Families with little ones- what's your ADR strategy?

[2019TripIdeas]

Hi- would love feedback on how families with little ones opt to do ADRs vs. Quick Service.

We currently have just one booked per day, and when we did a lunch one, we tried to book it early (11:20) in order to get back to room to rest if the parks are crowded or we need a breather. Our kids are 4, 2 and 1, very much adventurous eaters, super used to going out to dinner, so I'm not really worried from that end.

Right now, we have a few character meals booked (dinner at Artist Point, Tusker House lunch), a few dinners in Epcot (Biergarten, San Angel), and then the lunch at 50s Prime Time, a breakfast at BOG, and a dinner at Sanaa. Two of those dinners are late so I am planning to keep watching reservations to see if we can switch to an earlier one.

Does 7 ADRs for a 7 day trip seem like overkill with our kids ages? Likewise, is 2 character meals overkill (I'm pretty sure our kids will LOVE the characters)?

 

[Gafnorin]

One ADR per day sounds reasonable. It may be nice to take a break, esp if your kids are used to sit down meals.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

We don't have 3 little ones, but when we went with our 7 yo and almost 2 yo, we had 13 adrs over 12 nights, 5 of which were character meals. The only concern I would have is the with the 2 buffets you have listed. It may be a little difficult/ time consuming to prepare and carry so many plates back from the buffet, since none of the kids would likely be old enough/ big enough to help. If you've done it at home though, I'm sure it won't be any different.

 

[ktlm]

We took DD (12) when she was 2, twice when she was 3 (the in-laws wanted a trip), and when she was 4 (and then about every year after that). When DD was little we usually did one ADR a day. Our DD was a restaurant kid from the time she was born too- although not that adventurous an eater as a toddler. She was not a morning person so we quickly determined on her first WDW trip when she was 2 years old that pre-park opening breakfasts did not work for her. They still don't at age 12- she will clearly never be a morning person.

We tried to do our TS ADRs at lunch. That is what worked best for her. She was an open to close stroller nap in the parks kid (we also quickly determined when she was 2 that the afternoon break did not work for her-- all we got was an extremely angry toddler that stood behind the curtain in the room and refused to nap for 2 or 3 hours because we made her leave the park- only to happily jump in her stroller and go to sleep in the park the minute we gave up and walked back in MK). We found that doing ADRs for lunch was good to wind her down so that she would nap in the stroller after lunch and to give us all a nice mid-day sit down break. When we did dinners, she was always starting to get tired and would be restless at the table. Also, when we did dinner after sitting through the TS meal the tiredness would kick in and she would be done for the night- where if we did CS for dinner she usually would keep going until DH And I called it quits and made her go back to the room. Of course, with 3 kids-- you may have to deal with different personalities as to what works best for each child and having to compromise or balance that to find something that somewhat works for all of them--- we had it easier with just having to figure out one.

I don't think 2 character meals is overkill at all if your kids like the characters. My DD could have gone to a character meal ever day of the trip and been happy. Biergarten is great for that age--- DD loved that German band and dance floor when she was little. Actually, she still loves character meals and Biergarten!

 

[JK World]

We are light eaters and DS3 is happy to snack through the day. On our last trip we had 3 park days and 2 ADRs, both character meals. This worked out fine, and 2 character meals at that age is a great way to get character meets in without waiting in multiple lines in the parks. As for the total number of TS meals, that depends on your family. For us, that would be too many. I also don't find the cost worth it, although I'm guessing you have the dining plan? On our next trip (11 days away!) we are only doing 2 TS meals, both lunch. One is a quick meal at The Plaza, which is not much more expensive than a QS, and the other is the parade meal at Tony's which we are doing for a guaranteed good parade view more than the food. I've decided to focus on in-park character meets this trip rather than character meals, which are hard to do as a single mom when most of them are buffets. So like PP mentioned, beware the buffet meals with 3 little ones who can't really be trusted to carry their own plates yet.

 

[2019TripIdeas]

The only concern I would have is the with the 2 buffets you have listed. It may be a little difficult/ time consuming to prepare and carry so many plates back from the buffet, since none of the kids would likely be old enough/ big enough to help. If you've done it at home though, I'm sure it won't be any different.

I didn't even think about this, but I definitely see the concern. Our middle one is a dairy allergy, so in addition to the adult having to go up to get all the food, we'll have to have the check-in with a server too, so this could be so tricky in terms of timing. As of now (about 3 months before our trip), the 1 year old isn't a strong walker so someone would probably have to hang at the table with him anyway. Thank you for flagging that.

