Dining with teens

waydownunder

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jun 27, 2008
Messages
151
Hi All

I am in the early stages of planning our 15 day trip to Walt Disney World:cheer2: . This will be our first time so I want to make it a trip to remember for my 2 teenagers DD18 & DS15. We are definately planning using DDP. Has anyone got any suggestions on places they may enjoy eating at? Do you think they would enjoy character dining or do you think they are to old? Also would they enjoy one of the dinner shows like Hoop Dee Doo for example? I really feel overwhelmed :confused: trying to plan this trip so have decided to take a deep breath and start somewhere. I will probably start driving everone crazy :scared1: with questions over the next year.

Thanks for all your help.
 
Congratulations on planning a great trip and welcome to the Dis. You will find TONS of information here.

Ah teens....fickle beasts aren't they? :)

Really it's hard for anyone here to say that Yes your teens will like character dining or No they won't like character dining. Kids are so different teen to teen, not to mention the mood changes of a teen within a 24 hour period!

I think that you will get lots of opinions - "Yeah go for it, my teen loved it!" and "No, my kid stopped liking character meals at 9" To best figure out your teen, I'd start on the review board. Many reviews have the restaurants listed in the first post and you should be able to easily find the restaurants that you're looking for. Read about their experiences at the character interaction and try to figure out if that'd embarrass your teen, or if they'd love the interaction/attention.

In general, if your kids are young at heart and enjoy laughing at their silly side, I think Hoop Dee Doo and some character meals are in order. If your teens are generally pretty 'cool' they may not enjoy it.

We welcome questions, so bring 'em on! :goodvibes
 
Hi All

I am in the early stages of planning our 15 day trip to Walt Disney World:cheer2: . This will be our first time so I want to make it a trip to remember for my 2 teenagers DD18 & DS15. We are definately planning using DDP. Has anyone got any suggestions on places they may enjoy eating at? Do you think they would enjoy character dining or do you think they are to old? Also would they enjoy one of the dinner shows like Hoop Dee Doo for example? I really feel overwhelmed :confused: trying to plan this trip so have decided to take a deep breath and start somewhere. I will probably start driving everone crazy :scared1: with questions over the next year.

Thanks for all your help.
:dancer: :welcome: :dancer:

I agree, with teens you just need to know your own kids. I think it is more important to look at menus to see that where you go has what they like!
I second Hoop Dee Doo, corny fun everyone should experience! Yummy food too!
Have a GREAT trip and fun planning it! :wizard:
 
I took my kids 16 & 18 last year and they love all of it even the character dining . now they cant wait to go back in june and i let them pick out all the dinning this time . they picked all character dining .
 

The last time we took our oldest son was for his high school graduation and he brought along his then girlfriend (she had never been). They were 18 and 17 at the time. Here are some of the places that we went to and they enjoyed them all: Chef Mickey's for dinner, Crystal Palace for breakfast, Rose & Crown, 50's Prime Time, Fulton's (not on the dining plan--this was more for hubby and I) and Biergarten.
 
My girls might be the exception -- they are 14 and almost 10, and neither want to do character dining at all. They didn't want to on our last trip to WDW (July 2007) and they don't want to do it this time, either (neither does DH -- I'm the only one who wants to!).

Last trip we were on the DDP and went to Coral Reef (loved it), Hollywood and Vine (Fantasmic Dinner Package -- it was o.k.), Ohana (loved it), and one other that I can't remember -- obviously it wasn't very memorable.

This time we're not doing the DDP (now that our youngest will be 10 years old, it would be $160 per day for us, plus tip, and we just don't eat enough to make it worthwhile to spend that much on dining for a 5 day trip). Instead, each member of the family is picking one TS place they really want to go to, and the rest will be QS (we usually eat breakfast in the room -- we're not big breakfast eaters). I printed off menus and restaurant information from online and also have The Unofficial Guide. So far, the girls have selected Coral Reef and Ohana, and DH is looking at Biergarten...I haven't figured out where I want to go yet! I'm thinking about something in AK but I'm not sure yet.
 
