Dining ideas with 4 year old?

[Heidijs]

Can anyone give me some suggestions? We're coming Jan 28-Feb 4th with our four year old daughter. We have a dining plan with one table service meal. I'm going to book a dinner with chef mickey and the princess dinner but what else do you suggest? I posted another question about reservations on another thread. I wondered if we could just walk into some of them as well...they don't have to be character dining either but I'd want table service places...I haven't been to disney since 1983 when I was 10 so might as well say I've never been there!!!

 

[james'mommy]

Liberty Tree Tavern is a good place in the MK. Thanksgiving dinner all year round. Plus it's all you can eat. Biergarten in Epcot is a good place for kids. They have an oompa band that plays. I also think Teppan Edo is a nice kid place because of the show the chef puts on. Other people may disagree because of the fact that you are seated next to each other circling the cooking surface. I've never eaten at the Studios. There are no real stand out kid places at AK other than Rainforest Cafe at the entrance. At DTD there is T Rex and RFC.

 

[Heidijs]

Liberty Tree Tavern is a good place in the MK. Thanksgiving dinner all year round. Plus it's all you can eat. Biergarten in Epcot is a good place for kids. They have an oompa band that plays. I also think Teppan Edo is a nice kid place because of the show the chef puts on. Other people may disagree because of the fact that you are seated next to each other circling the cooking surface. I've never eaten at the Studios. There are no real stand out kid places at AK other than Rainforest Cafe at the entrance. At DTD there is T Rex and RFC.

Rainforest cafe doesn't do the dining plan and we have one a couple hours from us so we'll skip that. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[sassy2000]

I would definitely try to book Chef Mickey now. It is very popular and fills up fast. A couple other suggestions would be Garden Grill at Epcot with Chip & Dale, Ohana at Poly, and Whispering Canyon Cafe at Wilderness Lodge. They have fun atmospheres for the kids and have good food. I would definitely make ADRs for any table service you want to try. Even in slower months, popular TS restaurants fill up.

 

[aanderson5]

Other that the character meals DS(3.5) loved O'hana (dinner) and Biergarten. He enjoyed being able to get up and participate. I think he had more fun at the meals than on a lot of the rides in the parks. LOL He also really enjoyed the Afternoon Tea at GF, believe it or not. Our server was so sweet with him and thankfully he was really well behaved. I can see a 4 year old girl loving the tea.

 

[djp0630]

Gosh, there is so much to eat with a kid that age. We just went with DD3 this past Sept.
We went to
CRT lunch (princess)
Akershus lunch (princess)
Chef Mickey's breakfast & dinner
1900 Park Fare breakfast(Alice, Mad Hatter, Tigger, Pooh & Mary Poppins)
Crystal Palace breakfast (Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, Eeyore)
'Ohana dinner
Teppan Edo dinner
Sci-Fi lunch (I wouldn't recommend this as much, there are better meals)

All were great. DD especially loved Chef Mickey's & the princess meals. 1900 Park Fare for breakfast was fun. I've heard great things about 1900 Park Fare for dinner, which is Cinderella, Prince Charming, evil stepmother & stepsisters. 'Ohana & Teppan Edo were both non-character, but fun for kids. Cape May Cafe has a character breakfast & has a Clam bake for dinner. I think we might try both of those. Crystal Palace was great, but I think it won't be open when you are there.

I totally recommend getting ADRs for when you are there. As it's not worth having the dining plan, unless you make all your table service meals and you probably won't be able to walk up to a lot of good places. Good luck and have fun, it's such a good age to take a girl!

 

[MusicMouse]

I'm taking my DS2 and DS5 this January (looks like we'll be there at the same time ) and we are planning on doing:
Akershus (D)
Marrakesh (D)
Ohana (D)
Chef Mickey's (D)
Donald's Safari Breakfast (B)
Le Cellier (Coral Reef for a back-up) (D)
Tutto Italia (D)

We have a mix of character and non-character meals, so there is something for everybody. BTW, I haven't been to WDW since 1983 either. Epcot was still new when I last was there and HS and AK weren't even there yet. I completely understand how excited you are to be going back!!

 

[MyTwoPrincesses]

I'm like you - I haven't been since 1989 (when I was 10/11) and that was my only trip! My girls are 4 and 3. As of today (I keep changing my reservations but this should be final!) this is where we are going:

(1) Akershus breakfast at Epcot (princesses)
(2) Biergarten dinner at Epcot (oompah band for kids, beer for DH)
(3) Coral Reef dinner at Epcot (eat with fishies!)
(4) Sanaa dinner at Animal Kingdom Villas (well, that's for me and DH but there are wild animals in the savannah)
(5) The Wave dinner at the Contemporary Resort (Definitely for me and DH but they'll be fine with a box of crayons and some coloring books)
(6) Mama Melrose lunch at Hollywood Studios (Food looks kid friendly - we're paying OOP for this because the flatbreads look affordable and can be shared)
(7) 1900 Park Fare breakfast at the Grand Floridian (Mary Poppins, Mad Hatter, Alice and I believe some Pooh characters)

 

[MyTwoPrincesses]

Double post. Sorry!

