Young kids and DxDP: please share your sample meal times

[vinotinto]

For those of you that either have either done the deluxe dining plan or have planned at least 2 TS meals per day, would you mind sharing your restaurant/ADR schedules? My kids are little (DS5 and DD will have just turned 3) and they eat 3 meals/day at home. My DS is starting kindergarten about a month before our trip and he will get lunch at 10:45 am (I know, crazy!) so I think he might get hungry early.

I currently have start times as follows:
- breakfast between 7:30 and 8:10 am (most are around 8:00 am)
- lunch between 11:45 am and 12:15 pm (most are around 12:00 pm)
- dinners between 5:00 and 6:00 pm (most are around 5:30/5:45)

We're there for 8 nights (9 days) and have 4 days with 3 meals/day. Other days, we're grabbing snack breakfasts.

So, please if you have your meal times from previous trips and it worked for your family, I would love to know about it.

TIA

 

[CJ1010]

We did the DxDP last trip and are doing it again this trip with 2 young kids - DS6 and DD3. We're also going for 9 days, with 3 TS on 2 of those days (the others have 2 TS scheduled - except for our pool day). Planning about 5-6 hours between meals works well for us. We tend to do 1 character meal/day & like buffets because they're easier with our kids who don't like "kid food". We don't return to our resort mid-afternoon for a nap (tried that last trip & it was a disaster!), instead a mid-day TS works well for us to sit & relax for an hour.

One caution with a TS scheduled at 7:30/8am every day - after a few days you may find your kids are very tired & want to sleep later than normal. Especially if they're staying up later. That's what we found last trip so this time I'm scheduling a few at the beginning of our trip, with more leeway the last few days - giving us the option to get up & go, or sleep in. If you're staying on property & taking the bus to an ADR at a park or another resort that travel time needs to be added on. Last trip we took a taxi our last morning because the kids were sleeping & I didn't want to wake them up before I had to.

So, in general I plan breakfast 8-9, lunch at 1-2, and dinner is around 6-7. These times are about an hour later than what we do at home. We're also doing a couple 2TS (CRT & Flying Fish) because we'll have 64 snacks to use. So, a couple days we're doing an early lunch or late breakfast and dinner around 6 - using snacks to fill in. Don't forget about those snack credits - we had about 15 to use on our last day and brought home a lot of candy (which the kids loved!).

Here's a more detailed list of our plans this trip:

Sat 5/29 (arrival day):
5:40 chef mickey's

Sun 5/30 (HS):
8:05 H&V
1:55 Sci Fi
7:30 50's prime time
(SWW so we plan to be in the park all day)

Mon 5/31 (Epcot):
8:25 Akershus
1:10 Tokyo Dining
dinner at resort (1/2 day at park & pool)

Tues 6/1 (AK):
10:25 Tusker House
6:15 Boma

Wed 6/2 (MK):
9a CRT
1:45 LTT
7:30 Plaza

Th 6/3 (pool)
7:35 Flying Fish

Fri 6/4 (MK):
10:25 Crystal Palace
5:30 1900 Park Fare

Sat 6/5 (Epcot):
11:35 Coral Reef
5:30 Garden Grill

Sun 6/6 - departure

Hope this helps and answers your questions! Have a great trip!

 

[Faldred]

We have very schedule-driven kids, so our times were generally the same as they'd get at home: breakfast at 8:00 am, lunch at noon, and dinner at 6:00 pm.

Since we didn't take afternoon breaks, we generally just had early days, ending with dinner and turning in early at the resort.

 

[Mom2Elliot]

We will be doing the deluxe plan for the first time in July and have a 2 yr old - so eating often and quickly is what works for us. This is what we have planned:

Sunday (arrive early):
Chef Mickey's 10:40 am
CRT 5:40

Monday:
Crystal Palace 8:05
Tutto Italia 5:15

Tuesday:
Donald's safari BF 8:00
Kona Cafe 5:40

Wednesday:
Ohana's 7:30
Rose and Crown 12:00
Grand Floridian 6:20

Thursday:
Hollywood & Vine 8:00
the Wave 5:00

Friday:
1900 Park Fare 8:10
Le Cellier 11:45
Boma 5:55

Friday looks the worst to me, but I'm not giving up Le Cellier For the other days lunches we will use some of our snack credits. We will also be in a villa, so I can make something for the little one.

Good luck!

 

[sydneysmom]

we're doing DxDpl in Sept and I made our breakfast ADR's for 7:45 - 8:00, lunch for 1:00 and Dinners at 7:00 pm. We're skipping lunch one day because of the MNSSHP...we're doing dinner that night at 4:25.

