Dining with little ones

[sharebeargumby]

This is my first time to Disney and I am so excited!! My kids are 6, 4.5, and 2. I have a couple of questions but I will try to keep it short!

Any suggestions for these dining ages? We are more interested in cool scenery (ie Rainforest) than in getting great meals! Of course we want the food to be good...

Also, my 6 and 4.5 year olds don't usually nap, but we are hoping to get them to nap so we can be at the parks later. Any suggestions on reservations? My 2yo is usually down by 1.

We are going in September and have the basic dining plan. Thanks for reading!!

 

[emlutz23]

If they nap, then making ADR's for your TS meals at dinner should be fine. Otherwise, if you're worried about tired, cranky kids who didn't nap, make ADR's for lunch and save the CS meal for dinner, when they may not want to sit still and wait for food.

But whenever you choose to eat, buffets are always good! You don't have to sit and wait to eat if the kids are anxious to eat and don't want to sit. When my youngest was 3, he got so used to the buffets at Disney, that even now when we go somewhere to eat he always asks "Do we have to order here?" He really doesn't like waiting for his food!

A "cool" TS meal (not a buffet) is the Sci-Fi at DHS. It's very dimly lit, but if you go at lunch, the burgers are awesome! And the delicsious shakes can count as your beverage or your dessert on the DDP. They show clips of old black and white sci-fi movies. Nothing too scary, my boys have never minded. But something to think about if any of your kids are frightened easily.

Chef Mickey's is big, bright and has the monorail going over (can't see it from all seats, but it's still cool!). Great character experience and great buffet.

Hope those few suggestions help!

 

[irongirlof12]

def -go for crystal palace MK, good food and very young child- characters, another choice would be Ched mickeys- good choice offfood and some fab photo opps with mickey et al. If you have girls go to dinner at 1900 park fayre. fab!

 

[idatwilight]

I second Crystal Palace. Went there in January with nieces (6, 3). They are terrible at restaurants; the fact that it was loud and they could get up under the presumption of getting food was very helpful. And the 6-year-old loved the characters. (The 3-year-old is terrified.)

 

[MGNA]

I'm a Disney first-timer but would recommend Ohana for either a character breakfast or dinner.

 

[Goseethemouse]

On our last trip, my sons (then almost 3 and 5) enjoyed Coral Reef, Crystal Palace and Garden Grill best. They are easily frightened which is why I have held off on Sci-Fi Dine in and 50s Prime Time. However, on our next trip I am hoping to do CRT and the new T-Rex restaurant at Downtown Disney.

 

[danadw]

We like Crystal Palace in MK, and Vine & Dine at HS. Both are geared more towards the little ones. We also have done Garden Grill and Donalds Breakfastasaurus, and Mama Melrose. I love the EMH at night, our kids are little but we love to get them dfown for a nap in the afternnoon, and then we can keep them up a little later at night to take advantage of the lights at night, no direct sun, cooler weather, and lighter crowds. We will be doing Ohana's this year, and maybe the Backyard BBQ?

 

[shruley]

Anything with Characters would keep my kids entertained (Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, Castle or Norway.) 'Ohana's ended up being very long for my 2 year old, but went ok because we brought the portable DVD player with us to keep her entertained. We liked buffets for the kids, our food was just ok, but it helped us feed the kids better. My one is a horrible eater on vacation...some days the only thing she would eat would be grapes or lettuce, or some random thing that I could usually find on a buffet. Or you'd get it in front of her and she'd want something else, so it was easy to try to find some food we could get in her. Someplace like Whispering Canyon Cafe is also fun and has lots going on for them to watch and be distracted by.