Best Restaurant for Littles?

[StarSeven7]

N Sci Fi, T-Rex, Rainforest Cafe are also neat, but could be scary for some littles.

This is funny because my DS5 was able to go on all rides at Disney World this past trip - it was his first time on Rock n' Roller Coaster and he loved it (went twice), Tower of Terror, Haunted Mansion, Expedition Everest is his favorite (we rode it 10 times)....but he found Sci-Fi Diner too scary and kept asking to leave! Lol!

 

[lilmissy7789]

We just ate a late breakfast (ADR time was 10:35am I think) at Crystal Palace in January and we loved it! It wasn't crowded at all, but maybe because of the later time and my picky eaters found plenty to eat! It's just your standard breakfast buffet food - Mickey waffles, pancakes, eggs, bacon, etc. (Plus extras, but that's about all my kids will eat!) I wouldn't discount CP if your little one loves Pooh! And it's the only place you can meet Eeyore and Piglet!

A later time... that's also a good point! and she DOES love Eeyore & Piglet, that might trump all Hopefully I can find time to squeeze all this yummy food in!!

 

[lilmissy7789]

When my son was 18 months, we did lunches at Garden Grille and Tusker House. When he was almost 3, we did breakfasts at Tusker House and Crystal Palace and dinner at Kona Cafe. We really enjoyed all of the meals. My son loves meeting characters. The food was fine everywhere. My son loves going out to eat (we go out at least once a week at home). He would have been happy anywhere and is a terrific eater, but the look on his face when meeting the characters was priceless!

OH my gosh, I can't wait to experience all of this with my little Oh im so happy!!!!

 

[lilmissy7789]

This really depends on your kid and how good they are in restaurants. We took my oldest when she was 2.5. She was a restaurant pro so we didn't have to worry about wait times, buffet vs served, etc. She loved the character meals that we did (Chef Mickey's and Crystal Palace, plus BOG dinner where she met Beast). However, she was also great at understated restaurants such as the Wave or Kona Cafe which gave us a chance to unwind.

We went back when she was 4 and my youngest was a baby, and we ended up doing more quick service restaurants b/c the baby wasn't happy if we sat too long in one spot. He is still the same way now at age 2. He simply can't sit for 1+ hrs happily in a restaurant the way my oldest did at that age. We are returning in a couple months when he will be 2.5 and I am planning mostly buffets and quick service. I do know that he loves characters though so I hope we can do at least one character buffet.

My little one doesn't do well waiting! Not at all! 20 mins is typically her max, then she's getting cranky! haha So, good advice! Thanks

 

[lilmissy7789]

This is funny because my DS5 was able to go on all rides at Disney World this past trip - it was his first time on Rock n' Roller Coaster and he loved it (went twice), Tower of Terror, Haunted Mansion, Expedition Everest is his favorite (we rode it 10 times)....but he found Sci-Fi Diner too scary and kept asking to leave! Lol!

Oh wow, that's kind of funny!! Kids just never cease to amaze, do they? haha

 

[GoingSince1990]

This is funny because my DS5 was able to go on all rides at Disney World this past trip - it was his first time on Rock n' Roller Coaster and he loved it (went twice), Tower of Terror, Haunted Mansion, Expedition Everest is his favorite (we rode it 10 times)....but he found Sci-Fi Diner too scary and kept asking to leave! Lol!

LOL. Reminds me of when my similarly aged daughter just loved Tower of Terror and Rock n' Roller Coaster but flat-out refused to do Voyage of the Little Mermaid because she was afraid of Ursula!

 

[westie55]

All kids are different, but be prepared for the real possibility that your littles may be afraid of characters. My older son was afraid of them beginning at 16 months. He had softened somewhat by age 3 but was still shy. My suggestion is to space your meals so that you can cancel others if it isn't worth the cost to you if your kids are afraid.

 

[lilmissy7789]

LOL. Reminds me of when my similarly aged daughter just loved Tower of Terror and Rock n' Roller Coaster but flat-out refused to do Voyage of the Little Mermaid because she was afraid of Ursula!

That's funny! I'm excited to see how my little reacts to the rides! She doesn't like to sit still so, we shall find out!

 

[lilmissy7789]

All kids are different, but be prepared for the real possibility that your littles may be afraid of characters. My older son was afraid of them beginning at 16 months. He had softened somewhat by age 3 but was still shy. My suggestion is to space your meals so that you can cancel others if it isn't worth the cost to you if your kids are afraid.

