Dining with Children - your experiences

[DLfan4]

hi . I listened to the Dis Unplugged Disneyland ladies show where they talked about dining with children.
Thank you ladies Mary Jo, Nancy, Carol and the guest ( who I cant remember her name, sorry). it was a great show. After the show I thought about my experiences at DLR with children. I went in 2012 with my family if 2 children, along with my cousins family of 2 children. below are some of my experiences, I hope others also post theirs as well:

- Our experience at the Blue Bayou was great. we never felt rushed or unwelcomed. My kids loved their meals. I would recommend a family of young children experience Blue Bayou at least once.

- I think the "kids power pack" is excellent.
We had the power pack on two of the 3 days we were in the parks. When we do a quick service meal, we get the kids each a power pack, and then they share our large salad with us. We would rather them eat a power pack (with milk, cheese, apples, etc) then fried food like chicken nuggets or corndogs. I recommend this as a quick service option.

- Ariels Grotto lunch. The experience at Ariels Grotto is one of my fondest memories of our trip. We are from Canada, and were in DLR in January. While it was cold and snowy back home, we were at Ariels Gotto, eating on the outdoor patio overlooking the paradise pier. We were the only ones outside on the patio. it was amazing, so nice to be away from crowds. the princesses were great with the kids. the adult meals were really good. The kids did not like their main meal (pasta), but everyone loved the antipasta tower with the family style appitizers/salad, and the family dessert platter. We all loved the experience, so even with the not-so-great kids pasta, it was still worth the price, as we all have fantastic memories.

- This is how we do our trips. We eat a good breakfast in our room, and have 1 sit down meal (either lunch or dinner) and do quick service on the other. ( sometimes dinner is outside of the parks). We bring snacks like apple slices, veggies, granola bars, crackers to eat while standing in line.

love to hear from others as to their experiences too.

 

[agamble]

We also do breakfast at the hotel before going to the park. We don't do TS meals except a character breakfast (which we scheduled late for an early lunch this trip). We have our favorite CS places we like to eat. I'm not a fan of the power pack because Disney allows me to bring in those same items for a fraction of the price, which I do. We often eat something lighter for lunch (like soup bowls) and the kids eat their homemade "power pack" or share a meal. Then we eat something more substantial for dinner. Recent threads talked about eating Disney snacks (like the Chili Cone) for lunch, and we may try this on a few of our days this coming trip.

 

[momof4fans]

I have 4 kids. Two teenage boys and two girls 6 and 8. The boys eat like adults so they don't really enter this discussion haha. My DD's were 4 and 6 the last time we were at DLR. We did bring a lot of our own snacks in but I liked the "kids power pack." It was fresh and the right amount for my girls. I know you can bring all the same stuff in but you have to keep the yogurt cold and the fruit from getting squished. It's worth the money to get if fresh. I usually finished their carrots. We've eaten at Ariel's Grotto twice and have loved it! Yes, it's expensive but it's such a great experience. I honestly can't remember what the girls ate there but I had the tri-tip and it was delicious! We also really like Cafe Orleans. Both my girls got the salmon and ate every bite! The River Belle Terrace was good. We like the bread bowls in CA and we really enjoyed the food at the Paradise Garden Grill. They did eat corn dogs (could not finish!), chicken strips and mac & cheese. We are planning on trying Blue Bayou on our next trip. We ate once at Tony Roma's and do not recommend it. It wasn't that big of savings over in-park dining and the food was very average. For our next trip we've decided to eat in the park for every meal but breakfast. We always stay at the Park Vue Inn and it has a pretty decent free breakfast. We're also considering Big Thunder Ranch BBQ for table service. I really want to try the Hungry Bear.
In general, I tried to feed the girls somewhat healthy meals that included protein and fruit/veg but it didn't always work out.

 

[agamble]

We're also considering Big Thunder Ranch BBQ for table service. I really want to try the Hungry Bear.

