Critique my ADR plan for a 2 year old

[FireflyTrance]

We are taking a 4 day trip to WDW in February, and the 180 day ADR window is coming up in a few days. DH and I are going with our daughter who will have just turned 2. Right now I am thinking we will spend one day in each park, but possibly we will end up spending two days in MK and then skip one of the other parks altogether. In that case we would probably skip HS or AK. I want to make a few dining reservations, but the last time we went was without a kid. If anyone has gone with a similarly aged child and has any input I would love to hear it.

This is what I was thinking so far:

MK:
Be Our Guest
Crystal Palace

Epcot:
The Garden Grill

HS:
Hollywood & Vine

AK:
??

I know Be Our Guest probably isn't the most toddler friendly, but I really want to go since I am huge Beauty and the Beast fan. Possibly we will just try quick service for lunch. Besides that I was thinking buffets and character meals would probably be best.

 

[Ladcassidy]

If your little one likes princesses, Akershus would be a good option in Epcot. The character meal at Animal Kingdom is Tusker House.

 

[FigmentFinder]

MK:
Be Our Guest
Crystal Palace

Epcot:
The Garden Grill

HS:
Hollywood & Vine

AK:
??

For AK, Tusker House has a buffet, with characters breakfast & lunch. We went last year with a 2.5 year old and those are all good choices if they like characters. Buffets are great because they can eat whatever they want for free under 3. Sometimes at a plated table service my DD ate quite a bit of my meal.

For BOG if you are staying onsite, you can get a lunch FP about 30 days out. I just got mine for September. I was able to order our meals and make any changes to the sides I wanted for the kids meal. (subbing fries for zucchini)

 

[jacknsally19]

I agree that buffets are great with little kids! You can get the food quickly and there are a lot of options - including healthier options - versus some of the sit down places. Tusker House is a great choice for AK but that could also be a good day for dinner back at your resort.

I think that Garden Grill is a great idea but if you think that you'd like a non-character meal - I totally recommend Biergarten. My DD absolutely loved that restaurant when we last went (and she just turned 2). Getting up and dancing with other children was the highlight of her entire trip. Oh another great option with my DD was Raglan Road. This time she got up and started dancing and all the irish step dancers circled around her and started dancing along. It was pretty magical Also, the food at Raglan Road was AMAZING.

 

[ktlm]

I agree with the PP that said Biergarten. My DD has loved that restaurant since she was little. The German band and the dance floor are great for a toddler. All the pre-school kids I know who have been have absolutely loved that place. DD ranks it right up there with Princess meals.


Cinderella's Royal Table is a great place for a 2 year old at MK. You may think she doesn't really know or care about the Princesses yet. When DD was 2, we took her to WDW for the first time, and we couldn't get in to CRT, so we went to Akershus. Before our trip, she loved Cinderella, but didn't show a big interest in the other Disney princesses. From that lunch forward our house was all Disney princess all the time. She was totally hooked...for years. So- I guess maybe that is a warning for you?

AK- we've always liked Tusker House. For a 2 year old breakfast might have more food options she would eat. You could always do a late breakfast like 10:30 or 10:45, and then you probably will be lucky enough to get to try food from both the breakfast and lunch buffets.

 

[Ladcassidy]

Raglan Road is DD6's favorite Disney restaurant. She enjoys all the character meals, but LOVES RR.

 

[Southern Bell]

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the choices above. I've eaten at Crystal Palace. Tusker House, Hollywood & Vine , Garden Grill with 1 yr, 2 yr, 3 yr, & 4 yr olds. I haven't eaten at Biegarten, but it was highly recommended to me for kids by one of the Disney Dads! Garden Grill was my least favorite because I would have been just as satisfied to have eaten at Sunshine Seasons. But.... my daughter loved it because she said it was nice to just sit and be served for a change, and not have to get up and fix plates for everyone. Characters were good and we had great reaction from my grandson as characters came around to visit!

 

[FireflyTrance]

Thanks for the tip about BOG, I didn't know FP was available for it. We will most likely be staying on site, but we haven't booked our resort yet since we are waiting for our leave to be approved.

