New kids menu across WDW

[jaysue]

According to allearsnet

http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/menu_ddpkids.htm

Disney rolling out generic kids menu across property:

Being Rolled out all over Walt Disney World

For Ages 9 and Under
Served with choice of kid's juice, milk or soft drink

Pita Pizza - with diced chicken and mozzarella cheese, served with shredded vegetable salad and brown-sugar apples $7.49

Just Dip It - assorted fruits, vegetables, chicken salad and yogurt $7.49

Chicken Strips - served with barbecue sauce, sweet potato sticks, green beans, carrots and yogurt parfait $7.49

Kid's Picks - choice of one appetizer, one entree and one dessert:

Appetizers: Vegetable Salad OR Chicken Noodle Soup
Entrees: Macaroni and Cheese OR Spaghetti and Meatballs
Desserts: Fruit Salad OR Ice Cream Sundae

Well the food choices are healthier no doubt about that - I just wish they had left well enough alone at some of the restaurants where they have kid sized portions of the adult entrees

Cheers
Jason

:grouchodi

[tjkraz]

This is ridiculous. :burningma

Accurate or not, it gives me another reason to hate that F-ing Dining Plan. I can think of no better primary justification for this than financial (buying items in bulk, sticking it to DDP people trying to "job" the system.)

I understand that Disney is trying to press healthier alternatives, but why the SAME menu at EVERY location?!?!

Here's my problem: my son is a picky eater. And I'm talking picky to the point that he will eat mashed potatoes "A" but not mashed potatoes "B". Of the entrees listed, let's see...

* Pizza - there's a possibility. Of course, while he will eat Little Caesar's pizza, he won't eat others. So, I guess we won't know until we get there.
* Dip stuff - not a chance. We know what fruits and veggies he will eat and make sure he gets adequate portions, but he'll freak out if we order him a fruit plate as his entree.
* Chicken strips - I understand they are grilled (not fried) chicken. That's another toss-up. Don't think he's ever had grilled chicken, or sweet potato sticks for that matter. He would probably eat the yogurt and carrots, though.
* Macaroni and cheese - last WDW trip I convinced him to try it and he vomited after the second bite. Nuff said.
* Spaghetti and meatballs - Nope. He'll eat spaghetti noodles, but doesn't like the red sauce (the primary reason I have a reservation at Mama Melroses, which has had "make your own pasta" on the menu until now.)

I just don't get this. If anything, it's going to cause us to do one of two things: Eat fewer TS meals or have the adults sharing with the kids. I'm not going to fall all over myself to pay $8 for a meal he won't eat (oh, btw, the prices went up, too.)

I can understand the "you can't please all the people..." line of thinking, but until now at least there was enough variety that I could pick restaurants where I knew our kids would find items they enjoy. Now, if I'm LUCKY, we'll be eating a week of Pita Pizzas.

I'm kinda glad our next trip is still 4 months away. Hopefully that will give them enough time to ditch this nonsense.

[Leftcoaster]

I have to agree that this is a very disappointing, lackluster change in WDW dining.
They continue to dumb down the TS choices to make it a glorified counter service for the kids. While I don't think there would be many adventurous eaters out there, to do away with any choice for kids just plain sucks.
Hopefully, restaurants will still make menu exceptions for kids as they have in the past.

[MagicKimdom]

* Spaghetti and meatballs - Nope. He'll eat spaghetti noodles, but doesn't like the red sauce (the primary reason I have a reservation at Mama Melroses, which has had "make your own pasta" on the menu until now.)
My DD is the same way. Every restaurant we've been to (both in the World and here at home) has accomodated our request to leave off the sauce. I would hope that the new kids' meals aren't pre-plated :yuck: and that they can continue to serve it without sauce upon request. If not, I predict lots more temper tantrums at TS restaurants!

[lenshanem]

Stinks IMHO. The DDP is gonna ruin Disney's restaurants I'm afraid. I wonder when the adult menus will change to an across the board? :rolleyes:

DH and I are doing the DDP for the first time next week. For three nights it was $227.94 - no brainer, but when we go with the girls for a long week it is not worth it IMO, especially now that my oldest is closing in on that 9 year old mark. There would be no way I'd pay for adult DDP for her - she eats less than a bird.

