First DW Trip w/3 little kids - Why am I worrying about dining?

[rileydd]

I grew up in SoFla so I've done the Disney thing quite a bit in my lifetime. I am ready to take that jump into a trip with the entire fam (hubs and 3 daughters - 5yo, 3yo, and 1yo). I'm about to hit the infamous (apparently?) 180 day window from when we know we want to go, and I'm confused about all this talk about getting Advanced Dining Reservations.

My girls are all into Disney and princesses and such, but restaurants are not what I consider relaxing for any of us in this phase of our family's ages. So I need someone to tell me what the big deal is to dragging everyone to a restaurant instead of riding a fun ride, instead of nap time, instead of a normal bed time...What are parents of young children doing for booking these reservations? Is that actually happening, or am I misinterpreting all these recommendations for where to eat and my blog sources are instead actually adult couples with (understandable) Disney Fever? Can my 1yo nap in a stroller next to my lunch table or is that frowned upon? My kids are generally well-mannered in public, but with the sensory overload of all things Disney I am going to set the bar low and work from there.

Any insight is appreciated!

 

[Calee]

For us, table service meals are actually a nice break from the heat and activity. We did several at lunch which got us a break during the hottest ans most crowded time of the day. There is enough to look at, even in the restaurants, that my kids had no problem sitting still. Doing character meals is a nice way to get some character meets in without having to wait in line in the park. My kids loved the meals we did.

That said, it's not necessary for a fun trip, and if ypu don't want to do them, that's ok too!

 

[KrazeeK120]

My son will be 18 months when we go. I'm planning to have him take his nap in the stroller (he's done it before in other locations) and eat at his regular mealtimes (or close to it). We will also put him to bed at his normal time. My husband and I plan to use nap time to ride some of the stuff that our son cannot.

I don't think strollers are allowed in most restaurants. Plus, then you'd have to find time to feed that child separately.

We are going for 5 nights/6 days. I only made 2 ADRs...the rest we will do quick service. We go out to eat frequently and very much enjoy it (and so does our son).

 

[rileydd]

For us, table service meals are actually a nice break from the heat and activity. We did several at lunch which got us a break during the hottest ans most crowded time of the day. There is enough to look at, even in the restaurants, that my kids had no problem sitting still. Doing character meals is a nice way to get some character meets in without having to wait in line in the park. My kids loved the meals we did.

That said, it's not necessary for a fun trip, and if ypu don't want to do them, that's ok too!

I would love to do some lunches at the cute restaurants - but the baby naps around then and would need to be in a stroller. Do you know if the sit-down style restaurants would be ok with me having the open stroller at the table, or do they generally make you fold them up at the front like a lot of non-Disney restaurants do?

 

[rwdavis2]

I get the stress of taking kids to a restaurant. If you don't think they need or can tolerate sitting an hour or more for a meal then do quick service. With out kids they just needed a rest at that age. We even successfully got them through a 2 hour dinner at California Grill. We took lots to do and the wait staff was a huge help.

 

[rileydd]

My son will be 18 months when we go. I'm planning to have him take his nap in the stroller (he's done it before in other locations) and eat at his regular mealtimes (or close to it). We will also put him to bed at his normal time. My husband and I plan to use nap time to ride some of the stuff that our son cannot.

I don't think strollers are allowed in most restaurants. Plus, then you'd have to find time to feed that child separately.

We are going for 5 nights/6 days. I only made 2 ADRs...the rest we will do quick service. We go out to eat frequently and very much enjoy it (and so does our son).

Our youngest has a flexible meal schedule as it has to work around everyone else's schedule - poor third kid! But she would definitely want to be sleeping when we'd be eating. Hmmm not sure what to do if the stroller nap at lunch won't work. Maybe everyone else will have to dine off schedule and I'll book some brunch times instead.

 

[KrazeeK120]

I would love to do some lunches at the cute restaurants - but the baby naps around then and would need to be in a stroller. Do you know if the sit-down style restaurants would be ok with me having the open stroller at the table, or do they generally make you fold them up at the front like a lot of non-Disney restaurants do?

What time does your child nap? My son typically naps from 11:30-1:30 or so. We plan to eat around 11 or 11:30...I think we can push him a little late if we need to on occasion.

 

[TwoMisfits]

I grew up in SoFla so I've done the Disney thing quite a bit in my lifetime. I am ready to take that jump into a trip with the entire fam (hubs and 3 daughters - 5yo, 3yo, and 1yo). I'm about to hit the infamous (apparently?) 180 day window from when we know we want to go, and I'm confused about all this talk about getting Advanced Dining Reservations.