I'd like to try Big Thunder some day too, but we're not big meat eaters. Go to the Hungry Bear. I really like the Fried Green Tomato sandwich. They have good food and it's fun to sit near the water and watch the boats and ducks.

 

[Mrs. Whoever]

We are early risers and generally start with cereal and milk, granola bars and fruit in the hotel room or on the walk to the park. Since we still have a stroller I sprang for an insulated cooler bag that attaches low on the stroller so you don't have to dig it out of the basket under the stroller. It is stocked with frozen water bottles, yogurt, fruit and granola bars for snacking on in the parks. We generally do one TS meal in the park per day and one CS.

Hands-down the best service I've experienced with kids was BB and seconded by Ariel's Grotto. I expected it at Ariel's for a Character Dining experience, but BB was a nice surprise.

Flo's is a fantastic breakfast option for us. We'll do early morning attractions and then take a break for a great breakfast. My kids love bacon and eggs. Extra bonus is you are in and out quickly. Character breakfasts are generally too time-consuming for our family.

The power packs are a great supplement for our CS meals. Our kids are 8, 5 & 2 and fairly picky. Ordering one kid meal and one or two power packs means they get the fresh stuff along with the "treat".

Dinner at Plaza Inn is a great value for the amount of food and the fried chicken is pretty fantastic. We can usually feed the whole family on two adult meals but now that oldest kid is starting to eat like a teenage boy, we may have to add a kid meal.

Our kids always devour TS meals when salmon is involved and we have started to make a tradition of starting our trip on our arrival day with salmon and rice from Tangaroa Terrace (with Trader Sam's beverage options for the adults).

Our last trip we tried Steakhouse 55 for breakfast and that was great, but it was hard to leave the parks just to eat breakfast.

The next time we visit will be October and we're trying out a Club-level room at DLH for the first time. I don't think that the offerings they have food-wise will change our meal approach much.

 

[disneydreamer74]

We have had so many great dining experiences with DD8 over the years. We do the same as most here, we eat breakfast in the room each day (with the exception of our traditional Mickey pancakes once each trip). We pack water bottles in our cooler and a few snacks. We do one TS and one CS each day in the parks..and one snack at the end of the night. Sometimes we just do a pretzel for lunch, or a corn dog. CS options we enjoy are French Market..my DD loves to listen and dance to the jazz band. RBT is another fave. My Dd8 loves Pizza port. And we do Plaza Inn where DD and I share a chicken plate. We also love Flo's V8 for CS. For TS dinners we seem to do AG every year. We enjoy it quite a bit. Great food and interaction. We are trying BB for the first time this year. We also like most restaurants in DTD for TS, we have tried most of them. Carnation Cafe is always a TS option for us too.

 

[beachdreamr1229]

I have 3 children, DS (5) and twins (18 mos.).

When we go for a day, we eat breakfast in the car or in line for rope drop. If we go for an overnight/multi-day trip, breakfast is either free from the hotel, McDonalds, or something we brought from home in a cooler. My oldest has severe peanut allergies, so we have to be especially careful with breakfast items like pastries and desserts. For lunch, we prefer to do CS. Pizza Port, Rancho Del Zocalo, Hungry Bear, Tomorrowland Terrace, Cocina Cucamonga, and Taste Pilot Grill (can't remember what it's called now) have been our favorites. When my oldest was younger, we also liked Flo's because he was a huge Cars fan and loved the ambiance, but the food just isn't what we like. Occasionally, my oldest and I go on trips with just the 2 of us and we eat snack foods like Mickey Pretzels for lunch. If you aren't big eaters, this can be a good option that's less expensive, though not terribly healthy.

We usually go home before dinner, but when we're on longer trips, we like to eat a variety of places. Rainforest Cafe in DTD is one of our favorites because there's plenty to look at to keep the kids busy. Tangaroa Terrace has a decent meal at DLH. My kids like to sit outside and watch people swimming while we eat. In the parks, we again enjoy the restaurants listed above, though I'd also add Plaza Inn and the French Market. My oldest loves the music played at the French Market, so it's good entertainment.