Matter of fact, I'm getting sick of paying all these high prices for character meals, etc. My youngest is now in Kindergarten and I think in a couple more years we'll be changing our dining plans at WDW in a big, big way.

[lulu71]

I was just saying after this last trip that I couldn't have designed the kids meals better myself for my DD's tastes. They were great the way they were!

[ErinC]

That is quite a price hike for the preplated kids meal. What are you supposed to do when you are staying for a full week. I can hear my kids whining now, and frankly I don't blame them. It doesn't look like a big deal if we were only going to be there for a few days, but I'm with Tim, A week of pita's is going to make them really grumpy. I'll probably have to start ordering appetizers off the adult menu to appease them. It's about the same cost anyway, so I guess it's a toss up. My kids won't be happy at all with this "healthy" selection crap!

[Ginger]

The DDP is gonna ruin Disney's restaurants I'm afraid. I
I agree. I personally wish they would get rid of the DDP. I don't recall the old dining plans (gold or whatever they were called, never used them) doing this kind of thing to the restaurants.

[DarthGoofy]

We are planning on using the dining plan during our upcoming trip. After hearing of the new menu for kids, we switched all our meals to all you can eat locations. I don't think that these will be changing over to the new menu...will they?

[KNWVIKING]

Disney will be losing a lot of my dining dollars. The menus are shrinking, variety is shrinking, service is shrinking. The only thing not shrinking is pricing.

For those with a vehicle, there are just too many inexpensive, great options just minutes outside WDW.

Time to spread the wealth around.

[tjkraz]

We are planning on using the dining plan during our upcoming trip. After hearing of the new menu for kids, we switched all our meals to all you can eat locations. I don't think that these will be changing over to the new menu...will they?

If this new healthy menu is some sort of philosophical statement, then I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the kids area of the buffet has similar items. Still, since a child can eat any item presented at a buffet, you won't have much trouble finding a larger variety among the adult selections.

[gopherit]

With a menu like that, I am actually GLAD my kids are closing in on the all-adult fare level... even if it is pricier. Because there is no way my kids would have been happy last month with those offerings. We tend to do a lot of the buffets / ALCE anyway, but it makes me wonder how those might bescaling back, too. We did not think Chef M's was nearly as good this time, for example. Ohana was still good, and CP was ok, but I thought there was too much other "stuff" at Cindy's (non-food stuff that is. Frankly, I'd rather not get a photo, plastic wand, and wishing star. Rather spend my moolah on whatever my dd might choose instead, and I have my own camera, thanks.)


So are they saying no kid's steak at Le Cellier? My kids were pretty bummed to see no steak at Teppanyaki.... any OTHER Jananese steakhouse offers a kid's steak entree. Will it affect places like ESPN or Beaches? SOme of that food is really not in keeping with the theme of the places (i.e. a pita pizza in Japan or Spaghetti at Beaches? :confused: What are they serving in Italy - sushi and a milkshake?) Or will they try to make it SEEM in the theme, LOL (At Coral Reef, it's "Anemone Noodles"... at Whispering Canyon it's "Pioneer Pasta").

I have a 6,10,and 11 yr old...they may not eat much, but with THAT kid's plan... they would eat even less. Trouble is, we don't have the option of only buying DDP for just the adults and oldest kids.... we would have to buy the plan for all of us.

No more DDP for us. And if this trend continues, I have to admit it - KNW is right - there really ARE way too many good restaurants around. When our kids were little, I would often cook in the villa... that may become more of an option, at the rate Disney is going.

[Stimpy]

Ok, I've been following this quite closely for the past week or so on the "other" board and have been drawn out of lurking mode to express my displeasure about the new menus! Believe me I hate it, my DS will hate it when we go in a few weeks! He will not touch any of the 3 combos even if he was starving to death. I'm already stressing about it. Since we are paying for the dining plan, he'll probably be sharing with us and we'll split his meal between his sister and cousin, neither who are on the plan at all (under 3).

Some people reported back saying the 3 combo plates are set in all Disney owned restaurants. So many of the Epcot restaurants are NOT affected (so far anyway) like LeCellier, Tepanyaki etc. There is still the child's steak at LeCellier.