My girls are all into Disney and princesses and such, but restaurants are not what I consider relaxing for any of us in this phase of our family's ages. So I need someone to tell me what the big deal is to dragging everyone to a restaurant instead of riding a fun ride, instead of nap time, instead of a normal bed time...What are parents of young children doing for booking these reservations? Is that actually happening, or am I misinterpreting all these recommendations for where to eat and my blog sources are instead actually adult couples with (understandable) Disney Fever? Can my 1yo nap in a stroller next to my lunch table or is that frowned upon? My kids are generally well-mannered in public, but with the sensory overload of all things Disney I am going to set the bar low and work from there.

Any insight is appreciated!

You don't go if the kids aren't ready for it...there are years when we skipped eating at local table service restaurants when the 1-3 year old in the family wasn't gonna sit and/or wait...if you already know now yours won't...don't worry about it - the kids will have no idea they are missing anything and the restaurants will still be there when you're ready...

 

[tyandskyesmom]

When my kids were little we never had a problem bringing the stroller in to a TS with a sleeping kid in it...

Don't know if you'd get that every where, every time so I don't know that I'd count on it but it has been done before.

Do you dine out at home? What time of the year are you going?

 

[Elleshoodat]

We have young kids, too, so I get where you're coming from. Try not to focus on what other people do on their trips and what this blog or that message board recommends; instead, think about what will work best for your trip and your family.

For us personally, that's just a couple of table-service meals over four or five days. I certainly don't feel like we're missing out on anything, and I know that if/when we want to do longer meals, those restaurants will (hopefully) still be there.

 

[srauseo]

On my last trip, the three kids in our group were much less enamored of the restaurants than I thought they would be. Ages 6-9. They just wanted to get out and get back on the rides. Table service meals took way too long for them. They were cool with meeting the princesses but it wasn't that big a deal to them. You know your kids. If sitting in a restaurant isn't relaxing for you or them, it's not going to be in Disney when things are turned up to 11!

 

[rileydd]

You are all very helpful - thank you for the comments. I started this planning effort and got a feel that people are clamoring for Be Our Guest reservations, and with the recharged sensation of Beauty & the Beast I figured it was a "must-do" but it just seems too fancy for the kids to really enjoy it over just meeting the princesses somewhere else. OK - so official decision is to skip fancy dinner ideas and aim for character table service lunches that are as early as possible.

 

[hollyrose1313]

When we went when DS was 2.5 I think we did a sit down meal roughly every other day. Usually doing a late lunch/early dinner so it was after nap time and not interferring with bedtime and keeping us out of the hot weather before the sun was down.

 

[ericaseiler]

We have young kids, too, so I get where you're coming from. Try not to focus on what other people do on their trips and what this blog or that message board recommends; instead, think about what will work best for your trip and your family.

This. For us, we planned to eat when we normally eat at home and nap when we normally ate at home. This meant we planned a few character meals for breakfast (typically pre-park opening as we are early risers and breakfast is often the biggest meal my kids eat), did rides, took a break mid-day for naps, and went back in the evening for an early dinner and rides/fireworks. We enjoy sit down vs. QS but my girls are generally well behaved in restaurants and like going 'out to eat'. I know with the ages of your kids, it's a bit tough (when my girls were one, strapped in to anything was the last thing they wanted) so if table service character meals don't work for you, don't stress, just don't do them Or choose just one at a time that generally would work for your family.

 

[Roxyfire]

I would think for very little children it would be an exercise in futility! That said, there are a couple of character meals that are served family style, like Garden Grill. That might be alright. Thankfully mine is old enough to really look forward to the break. Plus we don't go out for dinner all that much at home so it's a nice treat. Normally he's not allowed to use his phone or anything at the table but on vacation it all goes out the window.

 

[soniam]

I pretty much refuse to wait in line to meet characters, so we do 1 or 2 character meals per trip to meet our favorites. It kind of kills two birds with one stone. First trip we did very few sit down meals. After more trips and as our son gets older, we do more. However, we rarely do more than one sit down meal per day. It gives us a nice guaranteed seat in the AC. Sometimes the quick service can be stressful, walking around with a tray full of food trying to find a place to seat. We have even experienced this when we eat at off times. So, even though restaurants may seem stressful to you now, quick service may not be much better sometimes. Plus, restaurants at Disney aren't like regular restaurants. They are full of kids and noise. No one bats an eye, except at maybe some of the most upscale ones, at crying kids. I would definitely do some sit down meals, but on your first trip, you don't need to do one every day. However, don't expect to be able to even get on a waiting list to eat at most table service. If you don't have a reservation, assume you will not be eating there.

 

[TwoMisfits]

I would think for very little children it would be an exercise in futility! That said, there are a couple of character meals that are served family style, like Garden Grill. That might be alright. Thankfully mine is old enough to really look forward to the break. Plus we don't go out for dinner all that much at home so it's a nice treat. Normally he's not allowed to use his phone or anything at the table but on vacation it all goes out the window.

I agree - I would not want to have to shuttle 3 kids to a buffet, try to get them back for characters, and try to fit in some time for me to eat...not worth the prices they charge for them.