 

[Heidijs]

Wow! Thanks for all the tips! I'm going to check them out before the 27th when I can book them!

Yeah I was there when I was 10 and I don't even remember it!!! So when people say, she's too young, she won't remember, well I don't remembet at age 10 so what's the difference! Plus we'll just go back when she's 8...ha ha! I think at this age she still thinks it's all "real" so I want it to be magical. Plus we have digital cameras vs developed ones so we can take a zillion pictures vs 30. Ha ha!

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

We are taking our newly turned 4 year old for the first time next month. We are doing mostly character meals, but there are a few for the grown-ups and her 12 year old brother thrown in.

Cinderella's Royal Table- breakfast
Chef Mickey's- dinner
Yak and Yeti
Princess Storybook Breakfast
Tutto's
Crystal Palace
Chef De France
Donald's Safari Breakfast
Mama Melrose F! package- I definitely recommend you try for this one if you are planning on seeing Fantasmic because it will mean less waiting for your 4-year old
Tony's
50's Prime Time Cafe
The Plaza
Kona breakast
Planet Hollywood

Good luck with you planning!

 

[eventamy]

Some of the restaurants my DD's have loved in the past (currently 2 + 6), we've been the last 2 years in a row.

Sci-Fi
CRT lunch and dinner
Chef Mickey (they liked it more then me, just ok)
Playhouse Disney breakfast at Hollywood & Vine (LOVED this! The food was really good for breakfast)
Tusker House Breakfast
T-Rex Dinner


This year we are trying all new restaurants, so we're going to get ADRs for
Akershus Princess lunch
Crystal Palace breakfast
Le Cellier dinner
Teppan Edo dinner
50's Prime-time lunch
The Plaza dinner

 

[Hoosier Mom]

For counter services: definetely try Cosmic Rays. Cute little show, plus great cheeseburgers. They taste flame broiled to me.

For table services:

Rose & Crown - great fish & chips and apple crumble

50's Primetime - fun place plus good fried chicken. I think also here you can get milkshakes as your beverage and still order a dessert on the dining plan.

Sci-Fi - pretty good burgers for lunch. I don't think they offer the burgers at dinner though. There's a couple photos of this place in my trip report below. Pictures are on page 1 & 2.

Coral Reef - the tank is mezmorizing.

Le Chefs - this is a new one for us this time...heard Remy visits the tables during the day. (read that the last visit of the day is 5:20pm)

LeCellier - pretzl bread! Great steaks! Not sure how entertaining it would be to a kid, but it's sort of like sitting in a castle.

Garden Grill was pretty neat. It revolves. Mickey, Pluto, Chip & Dale visited our table for a few moments. (one at a time).

Have fun planning!

 

[golden6911]

Any of the character meals should be a big hit at that age. When my DD was 4 we did Crystal Palace, Garden Grill, Playhouse Disney and Cinderellas Castle and that pretty much covered all the characters! The kids (4 and 2) loved all of them although the Playhouse Disney one was a very high energy and a bit overwhelming for the 2 year old.

 

[Hoosier Mom]

I believe Crystal Palace will be closed during your trip. We are going then too. (24th-30th). I think I read where Liberty will have characters again while CP is closed. Not sure.

 

[caroline1851]

DS was 6 last year and DD was 2 and they loved: Crystal Palace lunch, CRT breakfast (everyone's favorite!), Sci Fi lunch, Coral Reef dinner

 

[Heidijs]

Well I looked at the dinner menu for the princess dinner in the castle and I think I'm going to skip that one since there's not much on there that caught my eye and it's 2 points so we'll use them elsewhere.

How come nobody's suggested the Hoop Dee Doo or whatever that is? I see it hyped up on other threads. It sounds right up our alley. Will that be open when we're there? Someone tell me more!

How about counter service meals? We get one of those every day too...any fun ones or are they just pretty plain?

 

[MickeyNicki]

Our little niece loves all the characters so we do the breakfasts since she is a very picky eater but loves breakfast foods.

Crystal Palace and the Princess Breakfast in Norway where huge hits with her. I would also go to Chef Mickeys, Ohana and Tusker House