Disney Dining Plan with Babies/Toddlers

[MikeM1234]

Just wanted to get some opinions from anyone who has done Disney Dining Plan with Babies/Toddlers

We just did our first trip with our kids in January, we have a 6 month old and a 3 year old.
We opted for the Quick Service Dining Plan, mostly because we were staying at Art of Animation, and also the schedule for the baby was all over the map with naps/time zone changes it would have been next to impossible for us to make a reservation.

We are booked in again for next year on a DVC Rental Studio at the Polynesian, and we were back and forth on which which Dining Plan to go with on our upcoming trip. We are hoping that as the baby gets older we will be able to plan accordingly and hopefully make some reservations, so we were leaning towards the Regular Dining Plan.

Anyone out there with Dining Plan experience with Babies & Toddlers? We will be going with a 4 year old and 1-1/2 old, Are we delusional to think we will get value out of the Table Service, or are we better off to stick with Quick Service until both our kids are older?

Any info would be appreciated
Cheers

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Even with ADRs, you very often will have to wait for a table when dining TS. If it's a buffet, you have to juggle plates. If it's a menu, you have to order, and wait.

Disney can be overwhelming, so even kids who are "trained" to deal at home may not deal at Disney. I think committing to a dining plan is hazardous, because you may go to one meal, discover you want to cancel every other ADR... but you're committed, because you can't get a refund on DDP at that point.

I would make a few TS reservations, but I'd pay OOP and skip the dining plan.

 

[MikeM1234]

Awesome, great advice.

Thanks

 

[Faldred]

We had no problem doing Deluxe with a 3 year-old and 2-year-old twins, but the twins were very much "schedule driven", and scheduling those sit-down meals helped us stay on their routine easier. (We also used TS lunches as a way to get mid-day downtime without having to leave the parks.)

I'd budget at least 75 minutes for a TS meal with kids that age, between wait times, time to actually eat, and restroom runs.

 

[Nancyg56]

I think you need to know your children. DIning plans worked for us when my DGD was young because she was used to eating out, was able to be entertained during a meal, enjoyed character meals, and had an appetite.

If you want to book some character meals, and your kids are able to sit through the time it takes to eat, I think this is the best time to purchase a dining plan. CHaracter meals are expensive, your under 3 will not be charged, and the cost for the little one is negligible.

If you know your kids are not going to enjoy the meals, if they tend to get overtired or overwhelmed, buffets and character meal are nto going to be fun for anyone. There is no downtime iMO. COmmitting to a plan wil just add stress for you.

Before you make a decision, look at the meals you want to book. Cost them out, and think about the logistics of getting to the meals. Are tehy in the parks and going to be a part of the day, or will you need to take time to get to them? Is that time worth it, and will you children be tired in the commute? That will help you decide if you are a candidate for a dining plan.

 

[MNDisneyMommy]

We did book table service meals (at least 1x per day) on our trip when my kids were 1 yr and just shy of 4. They were some of our favorite memories! We did have extended family with us so that helped a lot. Also - look for family-style meals (Ohana, Liberty Tree, Garden Grill) where they will bring a big platter to your table and refill as needed. Buffets with little kids can be pretty hectic, especially with characters coming around, and being able to all sit together for the whole meal is really great.

Disney restaurants are super kid friendly - most places were great about bringing bread or fruit for the kids to snack on, and meals are brought to the table very quickly so there are limited waits.

We used our table service usually at lunchtime, we were usually still on schedule at that point (we would wake early, rope drop & FP, then eat a nice lunch, head back for a nap, then head out for a couple more hours).

That said - don't entirely rule out the possibility of a character freak out by one of your kids. We booked our first character meal on the first day so I could adjust the rest if one of the kids was afraid of characters. But they weren't!

(Also - you will want to run the math on the dining plans, especially with the new price increase)

 

[sweetlike]

We've done Disney twice with babies and toddlers (1,3,4 and again at 1.5, 3.5, 5) and the majority of our meals were TS. We didn't get the dining plan because it was cheaper to use AP/TIW discounts for our family, but I would say that the QS meals were harder than the TS. One person has to scout a table (which can be difficult at peak times of the day) and wrangle kids while the other stands in line (usually with a kid as well) and then has to balance a tray full of food. QS meals basically meant one person got to relax while the other played waiter.

Our trick was to schedule TS dining times 30 mins prior to when our kids get hungry so if there was a wait it wouldn't be during crucial meltdown time. Whatever minimal waiting is done once you sit can be shortened by ordering kids meals first, bringing a card game (we like Eye Found It) or going to the bathroom (in a cleaner restroom, might I add). Overall, a much more relaxing scenario and as a PP said, a great way to get downtime in the parks.

 

[MamaBelle4]

We just got back from Jan-Feb stay. We had 8, 5, 4 and 1 year old girls. They napped as we went and we just went at their pace, made sure to pack in plenty of shows for them to relax and took breaks as needed.
They did wonderfully at all the TS meals we had. I didn't have to take any of them out or anything. My 5 year old tires the easiest and spent more time in the strolder than my 4 year old, but they were well behaved at meal times.
We will be getting DDP next time too. Worked out wonderfully for us.

 

[DisneyMomLJ]

https://www.smartmomsplandisney.com/2017-quick-service/

NO!

 

[MichaelWill&Megan'sMom]

The first time I took my kids to Disney, they were 9 mo, 2, and 5 (what were we thinking??)

We have the most amazing character meal photos. The look of amazement in the youngest childrens' eyes is priceless! You should do at least one (chef Mickey, or crystal palace)

Have a great trip!

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

We did not do the dining plan the first year we went when the youngest was 2. We did last year when he was 3. It turned out well for us because as a two year old, he did not enjoy the character meals (which is really what makes the dining plan a value) and DD got sick and didn't eat for a day and a half that year so it would not have been a savings for us - DDP or quick service. The following year, we had many character meals and everyone was healthy so we saved $150-200 on DDP. Nice but easily wiped out if someone gets sick. I agree with others that you might want to give TS and character meals a try if you think your kids might like them, but may not want to be committed to one each day if you were to go up to the DDP. Personal opinion, with young kids, flexibility is pretty key so I don't think the possible savings are worth the lost flexibility at that age. It might be useful to book TS meals to see how it goes and cancel if they aren't working for you. Eating with kids that age is often frazzling however you cut it.

 

[Tom P.]

As others have said, I think it just depends on your individual children. We have 5 young children, who are at present ages 10 and younger, and our trip this year will be our fourth trip since we started having children. We have always done at least one table service meal per day without difficulty. Now, we tend toward the character meals, which give the kids something to be entertained with besides their dinner, but even when we did a table service restaurant like Be Our Guest, where there wasn't any character interaction during the meal, they did fine.

Quite frankly, we actually found the table service restaurants to be LESS stressful than the quick service ones with little kids, because we could all be seated at the table having things brought to us. Even in the case of buffets, it's still a lot easier -- and quicker -- to make a quick trip up to the buffet to fill a plate than it is to stand in line at a busy quick service restaurant and try to juggle everyone's orders. If it didn't take so much time out of the day, we would probably do table service for every meal.