Are kids ok at signature dining?

[WsPrincess]

We were able to change some plans so we can have dinner on Father's Day at the Yachtsman Steakhouse since DH has wanted to go there but we just haven't. We have two kids though, DD4 and DS2. Both are good eating out and we would never allow them to take away from someone else's experience, I would leave before I let that happen but are we going to be out of place there? Will other diners be upset with the thought of kids eating there? I just worry about what others think. Thoughts?

 

[LockShockBarrel]

They are absolutely allowed. You probably won't see a LOT of other kids but they are not banned by any means. I think other diners would just hope they will be quiet and well behaved (but honestly I expect that pretty much everywhere) You might get a couple looks but seriously, ignore them. The only place kids aren't allowed is at Victoria and Alberts. The signature meals tend to be a bit slower paced in service, so if you're worried about them not being able to sit for awhile, bring some quiet activites. Coloring books, a small puzzle or I've ever seen kids with ipads watching movies or whatever, so long as they're wearing headphones. Go and enjoy your meal!

 

[Pakey]

If you dine early, there will be more tables with young diners than without. After 7:30 or so, the restaurants become more adult.

We are an adult only party and as long as your children are quiet and seated in their chairs, I wouldn't notice and I certainly wouldn't give you funny looks.

 

[catne]

So far we've eaten at almost all of the Disney signature restaurants (Jiko and Victoria & Albert the only two we're missing. Victoria & Albert doesn't allow kids under 10 yrs. old.)

Kids of all ages at all signature restaurants we've been to. Most of the kids looked bored, but not misbehaving or being loud, etc. Lots of them watching videos on parent's ipads and playing video games & such.

The big issue will be that signature meals are typically long...90 minutes was the shortest we've had, usually closer to 2 hours--you'd know if your kids can handle sitting still for that long. AS far as bothering other diners, well maybe/maybe not. Some people feel that pricey-restaurants they should have an adult-experience without having to put up with other's kids moving around/making excess noise. But if your kids are used to going out, no problem.

Only time kids bothered us was some fools who had a tiny crying baby at their table in Citricos...not whimpering, but actually near-screaming-level of crying that went on & on. We were several tables away and noise was grating on the nerves. The Maitre'd finally went over and offered to pack up their food for them. They'd already moved two parties away from the screamer's table...think they were running out of table to move people to, lol.

Cannot recommend Yachtsman's...by far the WORST steak we've had at Disney (worse than all the non-signature steak places for sure)

 

[raidermatt]

We were able to change some plans so we can have dinner on Father's Day at the Yachtsman Steakhouse since DH has wanted to go there but we just haven't. We have two kids though, DD4 and DS2. Both are good eating out and we would never allow them to take away from someone else's experience, I would leave before I let that happen but are we going to be out of place there? Will other diners be upset with the thought of kids eating there? I just worry about what others think. Thoughts?

It's not an issue at all. You will likely see other children there at any time. We've been bringing our kids since they were as young as 16 months and never had a problem, never received any attitude from staff or other diners, nothing. Nor do kids appear to be bored, no more than anywhere else. The restaurants have kids menus, coloring pages, crayons, etc, just like any restaurant you probably dine at elsewhere.

With the exception of V&A's, bring them without hesitation, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

 

[OKW Lover]

As others have indicated, well behaved children are certainly not a problem at the signature dining locations.

I'm most appreciative that the OP is considerate enough to even think about this.

 

[TwoIfBySea]

I saw lots of kids at The Hollywood Brown Derby. They looked just like kids at any other restaurant.

 

[Bob NC]

It's Disney. Except for V & A's there are kids EVERYWHERE.

Some of the most unsupervised, undisciplined kids I have ever seen at WDW have been at Yachtsman Steakhouse.

Don't give it another thought.

 

[3pletprincesses]

We have done almost all the signature except for flying fish and one other which I can't remember. We went with our 5yo triplets to Citricos, Yatchman, Narcossees, Brown Derby just to name a few and they were welcomed without problems. They were very accommodating to children which I didn't necessaraly expected. One of our DDs didn't want anything from the menu saying she wasn't hungry at the Yatchman and they tried real hard to find something she might want. Of course, it didn't help as she truly wasn't hungry. If you take an early ADR, you will find many young families. We do signatures every evening while at the world because that's part of our dining experience. we love it and will do it again this year.