I tried to keep our dining schedule close to what we do at home so at least that routine is kind of the same. But we did choose the DxDpl so that we can have more than one sit down meal a day. I like that we can take a break at lunch and take a break at dinner. there's going to be enough "over stimulation" from the rides, characters, noise.....I think she's going to need a little break. ( she's only 4 1/2) So for us, I think it'll be good. ( I'm not sure who's going to need a break more....my DD or DH !!)

 

[MSLRAC]

We did the DxDP in February with our 5 1/2 and 3 year olds. We opted for 3 TS a day as it fight our needs and touring plans. We typically did breakfast at 8-9 am, lunch at 1-2 pm and dinner at 7-8 pm. It worked really well for us and we plan to use the same plan (different restaurants) when we go back in March.

 

[katieam1]

Sure! We have done DXDDP both trips in 2009 and plan for DXDDP in September when we go. It works out great for us! My kids are 2 and 3 will be 4 when we go in September.

Depending on what time we make it there (we are driving from NY) we will have lunch at Planet Hollywood and use or voucher towards that meal and pay oop. if it is late when we arrive we will grab a snack at the resort.

1st Day check in: Biergarten at 6:45

2nd Day:
Hollywood and Vine (8:45am)
Mama Melrose (1:30pm)
Dinner I have not booked yet. But thinking at 6:00 maybe even be a counter service at the resort because I plan on an afternoon of swim time!

3nd Day: MNSSHP day so a little different
Cape may Cafe (9:40am)
The Plaza at 4:15pm before the party
I figure this day we will be doing snacks and I saved a credit for a counter service. Also we plan on hitting the pool in the afternoon so we are happy for the party!!

4rd Day
Crystal Palace (8:15am)
Liberty Tree Tavern (1:00)
Tony's Town Square (6:20)

5th day: Another MNSSHP day!!
Chef Mickey's at 9:35am
CRT at 4:15 before the party.
I will again use our snack credits and a CS as well. Another pool time before party so we are again happy for the party.

Day 6:
Donald's Safari Breakfast at 8:20
Yak & Yet at 1:00
Haven't planned anything yet for dinner but will be at around 6. We are thinking beaches and cream. Planning more pool time here mid afternoon since AK closes at 5 anyways.

Day 7:
Akershus at 8:15am
Coral Reef at 1:10
Teppan Edo at 6:20

Day 8 check out:

Captain Grill 12:00pm
(this will be the meal before we have the long drive home to NY!)

So this is our plan for September. We LOVE DXDDP. The kids can have a breakfast with their favs every morning which is nice. We usually try to plan an earlier breakfast, mid day lunch and then a mid evening dinner. works out best for us. The kids also will get ice cream if they want during the day as snacks or whatever we find as a quick snack. My kids also love popcorn. some times we don't even use the snacks and we bring great snacks for the ride home. Depends on the day and how hot it is. Hope this helped!

Have a great trip!!!

 

[ReneeA]

We don't do DxDDP, but we do tend to keep our normal schedule just as we do at home - eat a quick breakfast of breakfast bars & milk in the room at 7:30, an early lunch at 11 am, and dinner between 5 and 5:30.

It seems to work out especially well at Disney because we do CS lunches and the restaurants are empty at 11 - no lines at the registers and lots of tables to choose from. We've also always had good luck getting the ADR times we like.

 

[watkinsme]

Last year we did DDP and had a few days of 3 meals and this is what we did:

breakfast prior to park opening
lunch around 12:30-1:30
dinner around 7

My kids (4 &3) are pretty flexible and so we had snacks mid morning, then about 3 or 4 we went back to the resort for nap/swim and then they had a second burst of energy for the later dinner -

we also went at a slow time so we had rode everything by 3-4pm so we were good - we have the same schedule this time, but we will have our 12 month old with us, so I hope she is as easy going as they are

 

[vinotinto]

Thanks everyone! It seems spacing meals about 5 hours apart works well for most.

One caution with a TS scheduled at 7:30/8am every day - after a few days you may find your kids are very tired & want to sleep later than normal. Especially if they're staying up later. That's what we found last trip so this time I'm scheduling a few at the beginning of our trip, with more leeway the last few days - giving us the option to get up & go, or sleep in.

Don't forget about those snack credits - we had about 15 to use on our last day and brought home a lot of candy (which the kids loved!).

Yeah! I'm hopingmy kids will want to sleep in more during the second half of the trip. I don't have any breakfasts scheduled the last 3 full days - hoping to use snack credits.