I'd stick to Garden Grill and 'Ohana breakfast, where the character meals are served family style at the table (maybe Akerhaus, if you must have princesses, since you could send one parent to get a "family plate" of "breakfast apps" from the buffet to share and then enjoy the rest of the meal served family style)...

 

[bumbershoot]

restaurants are not what I consider relaxing for any of us in this phase of our family's ages.

Then don't do it.

So I need someone to tell me what the big deal is to dragging everyone to a restaurant instead of riding a fun ride, instead of nap time, instead of a normal bed time...

Well, we only got the one kidlet, so I don't have the experience of 3, BUT the kidlet and his dad require food at regular intervals. The husband doesn't get hungry until he's STARVING, and I tend to just continue with the fun until I am reminded to eat, so going with counter service is hard for us. Because once people are HUNGRY they are NOT in the mood to stand in line for half an hour.

Having table service scheduled and planned for makes things *easier* for us. Far fewer arguments, no meltdowns (ever since we realized that corn syrup and HFCS are poison to my son and we stopped giving him Uncrustables, that is), everyone's happy.

Now you could totally do the same thing with counter service. Schedule it. Have an idea of where you want to go. Go EARLY or LATE. Don't go at noon! That's just asking for torture and torment LOL. Go at non-traditional times. Bring snacks if you're going for a later meal vs an earlier. But know what your plan is, and enact the plan *before* anyone in the family starts inching towards "hangry".

The other nice thing for my family is that table service means indoor spaces (at least the places we go) and air conditioning (or heating! the fact of our travel is that when we go there tends to be a nasty cold snap), and a chance to relax a bit.

Can my 1yo nap in a stroller next to my lunch table or is that frowned upon?

I don't think they'll allow the stroller in.

with the recharged sensation of Beauty & the Beast I figured it was a "must-do" but it just seems too fancy for the kids to really enjoy it over just meeting the princesses somewhere else.

BOG isn't fancy.

It also has no princesses, and isn't a character meal.

At dinner you generally do have the opportunity to meet Beast, but it's yet another line to be in, after you are totally finished with your meal, and he might not be there on your night.

 

[caliope]

To answer your question about whether a sleeping child can remain in the stroller...we had a late lunch/early dinner ADR at Via Napoli in Epcot on a trip when DS was 3. Ordinarily this wasn't a nap time for him so we were surprised when he fell asleep in his stroller. When we checked in at the podium we were told we would have to park the stroller outside. I casually mentioned to the CM that I'd wait until we were called, and then wake my son to go to our table. The podium CM conferred with another CM and they put us at a table where we could push the stroller right up (they removed a chair). DS slept until the pizza arrived. It was great and made us feel good about the service we received, because Via Napoli is a busy restaurant and occasionally has a reputation for brusque service. I don't know if this is typical or they made an exception (I understand how fire codes affect what they can do) but we appreciated the flexibility. And it may have had to do with the fact that we were there at a non crowded/not filled to capacity time.

 

[caliope]

As for the general question about whether to take kids to table service restaurants, that'll depend on your family's eating style and comfort zone. We go out to eat a LOT at home so DS generally knows how to behave, but at this age sometimes he "forgets". As others have said, minimizing expectations for a relaxing meal and sticking to good ADR times (e.g., not prime dining hours, so service is usually faster) helps tremendously.

Over our last four trips, when he was between the ages of 2-4.5, we've successfully taken DS to
1. BOG for breakfast (quick serve, find your own table, not fancy);
2. Crystal Palace breakfast buffet (he loves it);
3. Hoop Dee Doo (one of his favorites; been three times now);
4. Via Napoli;
5. Biergarten for early dinner (he did much better than expected here);
6. 'Ohana for dinner (he literally fell asleep on the bench the last time we went-oops!);
7. The Wave for lunch;
8. 50's Prime Time for lunch (he was enthralled with the decor and tv clips);
9. Chef Mickey's for breakfast (first ADR of the morning and done before 8am);
10. Beaches and Cream lunch (what's not to like!? He couldn't wait for the Mickey sundae);
11. Rose and Crown for dinner (just loud enough to not worry at all about how loud he was); and
12. California Grill for dinner (he really rose to the occasion both times and was on his best behavior; definitely no strollers allowed here).

The dining experiences at WDW are unique and we are glad we haven't skipped them with DS. But that being said, we try to choose wisely and not over do it on any one trip. The places we've gone have been spread over multiple visits and we limit ourselves to around 3-4 table service meals per trip.

(We've also taken DS to Trader Sam's maybe 4 times...he's usually entertained for the first 20 minutes, then gets bored. Luckily we can pace ourselves to leave when he's at his limit. This might be much harder with more children, though we did see a family with 3 kids one time and they seemed to be hanging in there).