Doggie bags when a child acts out?

[Melissa_E]

Since we're doing the DxDP we're going to a few 2TS meals, Narcoosees, Yachtsman's steakhouse, CRT, etc.... The only meal I'm worried about is CRT because we have an 8:10p.m. ADR (all the rest are at 5:30 which is our normal dinner time). That is past my daughter's bedtime and even though we'll try to get her to rest, who knows what will happen. DD is four by the way. I am afraid that at some point in the trip she is going to decide she's had enough and will let us know it.

Granted, she's only done this twice in her life (I am so lucky to have such a wonderful child ), but one time was when we were on vacation in Cancun at the resort's upscale restaurant she had a crying fit, she was DONE! LOL (she wasn't even 1 at the time so it was understandable) As soon as she decided to cry, DH decided that he would bring her back to our room so we wouldn't disturb the rest of the guests at the restaurant. Because we were on the all-inclusive plan they wouldn't allow my DH to bring his meal back to the room to finish!! To make a long story short, the manager of the hotel had room service bring up a very nice dessert for my DH from the upscale restaurant and offered to babysit my daughter for free if we wanted a night out.

What happens in a situation like that? Will the server pack our meal up and let us bring it back to the hotel? I don't want to disrupt other guests, especially in the nicer restaurants, but I don't want to pay 2TS credits on a meal that I wouldn't be able to bring home if there is toddler distress.

Thanks!

 

[Booyakasha]

I would think at Disney they would help you out in a situatiton such as this. I am sure they have run in to it a billion times.

That being said, I would suggest making alternate dining plans. You are already worrying about this and you may worry about it that day and during the meal making it a less enjoyable meal even if your daughter ends up acting perfectly. I bet your daughter will pick up on your stress level too which will make it harder on her. You're on vacation it supossed to be relaxing!

B.

 

[BrianD]

OK, so what is the deal with any resort (including Disney) not allow you to take out your food? What is the deal with that, because it seems ridiculous and nonsensicle. Is it that they are afraid they will miss out on a tip? What's the deal?

And to Booyakasha....Respek!!!

 

[Melissa_E]

That being said, I would suggest making alternate dining plans. You are already worrying about this and you may worry about it that day and during the meal making it a less enjoyable meal even if your daughter ends up acting perfectly. I bet your daughter will pick up on your stress level too which will make it harder on her. You're on vacation it supposed to be relaxing!

B.

I wouldn't say I'm worrying about it, I just want to know what the "back-up plan is" in case it does happen. For warned= for armed kind of thing. Like I said, Katie does excellent in all types of restaurants, but I always have an "escape plan" in mind if the worst does happen. Usually the escape is ordering the whole meal to go, me waiting in the car with DD and then having DH bring it out. However, 99% of the time it doesn't even need to be put into place. BTW, there is no way I'm going to make alternate dining plans, we are all very excited to be dining in the places where we've chosen, if the worst happens, we'll just be prepared.

 

[JennyDrake]

I want to THANK YOU for being willing to take a child that has just "had enough" out of a restaurant. I am so weary of paying $30+ per meal, only to have it spoiled by some child having a meltdown. Thank you for being considerate of others.

 

[Brian Noble]

I would imagine that they will help you out, but I'd also re-consider that 8:10 PM ADR. You might be better off skipping it this one time, just to be on the safe side.

In any event, make sure to take plenty of rest breaks away from the parks over the course of your vacation. That will make those dinners go much more smoothly.

 

[allyphoe]

I'm going to disagree with the people suggesting your 4yo won't make an 8:10 ADR. I've also got a 4yo who rarely needs to be removed from a restaurant, and she'd be fine with a late dinner at WDW.

What works for us:
- We have a strict "girls who nap get to stay up late and watch fireworks; girls who don't nap stay in the room for an early bedtime" policy. That lets us do early mornings and late nights without meltdowns.
- We eat frequently. In your scenario, I'd plan for a light meal around 5:30, even if your DD is the only one eating. Overhungry = meltdown just as much as overtired.
- We focus on the exciting thing coming up. In the absence of overtired and overhungry, distraction can overcome temporary grumpiness.

IME, there wouldn't be any problem at all getting the rest of the meal boxed up to go if your DD did need to leave mid-meal.