We took our church youth group a year and a half ago, and so I was picking meals for 18 teenagers, trying to figure out what they would like! Of course, they all had different favourites, but Chef Mickey's the first night was really popular, as was 50's Prime Time Cafe and Coral Reef. I expected them to love Whispering Canyon and that was not as big a hit, partly because we were in the back and not part of the action. They did enjoy Sci-Fi as well, and for the sports nuts, ESPN was the favourite. Hope that helps.
 
I have a DD aged 18 and I have to disagree with all the posters suggesting HDDR. My DD still enjoys character meals but she found the HDDR comedy very lame and the food failed to impress as well. I think HDDR is best appreciated by young kids and senior citizens. (my DM65 still loves it) As for places she enjoys and recommends....50's Cafe and SciFi at DHS, WCC at WL and for a character meal the Park Fare dinner at GF with the stepsisters. These all have a "fun" factor without feeling like they are aimed at little kids. Have a great trip!
 
DGD13's favorites in order are: Sci-Fi (for the unique atmosphere), HoopDeeDoo (for the corny show), Kona (for the teriyaki steak and the Kona Kone), Tutto Italia (for the atmosphere and the great Italian food), Yak & Yeti (again for both the atmosphere and the food), LeCellier (for the mushroom filet and the chocolate "moose"), Casey's (for a late night hot dog) and either CRT or CP for breakfast (so she can get into the MK early before park opening).

A year ago WCC and 50s Prime Time would have made the list. Now she gets a little embarrassed. But some teens enjoy the extra playful attention.

She didn't mention them, but I remember she also loved Rainforest Cafe, Planet Hollywood and the stepsisters at 1900 Park Fare.

Have a fun trip!
 
Our kids pretty much grew up at WDW. They're past the teen years now, but there were some definite favorites back then:

DD and DS always enjoyed 50's PT, Whispering Canyon Cafe, 'Ohana, and still do, and a more recent favorite for the whole family is Raglan Road. DD likes Akershus, DS LeCellier. DD definitely had her princess days.

And, while we don't make it an annual event, we've all found the HDDR an absolute hoot. On our last visit, DD got chosen to be the can-can dancer. It is corny, no doubt, but we sit and grin at the show until our jaws ache. I'd definitely recommend it for first-timers.
 
i would get them involved in the planning. Point them to the menus and tell them to pick their 2 or 3 favorites. Then space them out so you have a nice rotation of who picked what. Nothing worse than someone not liking your choices, share the wealth I say! :rotfl:

I would plan one night at CG too. It is a signature so it is 2 credits, but it is a very unique restaurant at Disney, an opportunity to dress up too!
 
I think you know your teens best. I have brought my son(17 now) with his friends for the last 4 or 5 years in a row. Last year, our group had 5 teenagers(14 to 18) Here's some of their favorites/comments:
1. Chef de France(can practice their lousy French)
2. Tokyo Dining(much better sushi than the supermarket ones)
3. 50's Prime Time(Soooo much fun; must do)
4. Chef Mickey's(the Characters were great;might return if they have to pick one character meal)
5. California Grill(awesome restaurant; reserve time around Wishes)
6. Narcoosee's(OMG, the lobster was huge; they will definitely return again)
7. Beach N Cream(it's a walk in only restaurant; teens will be amazed at the sight of the kitchen sink)
8. Coral Reef(the teens really enjoyed the aquarium; service was good, but slow; so expect to relax and enjoy the view)
There's so many more suggestions from us, but let your teens decide what's right for them. At the end, I always say this to my son:
My perfect vacation is when you are all having the time of your life.:grouphug:
 
another suggestion: what do your kids like to eat? DS(13) loves burgers and wings (steak/ribs/pizza/chinese good too), so if I mix some of that in, then he doesn't care where he eats it. He does not yet know about our upcoming trip so we could not ask for requests. We've booked Le Cellier, House of Blues and Yak & Yeti
 
Hi All

I am in the early stages of planning our 15 day trip to Walt Disney World:cheer2: . This will be our first time so I want to make it a trip to remember for my 2 teenagers DD18 & DS15. We are definately planning using DDP. Has anyone got any suggestions on places they may enjoy eating at? Do you think they would enjoy character dining or do you think they are to old? Also would they enjoy one of the dinner shows like Hoop Dee Doo for example? I really feel overwhelmed :confused: trying to plan this trip so have decided to take a deep breath and start somewhere. I will probably start driving everone crazy :scared1: with questions over the next year.