For AK, Tusker House has a buffet, with characters breakfast & lunch. We went last year with a 2.5 year old and those are all good choices if they like characters. Buffets are great because they can eat whatever they want for free under 3. Sometimes at a plated table service my DD ate quite a bit of my meal.

For BOG if you are staying onsite, you can get a lunch FP about 30 days out. I just got mine for September. I was able to order our meals and make any changes to the sides I wanted for the kids meal. (subbing fries for zucchini)

 

[FireflyTrance]

Thanks for the multiple tips about Biergarten, I have never been there and didn’t know about the dance floor. My concern was her having to sit still for too long, but she loves dancing so maybe we can go there instead. The food options at Biergarten probably interest me and DH more than Garden Grill.

 

[FireflyTrance]

One other question. If I am making a reservation, do I make it for 2 people or for 3? Aka: do I count DD2 as a person on my res?

 

[msmama]

One other question. If I am making a reservation, do I make it for 2 people or for 3? Aka: do I count DD2 as a person on my res?

.

3. She counts as a person. Reservations are for number of chairs you will take up, not number of people paying.

 

[FireflyTrance]

Thanks! I wasn’t sure if a high chair counted since we often put it on the end of a 2 person table. I will just put 3 though.

.

3. She counts as a person. Reservations are for number of chairs you will take up, not number of people paying.

 

[Disneyaddictz]

I agree Tusker house for sure with a 2yr old, be our guest...Catch the lunch. Character Buffets by far worked best when our daughter was 2, she was entertained and we enjoyed the fact that we Didn't have to wait for food..and this coming from a family that only
Eats Buffett at disney!

 

[puffkin]

We hate buffets too, but at Disney we do a lot of them when the kids are little. Much easier. And the best part is, at 2 they are FREE!!! My DS2 usually eats one really big meal a day (lunch) and then is more of a grazer the rest of the day so we tried to do as many buffets at lunch time as we could to fill him up.

Tusker House is great at AK. We usually do one of the last breakfast seatings. They will be switching out the buffet to lunch while you are there, but it is kind of nice because then you can choose from both sides. We also enjoy the characters there.

 

[DopeyDame]

Yet another vote for Tusker House! great food, great character interactions, and no expectations that kids will sit quietly.

I'm intrigued by all the Biergarten suggestions... we might have to try that.

 

[FireflyTrance]

Thanks for all the tips! I think we will do Tusker House for AK, and try the FP for lunch at BOG. I am still thinking if we should even go to HS, or if we should do two days at MK.

 

[jeanni]

Took our 3 grandchildren, 6, 2.5 and 9 months to H&V for breakfast in July and it was excellent. They all knew the characters and they stopped by the table each time they passed. They enjoyed the dancing with the characters and the food was good - the whole family thought it was a really good choice.

 

[Disneyaddictz]

Thanks for all the tips! I think we will do Tusker House for AK, and try the FP for lunch at BOG. I am still thinking if we should even go to HS, or if we should do two days at MK.

One day is NOT enough!! Then again it's never enough at MK people are going to light me up for this but id skip Epcot to go to MK twice !!!

 

[FireflyTrance]

I think MK is the best park for little ones. We live in California though, and DL is a lot like MK, and CA is a lot like HS. We don’t really have any of the Epcot and AK stuff in California. Also I think Epcot is DH’s favorite.

One day is NOT enough!! Then again it's never enough at MK people are going to light me up for this but id skip Epcot to go to MK twice !!!

 

[ChloeH]

That's a tough one. I don't know what the parks in California have. We took my 2 year old niece, 4 year old niece, and 5 year old nephew to HS. They loved the Disney Junior show, and loved the character buffet at Hollywood and Vine. Several times during the meal they go up to the center of the restaurant and dance with one or two of the characters. They thought that was the best thing ever! It was so cute.

The rest of the park does not have a lot for them other than characters. Maybe go first thing in the morning (if you can get a pre-opening ADR for Hollywood and Vine), see what time the Disney Junior show is, visit a few characters and go to a different park for the afternoon.

They all loved AK too because they loved the animals. Do your little girl like animals? If you visit Disneyland a lot, maybe having a day at AK instead of MK would be good. But if she isn't a big fan of animals, I'd go for a second day at MK.