Dining options OOP with 2 year old

[Jenny_WDWFan]

I am planning a somewhat last minute trip for my family (my husband, me, and our 2 year old) for the last week of March. There are some dining options available, but it's hit or miss with a busy time of year.

My question is, what would your main strategy be knowing that you're paying out of pocket (we stay at Shades of Green) and you have a 2 year old? Should I go for character meals even though they are so expensive? Just get one?

I currently have a late breakfast at Tusker House, and lunches at Garden Grill and Akershus, but I don't plan to keep all. I don't want to do two days at EPCOT with a 2 year old. haha

What are other meals that my 2 year old may enjoy?

Thanks for any input!

 

[ArielSRL]

We are paying OOP this trip. We have 8 nights, so we have 4 character meals planned but all are breakfast as that seems to be the cheaper option. We are also doing Whispering Canyon Cafe, which should be fun for the kids. We have other meals planned but those are the "fun" ones.

Our character meals are Crystal Palace, Garden Grill, O'hana, and Hollywood & Vine.

ETA: I will be bringing peanut butter and other kid friendly snacks in case my boys (5 & 3 at time of trip) don't want any of the restaurant offerings. We went last June and did the DDP and they were fine at all the meals. They just didn't eat much.

When I took my oldest at 9.5 months, we did not schedule ADRs and were very flexible.

 

[unrequited23]

It all depends on the 2 yr old. Has your little one been around large characters before? Sports mascots, Chuck E Cheese, Chick-fil-A cow, etc.? Did they high five or cling to you like a spider monkey while crying? If they haven't been around characters yet I would schedule that meal/those meals later in the trip so you can see how they react in the parks and cancel if they freak out.

I would play a lot of things by ear and plan on eating mostly CS or snacks. We are headed down in May with a 5 yr old and an almost 3 yr old for 9 days and only have 3 ADRs planned. BOG lunch, Plaza lunch and Ohana breakfast on a rest day. All have food I can guarantee my kids will eat: grilled cheese, fries, bacon, waffles.

 

[ngm]

I like to do character lunches wherever I can with Littles. That way I know I'm getting to sit down somewhere cool without battling crowds to rest, plus meeting characters so I don't have to stand in line later to do that. With Littles, I liked Crystal Palace and Akershus (or CRT, but doubt you'd get it at this time).

 

[nco91590]

My 18 month old was not having any of the characters. So if he's skiddish around costumes, I would skip the expensive buffets. You could opt for Cape May breakfast which is cheaper but still has Mickey, Donald, Goofy, etc. Kids like pancakes and yogurt and stuff like that.

 

[LSLS]

I'm only a few years removed from the 2 year old. We loved character meals. She really liked seeing them. Plus, most are buffet style, and you don't have to pay for the little one while they still get all of their own food. Cape May is a good one for breakfast. One thing to keep in mind is base it on characters. If your child likes princesses, definitely keep Akershus. Also, consider face characters vs. masked. Ours was much more comfortable with face characters (especially princesses), so 1900 Park and Akershus were great options.

 

[Jenny_WDWFan]

Thanks everyone! I'm fairly sure my daughter won't be afraid of the characters, but she could always surprise me. She was obsessed with ghosts and skeletons at Halloween. She's not a very shy kid.

I'll look into Cape May, thank you for that suggestion! I've been checking Crystal Palace and 1900 Park as well, but so far the times aren't the best.

 

[caliope]

When DS was 2, we did TS meals at Crystal Palace (breakfast), which he LOVED; 50s Prime Time (lunch), which he also enjoyed; and Hoop Dee Doo (dinner), which he adored. That was a short trip, so our other meals were QS or the food booths at Epcot (we were there in April so it was Flower&Garden festival). We always pay OOP and felt these choices worked well for our family and a 2 year old. It helped that he was "free" at buffets and AYCTE at that age.