food for two kids under 3

[lynnzrae]

Hello fellows Disney lovers!

In September our trip will consist of 4 adults, 1-4 year old and 2-18 month olds. We are on the deluxe dining plan (yummy) and since I can't get a dining plan for the 18 months olds I know I have to pay out of pocket for their food purchased at the restaurant. At first I thought about having food delivered to our hotel from Safeway, Amazon Prime Now, etc. in which I would bring with us to the restaurants so I am not paying a lot of money for a meal they may or may not eat much of at the restaurant. I know they can share food with the rest of us but, I didn't want to be forced to make my menu selections based off of food that I think they would eat. I want to enjoy what I want to enjoy, part of what I look forward to when I go to WDW.

Now, I am starting to rethink this and maybe I am overthinking it all. My 4 year old will likely not eat all of his food and I am thinking between him and the four adults there will be something between the three courses that we will be served that the two will eat. And if it ends up being the case, they can split 1 kids meal and I'll bite the bullet and pay out of pocket for it (maybe it's not too bad in price or maybe the cost is worth it for the easiness of it). Also, I do plan to have PB&J and simple stuff like that to eat during the day as with our dining plan we are doing 2 meals a day due to so many of our restaurants being 2-fers, so I can have stuff on hand if needed.

I was thinking the packing and hauling of all of this extra food may not be worth it in the long run as they may not even eat it anyway.

This is a very long and drawn out way of me asking for advice from others who have been in similar situations. I know it is subjective but I would still find value in any experiences, advice, tips that anyone can provide.

Actually, while I am asking for your help, could you please also provide some suggestions for food to take to the park during the day. We will be doing character breakfasts (buffets/family style) in the am, go to the park until the kids need a pool/rest/break at the hotel (YC) and then head back out for an early dinner and more park time. I am planning on the kids needing to eat in between breakfast and being back at the hotel for our break. I was thinking foods that I don't have to stress about keeping cold (so no lunch meat or cheese, etc.) but I don't want to just stuff them with carbs either. PB&J, grapes, raisins, goldfish, other items? I want to have enough stuff but not over pack/buy either where I am lugging tons of unused stuff home with me or throwing it away.

I have these little containers that I was going to bring for each kid...https://www.shopdisney.com/minnie-mouse-food-storage-container-disney-eats-1461076, but I don't think I would be able to put our left over buffet food in them?

Sorry it is so long winded. Thank you in advance for helping me. I much appreciate all of the positive support and Disney-love.

 

[sponica]

I just went with my 21 month old. Don't buy a ton out of pocket. Almost every time we bought her a meal, she didn't eat much of it...

She fell in love with the applesauce pouches that were in the kids meals. So we ordered a ton of those from Prime Now (and had left overs for the plane ride home). She also snacked on teddy grahams and goldfish.

I had bananas delivered for the room, so she'd eat a banana BEFORE we left for our breakfasts since breakfast was later than she usually eats at home and she can get super hangry. At both character breakfasts, she ate her weight in fruit.

Personally I'd avoid the PB&J just because I don't like the texture in the heat...and it's messy.

 

[lynnzrae]

I just went with my 21 month old. Don't buy a ton out of pocket. Almost every time we bought her a meal, she didn't eat much of it...

She fell in love with the applesauce pouches that were in the kids meals. So we ordered a ton of those from Prime Now (and had left overs for the plane ride home). She also snacked on teddy grahams and goldfish.

I had bananas delivered for the room, so she'd eat a banana BEFORE we left for our breakfasts since breakfast was later than she usually eats at home and she can get super hangry. At both character breakfasts, she ate her weight in fruit.

Personally I'd avoid the PB&J just because I don't like the texture in the heat...and it's messy.

good point on it being messy. Can they eat from the buffet? What would you bring for her that had substance? Thank you so much!

 

[lynnzrae]

good point on it being messy. Can they eat from the buffet? What would you bring for her that had substance? Thank you so much!

Yes mine LOVE pouches too. Any room in the house, if I say the word pouch they come running into the kitchen and start pointing at the fridge.

 

[lynnzrae]

Hello fellows Disney lovers!

In September our trip will consist of 4 adults, 1-4 year old and 2-18 month olds. We are on the deluxe dining plan (yummy) and since I can't get a dining plan for the 18 months olds I know I have to pay out of pocket for their food purchased at the restaurant. At first I thought about having food delivered to our hotel from Safeway, Amazon Prime Now, etc. in which I would bring with us to the restaurants so I am not paying a lot of money for a meal they may or may not eat much of at the restaurant. I know they can share food with the rest of us but, I didn't want to be forced to make my menu selections based off of food that I think they would eat. I want to enjoy what I want to enjoy, part of what I look forward to when I go to WDW.

Now, I am starting to rethink this and maybe I am overthinking it all. My 4 year old will likely not eat all of his food and I am thinking between him and the four adults there will be something between the three courses that we will be served that the two will eat. And if it ends up being the case, they can split 1 kids meal and I'll bite the bullet and pay out of pocket for it (maybe it's not too bad in price or maybe the cost is worth it for the easiness of it). Also, I do plan to have PB&J and simple stuff like that to eat during the day as with our dining plan we are doing 2 meals a day due to so many of our restaurants being 2-fers, so I can have stuff on hand if needed.

I was thinking the packing and hauling of all of this extra food may not be worth it in the long run as they may not even eat it anyway.

