Autistic older teen - kids meals?

[FussyMonkey74]

Hello all,
We are headed to WDW in August (YAY!!) and I am wondering if any of you have experience with an older teen being allowed to order kids' meals at table service restaurants on property? My son eats a very limited variety of foods and doesn't eat much in a sitting (he's a grazer that eats his weight in cheez-its and bananas but very small meals) and would likely only want some of the foods available on the kid's menu such as chicken strips and mac and cheese.

I do understand at buffets he would be charged adult prices and that is fine, and of course, we can order whatever at counter service, but would he be allowed to order kids' foods at a standard table service restaurant?

Thanks for any insight you may have!

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Hello all,
We are headed to WDW in August (YAY!!) and I am wondering if any of you have experience with an older teen being allowed to order kids' meals at table service restaurants on property? My son eats a very limited variety of foods and doesn't eat much in a sitting (he's a grazer that eats his weight in cheez-its and bananas but very small meals) and would likely only want some of the foods available on the kid's menu such as chicken strips and mac and cheese.

I do understand at buffets he would be charged adult prices and that is fine, and of course, we can order whatever at counter service, but would he be allowed to order kids' foods at a standard table service restaurant?

Thanks for any insight you may have!

at most Disney owned yes he will be able to order kids foods but most places it will be an adult serving size at an adult price. some nonDisney owned places he will not be able to order from kids menu. also if it is not somewhere on the menu there is a good chance that they will not be able have for you as those food would not be in the kitchen to make

 

[cellomom]

My adult autistic son has ordered from the kids menu at Disney restaurants. As @Betty Rohrer stated he was given an adult serving size of the kids food item and charged an adult price.

edit: we have not been to every restaurant located at WDW. Some restaurants may not allow ordering from the kids menu.

 

[DLgal]

How old does he look? My 2 boys are autistic and ordered off the kids menus at WDW in 2018 at ages 14 and 12. They both look YOUNG. But not 9 years old young. They were allowed to order the kids meals everywhere we went, and we were not charged adult price and not offered a larger portion. They just brougt the kids meals at the kids portion and priced accordingly. We just supplemented their meals in the concierge lounge throughout the day with snacks, fruits and veggies, and desserts.

The specific places we did this were:

Chef Art Smith's Homecomin
Big River Grille
Ale & Compass
Kona Cafe
Via Napoli
Ohana (got Mac and cheese and chicken nuggets, charged the kids price for their meals, even after me telling them they were 14 and 12)
Beaches and Cream

We are going back next month. They are now 19 and 17. They both look about 14/15. We will see what happens this time, although they have begun branching out in recent years and may be fine ordering some adult items like burgers or pizza or similar.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

My adult autistic son has ordered from the kids menu at Disney restaurants. As @Betty Rohrer stated you’ll be given an adult serving size of the kids food item and charged an adult price.

from what I have seen there are some restaurants at Disney that are not owned by Disney that do not allow this. if I am right most are in Epcot

 

[DLgal]

from what I have seen there are some restaurants at Disney that are not owned by Disney that do not allow this. if I am right most are in Epcot

I feel like this was a dining plan issue, specifically.

Every place we did this, we were asked "are you on the dining plan?" When we said no, they let us order kids meals for our teens with no issue.

 

[Her Dotness]

I feel like this was a dining plan issue, specifically.

Every place we did this, we were asked "are you on the dining plan?" When we said no, they let us order kids meals for our teens with no issue.

Yes, that adults (age 10+) must order from the adult menu with ages 3-9 ordering only from the kids menu applied specifically to families on the dining plan.

Now that the dining plan is returning, this question will be asked and that policy will likely be in effect again.

Non-Disney-owned restaurants set their own policies in this regard and may restrict ordering similarly to the dining plan.

 

[FussyMonkey74]

How old does he look? My 2 boys are autistic and ordered off the kids menus at WDW in 2018 at ages 14 and 12. They both look YOUNG. But not 9 years old young. They were allowed to order the kids meals everywhere we went, and we were not charged adult price and not offered a larger portion. They just brougt the kids meals at the kids portion and priced accordingly. We just supplemented their meals in the concierge lounge throughout the day with snacks, fruits and veggies, and desserts.

The specific places we did this were:

Chef Art Smith's Homecomin
Big River Grille
Ale & Compass
Kona Cafe
Via Napoli
Ohana (got Mac and cheese and chicken nuggets, charged the kids price for their meals, even after me telling them they were 14 and 12)
Beaches and Cream

We are going back next month. They are now 19 and 17. They both look about 14/15. We will see what happens this time, although they have begun branching out in recent years and may be fine ordering some adult items like burgers or pizza or similar.

He's 16 and looks a little younger, but not that much younger. I think people can tell just from interacting with him, though, that he is not neurotypical. He gets really freaked out about ordering from adult menus, since he really resists the idea that he is a teen approaching adulthood, and he insists on kids menus whenever we go out to eat. We've never had an issue with it before.

