Is Sugar free Jello still the only CS item for kids dessert?

[Kayleebug]

I guess I'm a little behind the changes, but we went last May my DD could get any dessert she wanted. When did they start the jello thing? Not only will I not let her eat the sugar free jello, but she HATES jello (sugar or not!). I really hope they will allow her to have a substitution. At the food court at POR, she was allowed to get ice cream. I hope she will still be able to do that.

 

[Luv'sTink]

That S/F jello was gross! DS east S/F stuff but not that!

ETA: The other thing that got me was the carrot sticks. DS can not have raw carrots due to his braces as per the Orthodontist.

 

[turnlisa]

I guess I'm a little behind the changes, but we went last May my DD could get any dessert she wanted. When did they start the jello thing? Not only will I not let her eat the sugar free jello, but she HATES jello (sugar or not!). I really hope they will allow her to have a substitution. At the food court at POR, she was allowed to get ice cream. I hope she will still be able to do that.

Disney has rolled out new menus for the kids that are supposed to be healthier. I do agree about the Jello -- my DS is not going to like it and I don't like the idea of him having the artificial sweetener either. We will be ordering desserts to share or ordering him his own OOP. I just won't do that to him. I really wish Disney would even offer the fresh fruit for dessert -- would be a much healthier choice.

 

[Kayleebug]

Disney has rolled out new menus for the kids that are supposed to be healthier. I do agree about the Jello -- my DS is not going to like it and I don't like the idea of him having the artificial sweetener either. We will be ordering desserts to share or ordering him his own OOP. I just won't do that to him. I really wish Disney would even offer the fresh fruit for dessert -- would be a much healthier choice.

I'll probably do the same (order a dessert OOP). It will still be a good value.

 

[disnut1149]

Hi
I was there in December and noticed jello for kids as a dessert. I asked the CM at Sunshine Seasons if kids had to get the jello and he said no. They could pick any dessert. I guess it sometimes depends on the CM. I'm going in August with my DD and DGD4 and I know she won't want to eat jello at every meal, while my DD and I can get a really nice dessert. So since I don't really need any dessert, I'll let her pick what she wants and she can have mine. Hopefully by August, they'll have more of a choice with the kids meals.

 

[frndofpooh]

When they rolled out the new kids menus with the S/F jello I contacted Disney to ask about the availability of other desserts as I do not let my kids have artificial sweeteners. The lady that I spoke with suggested that we ask for adult desserts at the CS places and in December that is what we did. We had no problems - we would just explain to the cashier that we don't let our kids have artificial sweeteners and they were fine with it.

I think that the advent of the separation of the child/adult credits in the cashier's computer systems had caused some CM's to stop letting this occur because they are afraid of recrimination. It's too bad - they management that I spoke too about this was perfectly understanding about the artificial sweetener issue.

 

[Gillian]

Does anyone have an update on this situation from 2007?

 

[bartleby1]

We don't allow our kids artificial sweeteners either. Heck, I won't even eat/drink that stuff.

Some of you posted about being able to substitute a no-sugar added brownie for the sugar-free jello. Am I assuming correctly that they also contain artificial sweeteners? Were regular brownies available too?

Thanks!

 

[Fabooliss]

We ate at Pop Century twice this week, and both times my kids got regular desserts, with their kids meals. I didn't even know they had to get the jello. Was never questioned once.

Grrrr... they told us we had to get the jello at POP. We ended up giving it away.

However, Sunshine Seasons and WPE both had alternative desserts for kids.

 

[Disneyolic]

I'm very interested in this for our upcoming trip in June so we need to get this back on the first page.

 

[Katiebell]

I brought this up on another thread about DDP and kids' meals, but it seems appropriate to mention here as well. Carrot sticks and grapes are not good to give to toddlers. They don't really have strong molars to grind up the carrots and the raw veggies can break into large chunks and be a choking hazard. Grapes are especially bad because they compress and are just the right size to get lodged in a child's windpipe. The American Academy of Pediatrics lists raw vegetables and grapes as two of the greatest choking hazards for children under the age of 4 (hot dogs are also on the list, for the same reasons as grapes):

http://healthresources.caremark.com/topic/chokingreport

Grapes and carrots are definitely healthy foods, but not good choices for very young children. Given that, and also how many parents are concerned about the artificial sweeteners in that jello or those sugar-free brownies, Disney should offer some other kid-friendly alternatives for sides and desserts like little cups of yogurt, a banana , canned diced peaches or mandarin oranges, little packages of cookies, teddy grahams, or goldfish crackers (I believe those goldfish crackers are on some menus already), fruit roll ups, soft serve frozen yogurt or small frozen ice cream bars or frozen yogurt bars, ice cream sandwiches or fudgesicles -- there are a lot of alternatives they could come up with.