On top of the 3 combo meals, each restaurant is offering 2 "special" ala carte meals. They are not all offering what ALLEARS is reporting. That's just the menu for Sci-Fi or Tony's, I think. BUT the 2 special meals are usually mac & cheese and something generic to the theme of the restaurant.

So far, most people have been unable to switch sides with the combos, which I really dislike! If the combo comes with apples and cinnamon, that's what you get, like it or not! No switching to apple sauce or plain apples.

All you can eat type places, buffets, family style are not affected TOO much....they have "dumbed" down the child's buffets to just 2 items or so but the children are still welcome to eat from the adults buffet, menu etc at these type places.

If anyone has any questions, I can try to answer! I've been following this obsessively since news first broke sometime last week. LOL (Which is why I haven't had time to post here so much lately :innocent: )

[Stimpy]

Oh, I wanted to add...people claiming to be "in the know" (and we know that EVERYONE on that other board is :lmbo: ) say the reasons they changed to this menu was

1. DDP (of course!)
2. addressing healthier options for children complaints
3. to keep adults from ordering off the child's menu! (I thought that was a good one!:crazy: ) They claim so many adults order the kid's stuff, WDW wasn't making enough money off them. The think this will make the adults order from the adult menus since the child's menu's are so bad :crazy:

AND those chicken strips??? They are grilled, not breaded, and served for dipping. Apparently they are really gross and rubbery too.

[TW1]

Yup, just more confirmation that we will continue to cook the majority of our meals in the villa, as we have for years. Having a kitchen/ette is a prime reason we bought into DVC anyway.

At least I see that a few things look healthier.

When we do eat out at WDW the kids often eat off our plates or we order something for them to split. A weeks worth of chicken fingers or hot dogs is a disaster

I am a terrible scrooge about wasting food and have a hard time tolerating my kids wasting food, (thus they bring their own lunch to school and eating out for us is limited to restuarants where we know they can order and eat something fresh and in its entirety.)

I despise pre-plated stuff for any age diner.

[tjkraz]

I read a trip report the other day in which the author mentioned that a server at a TS restaurant claimed that the new kids' menu would be gone by the end of November.

Anyone heard similar reports--officially or unofficially?

[ghost1000]

A few weeks ago Deb Wills' newsletter stated that Disney was getting a lot of complaints about the new kids' menu and would be revising it again. And this past week a reader reported that she did not encounter the generic kids' menu at all during their visit.

[Stimpy]

We only actually ran into it once at the Sci-Fi. The CM let us substitute some things and mentioned how alot of people hated it and were complaining. They even offered a regular cheese pizza for DD which was not on the menu at all (& it didn't come with any of the sides/"desserts")

Glad to hear they are changing it back and hopefully adding more variety.

Although I am still disappointed with the Counter Service menus. Our kids had more applesauce in a week than they probably eat in a 6 month period. And we found that even though the menu states you can request french fries as a substition, several places still would not allow it.

[johnb]

They really need to put some thought into the kids menus at the counter service restaurant. For example, Pizzafari has no pizza on the kids menu. Pecos Bill's has no burger on the kids menu. This doesn't really matter if you're paying OOP, but if you're using the DDP and you're limited to choosing kids menu items for your kids, how do you explain to your kid that they can't get pizza or a burger????

[DSNY FN]

One more reason I am glad we only eat out for 2 meals in a 2 week trip and cook the rest of our meals in our villa. Atleast this way I know the kids will get something good for them and something they will actually eat.

[mushu]

I agree they seem to be trying to have the same things at all the resturants. Bad news.

[Starr W.]

Was down for Thanksgiving, no DDP. Eldest DS is 10, some places he ordered off the kids, other's off adult. Did get a child's fish & chips(not on menu) at Rose & Crown(since youngest wanted what the eldest was having). The grilled chicken strips weren't bad at LTT, youngest was more interested in my pasta. Youngest would eat the pita pizza without the chicken(which we were able to request).


Personally I thought the sweet potato strips were a little gross and I like that sort of thing.

[Starr W.]