BTW we really enjoyed the Yatchman and so did our girls.

 

[Uncleromulus]

There is one spot where children are "allowed"--but not especially welcome. And that is Shula's.

 

[Tara]

You'll be fine. My son, who is 10 now, and I pretty much only do signature dining, and that's as much his choice as mine! Children are everywhere, and well-behaved ones are always appreciated. We have never once felt out of place and never had a bad experience because my son was present. In general, even signature restaurants are fairly lively, particularly California Grill and Flying Fish, but even the quieter ones, like Citricos and Yachtsman Steakhouse have plenty of kids around.

 

[mfulk]

We took our 6, 4 and 2 year olds to Narcoossee's and Jiko last May. No one gave us looks. At Narcoossee's they even let us bring our double stroller to the table because our 2yo was asleep in it. We were there at 6. We were on the DxDP and ate at mostly TS during our 10 day stay and I don't think the signature dinners took any longer than any other dinner. I'm assuming they realize that with young children we didn't want our meal to last 2 hours.

We almost never eat out at home and our kids love going to restaurants. We will be at Disney this May for 10 days again and we're looking forward to trying 3 more signatures with our 4 kids who will be 7yo, 5yo, 3yo and 10 month old.

 

[raidermatt]

There is one spot where children are "allowed"--but not especially welcome. And that is Shula's.

I will continue to respectfully disagree with this. Based on our numerous visits with young children, well-behaved children are as welcome at Shula's as they are anywhere else on property.

Between the kid's menu, the sides and appetizers, there are plenty of choices for them, more than at the other Signature restaurants actually. The staff welcomes them, and we've never had an issue with guests. Honestly, convention goers getting blitzed have been the biggest annoyance we have ever observed in Shula's.

While I think that Shula's wants to discourage children to an extent at their other locations, it's only to avoid having the unruly ones. What's more, they clearly have learned that at the WDW location, they need to adjust their own expectations. Trying to eliminate all families with children is just not a viable option for them, hence they have adjusted.

 

[pixarmom]

Hi WsPrincess! I think I may have commented on this over on the BC/YC thread, but I'll throw in my two cents here! We've taken our kids to California Grill, Jiko, Bluezoo, Yachtsman, Il Mulino, Flying Fish, Brown Derby and Le Cellier - they've been to many of these multiple times. (We've also been to Narcoosee's, but not yet with kids - although I wouldn't hesitate to take them.)

Our kids really enjoy signatures. Our older boys are always engaged and having a great time, and our youngest is either engaged or just quietly falls asleep on my lap. A few reasons I think this has been so successful (especially with our youngest, who is closest to your kids' ages and went when he was your kids' ages) are:

1) We never arrive hungry. We usually have snacks in the club lounge or elsewhere before dinner so that nobody is grumpy or needs to eat immediately.

2) We eat at our regular time, which is around 7pm, and we stick to our regular dinner time rules. Of course, there are crayons and kids' menus at the table, but we don't bring other things along.

3) We don't order multiple courses, and we're familiar with the menus going in, so we're ready to order pretty quickly. If it was just my husband and me, or just the two of us with our older boys, we would enjoy at 2+ hour dinner. But with the five of us (especially our youngest) we're usually finished with dinner in about an hour. We grab coffee and dessert later in the evening.

So the strategies certainly vary by family and by child, but these work for us and Yachtsman is at the top of our list - hope you and your family enjoy it as much as we do!

 

[Eeyore98]

Well-behaved kids are no problem at the signatures. We have been to Jiko and Yachtsman so far. There were lots of kids at Jiko even at our 8:15 reservation time.

There were fewer kids at Yachtsman, but honestly, the highlight of our otherwise disappointing Yachtsman visit was the delightful family next to us who were celebrating the dad's birthday. They had a little girl who looked about 3, and a boy of about 5, and the whole family was all dressed up, and the kids mostly talked quietly to each other as they worked on the same coloring sheet.

Cannot recommend Yachtsman's...by far the WORST steak we've had at Disney (worse than all the non-signature steak places for sure)

I have to agree there...plus, we had TERRIBLE service and were rushed through in about 40 minutes (and they knew it was our anniversary dinner, too!). We honestly liked the steak at Tony's better than the NY strips we got at Yachtsman. I'm sure the one at Tony's was a lesser cut of beef, but it was better prepared and tastier. Most of the people on the DIS who enjoyed their Yachtsman steak got the filet, so maybe that is a better way to go? But it will be a looooooooong time before I go back given the way we were treated.

