Dining with Young Children

[tina.b]

Hi Everyone,
This is my first post to the board. I've been reading for about two weeks and the board has been such a wealth of information. I appreciate everyone sharing their experiences. We will be AKL for seven nights at the end of January, our first trip to WDW. We have 2 boys 4 and 2.5. I apologize if this has been asked before.

I'm about to book our ADRs, we will be using the dining plan. But before I do so, I want to know for certain, which restaurants are not particularly suitable for children. Not necessarily in terms of food, but in terms of reception to children. We are adventurous eaters with the exception of the 4y.o., but he will make do regardless of where we go. We want to eat great food, yet we want the restaurant environment to be receptive to children as well. But we don't necessarily want to eat only at places that are geared exclusively to children. The older child is wonderfully behaved, the younger is a particularly boisterous and typical 2y.o. So my question, which places would not be suitable for our family? Thanks so much.

 

[JulieAnne]

Personally, I say it's WDW, so go where-ever you want. All the restaurants have kiddy menus, even the nicer ones. I hate buffet style so we take our kids to the nicer restaurants, just eat earlier than those who want quiet romantic dinners might do.

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

I think the previous poster has it on target. Almost all of the restaurants at WDW will be kid friendly, although V&A's might be a stretch. I think with my kids we aim more for the ones that may be more kid targeted.

If your children like the characters, the character meals will be good bets, although on many of them the focus is the characters not the food. Mine love the characters, so for sit down type meals we typically opt for a character one. If not, some of the restaurant are particularly kid friendly. O'hana and Whispering Canyon come to mind. At both locations, the "entertainment" involves interaction with the kids, and often gets them up and moving between courses. My son (DD3) at the moment has a hard time sitting through a normal length (adult perspective) meal. So, character meals where interaciton with characters mixed in or kid interactive restaurants (e.g., O'hana, WCC) are our staple for table service.

Hope this helps. Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[mjh8955]

Even with young kids we all enjoyed Spoodles. And the post about eating early is right on target. Leisurely romantic diners will be there later not earlier.

 

[Hopefully]

I agree that all restaurants at WDW are "kid friendly". I would (my personal opinion) exclude Ca Grille and V & A's from that. The suggestion to eat early is also a good idea.
I agree that 'OHana is particularly good for children. The have Hula Hoop contensts and coconut races for the kids. It is a boisterous atmosphere, so a little noise is fine. We loved the food and the view toward the castle was great. I have not eaten at WCC, so I can't comment on it.
Check out the menus on allearsnet.com to help you decide.
Have a Great Vacation.

 

[liamsaunt]

My DH and I are just back from Disney and I will tell you that every retsaurant we went to had kids there, regardless of the time of night. At a late adr for California Grill, a table next to us had two girls about your kids' age, in matching pajamas.

Most kids we noticed were well behaved, some less so. It is Disney, kids are expected, part of the environment, so I say go where ever you like!
My only suggestion would be to please take your child out of the restuarant for a few minutes to calm them down if they are having a full-out tantrum. Most people did this, but one family did not and their child screamed SOOOOO loud non-stop for about 40 minutes. That was annoying.

Just FYI, we ate at California Grill, Jiko, Artist Point, Le Cellier, Flying Fish, Alfredos, Brown Derby, Spoodles, and Bice (at Portofino Universal). I am going back in a week with my niece and nephew (ages 4 and 6) and we have adrs at California Grill, Raglan Road, Coral Reef, Akershus, Brown Derby, and Chefs de France.