Oh, I wanted to add...people claiming to be "in the know" (and we know that EVERYONE on that other board is :lmbo: ) say the reasons they changed to this menu was

1. DDP (of course!)
2. addressing healthier options for children complaints
3. to keep adults from ordering off the child's menu! (I thought that was a good one!:crazy: ) They claim so many adults order the kid's stuff, WDW wasn't making enough money off them. The think this will make the adults order from the adult menus since the child's menu's are so bad :crazy:

AND those chicken strips??? They are grilled, not breaded, and served for dipping. Apparently they are really gross and rubbery too.


We have a local resturant that if an adult wants to order off the kids menu, they charge $2.00 more. This is a sit down resturant, so they can see you have no kids and the policy is clearly stated on the menu.

[Colorado Belle]

My kid is now an adult, BUT when she was a kid she would never eat off the kid's menu...she was a steak and lobster and scallops and prime rib kind of girl!

I think if this new plan disturbs you, you might consider eating at, as Stimpy says, the nonDisneyOWNED restaurants like Wolfgang Pucks, ESPN etc (which are my favs anyway) or the buffets which while I've never much liked them, my kid and H loved because of the unlimited food!

Another alternative, tho under the table, would be to have your kids share an adult TS and CS by listing them on the ressie as '1 adult'. Yes, this will be a mess if you plan on using late night magic hours requiring a wrist band. But if that isn't your style anyway, then it's worth doing if you can spread 3 TS 's in say a family of 4 and get enough variety to please everyone.

FInally, I think that you should complain directly to DIsney....and list the option that would work best for you. If the kids DDP costs @$11, I can't see why they'd fuss over two kids sharing an adult TS plan...more money for disney that way.
At least write in that you would have chosen the DDP but not with the choices that they give for the kids.

While I can see that some of the options are healthier than what was offered before, why would anyone think mac n cheese is HEALTHY for goodness sakes?
At least the spaghetti has tomato sauce which is really full of nutrients.
It isn't so much the hamburger that is unhealthy as it is the bun that turns to sugar in digestion. While I'm glad they are getting rid of all trans fat, I think that the kids plan should offer a salad and unfried meat choice with side veggie as one kid's meal choice.

I don't think this really has much to do with the DDP although it effects those on the DDP more than others who cam order off the entire menu. I think it is partially a trend toward healthier food and more so economics: one central kitchen preparing thousands of these dishes is much cheaper than each restaurant preparing specialies.

I realize that this is a bummer for everyone, but I think, with planning, you 'll be able to find a workable alternative until the big cheese makes some changes!

[tjkraz]

I think it is partially a trend toward healthier food and more so economics: one central kitchen preparing thousands of these dishes is much cheaper than each restaurant preparing specialies.

That's exactly why I think DDP IS to blame.

Since the DDP was introduced, the dining unit's profitability has certainly been reduced. Yes, revenue is most likely up with more people eating more meals at WDW restaurants, but expenses have also risen dramatically (more food, more prep time, more servers, etc.) With all of the people reporting huge "savings" using the DDP, it's impossible to think that Disney dining is just as profitable as it was pre-DDP.

Rather than adjust the price of the DDP to a more appropriate level, Disney dining is looking for other ways to raise profitability. One of those ways is to cut expenses. Standardizing menus and eliminating menu items with the lowest margins (or most volatile prices) are just a couple of ways of reducing expenses.

[bavaria]

Not to rub it in, but I do need to share how DL in Paris does their TS menus (see dlpfoodguide.com if you want to see examples)

There are more TS locations in the park, which I think is a cultural difference. All restuarants have a la carte, but also set menus for about 20-29 euros. They may include one appy, one entree, one dessert OR one appy and one entree.

Some have an appy buffet, choice of entree, and dessert buffet. All are very good value considering the variety and excellent quality of the food and the theming of the locations.

The kicker? each has a KIDS and a TEEN menu! a variety of choices for kids, plus some more 'grown up' options for teens.

Sadly I won't be able to try all of the locations here, but this is definitely how I would like to see options at WDW (and how I remember it from years past before the dreaded DDP). While it may not be a money maker, they must be making some revenues if they have so many TS locations available even during absolute dead season when there are zero waits at almost all attractions. Maybe the palate here is more sophisticated and there is more demand, but there has to be a happy medium between what WDW dining is becoming, and what DLRP offers.

[cobbler]

I just came back and didn't notice the generic meals where we ate. Of course we did eat a few buffett/family style places.