I just hate to have a situation where he feels like he can't eat, or worse, where the servers give us a lot of pushback that will trigger him to shout or freak out. This trip is my daughter's graduation gift and I don't want her to feel upsest by a lot of food-related drama with her brother.

Right now we're planning Homecomin, CityWorks, Liberty Tree, 9 Dragons and Rain Forest Cafe.

 

[DLgal]

He's 16 and looks a little younger, but not that much younger. I think people can tell just from interacting with him, though, that he is not neurotypical. He gets really freaked out about ordering from adult menus, since he really resists the idea that he is a teen approaching adulthood, and he insists on kids menus whenever we go out to eat. We've never had an issue with it before.

I just hate to have a situation where he feels like he can't eat, or worse, where the servers give us a lot of pushback that will trigger him to shout or freak out. This trip is my daughter's graduation gift and I don't want her to feel upsest by a lot of food-related drama with her brother.

Right now we're planning Homecomin, CityWorks, Liberty Tree, 9 Dragons and Rain Forest Cafe.

I can tell you you will not have a problem at Homecomin or Rainforest Cafe.

The only one that may push back is 9 Dragons. I have heard they are not very accommodating (which is a cultural thing, really). And Liberty Tree is a fixed menu meal so as long as they have items he will eat, you will be good there.

It might be worthwhile to get him a meal at a quick service place prior to sit down meals, and allow him to just order a dessert or a side of fries or something he would like. Additionally, it might help to sort of give the server a heads up about your son's autism and food preferences before you order so you can know upfront what the situation is with ordering kids meals. Offer to pay more if necessary, but we have always been told "don't worry about it" in the past. Have this conversation quietly the first time your server approaches your table.

Also, talk to your son about how "silly" Disney is that they consider kids adults at age 10. Explain that it doesn't mean he is an adult for real, but that Disney has a rule that the kids menus are only for kids 3-9, so they are going to expect him to choose food off the main menu. I find that my kids are more wiling to be flexible if there is a rule in place about something. This has come with age and maturity. They were not there yet during our last visit, but are there now. They no longer order off kids menus.

And FWIW, my older son had a MAJOR mental shift as soon as he turned 18. He suddenly was an adult in his mind, and he wanted to do ALL the adult things. He registered to vote and voted in the last local election. He got a driver's license. He got his own checking account and a credit card to use. He fills out all his own paperwork. He still looks back fondly at his childhood, but doesn't want to be treated like a child anymore. To me, he is still very immature/naive and not ready for full adulthood, so he is still getting a LOT of support from us, but I was also very worried because he didn't seem eager to turn 18, but mentally switched gears very quickly once that happened. There is hope this will happen for your son as well!

 

[FussyMonkey74]

Thank you all for your feedback, that really helped! As of right now we have reservations at Sci Fi, Boathouse, CityWorks, Wolfgang Puck, Via Napoli and LTT. I fell much more assured we'll find options for him since we won't be on the dining plan.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Thank you all for your feedback, that really helped! As of right now we have reservations at Sci Fi, Boathouse, CityWorks, Wolfgang Puck, Via Napoli and LTT. I fell much more assured we'll find options for him since we won't be on the dining plan.

Via Napoli is one I have heard might be hard line on kids ages

 

[DLgal]

Via Napoli is one I have heard might be hard line on kids ages

Not if you aren't on a dining plan.

They let us order the kids spaghetti and meatballs meal for our 12 year old last time.

My son can't eat the pizza there because he can't tolerate the texture of fresh mozzarella. It makes him gag and throw up. And they don't have any other type of mozzarella there.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Not if you aren't on a dining plan.

They let us order the kids spaghetti and meatballs meal for our 12 year old last time.

My son can't eat the pizza there because he can't tolerate the texture of fresh mozzarella. It makes him gag and throw up. And they don't have any other type of mozzarella there.

Have friends who were not and I repeat not on dinning plan and they were not allowed to do what you were allowed

 

[figmentdream]

My son was 16 when we were in Disney last year. He was able to eat off the kids menu or they would create an adult portion of an item that was on the kids menu. We ate lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern in the Magic Kingdom. A thanksgiving feast is NOT something my son would eat. They were able to serve him chicken tenders and french fries (not even on the menu). This happened the previous year as well.

 

[persimmondeb]

It's a little hit or miss, but most of the time you'll be able to order a child's meal.

We checked ahead of time, and they treated as if it were an allergy issue, but my husband was able to order a kid's meal (at kid's prices, although obviously we didn't care) at Citrico's in 2021. It was my son's birthday, he wanted Citrico's. and there was pretty much NOTHING on the adult menu my husband would/could eat. They were really wonderful.

My son was always an adventurous eater, but he liked kid things for a long time, and presented very, very young, and the only place we ever had trouble ordering a kid's meal for him as a teen was at Big River (also pretty much the worst meal we've ever had on Disney property).

Contacting the restaurant to let them know ahead of time that you need the children's menu for a teen might be a good plan.