Dining with toddler-recommendations?

[krystalleigh1]

I will be going to WDW in the beginning of Nov. with my DH and my son who will be 2 1/2. I was wondering if anyone could give me some good recommendations for places to eat where the food is great and also has a unique atmosphere. I was thinking the Coral Reef because of the fish tank atmosphere (my son would love that). Any other ideas? Also, are there any restaurants in WDW that are NOT kid friendly?

 

[mdhkitten]

My dd is 2 and she loves the character meals! She's only been to Chef Mickey's for breakfast and Crystal Palace for lunch. Both of those are very good. I think that she liked the character more at CM, but we enjoyed the lunch buffet at CP. We're taking her in December to CP for dinner and Coral Reef for lunch (I, like you, think that she would like the aquarium). We'll see! I personally wouldn't take her to the "adult" places that I normally dine at with her father, such as California Grill, Jiko, Flying Fish, etc...........I know that people do take their children to these places, but IMO these are more of a couple, romantic, dress up type of dinner, and I'm not saying that my dd would be bad (she never is in a restaurant), but with my luck in that type of setting she would decide to show herself! The way I figure it is if we're spending that much on food, we better enjoy ourselves!

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

I found that we do better at buffet type places than sit down long meals. We did Boma and CP with Tigger and Pooh and were fine at both places in July when he was 18 mo. I too would hesitate to do a long sit down meal. Coral reef is neat and a kid friendly place. I herd WCC is alot of fun too. Chef Mickeys we have yet to try but may do breakfast there with our toddler in Nov. I too will be interested in hearing these answers.

 

[mmmears]

I think buffets like CM and CP are great for a toddler. You get to see characters without waiting in line. Also, the selection is huge and it's easy to feed a toddler at these. Plus, since it is a buffet, there is no waiting for food to come, which can be hard on little ones when they are tired and hungry.

That said, we took our daughter everwhere when she was 2.5 y.o. -- from Flying Fish to CG -- she did great at all of them. But what she really remembered was those character meals.

 

[Deb & Bill]

There are a limited number of seats by the window at Coral Reef. Most of them are far from the aquarium and they might not work as well for your 2 yr old. There usually is a long wait for one of those tables as well. Having to wait a long time to eat, regardless of your ADR time may not work well with a 2 yr old.

 

[BlindTyldak]

At 2 and a half, I would recommend Garden Grille over Coral Reef for a meal . . . take him to Coral Reef some day around 2 Pm for a make your own sundae and let him see the tank that way, as CR can seat VERY slowly and meals often take a very long time to come to the table. great for adults, bad for ancy kids if you are not at the tank.

Garden Grille is an all you can eat family style meal that is perfect for fussy eaters (the kids meal is familiar, as is the adult offerings, but perfect;y prepared IMHO) with four characters (Micky, Chip, Dale, and Goofy/Pluto). The restaurant slowly revolves - VERY slowly, one revolution per 45 minutes - so there's always something different for him to see. ask for a table in the outer ring, which is about 2/3 of the tables, so you will have a short wait.