I did see the menu outside a couple of the restaurants but I can't remember which now.

We did eat at Cape May Clambake (buffet)
Rose and Crown (no generic kids meal, both had mac and cheese though)
LTT for dinner (family style)
Ohana for bfast (family style)
Luau for dinner
Donalds at AK for bfast (buffet)
Chef Mickeys for bfast (buffet)
Whispering Canyon for dinner (no generic meal, one son had the all you can eat skillet, the other had hot dogs).

So as of last week the two places we ate didn't have them, at least yet anyway.

[cobbler]

Oh and we did get a lot of applesauce too, luckily my youngest loves it and we brought 3 of those suckers home.

Oh and we did eat in the Land, the counter service whos name escapes me at the moment. And to be quite honest, I don't remember what they had there child wise except some child size sweet and sour chicken.

[fernzy10]

we went thanksgiving week and we have 3 kids but son is 10 so ate off adult menu (always did before also) but my daughters were not happy with the choices. My one daughter picked the chicken -grilled chkn fingers did nothing for her and the other did pizza also a disappointment. Mid-week I finally said something to the waitress that they didn't like any of the stuff off the menu and asked what happened to the old fashion chkn fingers and macaroni & cheese, she said although not on the menu you can ask for it, so the rest of the week we just asked for stuff they liked and had no problem, so they are still accomodating the kids with the "unhealthy" stuff. I also ordered off the kids menu a few times for breakfast and had no problem, of course son got adult menu so I guess they figured they got 2 adults anyway. BTW we didn't have DDP, although I wish we had because for us it does work but we used points to stay at POLY and they don't offer DDP on reservation pts. We spent more on food this time then when we paid for DDP. We are sit down people, I know we waste time but we also don't want to constantly eat and run...besides that gives us an excuse to go back because wew missed something. Having little ones who always want a snack the snack option also works. SO I probably one of the few on this site that thinks the DDP is a good deal.:jawdroppi

[PolyColleen]

Thank goodness we always have our van because we are going offsite more and more. My kids LOVE Perkins -- that cheapo place has a HUGE variety of kid meals, from pancakes to burgers to chicken tenders and mashed potatoes. Plus you can not beat the price. They also love Pizzeria Uno or even good old Pizza Hut.

I don't necessarily WANT psuedo-healthy food on vacation. Usually I just let them have what they want and try to smile when they order fries and cokes... It's vacation for goodness sake!

Sometimes my daughter will share an entree with me. She eats little and then we can share a dessert, too. And what good is a chicken tender if it's not FRIED? ALl these changes are just a bummer. The only meals we'll continue to splurge on is the buffets... At least there the kids pick around and actually EAT!

[lllovell]

My children must be different because they ate just about everything on the kids menu without a gripe. They didn't care for the cooked carrots that came with one meal in the Land counter service place but otherwise, we were able to get meals that made everyone happy.

Also, the new kids meal prices are WAY down from what I noticed. $3.99 for many places and that includes a drink (which can be milk, a small bottle or water or juice - and in some places, just a small drink...so a soft drink was fine too). I know that the menu was similar in a lot of the fast food places, but my experience in the past is that the menu has ALWAYS been almost identical when it came to choices for kids. A few places had variety, but for the most part, it was a hamburger, chicken fingers or hot dog. (which you can still get those at some places- but they don't have them with "fries" unless you ask for it). They also had grapes as a possible side at most places as well giving you 3 choices for the kids.

Granted, we don't do table service often so maybe I am not noticing the differences you all are talking about, but counter service seems WAY better since the DDP was introduced from my family's perspective.

Laura

[tjkraz]

Laura,

The changes being discussed relate to table service, not counter service. Allears still has the "standard" menu displayed and indicates it has been spotted at many of the TS restaurants (Mama Melrose, Sci-Fi, Tony's, Spoodles, etc.)

From some of the info I've read, it does appear that TS restaurants are getting more flexible. For the time being I'll reserve judgement until I experience it first hand.

As for counter service, I'm glad you were happy, but I think you're wrong about things having changed since the DDP started. I believe everything you mentioned has been in place at least since '02 when we started traveling with our son. The kids meals at CS have been $3.99 for as long as I can remember. The food roster is familiar (hot dogs, chicken tenders / wings, burger, pizza, mac n cheese, etc.) Most places seem to carry 2 different selections.

