Families W/ Toddlers - Are you doing the DINING PLAN?

[labst60]

Please help me decide whether we should add the dining plan to our May reservation.

The good news is that we are using our DVC points and have APs, so we don't need to make up our mind for sure until a few days before the trip.

It will just be the 3 of us and uur DD will be 14months. This is her 3rd trip to WDW, and the last two, we were able to enjoy an almost-daily sit down meal, but I wonder if things will be different this time around (last trip, she was 7 months, and just starting to sit in the high chair and feed her self cheerios, etc).

Since we are staying in a studio, we will have a small fridge and microwave and even if we got the DP, I anticipate most breakfasts would be in the room (except maybe 1 character breakfast-which I am second guessing b/c of our "vist w/ the Easter Bunny" experience). Mother's Day and our anniversary occur while we are down there, so I know we will want to do nice meals for those. But I don't know if DD will be able to handle regular 3 course meals. When we go out to eat at home, we have been keeping it to 1-2 courses (I usually take dessert to go). She is well behaved, I just don't want to push it, so we keep it "quick" and leave while she is still happy.

What are other families in the same situation doing? If it were just me and DH, we'd do it in a heartbeat - part of vacation for us is enjoying new foods. But that was before we had a toddler. I am usually the one who takes care of her during meals (cuts her food, makes sure she doesn't throw things, holds her once she gets sick of the high chair, etc). Part of me would **love** to do the plan and part of me thinks it will be too stressful for her (ok, for me!!) and we would be happier just "winging" it w/ 1 or 2 planned nice meals and more meals at the pool/sandwhiches/pizza/etc.

Any advice would be appreciated!!

 

[sara74]

We're going to try it at least! DS will be 21 months when we go (in 2 weeks!) and DD will be 4 so she can still be a challenge herself! I do manage them pretty well at a brief sit dowm meal out by myself fairly frequently, so I figure DH will be able to pick up the slack too! I am packing a big ol box of cheerios and a box of ziplocs in our suitcases as both kids still eat them as snacks, and I have planned a small gift from Tink for each day that is designed (perhaps optimistically) to keep them occupied in restaurants or long lines. Things like Silly Putty, coloring books, new small MagnaDoodles, etc. I'll let you know if it works or if I have several 1/2 meals at WDW!

 

[DisneyPhD]

We are kind of in the same boat, and we decieded to go for it.

We are staying at SSR studio May 6th to 9th (and then over to Vero Beach for the rest of the week.) Since it was only 3 nights we decided to give the plan a try. We have a 5 year old and a 21 month old.

Jan the baby was 17 month old and I admit she had a problem with the sit down meals. It got better as the trip went on because we learned to handel it better.

Also it helped when the waitress was nice and made a fuss over her. She loves that. Our ADR's are Dinner at 1900 park fare, Coral Reef (never tried it before) and our old stand by Crystal Palace (this wasn't our 1st pick but was the only thing with the time we wanted. Don't eat too late. For us lunches were harder then Dinner because she was tried (normal nap at 12:00 noon.)

(This will be the youngest 4th trip to WDW.) Our AP just expired. I can't decided it we should renew them at this time, or wait for our next trip to WDW in Jan 2007.

 

[Tam1067]

When we went in 2003, my youngest was 14 or 15 months old, (this was pre DDP days), but we ate every night except for one in a TS place and had no problems. Disney restaurants generally serve you quickly, and I found we all needed the air conditioned break in the evening.

 

[amarberry]

We were on the dining plan last fall when DD was 14 months old and again in January when she was 18 months old. I agree that Disney restaurants get you in and out pretty quickly. I think that the WDW servers and other restaurant staff are especially good with kids and have some tricks up their sleves to help make your meal with a toddler a little but more enjoyable.

Our DD is generally good in restaurants and didn't disappoint us at WDW. We eat out 1-2 times per week, so she is used to it. The fish at Coral Reef might be nice entertainment for a 14 month old. At 14 months, DD seemed to enjoy the face characters more than the furry characters, so a princess meal might offer some nice entertainment as well.

 

[emma'smom]

Consided choosing buffets for a lot of your ADR's. This way you don't have to wait to be served and control how fast/slow you go through your courses. Also, if you baby is eating table food, this will allow you to easily choose things for the baby to eat.

We just went with dd3 and dd13 months. We did the dining plan without too many issues. We did do several buffets. The only issue was that dd3 wanted to color at every restaurant and some didn't have crayons. Next time, I'm tucking a fresh box in the diaper bag that she can use when they aren't available.

 

[3littleHalls]

We did the DP on our last trip when our youngest was 19mos. Worked out just fine. We only had one little kink in the plan. One day we were eating a little later than normal and it threw her into a tantrum. We had given her a snack thinking it would tide her over....no she pitched a 20min fit in Epcot. We won't do that again! Otherwise, it is the wtg! We ate breakfast in our room, then lunch was our CS, and dinners our TS. She never had a problem eating in a restaurants.