ADR Vent: My picky eaters are driving me nuts!

[Andrea73]

I could not deal with that. I would tell him to eat off the kids menu. Or better yet, book what you want and keep a loaf and bread, peanut butter and jelly in the room.

It's funny because my kids don't like the kids menu stuff so we are going with a lot of buffets.

Maybe you can do the same and if you go someplace like Boma, send him to the kids station.

Everyone take note....if you sit and cater to your kids chicken nugget and mac and cheese whims.....the OP's husband is what you get.

 

[honeymo78]

DH is a meat and potatoes man and im not big on sauces, however we have beset had trouble finding food at wdw. They ate quite willing and able to make plain versions of most items. Also there is an espn club at the boardwalk where he can get wings and burgers.

 

[crostorfer]

what does he eatday- to- day for food? does he go to hooters (yuk) for most of his meals? i would have ZERO patience for someone not even wanting to TRY something new. i have a 3 y.o. who currently (it is a fairly new thing) picks what she does not want out of her meals. the other day she was picking mushrooms and onions off her slice of pizza and she asked me to help her get them off. i told her i am not in the business of customizing her food, and she could eat it however she pleased but she had to do the picking. i would recommend the same for your husband: as others have said he is an adult so he should be able to order from any menu to his liking. btw, one reason we love to go to the world every year is the fantastic dining options. he should be able to find something he likes.

My husband's diet pretty much consists of Pepperoni Pizza at least two to three times a week, burgers (only prepared on a grill, and not on a George Foreman), hot dogs, and steak, (occasionally). Recently he has come to like Italian food more, outside of pizza, so he likes any kind of pasta doused in Alfredo sauce, (he won't eat marinara). He likes any kind of bread. He is a very, very, very basic eater. He won't eat chicken that is on a bone or has skin on it, (he won't eat fried chicken). He won't eat pork chops or pork tenderloin. He won't eat salmon or crab. He will eat Halibut, but only if its fried and has had the bones completely removed. And he'll eat shrimp that is either completely soaked in butter and garlic or fried, not plain. He'll eat tacos with ground beef or boneless skinless chicken, and refried beans. He does like rice too I suppose. He likes spicy foods as well, he has recently acquired a taste for extremely hot sauce, but not on anything "weird" or colored green. (He wouldn't eat my enchiladas verde because of the green sauce.)

There are many times that I'll just throw a cheap frozen pizza in for him and serve my daughter and I something more healthful and delicious.

 

[AppleSister1]

Wowzer. I don't even know him, and I'm worried about his health!

As someone already mentioned there is an ESPN Club on the Boardwalk which should have some stuff for him. In the same area is Beaches and Cream at the Beach Club which he might like. Trying to think of more places he could try while you are having a fabu meal...without having to go to Hooters!

 

[2Tiggies]

Have DH request his meals plain! It can be done.

I was going to say that! I am a fairly picky eater and manage to get something almost anywhere in Disney by asking them to leave something off or make it "plain", no sauce, no beef, no pork etc. Even CS places can accommodate you fairly well.

 

[LYNSUE]

I truly hope your husband's palate matures sometime soon. Having allergy related food no-no's is one thing, but this sound like something left over from a very spoiled up bringing.

 

[tallen429]

I'm loving these responses. Food pickiness (outside of allergies) is a HUGE pet peeve of mine because it's a learned (tolerated) behavior.
Like a PP said, that's the adult you end up with when you give in to whims.

Everyone has a few things they don't really care for (i don't like liver, but I love the smell so every few years I try a bite to see if it's "grown on me"..not yet. )

My children eat what they're served or go hungry. Period. They are very adventurous eaters and I'm quite proud of that. For example my four year old will eat sushi every chance she gets...

I have to say one thing though. I'd would NEVER allow my children to expect a restaurant to make them something else because they're picky. It's one thing to ask to have a sauce left off or no onions/mushrooms/peppers, etc. But to think a chef will prepare you a totally different type of meal when you aren't even willing to TRY what's already on the menu?? Sorry, that's self centered and over the top, imho.

 

[Lynne M]

I feel your pain, I have friends like that, and there's so many restaurants I haven't tried because no one will go with me.

But WDW is the last place you need to worry about satisfying a picky eater. The restaurants deal with it every day, and they're accommodating beyond belief. They'll leave sauces off, substitute sides, you name it. He'll be able to get a plain chicken breast almost anywhere, and pizza is on most of the kids menus. He can get a double portion of a kids meal. Your server won't even bat an eye.

 

[si-am]

I have to say one thing though. I'd would NEVER allow my children to expect a restaurant to make them something else because they're picky. It's one thing to ask to have a sauce left off or no onions/mushrooms/peppers, etc. But to think a chef will prepare you a totally different type of meal when you aren't even willing to TRY what's already on the menu?? Sorry, that's self centered and over the top, imho.

I agree with you on that, although this is a topic that can get very heated!

I'd have no problem asking for small modifications, but I think it's tacky to ask for a completely different meal (food allergies being the exception).

 

[Sk8Leigh]

I'm loving these responses. Food pickiness (outside of allergies) is a HUGE pet peeve of mine because it's a learned (tolerated) behavior.
Like a PP said, that's the adult you end up with when you give in to whims.

Everyone has a few things they don't really care for (i don't like liver, but I love the smell so every few years I try a bite to see if it's "grown on me"..not yet. )

My children eat what they're served or go hungry. Period. They are very adventurous eaters and I'm quite proud of that. For example my four year old will eat sushi every chance she gets...

I have to say one thing though. I'd would NEVER allow my children to expect a restaurant to make them something else because they're picky. It's one thing to ask to have a sauce left off or no onions/mushrooms/peppers, etc. But to think a chef will prepare you a totally different type of meal when you aren't even willing to TRY what's already on the menu?? Sorry, that's self centered and over the top, imho.

