Asd kids in the nicer restaurants ...

[DisneyMama409]

I really wanted to eat at Jiko on my Epcot day but im a single parent traveling alone with 2 asd kids and I would hate to get there and have to leave early due to the kids acting up. They are high functioning but are a little high strung for a nicer restaurant. As Im planning my vacation I am noticing that I am putting in more and more character meals with "blah" food appeal . I also am choosing more family style meals. I think traditional buffets will be really difficult for me to juggle because my kids are so young. I only have 1 traditional buffet so far and that's Chef Mickeys...The rest of my adrs are family style character meals . It's a necessary evil! Maybe in the future I can really enjoy and get my money's worth on the DP . How do you handle going to the finer restaurants and do you choose your adr's around your ASD children's needs? I really think the Garden Grill meal looks gross. I dont like the salad or the dressing ,rolls, or the meal but I booked it because I know the kids will enjoy it and it's served family style so I dont have to get up and tug both kids along to make 1 plate at a time like I will have to do at Chef Mickey's . Because my kids have ASD is it ok to request a table nearest to the buffet at Chef Mickey's ?Will they accomodate me ?

 

[Cheshire Figment]

You can always request specific seating. However, this could extend your pre-seating wait time considerably.

 

[wtccheermom]

I would book the Garden Grill and then continuously check the menu as it changes. I was a little turned off by this current menu but decided to give it a try on our last trip a few months ago because the previous times were so good and I am glad I did. The food was wonderful and the BEST character interaction ever!!!

 

[ThanksForNoticingMe]

If you decide to try Jiko I would highly recommend getting an early dinner ADR. With an early ADR you would be more likely to be dinning with other people who have their children with them.

We have always eaten at Jiko for dinner after 7PM....and there were not many families with children. The restaurant is cozy and dark and IMHO more suitable for adults or perhaps older children.

 

[toodycat]

In any Disney restaurant, you can always tell the cast member seating you about your kids' needs and ask to be seated in a less crowded, less noisy section of the restaurant. (We did this at Kona Cafe and Chef Mickey's.) Keep in mind that at WDW there are kids visiting who behave in many different ways and parents with many types of parenting styles. I've seen plenty of seemingly typical kids whose behavior was way worse than my own ASD kid's. Is it practical to plan your meals around your children? Yes, but I would choose at least one "nice" restaurant that you will enjoy. It is definitely harder to teach an ASD child to behave in a nice restaurant, but I worked on that since my guy was little. In fact, one of my dad's friends used to get annoyed at how tough I was on my ASD son at the table. However, now my DS has good restaurant manners. He has eaten at the California Grill, the Brown Derby and Wolfgang Puck's and behaved very well. As a mom, you deserve a nice meal at Jiko (and possibly a nice glass of South African Chardonnay).

BTW, you say you booked family style meals. Did you make an ADR for Whispering Canyon Cafe? When we stayed at the WL, we observed that that restaurant was very loud indeed.

 

[clanmcculloch]

I book our ADRs around my kids but in a different sense than you're describing. I book the TIMES based on their schedules. I book our ADRs at our normal, at home dinner time. I keep them very close to our at home schedule. I make sure we have a good break in the middle of the day. I make sure they're in bed at their normal bedtimes. Doing this makes a HUGE difference. Before I started doing all this (and I do it with the help of TourGuide Mike; it's an invaluable service IMO), we had a lot of meal-time meltdowns because they were just burned out by dinner time and just couldn't cope any longer. This is much more true of DD12 who is my Aspie but it's also true of my NT child. Kids in general can only handle so much, autistic kids even less.

We ate at a couple nicer restaurants, some character meals and some meals in between on our last trip. It worked out very well all around. Previous trips where we didn't plan like this, even the character meals were rough just because my girls were burned out.

 

[ratlenhum]

I book according to when my son normally eats. He's fine at 6pm by by 6:15 he's like the Exorcist. A switch goes off and it goes bad, but if I know we're eating later than that, a light snack around 5 or 5:30 and he's good to go.

I carry something in my backpack to keep him busy. I keep a gallon bag with little junk from the dollar store, a small spiral notebook and those twistable crayons. I also have his Nintendo DS which I keep in a zipper bag. I actually keep everything in my backpack at Disney in a zipper bag in case we get wet.

If he gets antsy while waiting for a table I take him to the bathroom. Unless he's just gone, he always seems to go when I take him in there, even if he says no when I ask if he has to go. That and washing hands kills some time. We try simon says, I spy (modified a bit since my son isn't that verbal) then I may give him something out of the dollar store bag. At the table my son is happy to color for a bit. I also tell the server to please bring his meal as soon as it is ready and not to time it to come with our meal. That keeps him happy, then we order his dessert while we eat our dinner. If we eat dessert then we let him have something else out of his dollar store bag or his game boy.

Don't stress, they sense it and will act accordingly!