Tips for eating a little healthier

[jefftm]

Hi guys we will be driving down and staying at POR. We have Crystal Palace, Whispering Canyon, Hoop de Doo and Chef Mickeys as our main breakfast/dinner places to eat. We are staying for 9 nights so that leaves alot of time we are probably using counter service as our other eating choices. Thats O.K. but I would like it if my kids were eating something other than chicken fingers (I didn't know chickens had fingers) hamburgers, hot dog and french fries. Of course it is hard to go up to counter service and then tell my kids they can't have those things. What I'm trying to figure is how can I give them some other options and break up the consumption of those other foods and not break the bank.Thanks for your help, Jeff alias the giant FRENCH FRY.

[Christine]

Counter service and table service menus are now catering to healthier fare for children.

For example, macaroni and cheese with grapes, cooked cubed chicken with cheese chunks and fruit, PB&J with vegetables and dip, etc, etc, etc.

You'll have plenty of options.

[MarkC]

You can also ask for a glass of ice water instead of ordering pop, as those are free. Milk is another option. A great option is that each park has an area that sell pieces of fruit for $1. If you can get them to fill up on that during a mid-day break, they won't be as hungry for fatty foods later. I still take advantage of that at my age (47).

[mook3y]

Also, for snacks, consider bringing in your own in. Every year, we pack a ziplock bag for each day of our trip with a variety of snacks. This also helps out a lot when waiting for a parade or when your in a longer line.

[snifflesmcg]

What's great is, you picked Crystal Palace and Chef Mickey's which are both buffets. They offer salads, fruit and fish. You can't get much healthier than that.

[Sylvia]

If you decide to get burgers, most CS locations offer carrots instead of fries.

And most CS locations offer healthy options.

[LibertyTreeGal]

I know that it is so frustrating! The food is either fried (chicken fingers) or almost pure carbohydrate (mac and cheese) or fatty (burgers) -- and all the sodas! Don't even think about the sodium content in all of that!

We use their CS for breakfast items, which are generally much healthier, and pay oop for healthier CS options for them (but that is hard considering that the adult options are generally pretty bad too, healthwise).

For instance, at Flame Tree we will often get something like the salad or the fruit plate for the boys to have along with some of the smoked chicken I order. We get milk or water for their drink instead of soda. One of my sons has spina bifida and so processed foods really mess up his digestive system! With the notable exception of Casey's Corner, we just are very careful and I plan all of our CS options ahead of time.

At Sunshine Seasons in Epcot, they will share some of the salmon platter as well as some of our food, but we generally do not do the kid's options.

Getting a couple of breakfast burritos or something in the morning with their CS credits gets them a lot more nutrition than any CS lunch the parks have to offer.

[psychotekkie]

When we went last year, I was worried about the limited kids' menus. But it ended up being no problem.

Just take some time to look into the menus, and you will find some good options in every park (for CS as well as TS). And I agree that the buffets are great because you can skip the kiddie area and give kids food from the adult buffet that includes all food groups.

enjoy!