anniversary dinner with little ones

[maznorm]

we are hoping to revisit wdw for our anniversary next november. We got married at disney. We now have 2 young children who will be 3 and 4 at the time. Where would be a suitable place for a celebration dinner that we can take the kids to. We fancied california grill but people have made it sound unsuitable for kids. They are quite highly strung and i wouldnt want to spoil other diners exeriences

 

[tinkandpan]

You know your kids best- so if you think they are high strung, I wouldn't take them there. That being said, I find that CG is the most kid friendly (loudest as well) of the signature meals plus you have the view for them to watch. But keep in mind dinner will take an hour and a half or so.

Would you consider doing kids nite out sitters? We did that a handful of times when the little ones were little and it was great.

 

[maznorm]

thanks for the advice about cg. As for kids nite out, the only people we leave the babies are family so that is not an option because even if we did we would be worrying the whole time.

 

[goofygal531]

I have a terrible two-year old that cannot last in a restaurant longer than one hour. A character meal however, you cannot get him to leave!



Last year for my birthday dinner at Narcoossee's, we hired Kid's Nite Out baby sitters. She was wonderful! We enjoyed our meal in peace knowing the kids were having a fun time in the room.

This year, we purposely planned to stay at the GF so we can order room service from Narcoossee's for our special anniversary dinner. We're planning a water park day with the kids (hopefully it will tire them out ) then plan on grabbing them a CS meal at the resort. Once they're tucked in bed, we plan on enjoying a wonderful meal

We were very happy with the sitter service, we just thought this would be a nice change. Plus we can eat lobster in our PJs!

We do the DxDDP and dine mostly at character meals for the kids. Ordering room service on the DDP is 2 TS credits with tax and tip INCLUDED! I have not heard if California Grille offers room service but I know Jiko at the AKL does.

Just wanted to give you another option.

Happy Anniversary!

 

[Pakey]

Although CG is noisy, the noise is not from loud diners. It's because 3 sides of the restaurant are glass and the acoustics are bad. In no way would that cover the sound of screaming or exceptionally loud children. Also, CG does not have a place to escape for a few minutes to calm a child unless you are going to take the elevators back down to the ground floors which would be most inconvenient.

I would not take a high strung child to any of the signatures at WDW. We've eaten at all of them on many occasions and I've never seen a child misbehave (saw one adult who was out of control but that's for another thread ).

Perhaps Coral Reef might be a good choice. The aquarium is entertaining plus there are usually quite a few active children there. When we went a few months ago with a 3 year old, the only meals he did well at were the character meals.

 

[brendaziz]

While I enjoyed kids nite out- i understand having a hard time leaving your kids w/ strangers.

I think there's def a way to have a good time w/ the kids- I mean, if you can't have a great meal w/ the fam at disney, where can u have it?!

I personally think that California grill could be completely fine, but it also could not if the moods are not right
My kids eat out a lot- so I woudl probably go with that- but you know your kids.
I would probably do hoop dee doo revue or maybe a character meal- but with it being my anniversary i'd wanna be sure hte food was decent- which not a lot of buffets/character meals are. 1900 park fare dinner can be fun- plus cinderella and prince charming are there

i'll keep thinking though!

 

[maznorm]

ok now im really worried. It sounds like we are not going to able to take the kids anywhere. We are planning on staying at port orleans riverside and doing dining plan not quick service because there are only so many combo meals i can stand. Room service isnt really an option for there though, so i dont know what i am going to do. we normally just stay and eat offsite, maybe that would be better.

 

[Pakey]

ok now im really worried. It sounds like we are not going to able to take the kids anywhere. We are planning on staying at port orleans riverside and doing dining plan not quick service because there are only so many combo meals i can stand. Room service isnt really an option for there though, so i dont know what i am going to do. we normally just stay and eat offsite, maybe that would be better.

There are tons of places to go to. All of the restaurants in the parks (with the exception of Bistro de Paris) are packed with children. The signatures, all 8 of them, are the only restaurants that would be difficult to do with young hyper children.

That leaves some really nice places that will be perfectly fine with two young active children.

 

[KristiMc]

Don't worry. You can take your kids to all of the restaurants except Victoria & Albert's. The signature restaurants meals do seem to take 2 hours so I might skip those if you don't think the kids will make it - but there are many other great table service meals where your kids will be fine.

LeCellier would be a good pick for your anniversary. Good food and there are always a bunch of kids there.

 

[goofygal531]

Brown Derby!

It's a signature restaurant, good food, noisy, no dress code and in DHS theme park.

They have booth seating that I have to say is PERFECT for little ones. We sit on the ends and let my two year old roam a bit. He doesn't feel as confined as he would in the high chair and can last the length of the meal - which can easily run 90 mins.

The food is also delicious!

No, it's not the same dining experience as Califorina Grill, but you can't have a fine dining experience with active little ones. I really think this is your best option.

 

[brendaziz]

ok now im really worried. It sounds like we are not going to able to take the kids anywhere. We are planning on staying at port orleans riverside and doing dining plan not quick service because there are only so many combo meals i can stand. Room service isnt really an option for there though, so i dont know what i am going to do. we normally just stay and eat offsite, maybe that would be better.

OH- NO WORRIES!
I've done disney w/ babies and toddlers and preschoolers- this next trip i'll have my 3 boys, ages 5, 3 and 2 months.
We'll be eating at Cali grill and Jiko- just to name a few.

I think I was mainly thinking that for an anniversary dinner- you'll just want to be as sure as you can that you def enjoy yourselves, and I know that while my kids are relatively good at restaurants- i run the risk of an occasional meltdown- and i'm ok w/ that risk
As long as an occasional less than pleasant kid moment wont ruin your special time, then you'll be fine.
And be flexible- there may be a meal here or there that just doenst work and u might need to back out of- but that's just party of having kids in general.

I seriously wouldn't even think twice about sit downs w/ a 3 and 4 year old.
you'll all have a great time!

 

[maznorm]

phew i feel a little better now. I am goimg to make sure we take the babies out for more meals so they get used to thimgs. Like you say it is disney right? Brown derby sounds like a possibility as does 1900 park fair. My dh and i are both foodies though so its got to be up to scratch. Thanks for all of the advice so far though on this.

 

[jamie&Greg]

Hey,
Actually you can bring kids to Cali gril! We brought our 5 mo their and she was fine - there were a ton of other kids as well! My dd is 2 and because she is crazy I would not bring her now - but if your kids are good at eating out take them with you!