This is a very long and drawn out way of me asking for advice from others who have been in similar situations. I know it is subjective but I would still find value in any experiences, advice, tips that anyone can provide.

Actually, while I am asking for your help, could you please also provide some suggestions for food to take to the park during the day. We will be doing character breakfasts (buffets/family style) in the am, go to the park until the kids need a pool/rest/break at the hotel (YC) and then head back out for an early dinner and more park time. I am planning on the kids needing to eat in between breakfast and being back at the hotel for our break. I was thinking foods that I don't have to stress about keeping cold (so no lunch meat or cheese, etc.) but I don't want to just stuff them with carbs either. PB&J, grapes, raisins, goldfish, other items? I want to have enough stuff but not over pack/buy either where I am lugging tons of unused stuff home with me or throwing it away.

I have these little containers that I was going to bring for each kid...https://www.shopdisney.com/minnie-mouse-food-storage-container-disney-eats-1461076, but I don't think I would be able to put our left over buffet food in them?

Sorry it is so long winded. Thank you in advance for helping me. I much appreciate all of the positive support and Disney-love.

Can I also add the question...if I order them milk at breakfast will I be charged? Should I bring in my own milk boxes?

 

[sponica]

We did family style character breakfasts, so I can't speak to the buffets, but my understanding is that all you care to eat you can get them whatever they want.

Mine doesn't drink milk, so what we ended up doing is bringing take and toss sippy cups and ordering some apple juice bottles for the room. I think at breakfast when we did AYCTE they gave her whatever we asked for her. It was hit or miss as to whether we got charged for a kid's apple juice at table service restaurants.

I specifically avoided buffet character dining because I wanted to stay in my seat.

I honestly don't remember what we fed her...but it was SUPER hot so she didn't eat as much as usual.

 

[lynnzrae]

We did family style character breakfasts, so I can't speak to the buffets, but my understanding is that all you care to eat you can get them whatever they want.

Mine doesn't drink milk, so what we ended up doing is bringing take and toss sippy cups and ordering some apple juice bottles for the room. I think at breakfast when we did AYCTE they gave her whatever we asked for her. It was hit or miss as to whether we got charged for a kid's apple juice at table service restaurants.

I specifically avoided buffet character dining because I wanted to stay in my seat.

I honestly don't remember what we fed her...but it was SUPER hot so she didn't eat as much as usual.

Thank you very much.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Portion sizes are insane at Disney. You should be able to feed the littles from your own adult meals, especially as you are on the Deluxe Dining Plan. We always had some kind of leftover snack/food container with us from the last place we were eating at.

It's so hot right now that most little kids are going to want a bite or two of something and a sip or two of a drink, but they are not going to be interested in a loaded full meal.

 

[Faldred]

Children under 3 can eat/drink at buffets for no charge.

When we were in a very similar situation, ordering one kids' meal for a 4yo and having two toddlers, we almost never got charged for extra drinks (specifically, milk) at menu service locations (Wolfgang Puck was the one exception I remember, but this was YEARS ago). While each child is different, the three of them were very able to share one kids' meal most of the time, supplemented by the standard snacks ever present in our packs (goldfish, cheerios, etc.).

 

[SG131]

Can I also add the question...if I order them milk at breakfast will I be charged? Should I bring in my own milk boxes?

My two were a bit older (4 and 7) when we went at the end of August last year. At home they drink mostly milk all day and I make sure they get at least one cup a day. However, in Disney at the end of August, I laid off that a lot and mainly gave the kids water at meals. It was so incredibly hot, as it still will likely be in September, I wanted to make sure they didn’t get dehydrated. So you may not need too much milk.

 

[annadreamsofdisneyworld]

We just went to Disney World with our two kids age 3.5 and 1.5. We weren't on the dining plan. We stopped at Target and Aldi along the way (we had a rental car) and bought a bunch of fruit/veggie pouches, Kind Bars/Nature Valley bars, strawberries, and raspberries. For breakfast we'd go to the little cafe at our hotel and pick up individual milks, bagels, muffins, packages of cheerios, and bananas, and supplement that with the fruit we bought. At the parks we would buy 1 kid's meal for our 2 kids to share and order a second milk (1 came free with each meal). We'd supplement with pouches and bars and use those for snacks as well. Most kid's meals came with a fruit such as grapes that I would cut up. The kid's meals aren't that expensive, they're maybe $7-9, so it won't cost too much to buy one for the kids to split. You can look at the menus ahead of time to see if they'll like the food. It wasn't too hard to find things they would like. If you're going to any buffets/all you can eat meals the kids can just eat whatever they want for free.

 

[annadreamsofdisneyworld]

Can I also add the question...if I order them milk at breakfast will I be charged? Should I bring in my own milk boxes?

Yes, you will be charged, though if you buy a kid's meal then a milk will come with it for free.

 

[Nancyg56]

I woudl not bring milk boxes. I woudl simply buy the milk at the restaurant.

Kids under three can eat at the buffet, so no worries there, just fill their plate.

You are going to have a lot of food on the DxDDP, so I would not order any more.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I wouldn't even bring applesauce pouches given the size of your party and type of dining plan you have. In addition to the the 3 table service credits per adult you'll have 2 snack credits per adult and some of them can be used to buy fresh fruit, pastries, etc. for the children. I used to pack up a shoe box filled with snacks and am now happy I always forgot and left them at home; nobody starved. I travel with 1-3 juvenile eating machines.