Thanks for all your help.

I have an 18 year old daughter. She is a huge Alice/Mad Hatter fan, so we will be doing breakfast at 1900 PF on one day. Other than that, she's requested:

Biergarten, Marrakesh and 50s Prime Time
 
My 3 teen boys? Just back from WDW. Their favs:

Spoodles.
Prime Time.
Germany Biergarten
Boma at Aklodge
Prime Time
Liberty Tree Tavern

Anything that is yummy.
 
We just got back. The teen and tween would rank as follows.

Teen-DS16
1. Teppan Edo
2. HDDR
3. HOB (OOP)
4. Boma
5. Kona
6. PTC
7. Biergarten

Tween-DD12 but a middle schooler
1. Teppan Edo
2. HDDR
3. PTC
4. Biergarten
5. Kona
6&7. Boma tie HOB OOP

Our kids LOVED Teppan and HDDR. I was frankly surprised with how much they liked Teppan. As you can see, we did not do any Character meals, I was worried enough about HDDR but knew they'd like the food. The liked the food and loved the show, they were cracking up the whole time! I asked the younger two how they felt about doing a character meal (8&9) and they were not into it either but would have liked to do the luau. Maybe next time. The kids LOVE WDW. And they will do characters on their shirts and pins and hats. They just don't want to interact with them directly anymore and that's ok, they prefer more of a "real" show. So for example, they loved the Beauty and the Beast Show but had no interest in eating with Belle or getting her autograph.

You can see pictures of it in my dining review, it's in my siggy.

I think HDDR is a personal choice, people seem to love it, or hate it but even my DH who is not one for cornball stuff, was cracking up.

Other places I looked at were LeCellier (couldn't get in), Tokyo Dining (chose Teppan) and WCC. They would have liked all of those, I am confident. Interestingly enough DS9 LOVED biergarten, it'd be in his top 3 as it would for DH so just b/c DS16 put it last I wouldn't rule it out. He didn't dislike anything, he just liked others much better! I think I need to take him to Jiko next time, I think he'd love that!
 
I haven't read the whole thread but,

ASK THEM!
:)
they're old enough to have opinions about where they would like to eat and what types of food they want. :thumbsup2
 
Hi All

I am in the early stages of planning our 15 day trip to Walt Disney World:cheer2: . This will be our first time so I want to make it a trip to remember for my 2 teenagers DD18 & DS15. We are definately planning using DDP. Has anyone got any suggestions on places they may enjoy eating at? Do you think they would enjoy character dining or do you think they are to old? Also would they enjoy one of the dinner shows like Hoop Dee Doo for example? I really feel overwhelmed :confused: trying to plan this trip so have decided to take a deep breath and start somewhere. I will probably start driving everone crazy :scared1: with questions over the next year.

Thanks for all your help.

Way down under,

I have two dds, one is 18 and the other is 12, We all absolutely LOVE Ohana! It isn`t really a character dinner, but the food is fantastic if you are carnivores like we are, and there is a Hawaiian style show during dinner. Smaller kids like to participate usually. The 50`s prime time cafe at Disneys Hollywood Studios is very fun as well. You feel like you are actually having dinner in a true 50`s kitchen. Again, no characters, although the waitstaff are quite characters. IF you have breakfast anywhere, try Whispering Canyon Cafe at FWL, that is a hoot! Enjoy your trip! 15 Days is great, but never long enough for me! :wizard:
 

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