 

[Lynne M]

As long as you think they'd be OK with a very long meal, and as long as you're OK with taking them out if they get fussy and/or loud, the signatures will be fine with younger kids. The other guests won't be offended by the mere presence of kids, it's when the little ones get noisy or start crawling under tables or running around the room that people get cranky.

I'd suggest bringing along something to keep them occupied, as sitting very quietly for a couple of hours is probably not a two-year-old's idea of a good time.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Raidermatt: Having sat at the bar at Shula's and having had a # of discussions with the assistant manager and the bartenders, I can assure you that children are not especially welcome at Shulas. There is a collective (but private) groan whenever children come in. Shula's is intended as an "adult" venue, especially since a lot of their business is "date night" locals and conventioneers. Which is why they have no published childrens menu and you have to ask for it once you are there.

Now they are cognizant of where they are and the fact that kids may come in. For that reason they are careful to be nice to the kids.

But they are much happier when they DON'T come in---

 

[Masonmj84]

Just finished a trip on the DxDP where we ate at Artist Point, Citricos, Jiko, Flying Fish and Cali Grill on consecutive nights with 2 kids ages 8 and 2.

Some observations . . .

We made every ADR for the earliest possible time - 5:30 pm. Each time, we arrived at least 15 minutes early and were always seated by 5:35 (usually, we were seated at 5:30 on the dot).

We ordered our appetizers and entrees at the same time.

They bring the bread out pretty quickly so that helps to keep the kids entertained (in addition to the crayons for them to color on the kids' menus).

Our meals averaged being about 1.5 hours, with the longest being about an hour and 40 minutes (if we hadn't ordered desserts, they would have taken about an hour and 10 minutes on average).

At our early ADR times, we saw a lot of families with kids (probably at least 1/3 of the other tables). They tend to put parties with kids in tucked away corners of the restuarants where they are less likely to disturb parties without kids. We were fine with this.

We saw a lot of kids being kept entertained with hand-held electronic devices (and earphones). We relied on the bread, crayons, and asking our 8 yo to recount his favorite attractions visited during the day.

Overall, our kids did pretty well. The one time they came into the restaurant tired and cranky was at FF and I thought we were going to be in for a rough evening. However, we had the most awesome waitress who literally saved the day (brought out little goodie bags full of things for the kids to play with).

 

[jedi jen]

I agree with others. Kids are definitely welcome. You are in Disney. I remember the first time I took my kids to a signature--CG. We loved it. Now, we do DxDDP and eat signature for dinner. The kids love the signature restaurants as much as I do. Have a great time and enjoy your meal.

 

[raidermatt]

Raidermatt: Having sat at the bar at Shula's and having had a # of discussions with the manager, assistant manager and the bartenders, I can assure you that children are not especially welcome at Shulas. There is a collective (but private) groan whenever children come in. Shula's is intended as an "adult" venue, especially since a lot of their business is "date night" locals and conventioneers. Which is why they have no published childrens menu and you have to ask for it once you are there.

Now they are cognizant of where they are and the fact that kids may come in. For that reason they are careful to be nice to the kids.

But they are much happier when they DON'T come in---

Well, if we could read the thoughts or even hear the private discussions of all those who work in service establishments, and yes, in much nicer places than Shula's, we would consider a groan to be a relative sign of welcomeness.

I don't doubt that what you posted was what you were told, it's just that it really doesn't matter. They do have a children's menu and since it was instituted we have never had to ask for it. I'm sure there are employees at Disney's other signature restaurants that privately groan when they see children, especially at certain times or when those children appear to be particularly energetic.

The biggest difference is that I doubt the managers at the other places are dumb enough to share their prejudices with guests at the bar. You never know who is listening.

The only thing that matters in the end is how the guest is treated, and families with children are treated perfectly well at Shula's and therefore I see no point in telling families that Shula's does not want them. If they go there they will be treated as well as they are treated at other restaurants, including those with managers who don't want them but choose to keep those thoughts to themselves.

All that said, I do have to ask a question. If they don't want children, why did they bother to add a children's menu at all? Clearly whoever made the decision felt very differently than the employees you have spoken with.