 

[JodyTG]

I brought this up on another thread about DDP and kids' meals, but it seems appropriate to mention here as well. Carrot sticks and grapes are not good to give to toddlers. They don't really have strong molars to grind up the carrots and the raw veggies can break into large chunks and be a choking hazard. Grapes are especially bad because they compress and are just the right size to get lodged in a child's windpipe. The American Academy of Pediatrics lists raw vegetables and grapes as two of the greatest choking hazards for children under the age of 4 (hot dogs are also on the list, for the same reasons as grapes):

http://healthresources.caremark.com/topic/chokingreport

Grapes and carrots are definitely healthy foods, but not good choices for very young children. Given that, and also how many parents are concerned about the artificial sweeteners in that jello or those sugar-free brownies, Disney should offer some other kid-friendly alternatives for sides and desserts like little cups of yogurt, a banana , canned diced peaches or mandarin oranges, little packages of cookies, teddy grahams, or goldfish crackers (I believe those goldfish crackers are on some menus already), fruit roll ups, soft serve frozen yogurt or small frozen ice cream bars or frozen yogurt bars, ice cream sandwiches or fudgesicles -- there are a lot of alternatives they could come up with.

I agree, Katiebell. There's just too many problems that can crop up with very young children using artificial sweetener. Grapes and raw carrots have never even been offered to my almost 3yo son.

 

[gower525]

Oh I hope they let us substitute. MY kids won't eat jello or carrots!

 

[Gillian]

I gave my kids grapes cut in half, but not carrots for the 3 year old although she will take them from the fridge herself (grr) and has a good mouth of teeth.

Little yogurts would be great, but I bet it's a storage/expiration issue. Plus many yogurts are very high in sugar.

It seems to me that Disney created a profile for kids meals (with a nutritionist) and then realized it's difficult to match it with a REAL meal! Seriously, if you've ever been on a diet, you know it's not easy to limit both fat and sugar/carbs without going very plain or adding artificial stuff.

 

[Gillian]

The more I think about this, the less it bothers me, for my own family.

I think it's wrong, a terrible way to feed kids these days, and I'm made sick by all the reduced sugar foods that have sucralose (Splenda) added to them. Why does peanut butter need sweetener anyway?!! But I can read labels and choose what I want my family to eat at home.

For Disney, I'll avoid what I know I don't want them to have and not stress about the rest. The way I see it, our kids would be having 2-3 desserts EVERY DAY during vacation, if they got a snack as well. They would almost never have that at home, so why on vacation? We'll still do the meal plan, but decline the jello, split the adult desserts, and have a great trip.

I am laughing at myself because we're working so hard to get DS6 to understand that he doesn't need dessert after dinner every night (or that fruit counts, LOL), and yet I'm getting all upset because he can't get a dessert for lunch at Disney World?

 

[Disneyolic]

The more I think about this, the less it bothers me, for my own family.

I am laughing at myself because we're working so hard to get DS6 to understand that he doesn't need dessert after dinner every night (or that fruit counts, LOL), and yet I'm getting all upset because he can't get a dessert for lunch at Disney World?

I thought this too - worried that they will get sick of Jello for one of their desserts every day. And then I reminded myself that it is 1 of many desserts per day. The way I see it now is, heck, we are on vacation and we sort of let things go just for that fact. Sure, have a couple more desserts because we are on vacation, trying hard to make them understand that this will stop when we get back home. I like to think the same way for myself - a couple extra desserts will be fine until I get back home. But, that's our family...

 

[Kayleebug]

The dining plan last summer really spoiled my DD. When we got back, she was like, "Where's my dessert?"

 

[Tam1067]

When we were there in July, every CS had unsweetened apple sauce. Do they still have that? It's certainly healthy and safe for toddlers--and with no sweeteners at all, you can avoid the artificial sweenter dilemma.

 

[Gillian]

The dining plan last summer really spoiled my DD. When we got back, she was like, "Where's my dessert?"

Here too. That wasn't as bad as the kids wanting us to all sleep in the same room again.

 

[Kayleebug]

Here too. That wasn't as bad as the kids wanting us to all sleep in the same room again.