2 disney food/rest questions

[ProudGrandma]

1) we are on the meal plan (1 snack, 1 quick serve and 1 sit down a day, per person)....if the rest. offers a kid meal do the kids HAVE to pick from it? My kids dont always like "kid meal" food. And a related question...what is the age for the kid meals....up to age 12? 10? etc.

 

2) if we wanted to know what evening while we were there that we could make reservations for the Ohana were available, is there an easy way to find that out, or do I have to type in each and every night one at a time?

[Jennifer in MI]

1) we are on the meal plan (1 snack, 1 quick serve and 1 sit down a day, per person)....if the rest. offers a kid meal do the kids HAVE to pick from it? My kids dont always like "kid meal" food. And a related question...what is the age for the kid meals....up to age 12? 10? etc.

 

LOL! I'm just following you around here today! (Actually I'm putting off going out for a run!) Ages 10 and up are considered adults and can order off the adult menu. A little-known secret is that at the Counter Service restaurants don't differentiate between children and adult meals. So, your child (you have an 8 yo - right?) can order an adult meal there. But, at the sit-down places they are quite strict about it. Usually there is one child choice that isn't a traditional child menu item. My nephew ordered fish and rice and veggies at one sit down place!

2) if we wanted to know what evening while we were there that we could make reservations for the Ohana were available, is there an easy way to find that out, or do I have to type in each and every night one at a time?

 

When I have a bunch of reservations to make, I call the Disney Dining number. They can do it faster than I can. I would love it if they had a way to do what you are saying! I'll keep an eye on this thread to see if anyone has figured it out!

[ProudGrandma]

my 8 year old will be bummed if he is forced into a meal he won't like too much...however, we were told that the portions were usually pretty large at the sit down places, yes?....can he eat off our plates??

 

thanks for the suggestion of the disney dining number....when we figure out what where we want to eat, I will use that number.

[Starr]

I would order the kids meal if I had to and share it around and let him have some of the adult food as well. Just let him know ahead of time. It will all work out and be fun and delicious!

[melissad2]

We ordered adult meals for the kiddos at the quick serve places and we all pretty much shared. My kids don't eat kid food :D

[ProudGrandma]

We ordered adult meals for the kiddos at the quick serve places and we all pretty much shared. My kids don't eat kid food :D

 

yeah, my kids don't eat kid food either...we went out for a nice meal once and my one son (10)ordered swordfish (never had it before, but he wanted to try it), my 8 year old ordered shrimp and my daughter (12) who is never as adventurous had a chicken wrap (but it was not a kid sort of wrap however). So ordering chicken fingers, mac and cheese and little hot dogs are just not on our radar.

[DianeW88]

I think Disney has changed the "kid" age to under 9. Double check on that by calling them. But yes, they are strict about it at TS restaurants, because you paid for kid dining on your dining plan, not adult. I've even known them to be strict on it at QS restaurants....it depends on the CM who's serving you and how busy it is. And yes, unfortunately the kid choices are fairly dismal. Chicken nuggets, pb&j, mac 'n cheese, a hamburger or pizza. I know several folks who have upgraded their kiddos to the adult dining plan, just so they don't have to eat the kid food for every single meal for a week. Disney meal portions are very generous for adult food, for kids, I'd say they're average.

 

We've gotten "meals" with our snack credits before, especially at breakfast. Main St. Bakery in the MK is a great place to do this. And snack credits are not divided up by age...your kid can get whatever he wants.

[Mom in High Heels]

1) we are on the meal plan (1 snack, 1 quick serve and 1 sit down a day, per person)....if the rest. offers a kid meal do the kids HAVE to pick from it? My kids dont always like "kid meal" food. And a related question...what is the age for the kid meals....up to age 12? 10? etc.

 

It can depend. We went in April and Indy was 9, but they let him order off the adult menu, and at buffets it doesn't matter. If your kids don't want what's on the kid menu, you can ask if they'll make smaller portions of something different. At the quick service it doesn't matter since they don't really count the type of meal, just meals used at the QS. I'm not a fan of most of the QS places, but the one in The Land at EPCOT is really good, IMO.

 

2) if we wanted to know what evening while we were there that we could make reservations for the Ohana were available, is there an easy way to find that out, or do I have to type in each and every night one at a time?