I don't have any gripes with that. I think the kids' meals at CS are well-priced and even though each location has a limited menu, I find it easy to plan ahead and hit the ones that appeal to our children. It's the TS locations where the variety appears to have been reduced greatly.

Oh, and I think the TS prices got a bump, too. Each of the standard offerings are priced at $7.49. By the time you factor in a tip, you're paying nearly $10 for a child's meal compared to $4 at CS. Before this change I seem to recall the TS Kids' meals being in the $5-6 neighborhood.

[lllovell]

Makes much more sense to me now.

I never knew the kids meals included a drink before. Hopefully I haven't been paying for an extra drink all along because i do remember paying for chocolate milk at Pinocchio's in the past (it was one of those whopper Chocolate milks though and we let the boys split it - so maybe that is why). Or, I am just an idiot - - - which is entirely possible as well. :tilt:

Thanks for filling me in Tim!

Laura

[lenshanem]

We'll be trying the DDP out with our girls in a few weeks.
I have to admit, vacation is not really the time to try out new things. The plainer a meal can be, the better. You get too fancy and they are not gonna eat it.
My oldest will eat the grapes and my youngest will eat the applesauce, but there is no way they are gonna eat carrots when they are used to getting fries at WDW.
Has anyone seen the pita pizza? If they'll take off the chicken they ~might~ eat it, but something tells me they are gonna turn up their noses. Neither are big eaters to begin with. Pizza is actually not that unhealthy if prepared right.

[Starr W.]

At Thanksgiving you could ask for no chicken on the pita pizza. Youngest thinks cheese is the only thing that belongs on one!


I have eyeballed the menus, it looks like the kids might be able to get speg./w tomato sauce at an Italian restaurant again or kids entrees that were close to the rest. theme. Geez, my youngest would go ballistic if he couldn't get "noodles with tomato & cheese" when you told him it's an Italian place.

[Jeneen]

My kids are good eaters and enjoy trying new foods, how boring this will be that it will be the same generic menu through out. I guess we will be sharing our meals then.

[jaysue]

We were a party of 4 - myself, DW, DS#1 (7) and DS#2 (3)

We tended to order adult dishes for 3 and shared the food amongst all of us

Worked out fairly well

Artist's Point had sone good kid's choices

Cheers
Jason

[gopherit]

We were a party of 4 - myself, DW, DS#1 (7) and DS#2 (3)

We tended to order adult dishes for 3 and shared the food amongst all of us

Worked out fairly well

Artist's Point had sone good kid's choices

Cheers
Jason

You may have said this somewhere else - but I take it from your post that you did the DDE, not DDP, right? I would probably do the same thing - let kids split or share from adult meals. We do that now in restaurants anyway. It would be an issue, though, if you were on DDP and "locked in" to a kids' menu. We enjoyed our trip using DDP, but we now know that we would do much better on DDE for this very reason (menu and portion flexibility).

[Disneymooners93]

Oh, and I think the TS prices got a bump, too. Each of the standard offerings are priced at $7.49. By the time you factor in a tip, you're paying nearly $10 for a child's meal compared to $4 at CS. Before this change I seem to recall the TS Kids' meals being in the $5-6 neighborhood.

In this case the menu lists "all the options" as the standard menu, which would cost $7.49 if you ordered everything. However, you only get charged for the options you order "ala carte". Don't want the appetizer or dessert, don't order them. Learned this from the waitress at the Plaza and it worked throughout WDW.

[jaysue]

You may have said this somewhere else - but I take it from your post that you did the DDE, not DDP, right? I would probably do the same thing - let kids split or share from adult meals. We do that now in restaurants anyway. It would be an issue, though, if you were on DDP and "locked in" to a kids' menu. We enjoyed our trip using DDP, but we now know that we would do much better on DDE for this very reason (menu and portion flexibility).

We did use the DDE and thinking about your comments and how we ended up ordering it did work out quite well that way for all us - 3 adult menu meals for the 4 of us worked out well and we tended to have a little bit leftover. I like your line of thinking above re not being locked into kids choices via the DDP

Cheers
Jason

:rockband: