Dining Plan and Children Meltdowns

[JamesMom]

During our Sept '07 (free dinning, please!!!) we plan to eat out for Breakfast & lunch with the kids (5 and 2 yo) - character meals, CS at the parks, etc. But for about 1/2 of our dinners will be adults solo with a babysitter in the room. If we are planning a nice TS meal at home- the kids would not be there, why would I expect them to be there at WDW? The other 1/2 of the dinners will be prepared in the cabin or take-out from somewhere else. We have yet to execute this plan, but so far on paper it is seems reasonable. We already have the babysitting money as a part of our trip budget. Couldn't imagine doing it any other way, really.

 

[Tigger714]

As a mom of three boys DS9, DS22 mos. & DS 9 months what the OP describes is my worst nightmare! If you as the guest sitting next to them are miserable just imagine how the parent must feel too! We have set a policy that seems to work for us. If we have an ADR and it appears that the kids just aren't in the mood, then we call, cancel and go on our way.

Parents must listen to their kids cues and know when enough is enough. Commando vacationing at the house of mouse just isn't a possibility with little kids, and some parents still need to learn that! IMHO

 

[schatterjee]

My kids did pretty well although I had to take our little guy (4) out of Le Cellier for a little melt down outside. Hopefully it didn't ruin anyone else's dinner. I scheduled all meals for about 5:30 and we went after nap even so by the end of our two week trip we were all sick of eating out for a while.

Next time I think I'll mix it up a little and not do all TS as dinners. Then we wouldn't have to go out every night. Live and learn...

 

[Luv Bunnies]

We are paying for the DDP on our Dec. trip and I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't think my kids were old enough to handle it (11 & 8). We did a Disney cruise last year (one of the special Mexico trips) and we were pleasantly surprised that our boys behaved so well every night at dinner (we even had the late seating).

I think that even if dining was free, I would not do a lot of TS restaurants if my kids were a lot younger. I remember dining with toddlers and preschoolers and it's just not fun! My 11 year old and I sat in a restaurant the other night and listened to a toddler scream at the top of his lungs for our entire meal. The adults at the table were either too lazy or too inconsiderate to take him outside. I can remember many meals out where my husband and I didn't even eat together because one of us was taking a restless child for a walk outside.

 

[RN01]

It was just because of that reason that I was trying to decide about getting the DP or not. I have a 2, 9, and 12 year olds. While the older kids will be no problem, I have been worrying about how the 2 year old will do in the sit down restaurants. I finally decided to get the DP and then decided later it was probably a bad idea but too late now. I figure if it's too much for her, me or DH can take her out of the restaurant untill our food gets there. Please wish me luck. I can tell you one thing, if she is throwing a screaming fit or acting up in any way we will be out of there. There's no way I'm going to disrupt the other diners vacation.

 

[everest]

RN01; Just remember you won’t be the only one with a small child at the Disney restaurants. Just relax and have a great time, because if you are over cautious and nervous your young one will pick up on it and you know they will take control if we let them. Besides it sounds like if your young one starts to get cranky you will already have a plan. Something that helped us while we were waiting was to have conversations about what we have done or will be doing, another big help was getting a small toy(s) that keep my DD busy and entertained. I’m just going to say it again; Remember your not the only family having dinner at Disney, relax and enjoy!

 

[pezpam]

Next time I think I'll mix it up a little and not do all TS as dinners. Then we wouldn't have to go out every night. Live and learn...

And a great thing to learn it is! Sometimes it seems like we all talk about how to get THE MOST for our dining plan dollar, but for me, it's about the experience. If DD was miserable at a dinner because it was too late, then so what if we get served an expensive meal? We use DDP TS credits for character breakfasts all the time. We both love it and can schedule it to start our day on our schedule, while we have energy. On my last trip, which was all-adult, we did use some for lunch, too, which left evenings free to do whatever the heck we liked, including having a drink and going to bed ridiculously early if we felt like it. :-D

 

[gymborocks]

We were lucky enough not to witness any meltdowns when we were there earlier this month. We were even luckier that our children didn't have any!

 

[melomouse]

Travelling with DS who has Asperger's always requires that I pay attention to his states and anticipate the meltdown due to exhaustion or hunger BEFORE it actually occurs.

It took me years to learn this - I am correct most of the time FINALLY!

We had ADR's for CG since April on FDP the last week in September.With my invisible "kid barometer", I stood on line for CG check -in at the right time and tearfully cancelled the ressie with no penalty, went up to Chef Mickey's, waited 20 minutes - NO ADR obviously - and was seated. It was so much more his speed, I didn't stress or suffer embarassment or further meltdown, and a great time was had by all!!!

Sometimes parenting requires flexibility - and making the harder choices.

 

[susieq76]

Sometimes parenting requires flexibility - and making the harder choices.

So True! I figure once my boys are in college (oh about 16 years or so ) DH and I will finally get to experience V & A. Funny thing is I'm dreading that those 16 years will go too fast.

 

[Tracy Savage]

I can see this happening. I am grateful my DS is old enough now to actually enjoy taking a breather and having a sit-down meal. But that being said WDW is all about kids so it comes with the territory, doesn't it?

 

[kaytieeldr]

My First thought is that Mid August through September, Disney really targets the young guest and their parents because they are the most marketable for that time of the year. They have extra magic Hours just for the preschoolers during that time. They just so happen to throw in free dinning for young families to even make it more attractive time for them to visit.

Couple of observations - first, the Disney Dining Plan has been in effect since January 2005. It was offered free for stays during about a six-week period in the late summer of 2005 and again free during a similar time frame in 2006, both times as part of a package. The 'targeting young Guests' thing was just instituted in 2006 during an approximately overlapping range of dates. So the DDP came first, it's not just a "happen to throw in" enticement - and it's marketed at EVERYONE, not just families with young children.

You could do the DDP, and use your TS credits at CS restaurants

I don't believe you can, as a rule. Really, anyway, purchasing the Disney Dining Plan then using it for mainly counter service meals is a HUGE waste of money.

 

[Luv2Roam]

All this being said, we eat at Disney restaurants on a regular basis. Meltdowns by adults or kids are not that common.
In the parks, they pop up in the smaller and larger kids. Esp in the heat. And quite frankly who here has not had some form? It doesn't show our best side.
I don't see it as a major problem. But maybe the servers would say different!
I think sometimes the adults welcome an afternoon relaxation back at their resort as much as the kids. Great time to relax and rest by a pool.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

its hard my 2 year old has a speech delay and was screaching at time
i was moritifed, he was good for the most part
we tried to eat at early times
before the dining we rarely did the sit downs with the kids

 

[deide71]

We just got back from 5 days on the dining plan. My 2 youngest (4 and 3) were holy terrors when we tried to sit down for our table service meals. We actually had to pack up our meal from Alfredo's due to the mother of all melt-downs. It wasn't pretty.

I think we will skip the dining plan until the kids are older. The stress was not worth it .

 

[Donald - my hero]

First I would like to say thank you for all the great information I have gotten from these boards . I have been reading for a long time and wanted to write about my dining experiences to see if others agree.

My Sept 23rd trip to the world with free dining was wonderful, however in the past 3 times we have been there I can not remember a time where we saw more children having meltdowns! I do not mean expected crankiness, I mean Nanny 911 meltdowns! One child at the Wilderness Lodge restaurant was grabbing his father's leg screaming I WANT MORE DESSERT to the point where the poor dad's pants were falling down!! Once at the Garden Grill in EPCOT a table of 3 adults with 4 toddlers were allowing the children to run like crazy! When they were asked to stop by the waitress, one of the children returned to the table and banged her head against the table while the other threw table items on the floor. At the place in Mexico, the child was screaming "let me out of here" for the first half hour of the meal, finally she fell asleep. The parents looked exhausted. In 2 instances, (Garden Grill and Mexico), diners at another table complained and were told THEY could move! These are just 3 examples of what we saw out of many.