 

Call Disney Dining! We went for 10 days once and I nearly went nuts trying to figure out our meals. I finally gave up and called and we had it all settled in less than 45 minutes. They can easily check to see what days have availability at certain restaurants. Chip N Dale's Garden Grill (also in The Land at Epcot) is one of our favorite sit down restaurants. They serve family style, meaning they bring some of everything to the table and will bring more of whatever, and most of the food is grown in the greenhouse down stairs. The restaurant rotates (slowly!) and for dinner, IIRC, there are characters. You can take the boat ride through the gardens before dinner, which is a nice way to wind down before eating. You can also pay to take a private tour of the gardens, where you get to actually walk through them, which is fascinating! Our guide was awesome. IIRC he was an ag student at UoF. It's amazing how much Disney does with experimental farming! They work with hydroponics and cropping in desert areas, to help people in arid areas and stacked gardening to save space. It was one of our favorite tours. Plus you get to see how the pumpkins and cucumbers get their "ears."

 

 

HTH!

[rjand6more]

We choose TS restaurants that have "adult-like" kids meals. Le Cellier is one of them. Kids can get steaks, cheese soup, chocolate moose(their signature meal) The menu says it is an upcharge, but we did not have to pay the difference. We also try out buffets and family style meal restaurants. You can view sample menus at allears.

 

The last time we went -in Dec during the free dining-the CM's at the QS were VERY strict on the number of kids meals. The card has the info on the back and they would only allow that many of meals(you could order less, sometimes our kids shared a meal) Our card said 3 adults, 3 kids. That's what we could order. I guess they may be less picky about it when there is not a free dining offer??

 

I remember the days when the dining plan was awesome!! Tips included, appetizers, kids could order adult menu meals...

[OrganicAnn]

We weren't on a meal plan, but we enjoyed the buffet restaurants. I can't remember the names, but there are several.

[Jeannie in NJ]

Disney is great about letting customers share meals. OUr Dec. 2010 trip we had free dining and dd and I shared all our meals, a couple of places actually would divide our meals in the kitchen and bring it to us on 2 plates so it looked like 2 meals, especially since the portions are so large. Another benefit of this was that instead of only having 1 table service and 1 quick service per day we actually had extra meals so usually not only did we have table service at night but we ate every breakfast at either Grand Floridian Cafe or Kona Cafe at Polynesian which are both table service credits. We also got to eat at a couple of double credit really nice places. Disney does not care how many credits you use each day , you have a total for your entire stay which includes full credits for the day you arrive ,no matter how late, and the day you leave, no matter how early. Our last morning, our waiter at breakfast found out we had about 7 quick service credits left so he went in the kitchen, made up 7 fantastic sandwiches all wrapped up for the airplane, 7 brownies and 7 bottles of water (our choice for drink) for us to take to the airport. Our flight was delayed for HOURS, every food place had closed at the airport but we had tons to eat thanks to Disney cast member.

[besroma]

kfeusse,

 

As I mentioned in a previous post, we will be at WDW at the same time.

 

I have some reservations that I will be changing closer to our trip (including 'Ohana).

 

I could pm you and let you know when I am cancelling mine if you are interested.

 

Home you get what you want! The only dining times at O'hana that I have seen open up in the last few weeks have been 9:20 slots.

 

Also, be careful about following the traditional "Go to this park on this day of the week" for this particular week. The combination of the Halloween party and the Food and Wine Festival puts a different spin on park planning.

Edited August 12, 2012 by besroma

[hana]

I was surprised to see people's comments about the kids' menus, as I didn't remember them being too "childish," so I looked at the child's menu for Raglan Road (the last restaurant we ate at):

 

Little Big Burger - sirloin beef burger, char grilled, topped with Wexford vintage cheddar $7

Gold'n Chicken - Two deep-fried chicken goujons $7

Dalkey Duo - Dalkey battered cocktail sausages, with a Dalkey mustard dipping sauce $7

Atlantic Fish - Fresh Atlantic fish deep fried in a crispy batter $8

Crispy Shrimp - Succulent deep fried shrimp $9

Macaroni and Cheese - macaroni pasta with Dubliner cheese $7

You have a choice of one of the following with the dishes listed above. Garden Vegetables, Fresh Salad with Ranch Dressing, Mashed Potato or Irish Chips

Young Shepherd's Pie - Traditional Shepherd's Pie with our contemporary twist to this favorite dish $8

Ice Cream - Vanilla ice cream with butterscotch sauce $3

 

 

Definitely child-friendly, but there are several things there I would eat, and I'm rather finicky.

