Best restaurants for very young kids and babies?

[pookiepie777]

We will be three adults traveling with four kids ..
6
2 1/2
21 months
9 months

The only park we are going to is Animal Kingdom. What are the best places there and at the resort hotel restaurants to bring young kids. I'm worried about noise levels for the little ones mostly.

 

[candielips]

We are going in Sept w/ our DD who will be just over 2. We are opting for a lot of the buffets, so she doesn't have to wait for dinner to be made, and we are opting for as many character meals as we can to help keep her entertained. But a lot of these can get quite loud as there are a lot of other children there as well. A lot of the quieter restaurants might be harder to keep the older ones entertained and seated.
With that being said we are still taking time to enjoy a few restaurants of our choosing such as Le Cellier, Teppan Edo etc...

 

[ROEDISNEY]

Chef Mickey's
Ohanna
1900 Park Fare
Boma
WCC

 

[mamabear2]

At the Animal Kingdom, there aren't very many table-service options, but the Rainforest Cafe should be entertaining for all of the children with all the animals, rainforest theme, etc. We enjoy the Flame Tree BBQ, which is a counter-service restaurant at AK. All seating is outside, but there are lots of quiet nooks and crannies so babies can sleep in the shade. Follow the path all the way down to the water and you can enjoy lunch and a fabulous view of Expedition Everest, and sometimes a boat goes by with Disney characters, which is very exciting!

As far as other restaurants at resorts, many have buffets so you can eat quickly. The Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge is one of our favorite places to take our toddler. You do order off the menu, but there is a family-style "skillet" option with shrimp, ribs, chicken, sausage, baked beans, corn on the cob, and mashed potatoes with cornbread. Throughout the meal, the waitstaff engages the kids in games. Very loud but always fun!

Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge has an amazing buffet with many choices, and we enjoy eating there with our toddler as well. There are several character buffets at the resorts that you can also look into based on your 6 year old's interests.

Have fun!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Tusker House in teh AK is great.

At a resort Chef Mickey's is great!

 

[Colleen27]

At the Animal Kingdom, there aren't very many table-service options, but the Rainforest Cafe should be entertaining for all of the children with all the animals, rainforest theme, etc.

Just a note of caution about RFC - some kids love the place, but others are terrified by it! Our DD was 4 before we could even think about eating there, and even then she was nervous/uneasy. When she was a toddler, she was so scared of the noise and animals that she wanted to be carried so she could hide her head just to pass by!

I might be in the minority, but we've always taken our kids to the restaurants we want to eat at. We bring quiet activities to keep them busy while we wait, but we never did stick to buffets or counter service just because we had little ones in tow. Our youngest will be 10 months on our next trip and aside from avoiding a couple of potentially scary/loud places (Planet Hollywood, Sci-Fi), we aren't altering our meal plans to cater to her. She'll have her beginners crayons and her toy-links to tether a favorite toy or two to her high chair, and I've no doubt she'll be fine. If we need to step out for a minute to calm her, so be it, but I like getting the kids used to restaurant manners from the start.

 

[Pakey]

Unfortunately, I think Rainforest Cafe is way too noisy to bring 3 children that young. It's got lightening and thunder effects in addition to animatronic animals that screech. Both Tusker House and Yak n Yeti (the other two TS inside AK park) have tile floors so the noise echoes there too. I would think a buffet might be difficult with 4 children and 3 adults so maybe Yak and Yeti would be best best for a TS since it's not a buffet. I think Flame Tree BBQ CS has the best food for lunch.

Some of the quieter resort places would be Olivias at OKW, Turf Club at SSR, Captains Grill at YC and Grand Floridian Cafe at GF. The Cape May character breakfast at BC is also fairly quiet. If you are wanting to go a bit more upscale, Artist Point at WL has been the quietest signature dining experience.

 

[Jennia]

I agree about Tusker House, it was easy for us to get up and walk with our dd when she was getting restless, and it was open enough that she could walk around the buffet area with a little plate of her own food (plus she liked pointing at what she wanted lol). There were also lots of food choices that she was happy with.

