Dining with kids...

[lonegirl]

My DH and I are trying to budget out our trip for the Fall, and are wondering about food and the dining plan. How likely are we really to do a table service daily with a 5 and 3 year old? Is it a welcome chance to sit down and refuel, or a distraction from the rides/shows. I know we will do one or two, including character dining, but daily? Or will we tire of snacks and counter service quickly and want a nice table service meal? We are staying Sun-Fri in late Oct or early Nov (or maybe Sept if free dining comes out and in that case, this question is voided anyway )

 

[Davidsmommy]

We went in January with a 6 year old and a 2 year old - honestly, we found it hard to do a big sitdown meal every day. Part of that was ME - I had planned meals out from reading here that sounded great that we had to travel to - had I planned a sitdown meal in the park we were in every day it would have been easier (with young kids). In the future with kids, we will liekly still do the plan, but we will worry more about fitting the dining into our park plans most of the time (with the exception of a couple special meals) - even if it means we are eating at a place that isn't as well loved....

 

[rt2dz]

We actually find sit down meals a godsend. We do them close to where we plan to be that day (ie Garden Grill when at Epcot, Chef Mickeys or Liberty Tree Tavern at Magic Kingdom, etc). Our kids (DS6, DS3, DS1) love being able to sit and take a break. It's nice to have someone wait on you and/or not have to fight for a table. This works much better for our family than going back to the hotel (and we have tried it every which way).

We tend to do a late breakfast for lunch. Or a late lunch/early dinner to combine those meals with a snack. My kids don't like chicken nuggets, hamburgers, fast food in general, and DH and I get burnt out on the counter service meals, so it is another reason it works well for us. It tends to keep our food bill a bit lower too.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We always do at least one sit-down meal each day, some days we do breakfast and dinner sit-down. It just works for us. I can't imagine eating all counter service, it would get too old too fast for us, but probably not for everyone. My boys were 5 and 2 on our last trip and will be 6 and almost 4 this year.

If we do a character breakfast, we make the ADR for before the park opens and we're done before the rope drops.

 

[Zoemakes5]

We did sit downs. We've never been on the Dining plan, but would do more sit downs if we were. And, remember, TS includes buffets. If you're concerned about the sitting for long periods, look towards the all-you-care to eat buffets to mix in with what you're looking for. Or, add entertainment TS's, such as the luau or HoopDeDoo Review and use up TS credits.
I've found that it's too much fast and furious and the ability to sit down at a real restaurant and have choices of what to eat and be served is a wonderful break in the day and the chaos.

 

[becca011906]

We did one sit down meal a day when we went Sep. '05 kids were 1,3,5 it was amazing how differant our first meal was compaired to our last... LOL first was out side disney on our recoop day from the drive down the kids were awful! LOL Last sit down was at MK at the casle, the kids were angles it was great, and got better and better as the days went on, it was funny!

 

[mtmbyck]

the dining plan is such and amazing value and the best part is the Character Dining!! No need to line up to meet them when you are sitting down with them at dinner. We actually did the Luau which used up 2 meals and we did a few Breakfasts. It's a TON of food, but what an amazing value. My husband and I had Steak and Lobster one night at Capt'n Jacks and our bill was over $100 with apps and dessert - all paid for on the meal plan - tips included!! With children as young as yours, you might welcome the chance to sit down, relax and be served every day!!

 

[suffolkprincess]

The first time we went to Disney we did FAR too much commuting to meals. It really wore on us and hurt our ability to spontaneously follow or DD's lead as she discovered the parks. If you stay at a moderate or value it can take upwards of an hour commuting to get to a meal at one of the deluxes! While I did love the meals we did do, we canceled some because the commuting was TOO much for us.

Even though you have an ADR and its a quieter time of year you will wait for tables. You know how your kids will do with this-- for us, on our first trip when DD was 3, by the time we commuted and waited, she was often not that into the character meals.

I said all that to encourage you to not go overboard. The seated meals are actually kind of relaxing-- especially the plated meals and family style meals! We were smarter (for us) on our second go round and we only booked things that were in the park where we planned to be or that were on the monorail (we stayed on the monorail.) Next time we might not be able to afford the monorail resorts and I will probably stick to places in the parks for the seated meals (or just do one "resort" meal.)

