Best Time to Eat Dinner with Kids

[mkladycasey]

Hi There,

I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice on best times to make my ADR's with DD (7) and DDS (5), we will be taking our first "family" trip the second week of Dec. I'm planning on counter service for lunch during the day, and would like to do sit down dinners at night.

Thanx!

 

[DISNEY1975]

Hi There,

I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice on best times to make my ADR's with DD (7) and DDS (5), we will be taking our first "family" trip the second week of Dec. I'm planning on counter service for lunch during the day, and would like to do sit down dinners at night.

Thanx!

Im planning on 2:00 - 2:30 lunches then heading back to the hotel for a rest.

Hopefully we will be up and ready again by 5:00. They will be refreshed for a later dinner and we can see all the Christmas lights/shows in the parks.

 

[nataliela]

Plan to eat around the same time you normally do at home, or even a little earlier.

 

[DisneyWalle]

It really depends on the routine of your family. Personally, we eat a good breakfast, have a granola snack bar around 12:00 and then a early dinner at 4:00. This schedule works extremely well for our family in the parks and we have been following it since our son was 5. He is just not a big eater at lunch time so a snack bar or banana works great for lunch. But again, its going to depend heavily on your family and what they are used to.

Also, the Florida heat as a huge impact on appetite!

 

[SmallWorld71]

We usually schedule dinners in the 5-6ish range. No later than 6:30. Earlier, we're still resting at the resort. Later, DD is too tired. (Most dinners seem to take 1 to 1 1/2 hours, so think about the time you would be finishing and if that is too late for you or not.)

 

[ROEDISNEY]

Between 5 & 6 is a good time.

 

[moparop]

I'd try to get ADRs for about 15 to 20 minutes earlier than you would eat at home. I found with my boys if we fed them before they were REALLY hungry we had happier kids all day. Everyone came out a winner! :thumbsup:

 

[Tricia1972]

Plan to eat around the same time you normally do at home, or even a little earlier.

I agree with this completely - there could be other similar replies after this, I am just quoting the first one I saw.

Don't drastically change your schedule from home, as the kids won't adjust in the short time you are at Disney. Kids in general tend to get more sensitive and/or cranky when they get off of their schedule.

 

[ibela]

Plan to eat around the same time you normally do at home, or even a little earlier.

I agree with this completely - there could be other similar replies after this, I am just quoting the first one I saw.

Don't drastically change your schedule from home, as the kids won't adjust in the short time you are at Disney. Kids in general tend to get more sensitive and/or cranky when they get off of their schedule.

ITA as well. The best days for us (read: least cranky and fussy, especially in that heat) were when we were able to stick to DD's normal schedule/routine for meals and nap time. For us our meal times were noon for lunch and from 6-6:30pm for dinner.

 

[monorailsilver]

We try to keep the same scheduale as home.

I try to feed the kids dinner by 5 here so for my few ADR's I made at dinner time I make them for 5 or 5:05. Plus that is usually the first seating so we pretty much get in & don't have to wait.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

The same schedule but don't forget snacks. I learned this the hard way with my two year our first day at MK.

We get up very early so the kids eat breakfast a bit earlier. Then I do an ADR around 12:30 since they are used to eating at about 1 but they get a snack before then just in case.

Then we would do dinner at about 6. Same time we do at home.

 

[danielle782001]

I agree to eat around the same time you do at home or a bit earlier...We make all our dinner ADR for around 4:30/5:00...We find that the wait for a table is shorter...Yes, you will wait for your table even with an ADR...For the kids, eating early works for us because they get up very early in the morning when we are in Disney and they are hungry and in the need for a break by 4:30/5:00...We have been five times with small kids and this has worked great for us...

I hope you can make your ADR because the character meals and kid "friendly" places book quickly...And your booking window has been open for a couple of weeks now...Good luck!

 

[Think Pink Tink]

I made all our dinner ressies between 5pm-6pm...nothing later than that because my girls are used to eating early dinners. I knew if I threw them off schedule they would be miserable. We did early breakfasts daily (7am-9am) then lunches about 12-1pm and a few light snacks if they were hungry in between breakfast and lunch. It worked great for us...no meltdowns, just happy meals every night

 

[SCPP]

And my kids are used to late Dinners even at home. Weekend dinners are usually no earlier than 8 to 9

While at Disney we had no ADR before 8 and one was as late as 940.

All with a 6, 9 and 12 year old.

 

[rentayenta]

We plan our meals at the same time that we would usually eat.

 

[jpolak]

I agree. Try to keep things as normal as possible with a couple of extra snacks thrown in.