Wow, you're kind of...hostile about this.

 

[tallen429]

I agree with you on that, although this is a topic that can get very heated!

I'd have no problem asking for small modifications, but I think it's tacky to ask for a completely different meal (food allergies being the exception).

Well I surely don't want to start a debate...Yikes!

I have very strong opinions on certain things so I mainly bite my tongue.

 

[DisneyBeagle]

There are many times that I'll just throw a cheap frozen pizza in for him and serve my daughter and I something more healthful and delicious.

You are a better woman than me because if my husband was that picky, he'd be preparing his own food each night.


I'm glad it seems that your daughter is not following in her picky father's footsteps. I have a friend that is super picky and always picks apart her food removing any sign of a vegetable. Her daughter now does the same thing. My friend says "it must genetic" but I think it's most likely a learned behavior from watching her mother.

 

[tallen429]

Wow, you're kind of...hostile about this.

Sorry, I guess I am, a bit. Don't really mean to be. Not to go all "off topic" but I guess it just bothers me when kids are clearly either over or under weight, have bad teeth, poor bone strength, have all kinds of health issues and then you find out they will only eat three food items and each must be prepared a certain way and served on a purple plate, kwim??

 

[krissyh]

I am a picky eater. This is in part because I have certain common foods I simply do not like: rice and tomatoes. But, is mostly because I have some common and some odd food allergies. I cannot eat white fish, shellfish, strawberries, nutmeg, cashews...items that come on a lot of menus.

At WDW, I have never been unable to have a meal at any restaurant I've been to. And we DON'T do buffets other than breakfast.

DBF is willing to try most anything, while the allergies make this difficult for me. I use the menus on allearsnet.com and find restaurants that have something I'll enjoy, sometimes as is and sometimes by asking them to leave an item off. I then show DBF the menus and have him pick the restaurants he'd like to go to. Luckily, I'm a steak lover. Don't forget about the CS versions of the Epcot restaurants! You and your DD can have lunch at one while hubby orders off of the kids menu or grabs chicken fingers another CS restaurant. We've done this.

My attitude has always been that I'm the one with the issues so it is my job to accommodate the others in the party, not their job to accommodate me. If I can't find something, I'll get a kids meal and great dessert or add something later. Don't enable your hubby. Pick more places than you have time for, show him the menus and remind him that he can have sauces and the evil onions (how I feel about mushrooms) left off.

Good luck and have a great time.

 

[vicki_c]

The OP's husband makes me feel better about my own - meat & potatoes are king, most fish/seafood okay, but the only veggies he willingly eats are corn and peas, once in a while a green bean, or things that are well disguised (read pulverized) in other items. And NO FRUIT! Crazy - never in my life heard of anyone who didn't eat any fruit - not a single kind. And no tomatoes, but tomato sauces are okay! I think it's a texture thing, really. Apparently he could wait out his mother longer at the dinner table and sat at the table until bedtime some nights until they finally threw his food out and let him go to bed!

Good luck and I agree with the others - the restaurants will let him order plain things not written on the menus. No need to split up.

You're not going to change him, so you might as well go with the flow - apparently he has other redeeming qualities!

 

[tallen429]

I am a picky eater. This is in part because I have certain common foods I simply do not like: rice and tomatoes. But, is mostly because I have some common and some odd food allergies. I cannot eat white fish, shellfish, strawberries, nutmeg, cashews...items that come on a lot of menus.
QUOTE]

Having allergies isn't the same as being picky. You have to be safe. No one would (or should) ever fault you for that.
Your attitudes about dining out are fabulous!!

 

[Sk8Leigh]

Sorry, I guess I am, a bit. Don't really mean to be. Not to go all "off topic" but I guess it just bothers me when kids are clearly either over or under weight, have bad teeth, poor bone strength, have all kinds of health issues and then you find out they will only eat three food items and each must be prepared a certain way and served on a purple plate, kwim??

I was a pretty healthy kid, not over or under weight (I could stand to lose about 10-15 lbs now, though and I'm working on it), so it's never really affected me like that. My parents tried to make me try different things, but I was very stubborn. When I was a baby I had trouble eating at all and then had cleft palate surgery and never was as adventurous after that, so I think they were probably just happy that I ate anything.

I do agree with making kids try things, and if I have kids I will definitely try to push more than my parents did, because I know how you end up if you don't.

But I don't think I'll ever like onions or tomatoes! (I don't think I'm as bad as OP's husband. (Sorry OP.))

 

[tessa67]

I think I USED to be married to your husband.

Honestly, I also have no tolerance for adults with ridiculous food demands. I can understand not caring for a general taste, like Indian food, but to refuse to eat anything with onions or vegetables or fruit is silly.

On a side, but related note...DD3 was at her gymnastics class today. They start out with a little stretching and the instructor always has them pretend to make pizza or cookies (rolling out the dough as they lean forward and stretch their hamstrings, etc) So today she said, "We are going to make pizza, lets lean forward and roll out our dough." and DD3 said, "I don't want mushrooms on mine!" But she is 3, so I tolerate the "no mushroom" demand because she will eat her weight in black olives and hummus.

 

[Sk8Leigh]

Whatever. Sorry you think I'm "silly".

 

[PixieDustandEeyore]

Good luck with your dh! Im in the allergy category Im allergic to mushrooms, shellfish, mustard seeds, pepper , berries and a mild lactose intolerance so it can be rough! Luckily the only anaphalxysis allergies are the mushrooms and shellfish (those epi pens are no fun to lug around but thankfully life saving)

I found with my allergy that I had to order of the kids menu alot but they made me an adult size portion so I suggest doing that