I wholeheartedly agree with the person who posted above about getting ADRs for as early as possible-- and in our experience (we went the same time as you will) we always got seated when we showed up at the restaurant opening time even if our ADR was for 30 minutes later. Yes, you have to get up earlier in the am, but you get into the parks earlier, less or no wait for tables, and the food on the buffets is fresher! Win all around!

 

[bribert]

We did TS on free DP in fall 2005, & when it was offered again in 2006 we passed. Our kids were about the same age as yours, & although it was nice to have nice meals, it interrupted the days too much. We figured by the time you get to your ARD, wait to be seated, order, eat & leave you've wasted almost 2 hours!! Plus you're planning everything else, like fast pass & show times, & naps, around eating.
The last time we did CS with only 2 CS breakfasts & it was much better.
Plus, the TS meals didn't wake them up as much as get the kids even more tired!

 

[PollyannaMom]

We found we needed the break, and healthier food, of TS once a day. But we planned meals around our park schedule, not the other way around.

 

[macmahony]

The first time we were there, we only had 3 sit down meals, and I found for us, that was very stressful, we were stressing on what to eat, where to eat, and when to eat. We would end up eating at the same place in the parks.
So, the last two times we have gone we have gotten the dining plan,, and we LOVE LOVE it. We do one sit down a day, breakfast, lunch or dinner, and snack around that. If we do dinner, it is early (4-5), and we feed the kids breakfast in the room, or on the move, and we have snacks for lunch, and eat like pig at dinner, if we have a breakfast planned, we usually do a counter service for a later dinner. I love the break, and the wind down time, we don't leave the parks for naps, so for us it works. Our kids were 5, 4 and 2 last time, and it worked for us.
We also planned where we were eating with our day, if we had a meal at poly (dinner), it was a night we had nothing planned in a park. Chef mickey we did the monorail, and that was a great afternoon break for us (during free dining, they offered lunch, which was amazing, we had the place, and the charcters to ourselves). We also ate at the grand floridian, but that was arrival night, so that worked out as well, we arrived, swam, and then ate and headed to bed early.
Have fun, planning dinners for me was just as much fun as being there!
Heidi

 

[flynnmnstr]

We definitely plan a TS for everyday. I agree that it takes up time and it definitely halts all touring plans etc. but for us we like to know that we have the option. If the kids are having a blast at the pool in the afternoon and we know that we are not going to make it to BOMA for a 5:30 ADR we will definitely cancel it or try to reschedule for later in the evening.

We also make our ADRs for the park that we plan on visiting, thus reducing travel tiime. We also have young ones 5 & 2; sometime TS is just plane easier than ordering, carrying your food, hunting for a table, etc.

My advice make ADR for at least one meal a day; you could always cancel or try to change it once you are there. With young kids and disney you need to have a plan but be flexible at the same time.

 

[michellev]

We went in January with a 4 yr old, 2 yr old and an infant. We did the dining plan and had a sit down meal every night (and one sit down breakfast). I highly recommend it as a way for your kids to see the characters without waiting in lines. It was such an easy way to see a great number of characters and there is so much going on that the kids were incredibly well behaved.

 

[TheDizMom]

We used ours and I would always do so . We always used them for dinner so it was a chance to sit and rest after a crazy day at the parks. Plan them in a way they will be least disruptive. If you're going to be at MK all day pick one of the restaurants there that way you can rejuvinate and go back to the rides after dinner if you want to or head back to your hotel. If you want to go to a resort restaurant plan to leave you park early enough to change if you want or just get to that resort from where you are. We went back and changed several times. You could also maybe use one for a breakfast and start your day with it and then your set for the day to just wing it at the CS places. In all seriousness you can't be go go go for days on end and not start to suffer for it eventually . You need to spend at least and hour or 2 sitting on your butt instead of walking on you feet especially with littler kids.

 

[vicki845]

The first time we went to Disney we did FAR too much commuting to meals. It really wore on us. If you stay at a moderate or value it can take upwards of an hour commuting to get to a meal at one of the deluxes!