Great Advice! We will probably only schedule one *MAYBE* 2 character meals, only because when we took her to Chick Fil A & the cow character came out, she was interested, but didn't really want to go near it. It took her about 20 minutes before she would even give the cow a high 5! HAHA

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

We did 12 table service meals across our 12 night trip with a toddler and a 7 yo. The highlights for the little one were:

Garden Grill- definitely the best character interaction. He had a blast interacting with the characters who came around more than once and loved the changing scenery from the restaurant turning. The food was good and he got a huge kick out of the goldfish they out on the Mac and cheese.

Bon Voyage Breakfast- he was given his choice of kids meal and drink for free, Rapunzel and Flynn really got into their roles, and they had a cute parade through the restaurant which made both kids feel like a big deal.

CRT- my son was also given a free kids meal of his choice, complete with drink, app, entree, and dessert. The kids of course loved the little toys they were given (wand, sword, and wishing star), the service and food were both incredible, and both kids thought the castle was just so magical.

SciFi- My toddler really enjoyed having the movie clips to watch and wasn't scared at all. He also thought it was really neat to sit in a car while he ate without having to be in his car seat!

Raglan Road- We were seated in a side room so couldn't see the dancers. Next time I will request a table near the stage. It was still fun though as they brought a couple dancers over to our room and invited all the kids over to a small area to learn a quick dance and get a cute certificate. The kids both thought that was neat.

Hoop Dee Doo- This was a blast! My toddler ate his weight in food and really got into the show. Lots of kids stood next to their chairs and danced when the actors did their songs, which helped them to feel involved and dispense a little energy. They brought washboards to the kids to bang on at the end. Super fun experience and we will definitely return!

Ohana dinner- My son enjoyed watching the meats get cooked and ate his weight in noodles. They didn't do any of the kids activities when we were there, but he was too busy eating everything in sight to be bored.

We enjoyed the characters at Crystal Palace and Tusker House, but thought the food wasn't the greatest at either. Timing going to the buffets was a bit of a pain too. There are so many places to see Mickey and the gang that we have no desire to return to TH. We'd consider returning to CP for the characters, but it's not a must do for us. Both restaurants we're also pretty loud and chaotic (TH especially). My son slept through most of our meal at TRex, but we didn't really find it to be any louder than anywhere else (and surprisingly, quieter than the buffets we went to).

 

[lilmissy7789]

We did 12 table service meals across our 12 night trip with a toddler and a 7 yo. The highlights for the little one were:

Garden Grill- definitely the best character interaction. He had a blast interacting with the characters who came around more than once and loved the changing scenery from the restaurant turning. The food was good and he got a huge kick out of the goldfish they out on the Mac and cheese.

Bon Voyage Breakfast- he was given his choice of kids meal and drink for free, Rapunzel and Flynn really got into their roles, and they had a cute parade through the restaurant which made both kids feel like a big deal.

CRT- my son was also given a free kids meal of his choice, complete with drink, app, entree, and dessert. The kids of course loved the little toys they were given (wand, sword, and wishing star), the service and food were both incredible, and both kids thought the castle was just so magical.

SciFi- My toddler really enjoyed having the movie clips to watch and wasn't scared at all. He also thought it was really neat to sit in a car while he ate without having to be in his car seat!

Raglan Road- We were seated in a side room so couldn't see the dancers. Next time I will request a table near the stage. It was still fun though as they brought a couple dancers over to our room and invited all the kids over to a small area to learn a quick dance and get a cute certificate. The kids both thought that was neat.

Hoop Dee Doo- This was a blast! My toddler ate his weight in food and really got into the show. Lots of kids stood next to their chairs and danced when the actors did their songs, which helped them to feel involved and dispense a little energy. They brought washboards to the kids to bang on at the end. Super fun experience and we will definitely return!

Ohana dinner- My son enjoyed watching the meats get cooked and ate his weight in noodles. They didn't do any of the kids activities when we were there, but he was too busy eating everything in sight to be bored.

We enjoyed the characters at Crystal Palace and Tusker House, but thought the food wasn't the greatest at either. Timing going to the buffets was a bit of a pain too. There are so many places to see Mickey and the gang that we have no desire to return to TH. We'd consider returning to CP for the characters, but it's not a must do for us. Both restaurants we're also pretty loud and chaotic (TH especially). My son slept through most of our meal at TRex, but we didn't really find it to be any louder than anywhere else (and surprisingly, quieter than the buffets we went to).

Wow this is all wonderful information!! Thank you so much for the run down! It is definitely appreciated!! And I will take it all into consideration!