For us, that would be too many. I also don't find the cost worth it, although I'm guessing you have the dining plan?

We don't have the dining plan. I wasn't sure if it would be worth it for us (I can't imagine us eating two table service in a day, ever) - but now I'll price this all out and see where we're at and maybe I can still add it on to our package.

 

[sponica]

My husband insists on table service, so all of ours are table service. My now 2 year old was 20 ish months when we went. She had no issues with table service but we eat out 2 to 4 times a month, so her restaurant etiquette is on point. She also napped through lunch at Tiffins, the server let us park her stroller next to the table as it wasn't super crowded.

I avoided the buffets and we did Garden Grill breakfast and Ohana breakfast as the food is plated and served family style.

We didn't do the afternoon break, she was content to nap in the stroller.

I don't think there's such a thing as too many character meals.

There's no wrong way to do Disney. You do whatever works for you.

 

[Dismama2boys]

We only book breakfast or lunch, never dinner. By that late in the day, the wheels may have completely fallen off and I want to be able to leave if we need too. We follow the kids’ lead about how long our park days should be, and we’re all happier for it. We also only do 2-3 ADR’s per trip.

 

[amberpi]

Just took a 2 and 4 year old. We ate at Sanaa, Marrakesh, California Grill (at 9 no less) , Tiffins, lots of room service, Amorette's (pastries are wonderful, sandwiches were AWFUL) over 4-5 days and lots of food and wine booths. The kids were perfect but we eat out a lot...a lot. We can walk to restaurants in our neighborhood so they're pretty spoiled. The kids will also eat almost anything, but god forbid you put pepper on mac and cheese. They are still toddlers. Managing plates at a buffet sounds like hell on earth to me though. I'd rather plop down get some bread and not have to worry about a thing.

ETA: the kids do much better in the parks in the evening than during the day so our days tend to be late and the kids sleep in (we don't hate this).

 

[smiths02]

We went with my older son when he was turning 3 and then when he was 5. Character meals, buffets, anything was fine especially when at that 1:1 or better adult to child ratio

When we took the twins at 2 yo and then at 3 yo, it was different. For the first trip, I planned the go to rope drop, come back and shower and nap and then get to dinner. The problem was that I planned dinner at "normal" meal times for us like 5pm, 6pm. Well, naps at Disney started later and they took longer to wake up which made us be rushing to get to dinner ADR. We had a very unpleasant meal at Ohana one evening.
For the next trip, we planned more ADRs that were late breakfast or early lunch. If we did dinner, then it was on a day we slept late and got to the parks later so that we weren't taking the afternoon break. I also have to add that, for us, buffets were more difficult.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Hi- would love feedback on how families with little ones opt to do ADRs vs. Quick Service.

We currently have just one booked per day, and when we did a lunch one, we tried to book it early (11:20) in order to get back to room to rest if the parks are crowded or we need a breather. Our kids are 4, 2 and 1, very much adventurous eaters, super used to going out to dinner, so I'm not really worried from that end.

Right now, we have a few character meals booked (dinner at Artist Point, Tusker House lunch), a few dinners in Epcot (Biergarten, San Angel), and then the lunch at 50s Prime Time, a breakfast at BOG, and a dinner at Sanaa. Two of those dinners are late so I am planning to keep watching reservations to see if we can switch to an earlier one.

Does 7 ADRs for a 7 day trip seem like overkill with our kids ages? Likewise, is 2 character meals overkill (I'm pretty sure our kids will LOVE the characters)?

it's been a few years since our girls were little but I will say, even now we are 1 ADR/day max family and that's even now at ages 10 & 11. We never go to disney for very long so our trips are 3-5 days so our time in the park is limited so we've always felt we'd rather been doing things than sitting around waiting on food. PLUS there is the cost factor and IMO taking babies/toddlers to eat at restaurants can be wasteful but it's great that you don't have to pay for the youngest two at the character meals/buffets. The character meals will be a hit. I think 1/day is good for most and in some regards it could work as a rest break for the little ones. For a 7 day trip I think 1 ADR is not overkill at all per day.