 

[dburg30]

I want to THANK YOU for being willing to take a child that has just "had enough" out of a restaurant. I am so weary of paying $30+ per meal, only to have it spoiled by some child having a meltdown. Thank you for being considerate of others.

I 1000000% agree with this. As a matter of fact, if you were in the restaurant I was in and this happened, and I saw they would'nt box up your food for you, I'd come to your side and have a little discussion with the manager with you.. Or I'd find out if you were staying on property and have something sent to your room to eat , or hire a babysitter for a night for you so you could go out to eat..


All that being said, I AM going to WDW, and I wont get upset if it happens at WDW, as I almost 'expect' it to happen there, because, well, anymore a lot of people really dont seem to care about being considerate to other people..

But I do want to thank you again for considering this. But I have a feeling your DD will do just fine and you wont even have to worry about it..

 

[Brian Noble]

I'm going to disagree with the people suggesting your 4yo won't make an 8:10 ADR.

I would presume that OP knows her own daughter best. If she thinks 8:10 is too late, then it probably is.

 

[allyphoe]

I would presume that OP knows her own daughter best. If she thinks 8:10 is too late, then it probably is.

I agree completely. And since she doesn't seem to think 8:10 is too late, then it probably isn't.

 

[Brian Noble]

You and I would appear to disagree about what this means:

The only meal I'm worried about is CRT because we have an 8:10p.m. ADR (all the rest are at 5:30 which is our normal dinner time). That is past my daughter's bedtime and even though we'll try to get her to rest, who knows what will happen.

 

[my3disneygirls]

Since we're doing the DxDP we're going to a few 2TS meals, Narcoosees, Yachtsman's steakhouse, CRT, etc.... The only meal I'm worried about is CRT because we have an 8:10p.m. ADR (all the rest are at 5:30 which is our normal dinner time). That is past my daughter's bedtime and even though we'll try to get her to rest, who knows what will happen. DD is four by the way. I am afraid that at some point in the trip she is going to decide she's had enough and will let us know it.

Granted, she's only done this twice in her life (I am so lucky to have such a wonderful child ), but one time was when we were on vacation in Cancun at the resort's upscale restaurant she had a crying fit, she was DONE! LOL (she wasn't even 1 at the time so it was understandable) As soon as she decided to cry, DH decided that he would bring her back to our room so we wouldn't disturb the rest of the guests at the restaurant. Because we were on the all-inclusive plan they wouldn't allow my DH to bring his meal back to the room to finish!! To make a long story short, the manager of the hotel had room service bring up a very nice dessert for my DH from the upscale restaurant and offered to babysit my daughter for free if we wanted a night out.

What happens in a situation like that? Will the server pack our meal up and let us bring it back to the hotel? I don't want to disrupt other guests, especially in the nicer restaurants, but I don't want to pay 2TS credits on a meal that I wouldn't be able to bring home if there is toddler distress.

Thanks!

I thought I was the only parent who would remove a crying child from a restaurant, given how many times I endure it with other people's kids.

I have never had a problem with having the food in a Disney restaurant packed up. CRT is not a buffet so it's not as if your making pigs of yourselves and want more to go.

What I would like to know is it you. DH and DD or is there more in your party? If it's just the three of you then, you or DH are chancing eating the rest of the meal alone, not exactly fun in a character meal setting. If there are others in your party I would say keep the ADR.

 

[SuzieN]

MY DD had a meltdown in Boatwrights a couple years ago and they boxed up her [and my] dinner for us. My husband and boys stayed and enjoyed their meal and brought our dessert back to us [not that she deserved it!]. I would think you'd have no problem.

 

[fla4fun]

The only restaurants that typically have a problem are the ones that are "all you care to eat". Regular TS restaurants already have the doggie boxes to take your leftovers in, so it's no big deal. We have done this occasionally when one of the party doesn't feel well, and we decide to cut the meal short. No one has ever had a problem (in fact, I think they liked being able to turn the table over faster).

However, I would continue trying for an earlier meal time, and even show up maybe 30 minutes ahead of your ADR to see if you can get in a little earlier (it's always worth a try). I would also agree with a pp who suggested a small meal for your daughter at her regular meal time. She may not want to eat so late, but I'm sure she'll like the character interaction.