We have very schedule-driven kids, so our times were generally the same as they'd get at home: breakfast at 8:00 am, lunch at noon, and dinner at 6:00 pm.

Since we didn't take afternoon breaks, we generally just had early days, ending with dinner and turning in early at the resort.

We tend to keep very regular schedules at home too. On our last trip to Disney, my DS idn't take naps, and he was pretty pooped by 7:30 pm.

We will be doing the deluxe plan for the first time in July and have a 2 yr old - so eating often and quickly is what works for us. This is what we have planned:

Thanks for sharing your ADRs!

I like that we can take a break at lunch and take a break at dinner. there's going to be enough "over stimulation" from the rides, characters, noise.....I think she's going to need a little break. ( she's only 4 1/2) So for us, I think it'll be good. ( I'm not sure who's going to need a break more....my DD or DH !!)

I feel that I need the breaks more than my kids

We did the DxDP in February with our 5 1/2 and 3 year olds. We opted for 3 TS a day as it fight our needs and touring plans. We typically did breakfast at 8-9 am, lunch at 1-2 pm and dinner at 7-8 pm. It worked really well for us and we plan to use the same plan (different restaurants) when we go back in March.

Nice to see someone who is not scared of 3 TS per day. You seem to have spaced them nicely. Did you write a report? Given your kids' are the same ages as mine I would have liked to read your opinions on restaurants, etc.

Sure! We have done DXDDP both trips in 2009 and plan for DXDDP in September when we go. It works out great for us! My kids are 2 and 3 will be 4 when we go in September.

1st Day check in: Biergarten at 6:45

Wow! Driving from New York! We drive, but we're in Atlanta. I currently have Chefs de France ressies on our arrival day, but I'm toying with switching it to Biergarten. I think it would help us relax and get in a festive mood.

We don't do DxDDP, but we do tend to keep our normal schedule just as we do at home - eat a quick breakfast of breakfast bars & milk in the room at 7:30, an early lunch at 11 am, and dinner between 5 and 5:30.

That's exactly what we did last year when we had the regular DDP.

 

[Faldred]

We tend to keep very regular schedules at home too. On our last trip to Disney, my DS idn't take naps, and he was pretty pooped by 7:30 pm.

We actually found out a week before we left that our twins (DS3, DD3, both 2 at the time) were both autistic, so the more regular schedule worked great for them, even if it was a lot of planning on our end.

DS5 (3 at the time) didn't nap all week, but was always the first one asleep each night -- while we were still reading books to the three of them! The twins napped in the stroller during the day, and were able to get through the days without getting too overtired. The second we hit I-4 east out of Orlando on the way home, the eldest conked out for a good solid 3-hour nap.

 

[Girly_Qs]

We'll be doing DxDP for the first time this September. We've done the DDP several times, and I'm familiar with how our family likes to do the parks, so we're going with:

Pre Rope Drop breakfasts inside the parks each morning.
Lunches around 11:30-12:00, all but 1 TS.
Dinners between 5:30 and 6:00, all TS.

We're morning people anyway, and will hit the parks hard before lunch. We also always like to have a mid-day break, for napping/swimming/showering. And then we take the evenings easy - we may hit the parks, but it's much less structured then.

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

We almost always do 3 ts/day....we do breakfast between 7:30-8, lunch at 1, dinner at 7. My kids like to eat 3 meals a day, and what can I say, I do too

 

[CathieArms]

I was there last year with my 4 year old son. He was about 6 weeks shy of his 5th birthday.

When we did two sit-down meals in one day, we tended to do breakfast around 9:30ish, and then an early dinner around 5:00 with a snack in between. He'd eat so much at breakfast, that he mostly wasn't all that hungry until dinner time.

If we did a lunch and a dinner sit-down meal, then we'd do lunch right at noon, and then save dinner until at least 6:30.

With mine, I found that he would eat more at a meal than normal due to the variety, and then that'd hold him longer than normal.

 

[arcticdisneylovers]

We did DxDDP in January with DD5 and we basically booked the earliest seating available for all meals. Breakfast 8am earlier if possible, 11:30am for lunch and 5:30pm for supper. I found it worked great because we never had to wait to be seated. Lunch was bit early but not too bad by the time we actually got the food in most cases.

 

[mickeysgirl17]

I'm planning it this way: (My DD is 8 and my DS is 2)

Breakfast: Between 7:30 and 9am
Lunch: Around 1pm or skip lunch and use the snack credits for lunch.
Dinner: Around 8pm (If we skipped lunch, use 2 TS for a signature restaurant).

We do plan to have some days where we sleep in or go back to the resort early for rest so the kids don't get too tired out.