We had the same experience. Our children at the time were 4 and 15 months.
Although it is nice when you can sit down and relax at ts. It's stressful when you are at Mk and have adr's for 8pm at the Contemporay. We stood at POR and had to go back to our rooms, change and take a taxi because he didn't have enough time to use disney's transportation. Next time we go I will try very hard to go to only to the ts restaurants that are in the park we are in for that day. I think the character meals are a way to go. We did two last time, and they were great!

I

 

[WDWfor5]

We wnt last year and the kids were 6,4 and 2. We bought the Dining Plan and loved it We (really just me), planned our trip so that our TS meal was convienent to our park of choice and we didn't do any of the fancier places that we would have needed to dress up for. To avoid having to go back to POR to change, we packed a change of shirt for the 2 little ones just in case and wore nicer tops. It worked out perfectly and we didn't feel rushed all day. My kids favorites were: Chef Mickey the first night (food was great for a buffet and they loved the characters), Whispering Canyon at Wilderness Lodge on one of our MK days since you can take the boat over, Le Cellier in Epcot and of course Cinderella's Castle. We ate at Mama Melrose on our MGM day and weren't impressed and will do the Sci-Fi next time.

The dining plan was such a great deal and the kids loved the break. Even if all you do is buffets, it's a great deal, you see the characters and you don't have to eat CS for every meal which would get very old.

 

[lonegirl]

Thanks for all the responses. I will definitely plan meals IN the parks we are visiting that day, and I forgot about riding the monorail/ferry boat to neighboring resorts from MK. So thank you!

 

[ADisneyQueen]

We had the dining plan last year and did all buffets for our table service. I knew the girls would get to eat a variety of foods and find a few things that they liked. Also, they did not have to wait for a meal to be served so we didn't spend as much time in the restaurant. We were also able to take our dessert with us if we needed to leave. As other posts said, plan your meals around what park you'll be at.

 

[Samanthalyn]

My DH and I are trying to budget out our trip for the Fall, and are wondering about food and the dining plan. How likely are we really to do a table service daily with a 5 and 3 year old? Is it a welcome chance to sit down and refuel, or a distraction from the rides/shows. I know we will do one or two, including character dining, but daily? Or will we tire of snacks and counter service quickly and want a nice table service meal? We are staying Sun-Fri in late Oct or early Nov (or maybe Sept if free dining comes out and in that case, this question is voided anyway )

Our first ever Disney trip was Sept 06 with my 2 year old and at that time 5 year old and we ALL loved the sit down meal time of the day in the eve. We booked a lot of character meals ( most people said way too many) but my younger child LOVED this time with the Princesses and Mickey and all for her it made up for some of the things older brother could do and she couldn't. Older brother still talks about all the places we ate with Goofy and even remembers the food! It also was a relaxing experience for my husband and I at the end of the day - the kids are so engrossed with what is going on they were never fussy or whiney ( like is the case in a local rest). We added the didning plan this time just to do more of the same on our Sept 07 trip.

 

[mom2aredhead]

We have a 3 year old, and I've been going back and forth about DDP. I have decided to look at it as a way to pay ahead of time for the meals we are probably going to eat anyway and stop obsessing about getting "the best value" and the "most for the money"
I made ADR's for Chef Mickey's (twice - dinner on arrival night, breakfast on departure day), Play and Dine lunch EARLY (11:00) the day we plan to be in MGM, and 50's PTC late (8:00) dinner that night (may cancel that one, we'll see how full we are from lunch), Garden Grill the day we plan to be in Epcot, WCC on a MK day and plan on going to the campfire afterwords, and Mickey's Backyard BBQ (2 credits - may pay OOP, we'll see) which I know is not a board favorite, but we went in Oct and had a blast!
Lots of character meals (mostly to avoid waiting in line at the parks) and low-maintenance-no-clothes-changing-required meals with little travel involved. No lobster, no filet mignon (Le Cellier is closed that week for re-furb anyway), nothing fancy. I really didn't want to interrupt "park time" to spend 3 hours traveling to and eating a dinner just because we could eat $170 worth of food for less than $100, KWIM? That's not why I'm going to Disney.