**MAJOR** picky 10 year old diner!

[TrvlLin]

My husband and I will be visiting WDW for the umpteenth time in January, but THIS time wewill be taking our grandson for his first visit! We're staying at the Wilderness Lodge, and I know we will all have a great time at the resort, in the pool, and the theme parks, but I'm really worried about ...DINING!

My husband and I usually do a nice resort breakfast, and a sit down dinner with a few Mickey bars and other snacks in between. We know it will be different with Ryan, but I'm really worried about how and where we can all enjoy meals together. The problem is...he will eat only a very few foods; oatmeal for breakfast, and either macaroni and cheese or chicken fingers for lunch and dinner. He eats these three foods almost exclusively, and I have never been able to get him to eat ANY other type of pasta, bread, cake, cookies, buns, etc., or any protein other than breaded chicken or cheese! (Don't blame me; I've tried for YEARS to tempt him with everything I could think of, to no avail!) I definitely don't think this is normal, but it is something we will have to deal with!

I think I've seen these foods at the buffets, but are these items available in Roaring Forks, or any of the fast food places? I doubt he will have a lot of patience waiting for us to have a nice meal while he scarfs down his mac and cheese, but I really don't want to be stuck with buffets for a whole trip. Any ideas WELCOME!!

Thanks all, Lin

 

[Familymoon]

Certainly don't blame *you*

Let's see - from what we have found, more than half offer chicken strips or mac & cheese on the menu (quick counter service).

Here is what I would do, if I were you:

Breakfast - use the resort coffee pot to warm some water and bring instant oatmeal from home - let him eat before you even leave in the morning, perhaps while you and your DH enjoy a cup of coffee.

Go to the resort breakfast and just explain that he can get what he'd like to try, but that way - he has already eaten. Maybe he'd be content to just have juice or chocolate milk while you dine? Otherwise, ummm - dessert? (or maybe fruit?) I would suggest advocating him bringing something to do if he's not going to eat - Gameboy or you could maybe bring a book about the park and discuss with him what he'd like to do. Give him a pen and paper and let him write down all the things he'd like to see that day

As for macaroni & cheese - I think Boma is supposed to have WONDERFUL Mac & Cheese. You can look around at www.wdwig.com and there is a link on the left that says "dining" where you can look through the resort menus (and quick counter service as well) to determine what they have. Being that your DGS is under 12, he should have no problems ordering off the kids' meals and most are either burgers, chicken strips, grilled cheese, or mac & cheese, so you should be able to eat together anywhere!

 

[BCV23]

Well, I'm not a grandparent yet, but I don't think I'd change your usual pattern if I were you. Most of the sitdowns offer chicken strips or macaroni & cheese on the kids menus. Since you snack during the day it's not as if he'll starve if he can't find oatmeal on the breakfast menu. Perhaps he'll get caught up in the Disney spirit and broaden his horizons.

 

[HumphreyBear]

it is easy to get from wilderness lodge to polly for breakfast, and at kona cafe you can get oatmeal. Also, whispering canyon has oatmeal; it is a side item on the adult breakfast menu, not on the kids menu. They have oatmeal at roaring forks for breakfast, too. So you have no problems there.

Roaring forks has chicken fingers. They have a lot of kid friendly food there, but I don't think they have mac and cheese there. BUt I'm not sure. I know you can get a grilled cheese sandwhich. Whispering canyon has chicken fingers on the lunch children's menu, not mac and cheese. They do have mac and cheese and chicken fingers on the dinner children's menu. Artist point has really good mac and cheese at dinner for children.

Most all restaurants have something for Mickey's little friends; usually pbj, or mac and cheese, or chicken fingers, or hot dogs,or cheese pizza. Chances of having one of mac and cheese or chicken fingers is really good.

 

[M&C'sMom]

Like Familymoon suggested, we brought our own oatmeal when we stayed at WL in 2001. My DS 9 is also a very picky eater but he will eat oatmeal. He also is very brand specific for his oatmeal.(must be the kind with dinosaur eggs!) We brought enough packets for each day and used the coffee pot, we were all eating in the room though. He managed to eat burgers, chicken strips, and pizza most meals and lots of fruit from the buffets. He was able to find something at Roaring Forks, too. The kids kept snacks in their fanny packs to munch on too.(pb crackers, fruit snacks, goldfish)

I feel your pain about dining with picky eaters! I'm trying to decide if going to HDD and ordering mac and cheese is worth it! It'll be the most expensive mac and cheese I've ever bought!!

Good Luck!

 

[TrvlLin]

Thank you all so much, I feel better already! This child is stubborn to the point that he has NEVER had a school lunch; he would rather not eat that even try something he "might not like(?)" He won't take lunch from home because none of the other ids do, so he just drinks milk and maybe has a piece of fruit. Then of course, he is ravenous when he gets home from school. You all had great ideas for me, and I do appreciate them. I wasn't aware that there were coffee pots in the WL rooms, so that will be a big help. Thanks SOOO much...Lin

 

[Dancind]

My DD used to be like this. To make things worse, she was deathly afraid of "new" restaurants. Our first trip to WDW just after her 8th birthday was a turning point for her. ALL of the restaurants were new, she just had to deal with it. And for some reason, she was willing to try out a few new things. She's been pretty good about it ever since (no chile though, and still no fruit). Maybe you should have taken your DGS to WDW before now! As others have said, all WDW restaurants are well prepared for picky eaters. Diana

 

[Jordan's MOM]

You will need to ask housekeeping for a coffee pot at check in. We are getting one for hot chocolate!!
We too have a picky eater though no where near as bad as yours. We have learned some things at WDW. They have chicken nuggets and chicken fingers. Big difference. Be sure to ask which they have is that is a big issue. Also leaned, that "good" mac & Cheese is not always, what a kid wants. Some places have stoffers but not all places. Our DS does not like stoffers!! If all he is eating off a buffet is nuggets and Mac & Cheese, you might be better off at non buffets and order off the kid menu. I agree it will be hard to sit if he is not eating. Though I don't allow it for DS, I might would let him take his gameboy to dinner. Might be some peace for you. You are grandma, not mom do spoiling a little is allowed!!


