How Strict On Age Requirement for Kids Meals?

[hultrain]

We have a picky 11 year old who probably could never "pass" for 9. How strict are Disney usually with the 9 year old age limit on Kids Menu items? Alternatively, would they be willing to let us order an "adult size" of something on the Kids Menu?

 

[Hopefully]

We have a picky 11 year old who probably could never "pass" for 9. How strict are Disney usually with the 9 year old age limit on Kids Menu items? Alternatively, would they be willing to let us order an "adult size" of something on the Kids Menu?

I will ignore your thought about trying to " pass" an 11 yo as under 9. There is no need to.
Disney is great at meeting guests needs. Although it is their right to enforce the child menu rules, they generally allow anyone to order off the child menu. Your challenge will be at non Disney owned restaurants.

 

[scrapquitler]

We have a picky 11 year old who probably could never "pass" for 9. How strict are Disney usually with the 9 year old age limit on Kids Menu items? Alternatively, would they be willing to let us order an "adult size" of something on the Kids Menu?

If you mean at Quick Service, there is no problem. I order kids meals quite often at various Quick Service locations.

 

[Heidi K]

My 10 1/2 year old ordered almost all kids' meals at both quick service and table service last time we went. No problem.

 

[supersnoop]

We have a picky 11 year old who probably could never "pass" for 9. How strict are Disney usually with the 9 year old age limit on Kids Menu items? Alternatively, would they be willing to let us order an "adult size" of something on the Kids Menu?

Even adults can order off the kids menu. If the 10+ year old is redeeming a credit on the dining plan, they will typically make an adult-portion of a kids menu item.

 

[maxiesmom]

As long as you are not talking about a buffet or family style place, age doesn't really matter. I've even ordered kids meals before, and no one batted an eye.

 

[NYCANC]

For our last trip in January, my DD is now 11 and a Disney adult. I will say that the kids meals for her would not fill her up.
There were 2 restaurants that allowed us to make a kids meal into an adult meal.

BOG- my kids love the turkey Mickey meatloaf. The waiter said he would need to check with the chef on making it adult sized. They brought her 2 meatloaf's and double fries.

CRT- nothing looked good to her on the menu (it was her birthday dinner), I asked the waitress if we could maybe order a few things on the kids menu and have the chef make it into an adult meal. The waitress was wonderful and said anything the Princess wants, we can do
She asked for chicken fingers and mac and cheese and they pretty much brought her a boat sized dish of mac and cheese!

 

[yaddakal]

It's no problem at all

 

[wilkeliza]

99% of the time at Disney you won't have an issue. Even on DDP they'll lt you do it but may or may not be able to give you adult portions.

In all my trips I've only had an issue 1 time and they still let me order but charged a fee. That was a 3rd party restaurant and js not the normal procedure. The reasoning was I had an adult sized beverage and not the sippy cup.

 

[hultrain]

I will ignore your thought about trying to " pass" an 11 yo as under 9. There is no need to.
Disney is great at meeting guests needs. Although it is their right to enforce the child menu rules, they generally allow anyone to order off the child menu. Your challenge will be at non Disney owned restaurants.

And I will ignore your assumption that I'm trying to run some sort of scam by lying about my kids age. If you go back and re-read my post, you will see that I'm not asking because I'm trying to save money, but because there's little on the adult menu in some places that appeal to him. I even said I'd be willing to make an adult order of a kids item.

 

[DISNEY1975]

My daughter, at age 11, ordered 90% of her meals off the kids menu. Some even "Adult sized" the kids food (which there was no need because she barely finishes a kids portion). The worst was The Plaza. My daughter ordered a PB & J. The gave her basically a PB & J Club sandwich which included 4 pieces of Texas Toast with PB and J in between every slice. It was enormous and she only took about 3 bites. Im not sure how it works if you are paying OOP, but we were on a dining plan and had already prepaid for "adult" meals.

 

[Lisa F]

And I will ignore your assumption that I'm trying to run some sort of scam by lying about my kids age. If you go back and re-read my post, you will see that I'm not asking because I'm trying to save money, but because there's little on the adult menu in some places that appeal to him. I even said I'd be willing to make an adult order of a kids item.

I took my son to CA Grill on the DxDDP and they let him order off the "adult" menu, which included a filet, plain, with a side of mac and cheese off the kids' menu. He was on cloud 9. Disney does recognize that kids over 9 are still kids and will bend over backwards to accommodate them... I have never heard of them charging adult prices for an older kid order off the kid menu (only occasionally for a full grown adult) but I'm sure if you get a little creative you can figure something out for him from kids/adults/some combo of both. Agree that sometimes kid menu portions are small, but sometimes they are huge too. Kiddo got kid's steak with fries at Coral Reef and I think he had more food than I did.

Also I get what you say about the 11 year old. Mine is 8 and I was a little worried that on DxDDP since they don't separate kid credits vs. adult credits whether I was supposed to be letting them know he is a kid (he is big for his age) or what the deal was. it's kind of awkward a bit when you want to just order and know it is ok. At many places your 11 year old could still order off the kid's menu. Honestly I don't think it is there to exclude older kids as much as it is to match up with ticket prices and DDP.

 

[tjmw2727]

My niece often orders off the child menu and she is also 11 just isn't a big eater and would waste 3/4 of the adult meal. We never do the dining plan always ask ahead and it has never been an issue. I would warn that the choices can get repetitive depending on the restaurants and the length of your stay. To avoid this we sometimes split meals when there is something she and another of us would enjoy from the adult menu and she often finds an appetizer she likes and orders that with a side of fruit, veggies or fries to make it a meal.