Every family has a picky eater, right? Meet Myles, he is mine. Five years old, sweet as can be, smart as a whip, but eats approximately five things. Grilled cheese, PB&J, pretzels, yogurt, and ONE type of chicken nugget (cough cough, thanks McDonalds).
Navigating vacations in general with these type of people can add anxiety to your trip. Let me break it down for you so you can do a little bit more relaxing and a little less stressing on your next adventure with your picky kid. Keep scrolling and you'll find a list of ALL the things my picky eater approves of and where to find them!
Unlike many other theme parks, Disney DOES allow you to bring in outside food and drinks! A huge hallelujah and sigh of relief to all the mamas out there! Thank you, Walt!
Step one in this survival guide: order grocery delivery for your hotel room! Walmart, Instacart, or Amazon prime... order their staples and have them handy. Put them in your park bag or cooler (yes, you can take in a cooler. Say what?!) But I also know all you mamas out there want your kids to have some warm food, too... so keep reading!
Next up, I'll elaborate on a few of my son's personal faves. We have a saying in our family "if Myles eats it, it must be freaking delicious"... so hopefully your kiddo thinks so, too!
Hollywood Studios has an area called Toy Story Land. Inside this highly themed out area is a secret oasis for your picky eater... Woody's Lunch Box. This is where you can mobile order a grilled cheese sandwich. Bread is soft (not hard) and the cheese is nothing fancy. Pro tip: If you have two picky eaters (God bless your soul), order one adult grilled cheese entree and they can share it!
Moving on to the Magic Kingdom. Pinocchio Village Haus is severely underrated. They have delicious flatbread pizzas that picky eaters AND their parents can enjoy. You can also get a table overlooking the "It's a Small World" ride. Look at that smile on my five year old's face. He thinks Pinocchio makes the "best cheese pizza EVER." (He believes a wooden puppet cooked this meal and no one better tell him otherwise).
Making our way to the jungle, and hitting up Animal Kingdom. We had dinner at the Quick Service Location inside Pandora (aka Avatar Land). They serve up a "Myles approved" cheese quesadilla (no brown on the tortilla and no stringy cheese) with a side of homemade chips. The kids meal actually comes with two quesadillas, so my boys both ate for $7!
Picky Eater Approved Items:
All parks:
Mickey pretzels
Uncrustables
Macaroni
Icecream- Mickey shaped, soft serve, or scoops
Popcorn
Joffrey's coffee locations-donuts
Magic Kingdom:
Sleepy Hollow- Giant Mickey Waffle (plain)
Casey's Corner- basket of fries
Pinocchio Village Haus- pizza
Epcot:
France- Nutella crepe
Sunshine Seasons- plenty of grab'n'go options
Connections eatery- basket of fries, slice of cheese pizza
Animal Kingdom:
Santuli Canteen- cheese quesadilla
Pizzafari- plain personal pan pizzas
Hollywood studios:
Catalina Eddie's- plain personal pan pizza and breadsticks
Pizza Rizzo- more plain cheese pizza... but on the opposite side of the park!
(If your little one is more adventurous in the chicken nugget department, each park has a location where you can grab those, too!)
If you've got a picky kiddo, chances are you're used to googling, researching, and planning out every restaurant you eat at. My biggest tip is (drumroll please) download the MyDisneyExperience app now!
Select the mobile order food option (yes, do this from your couch at home). Pick a time slot and pretend like you're actually about to place an order. The reason I prefer this way, is because you can see actual pictures of the food instead of just reading a black and white menu. Browse the menus, show pics to your little one, and make a list in the note section of your phone. I promise you'll be glad you did! In the hustle and chaos of a busy park day, you'll be glad you have that "cheat sheet" saved in your phone.
It should also be noted here that some table service restaurants charge per person, regardless of whether they eat or not. A few examples are Garden Grill, Be Our Guest, and Cinderella's Royal Table. So you may catch a glimpse of the bill and feel nauseous knowing you had to pay $40 for your child to sit at the table with you, partake in no warm food, and eat goldfish out of your park bag. (Trust me, we learned the hard way). The silver lining, you only have to pay for your kids IF they're old enough to require a park ticket (3+). If there is a specific dining experience you're interested in for your trip,
do you research beforehand and see if it's worth the price tag.
In conclusion, here are the things I've learned while parenting my picky eater. All meals do not have to include the entire food pyramid, especially while on vacation. Giant ice cream for dinner? Ok. You want to eat two Uncrustables in one day? Alright I'll let it slide. Everything tastes better when it's shaped like Mickey. Oh, and never leave "home" without a backpack full of emergency snacks!
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