Jordan's mom

 

[JuliaPooh]

Spoodles on the Boardwalk has the most INCREDIBLE oatmeal! I always have to go and have some!

 

[vicb]

Good food suggestions from everyone not too much I can add to that but just wanted to say you are a brave Grandma for taking this child with you. He sounds pretty rigid, I hope he can "go with the flow" at WDW. I also have a picky son but we work hard to expand his eating choices. We have a rule that you must always try a bite of the food served. This has helped a lot. He used to only eat hot dogs, burgers, pizza, gr. cheese and pb&j out in resturants but now he will do spaghetti, steak and grilled chicken (as long as there is ketchup! ). I think the parents of your grandson need to help him out of this pattern!

 

[hawkrn]

My DS, 10, is picky also. He found chicken strips, PB&J (smuckers roundwiches) and toast with jelly everywhere we went. Since I knew he would not change, I did not allow his pickiness to deter me from eating where I wanted. Yes, I paid full price at the buffets for him to eat some chicken and cookies, but I enjoyed the meal! By the way, I had oatmeal in the food court every AM at POR

 

[donac]

My son will try new things at home but when we go out he is pretty rigid. He had chicken fingers or mac and cheese in every park in the world. There is always chicken fingers.


Dona

 

[KarenC]

My nephew is 11. He is a picky eater--when we eat at my mom's house with the extended family she only makes lasagna or something that goes with white rice--cause that's all he eats. My kids don't want to go to nana's for dinner anymore because they're sick of lasagna and white rice. ANYWAY, my mom took him to New York to visit my brother and they ate at the restaurants my brother and mother wanted to eat at. Surprise, he ate lots of different things.

My DS was a also a bit of a picky eater. I tended to ignore it. If he doesn't like what I cook, he can make himself a peanut butter sandwich. I never have problems with him eating when we travel. I think it's a control thing, and when he can order off the menu, it gives him the control he's craving.

Here's hoping you have the same experience. Good luck!

 

[Cameo]

I have two semi-picky eaters and they sure didn't starve on our trip in September. There are chicken fingers everywhere and they certainly got old by the end of the week. They will only eat certain mac and cheese and nothing passed muster for them at Disney. One morning at CRT, I brought a baggie of Frosted Flakes along and just asked for some milk and a bowl for my DS3. I knew he wouldn't eat much of the preplated meal, but he did eat his cereal. They had no problem with that all. They shouldn't - we still paid for his meal! The chicken strips are the same EVERYWHERE in the world, so hopefully he will like that kind, which is nice white meat. Good luck. One thing I know about my kids, if they are hungry they will eat, even if it means eating something they wouldn't normally want. They usually eat enough to get something in their tummies.

 

[Leader of the Club]

My son is also "choosey" about his food. He will only eat chicken Nuggets and fries from McDonalds (available at epcot). He won't eat chicken fingers from anywhere.

Check with your grandson and ask what kind of mac n cheese he prefers. My son only eats Kraft Easy Mac. He won't eat any other kind.

(Thank goodness my kid loves pizza from ANYWHERE! It saves our butts at WDW!)

 

[goofy4tink]

My dd, 10, has that same discriminating palate!!! When we go to WDW she doesn't starve tho. She eats the chicken strips, mac and cheese and hot dogs. I don't make an issue of it. It's a battle I can't win!! I just tell her to make a choice. If no choice is made, I tell her not to complain when she gets hungry in an hour. I carry snacks in my fanny pack also. I would talk to your dgs before you leave and tell him what the expectations are... This is what's going to be available and you'll have to make some choices. I find that if they know what to expect there is usually less of a fuss. Good luck and have fun!!

 

[claudia]

I traveled with a girlfriend and her 9 year old daugter about 1 1/2 years ago. My son (then 10) will eat anything and everything, but her daughter ate just like your grandson....actually exactly! We had no problem as in every sit down restaurant they offered her chicken fingers or macaroni and cheese....occasionally she would opt of a slice of pizza. don't worry, you'll have no problems with his eating habits.

 

[GRAYWIFE]

My DD is a picky eater as well. We did the grocery stop and bought pb (no j, she won't eat it) and wheat bread (nope, not white bread!) along with other things we knew she would eat and did not need refridgeration. We made a pb sandwich every morning to take with us just in case we chose a restaurant that she wouldn't eat at. Fortunately, since she loves pasta and pizza we were able to find something on the menu most of the time. She usually ended up eating the sandwich as a snack. We don't allow her to dictate where we eat based on her limit food choices.

Also, two restaurants (Liberty Tree & Garden Grill) did not charge us for her when we explained how difficult it was to feed her. We would have paid for her and never asked not to pay, but when the saw that she really did not eat what was served, we were not charged. She just ate her sandwich and we enjoyed dinner!!! (We also tipped extra for the server's understanding)

Good Luck with your grandson...since he eats mac & cheese & chicken fingers he will be fine!! (my DD won't even eat that!)