I think the dining plan has forced more families with young children into too many sit down restaurant experiences and the children simple can't handle it. I have 5 children of my own (older now) and am looking forward to returning with my grandchildren so I am not bashing children in restaurants. I just think that parents with young children that can not sit for many meals should reconsider the dining plan.


Sorry this is long, but it seemed like everywhere we went, children were screaming and nobody was having a good time.

Cathy

HEY Cathy! glad you have joined the DIS Been awhile since we have been to the House of the Mouse BUT I know that it is very frustrating to deal with this kind of behaviour. For our 20th anniversary we went to an extremely upper scale steak house. Before our drinks even arrived a SOCCER team of close to 25 10-15 yr old kids were seated NEXT to us. I flagged down the waiter and told he we wanted to be moved. No problem he said and within 2 minutes we were seated at a very private table. As we were passing their table one parent yelled down to the other end of the table "look at that rude couple! Guess they figure they will bother us"
Through out the entire time we were there we could hear them whooping and hollering and running around -- we felt sorry for the server.

 

[All Morganic]

We have 2 DDs we'll be traveling and dining out with. DD5 is easy peasy - no issues with her. DD3.5 is a big giant question mark. She's been shaping up nicely the last 6 months or so (which is how I got the blessing from DH to book our vacation). But, every once in awhile...

I have mostly early ressies, but I'm a little worried about a 7:15 Hoop-Dee-Doo. I'm thinking a nice llllloooonnnngggg nap is in order that day. Also, we have the Pirate & Princess Party one night. What the CM on the phone told me about it, I had visions of my little princesses all dressed up running around the MK smiling, giggling, being silly. Now I'm having nightmares of tired tantrums, crabbing, crying What's a mother to do?

 

[jbthi]

This is a little OT but I think it is funny. When our DGD was 3, my husband and I took her and our daughter to Disney. We were eating dinner at what is now Kona (I think it was something else then). She was usually very good at restaurants but that evening she decided she wanted to climb up onto the middle of the table and refused to get down. My husband picked her up and took her outside. They returned a short time later and she sat in her chair like a little angel.

Later that night she was talking to her dad (who didn't come with us) on the phone and when he asked her how she had been that day she said "well I was a little wild today but I've settled down now".

To this day my husband will not tell us what he said to her. If he did we might be able to market it!

 

[jillyjoey]

As others have posted -- we scheduled all TS meals at regular mealtimes - 4:30 -6 pm. DS (10) is great and always has been... Then there is DD(4) (whom sometime we like to call the poster child for birth control) -- she does not do well anywhere -- except WDW. Last trip -- we thought we would not be able to eat anywhere -- she was an angel ---- I attribute it all to the Disney magic -- as soon as we got back to Tennessee she was back to her own demonic self. I am keeping my fingers crossed that she will behave this trip -- but in that same respect -we have made only 2 non child friendly TS meals -- Teppanyaki (requested by DS and since he has to sit through H&V character meal for DD this was granted) & Marrakesh (although last trip she loved the belly dancer).

I agree with the other posters with children who state that it is terribly embarassing when your child has a meltdown in public. You just have no idea- and if you think it is the parents' fault think again -- my DS has always been well-behaved -- he threw one fit in Target when he was 2 and that was his one and only time. DD on the other hand -- UGH!!!

 

[5DisneyNuts]

Most of us with kids have a very good idea. It's not the parent's fault that the children have tantrums; it is their fault if they don't handle the situation appropriately.

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

I agree with the other posters with children who state that it is terribly embarassing when your child has a meltdown in public. You just have no idea- and if you think it is the parents' fault think again -- my DS has always been well-behaved -- he threw one fit in Target when he was 2 and that was his one and only time. DD on the other hand -- UGH!!!