 

[EastonCat]

We've taken our children to lots of different restaurants. I can tell you that we've had no problems at any restaurant, other than my 5-year-old doesn't like character dining. We've had no trouble asking to get food out early for the little ones anywhere. I have found this to be true at all dining cost levels. The stuffiest service I've had was at the Yachtsman Steakhouse, but your (then) four-year-old and six-month-od were warmly received. We have, once or twice, had to cut things a little short becuase the team wasn't all on the same page, but those are the breaks with little ones.

 

[bangzoom6877]

We ate at Flame Tree BBQ for lunch at AK. Only thing...there were birds walking and flying around a little by the seating area. My kids were ok (they were 3 and 1 at the time) but some kids may get frightened.

At hotels, we enjoyed the following meals and so did the kids:

-1900 Park Fare dinner at Grand Floridian
-Boma dinner at AK Lodge
-Chef Mickey's breakfast at Contemporary

For our next trip we are also planning to try the following resort restaurants:

-Cape May Cafe (Beach Club) for both the character breakfast and the dinner
-Whispering Canyon Cafe (Contemporary) for dinner
-Spoodles (Boardwalk) for dinner
-1900 Park Fare (GF) for breakfast

Others we consider:

-Ohana (Polynesian) for dinner
-Captain's Grille (Yacht Club) for dinner
-ESPN Club (Boardwalk) for dinner
-Hoop Dee Doo musical revue dinner show (Ft. Wilderness)

 

[bluslag]

We are taking a group of 10 which includes a 7, 2, and 1 year old. We have decided to do 4 nights of dinners and have picked mostly buffets. We just went out with them all here in our home town and we noticed the hardest part was waiting for dinner. We have picked Boma's, Cape May, O'hana's, and Germany. We have Yak & Yeti for a back-up which we have booked for a late lunch. Wish us luck.

 

[webray]

Not sure what you mean about noise levels, as when we take our grandkids with us we are concerned about the kids interrupting other diners..not about restaurant noise levels.

All the restaurants, except V&A's and Le Bistro welcomes families and children of all ages, so go and enjoy.

 

[Shleedogg]

Almost all of the restaurants we ate at I would classify as loud. The only one that wasn't was Le Cellier and I think that was because we had such an early ADR. We had a 2 month old with us and we just took her wherever we wanted to eat.

We ate at 1900 PF for dinner, didn't care for it as I don't eat prime rib, but everyone else liked it.

Chef Mickey for breakfast, it was great! The characters were fantastic and there was something on the buffet for everyone. Plus if you're paying oop, this meal is more affordable than lunch or dinner.

I wouldn't worry too much about RFC. It is loud, but it seems as if you're worried about your kids being too loud, that won't be a problem there. They could throw fits and I don't think anyone would notice.

We also ate at T-Rex. It is very similar to RFC, except with dinosaurs. It is also very loud. It's actually much louder than I remember RFC being and we were there before noon for lunch and it wasn't crowded at all.

The rest of the restaurants we tried were in other parks so I can't be of any more help. Have a great trip!

 

[TJA]

We will be three adults traveling with four kids ..
6
2 1/2
21 months
9 months

The only park we are going to is Animal Kingdom. What are the best places there and at the resort hotel restaurants to bring young kids. I'm worried about noise levels for the little ones mostly.

Let's see.....the only park being AK, so I'd make dining reservations/ADR's at Tusker House character breakfast located inside AK. We've been taking our kids to character breakfasts from 7 months old until now, age 5, and they are perfect for little ones!

The resort restaurants I'd go with include:
> Chef Mickeys character breakfast or character dinner at Contemporary resort. Awesome fun there!

> There is a character breakfast at Cape May restaurant at Beach Club. It is more low-key if you are looking for that. And it's a beautiful area to walk around afterward ~ the boardwalk is right there which has some carnival-type games, bakeries, shopping, etc.

> If you are looking for something fun other than character meals, take a look at Ohana restaurant at Polynesian for dinner. The food is served family-style and is really excellent food. They also have various kid activities to do throughout the meal, such as a coconut chase and hula hoops. And if you time it right, you can watch Wishes right outside on the beach!

 

[momom]

I don't think anyone has mentioned Crystal Palace, specifically, so thought I would throw that one out. My kids especially loved this buffet with Pooh and his gang when they were itty-bitty. I have the cutest picture of our daughter when she was almost 2 kissing Pooh's nose. Actually, we still enjoy this one even though the kids are older now. It can get loud, but it just always seems to be a nice, cool break from the park.