 

[Melissa_E]

You and I would appear to disagree about what this means:

Well worry just means that, I'm not sure what she's going to do, then again, this is our first trip to Disney with my daughter so who knows how ANY of the meals will go! Although I've timed most of our meals around 5 or so, who knows if she'll decide that sleeping at 5 is more important.

It is just the three of us, so if there is a CRT meltdown, we would all go back to the hotel. I'd much rather just leave than deal with trying to calm an over-excited/extended toddler, that is just an exercise in futility.

MY DD had a meltdown in Boatwrights a couple years ago and they boxed up her [and my] dinner for us. My husband and boys stayed and enjoyed their meal and brought our dessert back to us [not that she deserved it!]. I would think you'd have no problem.

Thank you!

I 1000000% agree with this. As a matter of fact, if you were in the restaurant I was in and this happened, and I saw they would'nt box up your food for you, I'd come to your side and have a little discussion with the manager with you.. Or I'd find out if you were staying on property and have something sent to your room to eat , or hire a babysitter for a night for you so you could go out to eat..

Thank you!

I will try for an earlier ADR for CRT and of course try the tactics others have posted about. I'm glad to know the policy!

 

[disnut8]

They will box up the meal for you. You ordered it, you paid for it, you get to take the uneaten protion with you. If that's an entire meal, then fine. If it's 3/4 of a meal, fine. What's the difference between this situation and having an adult get a phone call that needed to be taken and missed eating their meal at the table? It's a non-planned situation that can't be avoided.

And this entire situation might not even happen. Kids are kids. No one ever knows what they are capable of doing or not doing. To the OP - I hope yo enjoy your meal with your daughter. If not, don't worry about it.

 

[jsmla]

We eat frequently. In your scenario, I'd plan for a light meal around 5:30, even if your DD is the only one eating. Overhungry = meltdown just as much as overtired.

I think this is great advice and a tactic we used successfully many times when DD was a little one. (Unfortunately for us she was prone to those "out of the blue" meltdowns.)

If I though we might have a bit of a wait I made sure I had something to occupy her time. She was into coloring books at one point and I took one everywhere we went.

We always had at least one or two late(ish) reservations but they were on days with a lot of downtime and not after an exhausting 12 hours of commando touring. I found that by keeping her well rested and with a little something in her tummy she was able to sit through the Hoop De Doo without too much drama.

Jennifer

 

[Luvamouse]

Having just returned from 10 days at WDW, here is my advice...for all of your sakes, change anything you can to make your ADRs earlier. I was so saddened by the time we left, at the huge number of totally exhausted children dining or simply going through the parks. While I saw any number of parents trying their best to deal well with exhausted children, I saw (or at least heard) so many (maybe it was simply the volume or shear fright they caused all in their radius) parents berating their children and totally losing it with them-- sadly some physically . I was grateful by the last night, that it was our last night as I had had it with those parents' reactions. When a 2 yr old is eating dinner at 9:30 p.m., I can't see fighting with him over his appetite.

People in general underestimate just how tiring the whole trip is-- mentally and physically on everyone. Do your best to change whatever you can-- you won't regret it-- and expect your children to burnout without a nap at least. I think it is great that you at least realize this is a possiblity-- that is a good way to approach it.

Enjoy your trip!!

 

[HopperFan]

Have you thought about changing CRT to lunch time. We have eaten at lunch the last couple times and it was great. Nice to sit midway, have a nice meal and it gave us the energy to make it through the day. No heavy meal at the end of the day or cranky children.

In addition, the princesses will be there at lunch and she may really enjoy that as opposed to dinner with just the Fairy Godmother.

 

[npmommie]

The trip is tiring. My kids 7 yo and 4 yo were all over the map with sleep times, and my 7 yo even napped which she never does at home.
we missed a 6 pm adr because they were exhausted and fell asleep......hubby wanted to wake them ,but i said no, that would make for a horrible dinner with them grumpy and tired, so we let them continue to nap, i called and cancelled the 6 pm and was able to get the later 8 pm at 1900 park fare for that night and it worked out great.
and yes they will box up your food for you. the only place that won't i think is a buffet.
our first TS meal was a lunch at Kona cafe, and i forgot we get apps.......at the end when we paid and the waitress saw the ddp she said 'oh you were entitled to appetizers what would you like we will prepare it to go for you" and they did.
so not to worry if you have to leave you can take the food with you.