I think of the space restaurant or BoG as more of an experience rather than a restaurant. You are paying to experience the show around you. The food is a bonus.
Kind of like the firework viewing desert parties. If you like the deserts great! But you came for the fireworks.
EXACTLY! Some people can't eat desserts at all, so should they be allowed to enjoy the entertainment from comfortable seats without paying? No. They make a decision if the price is worth it based on what they take away from it.
My biggest complaint when BOG opened was the gross mistake they made in not making it prix fixe. That place cost a fortune to build and a fortune to operate and there were WAY TOO MANY guests ordering cupcakes or 4 people splitting one meal and a pastry platter. I once had a family of 3 sit behind us at Sci Fi who only ordered sodas, telling the server they were waiting on their son to arrive to order. Guess what, after an hour they "changed their minds" and left. I ate there for breakfast when it was prix fixe and I'd be fine if it went to that for all meals. It might be easier to book.
Every special restaurant needs to be prix fixe whether BOG, CRT, character meals, dinner shows, all you can eat and Space. At least with Space there is the option of the Lounge, you just can't reserve it, you have to wait. If Space weren't prix fixe it would be tables full of non-diners splitting an appetizer or dessert. That's bad business, just like BOG was.
I get that the menus don't work for everyone but it works for most. I was pretty impressed they made a very basic kids menu, not sure how much more basic it could be. And if a kid is "Disney adult" most restaurants will upsize the kids menu. I don't think they'll have any problem staying fully booked for the long term with this menu as is and prix fixe.
I have empathy. My son is disabled, there are lots of things he can't do, places he can't enter, things he'll never get to experience. There are things at Disney that just aren't compatible with his issues. That is our life and I don't expect Disney or any business to make any changes to menus, environments, booking processes etc for us. It is my job to own his experiences and make our own adjustments on our trips, and I do that often. I could spend all day complaining about things, but I'm just happy we are in a position to even go to Disney.