[DianeW88]

Here's a couple links to menus for kids (9 and under):

 

Liberty Tree Tavern lunch (MK): http://allears.net/menu/men_lttk.htm

 

Kona Cafe in the Poly: http://allears.net/menu/menu_kck.htm

 

Rose & Crown in the UK in Epcot (great place to watch Illuminations): http://allears.net/menu/menu_rck.htm

 

Les Chefs de France in Epcot (make a ressie for lunch and see Remy): http://allears.net/menu/men_cdfk.htm

 

San Angel Inn in Mexico Pavilion (great atmosphere): http://allears.net/menu/men_mek.htm

 

Tutto Italia (Italy Pavilion in Epcot): http://allears.net/menu/menu_itk.htm

 

Via Napoli (also the Italy pavilion): http://allears.net/menu/menu_viakid.htm

 

'50s Primetime Cafe (Hollywood Studios): http://allears.net/menu/men_ptck.htm

 

The Hollywood Brown Derby (Hollywood Studios 2 TS credits): http://allears.net/menu/menu_bdk.htm

 

Hope that gives you an idea of what's on the kid's menus. Some are better than others.

[Jennifer in MI]

As others have said, YES! Get your sit down reservations!

 

It sounds like you know the dates you'll be at each park. So, plan meals around that. At this point be willing to accept weird times.

 

Here are some of our favorite places to eat at each park:

 

Magic Kingdom - we leave the park and eat at O'Hanna (Polynesian), California Grill (Contemporary), Whispering Canyon (Wilderness Lodge). Any of the restaurants at any of those resorts would be easy to get to on monorail or boat. We ate AT the park a couple times, but we aren't fond of the restaurants here for sit down.

 

Epcot - SOOOOOO many to choose from. We love Coral Reef (wait for a table by the aquarium). Le Cellier is great, but it's TWO meal credits for dinner. See if you can get in at lunch time. I think it's only one credit still for lunch. We've also eaten at Marakesh. We are split on that one. My boys were TOTALLY embarassed by the belly dancer. My meal was really really bland. The others loved it! I liked Mexico's sit down place. Dh was mixed.

 

Animal Kingdom. I love going here because when we go, it closes early and we can do a dinner at resorts. So, we do Boma that night. Or O'Hana's if we can't do that on our MK day. (As a side - do Flame Tree barbecue for TS that day!!! Our family split four meals for the SIX of us. And, my two older boys eat a LOT!!!!)

 

Hollywood Studios - Another one we usually leave the park for dinner. On our next trip, however, we are booked at Mama Melrose and then for priority seating for Fantasmic. I know MM isn't the best, but in all our years of going to Disney, we've NEVER been to Fantasmic!!!

 

On our next trip, we're trying a few different restaurants. I'll let you know when we get back. We're trying Tappan Edo in Epcot. Portobellos in Downtown Disney. And Kouzzina on the Boardwalk. I read good things about all of them!

 

Another thought - if you decide to do a sit down meal that costs you two credits find the places where you can split your Table Service meals and eat those for lunch and dinner one day. We've done that before too. There are a LOT of places where you can split meals. Just ask us!!! We'll help!

 

I hope this helps! I usually plan my meals first based on availability. THEN, I plan which days we'll be at which parks.

[Dolphin]

My kids loved Coral Reef at epcot, they both got salmon with rice and veg.

 

Liberty Tavern in the MK was good for dinner. It was family style, and just nice plain food. Mac and cheese(homemade type not kraft), Turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, green beans etc....

 

If they have a kids option and they are a kid they have to order from the kids menu, they were pretty strict about that. We found that there was usually one 'grown up" type food on the kids menu, usually salmon. My kids love salmon, so they were good.

[ProudGrandma]

I was surprised to see people's comments about the kids' menus, as I didn't remember them being too "childish," so I looked at the child's menu for Raglan Road (the last restaurant we ate at):

 

Little Big Burger - sirloin beef burger, char grilled, topped with Wexford vintage cheddar $7

Gold'n Chicken - Two deep-fried chicken goujons $7

Dalkey Duo - Dalkey battered cocktail sausages, with a Dalkey mustard dipping sauce $7

Atlantic Fish - Fresh Atlantic fish deep fried in a crispy batter $8

Crispy Shrimp - Succulent deep fried shrimp $9

Macaroni and Cheese - macaroni pasta with Dubliner cheese $7

You have a choice of one of the following with the dishes listed above. Garden Vegetables, Fresh Salad with Ranch Dressing, Mashed Potato or Irish Chips

Young Shepherd's Pie - Traditional Shepherd's Pie with our contemporary twist to this favorite dish $8

Ice Cream - Vanilla ice cream with butterscotch sauce $3

 

 

Definitely child-friendly, but there are several things there I would eat, and I'm rather finicky.

 

my kids would eat from this menu too. Thanks for that.

[The girl next door]

Yes, try O'hana (family style) or the buffets so the kids aren't limited to a kids menu. At most of the table service restaurants they will be restricted to the kids menu.