A little help from my friends.

[Strangeite]

During the last week of January, my wife, my 10 year old son, 2.5 year old daughter, my MIL, my FIL and myself will be spending six wonderful days at Disney World.

Tickets are already purchased and our accomodations are taken care (staying in a 2 bedroom villa at OKW). Finances have gotten more tight since we originally scheduled the trip but luckily having the full kitchen in the villa is a big help since we can eat most of our meals there.

However, we want to be able to eat a couple of meals at table service restaurants. But I do have a couple of problems.

First, my 2.5 year old daughter can get fussy eating at restaurants if the food is not served quickly. Second, my 10 year old son is slightly picky.

I have been thinking about making an ADR at the Biergarten because (i) being a buffet my daughter is free, (ii) my son loves Polska Kielbsa so I am sure he will eat the suasage and (iii) if the daughter gets fussy one member of our party can take her on the dance floor while the others eat and then trade off.

I notice there is about a $10.00 difference per person between lunch and dinner. Are the additional items on the dinner menu worth it?

Given the above requirements, what suggestions do have for one or two more restaurants that we should try.

Thanks!

 

[catne]

do they do the show during lunch? I suppose you could still go out on the dance floor even if it's no show (your DD would be the show )

would agree the buffets would be your best bet. Crystal Palace in MK has the Winnie the Pooh characters...

EDITED TO ADD:

just found a current schedule for the shows at Biergarten...looks like they start during lunch. So I say, go for it.

"Experience the excitement of Oktoberfest with a festive dinner show in the Biergarten.
Sunday-Thursday at 1:15, 2:15, 3:15, 4:45, 5:55, 7:00 & 8:05pm
Friday & Saturday at 12:45, 1:45, 2:45, 4:15, 5:45, 7:00 & 8:15pm
Length of show: 25 minutes
Seating based on restaurant availabilty."

 

[budbeerlady]

Based on what you said I would go with the buffets. Do the latest lunch ADRs you can get, it will save you a bit of $$$.

 

[Strangeite]

Which buffets would you recommend? We aren't concerned with character greeting, food quality would be a higher priority.

 

[Sandi]

When our DD was that young, we avoided TS lunches because it interfered with her nap somehow. That might be something that you want to figure in -- might not be a problem, but . . .

Aside from sausage, what else does your DS enjoy? Our favorite dinner buffets are Boma at AKL and Cape May at the Beach Club. Plenty of opportunity to get up and move.

 

[Strangeite]

DS likes pizza, hamburgers, etc. We are slowly introducing him to new foods but it takes time.

The nap situation is a concern, which leads me to my next question. What is the latest I can schedule an ADR at the Biergarten and have it still count as lunch?

 

[Sandi]

According to wdwinfo.com, the hours are as follows:

Biergarten
Food/Dining Type: German
Meals: Lunch, Dinner,
Location: EPCOT World Showcase / Germany
Reservations: Suggested
Hours: Lunch 12:00 - 3:45pm, Dinner 4:00-8:30pm

I'd call to be sure, but it looks like you could do a 3:00 (or possibly later) and have it be "lunch."

 

[budbeerlady]

Any of the character buffets will please the kiddos.

There was Crystal Palace at MK, very good!
1900 Park Fare (only does dinner and breakfast)
Chef Mickey's
Tusker House (maybe not so for kids)


You can check out menus here http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm

 

[Mrs D]

We ate at the Biergarten in Sept with DS3 and DD 14months. They both LOVED the food, as did the rest of the group, and my DS couldn't get enough of the oompa band. We stayed for 2 shows! It was the best meal of our trip because we had so much fun.

 

[itchin2go]

Ohana and Whispering Canyon Cafe also have "entertainment" so to speak. And for those, your daughter could get up and roam around as well. Sci Fi at DHS might work. Coral Reef in Epcot has the aquarium fish for entertainment. T Rex in DTD and Rainforest Cafe (DTD and AK) should please the kids. Just suggesting some non-character meals as food for thought.

Any of the character buffets will entertain your child. At this risk of sounding lazy, though, buffets (and especially character buffets) can wear me out. They are anything but relaxing meals, especially with kids. Getting your food, getting their food, getting more food, oops there's a character, where's the camera, where's the autograph book, what? you want more scrambled eggs? You get the picture. Sounds like you're only thinking about doing a few table service meals, so you'll be fine.

When my daughter was a toddler, we had problems with "melt-downs" if food wasn't brought promptly. Definitely mention this to your servers if you're not eating at a buffet. They should be able to bring her food out quickly or at least something to munch on. You can also bring something little for her to munch on (like Cheerios), but I know that's a double edged sword. Hungry kids behave much better in restaurants than their less hungry counterparts.

For precisely that reason, I have found that my daughter behaves better at breakfast. Plus, she loves breakfast food!

I think you're going to find that you'll need to do late lunches or early dinners, because WDW just wears little kids out. We have trouble getting my daughter to sleep normally, but at WDW, we were having to wake her up to make it to dinner reservations! We had one of the most wonderful meals EVER at California Grill with my then-5-year-old daughter. She was pretty much out of it from all the excitement of the day and she just sat at the table and colored quietly. Utterly amazing!

 

[Strangeite]

Thank you for all of the advice and suggestions. After reviewing menus, I think I am leaning towards making ADRs for Biergarten, Tusker House and Kona Cafe. If the finances are there, then we will leave the kids with grandparents and the wife and I will enjoy a meal at Citrico's.

As always, I am always open for more suggestions and/or advice.