enough to share.

I have been looking at the menus, and no, we're not on the dining plan.

Thanks! Anyone else?
Kathy

[Janmac]

Lots of times we simply order a side from the adult menu - such as rice at San Angel Inn.

Or soup. Most of the younger ones in our extended family love soup. And they're slooooow eaters. We can ask for the soup to come out right away, this keeps them busy and they're done about the time we're done.

Or we'll order an appetizer from the adult menu for the younger ones.

At Marrakesh we tried the child's menu spaghetti for the 5 year old in our group but she wound up sharing her mom's shish kebabs instead. She loves spaghetti but we all forgot that she adores shish kebabs. Silly us. Finger food over spaghetti any day.

IF you happen to eat at Coral Reef, maybe have the kids share an appetizer, and order each of them a make it yourself sundae. This is such a fun thing. They get a scoop or two of ice cream and perhaps 3 little dishes of sprinkles, etc., to put on top. Good photo ops too.

Good luck.

Jan

[Mickey'sGirl]

Absolutely you can order things that way! (Don't know about Dining Plan stuff though, as we always pay OOP). The food choices for kids are so deplorable, we often order an adult appetizer and a side or something for our youngest son, as he can not live on cheese pizza and pasta for an entire vacation! I seem to remember that you can order items one by each off of the kid's menu, so that might solve your entre only dilemma. I also recall that fruit was a frequent appetizer choice, or at least part of the complete meal. Perhaps order the complete meal and let your one daughter have the entre, and the other enjoy the fruit, and then order something from the sides to complete the meal for her? We often mix and match our meals while dining out.

[jonahbear2006]

we have the same problem. We usually order a meal from the appetizer menu or the adults menu and have them share it. This also generally gets them something they want, instead of what they are "dealing" with. It just depends on where we are eating. Beaches and cream they are better off ordering an adult hamburger bc its about the same price, then we just order them water to drink, to make up the price difference. We have found that the disney waiters/waitresses generally dont mind when you get them something to share.

[Fastpasssteve]

Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom is a buffet. This may not be the best meal for light eaters. However, the character interaction there is wonderful, so I wouldn't skip it.

What you could do is to create on your computer at home two score cards for your kids. It could have two columns: one for how many characters they met during the meal, and another column tallying the number of different foods they tried at Crystal Palace. That way, it would seem like a game.

[BrerGnat]

Since you're not on the dining plan, you can pretty much order whatever you want for your kids. You can get them kids meals, or just side items, or order from the regular menu. Whatever. You're paying for it.

We found the kid's meals at WDW were pretty small. Sharing one is probably not really going to work for older kids (it would probably work if the kids were under 5).

We also found that sometimes, they can make items a bit differently than they are presented on the menu. For example, my son wanted mac and cheese at Kona Cafe, but they only had Mickey ravioli with marinara sauce. The waitress said she'd bring him something closer to mac and cheese. She had the chef serve the mickey ravioli with a bunch of melted mozzarella and parmesan on it, and put the sauce in a little cup on the side. So, he got to have "cheesy pasta". He was happy with that.

Most kids meals also come with the option of fruit or veggie/salad as a side in lieu of fries or another starchy item. It's in the "fine print", but often not listed on online menus.

Also, remember that you can always get the kids snacks of fruit, veggies, etc. in the parks between meals. Our boys loved Epcot for that. We'd get an empanada here, an eggroll there, etc.