 

[amberpi]

it's been a few years since our girls were little but I will say, even now we are 1 ADR/day max family and that's even now at ages 10 & 11. We never go to disney for very long so our trips are 3-5 days so our time in the park is limited so we've always felt we'd rather been doing things than sitting around waiting on food. PLUS there is the cost factor and IMO taking babies/toddlers to eat at restaurants can be wasteful but it's great that you don't have to pay for the youngest two at the character meals/buffets. The character meals will be a hit. I think 1/day is good for most and in some regards it could work as a rest break for the little ones. For a 7 day trip I think 1 ADR is not overkill at all per day.

Interesting you think its *wasteful.* We threw away tons more food at the qs places because we got everyone their own meal. At full service restaurants we'll grab apps and an entree or 2 and share. Worst case, the kids get desert.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Interesting you think its *wasteful.* We threw away tons more food at the qs places because we got everyone their own meal. At full service restaurants we'll grab apps and an entree or 2 and share. Worst case, the kids get desert.

I meant wasteful in that little ones don't really care where you eat or have a preference per se so whether you choose an expensive restaurant or not really doesn't have any bearing on them. That's why it's good that they will be free for the buffet/character meals since they would not have to pay.

 

[amberpi]

I meant wasteful in that little ones don't really care where you eat or have a preference per se so whether you choose an expensive restaurant or not really doesn't have any bearing on them. That's why it's good that they will be free for the buffet/character meals since they would not have to pay.

Gotcha My kids' fave thing to eat is meat on a stick, especially lamb on a stick, right now, ergo the restaurants we did a couple of weeks ago. Those little weirdos love kebabs, so kebabs it is!

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

Gotcha My kids' fave thing to eat is meat on a stick, especially lamb on a stick, right now, ergo the restaurants we did a couple of weeks ago. Those little weirdos love kebabs, so kebabs it is!

Thank you for mentioning kebabs!!! My 3 yo who eats seriously everything is suddenly being difficult lately with grilled meats, but I'm almost certain he will get back to eating them if I put them on a dang stick. It's been a while since we've had kebabs and I'd forgotten how "cool" they are to kids.

 

[NYCgrrl]

One ADR per day sounds reasonable to me.

 

[TwinkleKS]

My kids have been regularly since they were 4,4, and 2. We normally do two table service meals a day and no quick service. I always thought it was easier to eat TS, especially during busy times of the year where you may have a hard time finding a place to sit for quick service, or if it is extremely hot or cold, you get a nice break out of the elements.

We used to load up on character meals because the kids loved them and it was an easy way to see a ton of characters without having to stand in line. Now we don't do quiet as many, but I think are still managing at least three this next trip. Buffets were never a huge issue. DH would stay behind with the kids, I'd make trip one and get two plates of food, then on the second trip two more plates of food, then he would go get his. Now they are old enough to carry their own plates. I liked character buffets because you have the instant gratification of food and characters without any wait.

We were never really go back to the room and nap people, so some meals became a nice opportunity for the kids to take a quick rest while we ate in peace.

 

[JK World]

We don't have the dining plan. I wasn't sure if it would be worth it for us (I can't imagine us eating two table service in a day, ever) - but now I'll price this all out and see where we're at and maybe I can still add it on to our package.

The standard dining plan includes one QS and one TS meal per night of stay, so you wouldn't need to do 2 TS meals in one day. As mentioned above, your 1 and 2 year olds don't have to pay for the TS meals either unless you choose to order a plate just for them (most people just share from an adult's plate). I don't find the dining plan worth it for our eating style, but it might be a good choice for you given multiple character meals (which are normally more expensive). I don't recommend using the dining plan comparison calculators though, I don't find them accurate. You can see the menus and pricing for every Disney restaurant here: http://allears.net/dining/menu

 

[dakotix]

Hope and pray lol

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

We don't have the dining plan. I wasn't sure if it would be worth it for us (I can't imagine us eating two table service in a day, ever) - but now I'll price this all out and see where we're at and maybe I can still add it on to our package.

You wouldn't have to do 2 TS a day. The regular DDP is one TS, one QS, two snacks per person (3 and up) per night of your stay.

For your ages, the DDP could be a reasonable price. The kids plan is only 25.75 a day whereas it's going to cost you more than that for many kids TS meals alone, before you even include the QS and snack.

The QS credits are pooled adult and kid, so you could use the 4yos QS credit to buy an adult meal to feed all three. While buffets are hard at that age, the two youngest will be free at AYCTE meals and buffets. I'd say the aycte that are served at the table would be your best bet. For instance, garden grill in epcot and liberty tree tavern in MK will only charge for the 3 oldest, but you'll have plenty of food with unlimited refills for all five of you and no buffet line.