Have small kids? How do you do TS meals?

[jana616]

I have a 4 year old and 2 year old. We will have reg. DDP in September. I am trying to decide if we may be better off using our TS credits for lunches rather than dinners. We have been planning to eat a light breakfast in our room before arriving for early EMH or rope drop. I was thinking we could tour for a few hours, then eat lunch at 11:30ish. Return to room from 12:30-3:30, back to park for touring, eat dinner whenever hungry. I'm trying to avoid using a credit for breakfast since that's the easiest meal to eat in our room. I'm just thinking maybe this would actually give us more flexibility in our day's plan, and my kids won't be as cranky as they would be later in the evening. I don't know, maybe not. Has anyone tried TS lunches with little kids? How did it go?

 

[abc999]

We tried doing table service for lunch and quick service for dinner a couple of times our first trip a couple of years ago and it worked well. We did a couple of quick service for lunch and table service for dinner and our kids were fine doing that as well.

I think it depends more on if the kids are used to eating at restaurants or not.

 

[maj42169]

Keeping in mind that TS meals can take a while, if you are planning on eating around 11:30, I think it would be hard to be back in your room to take a rest by 12:30. So, be prepared to have delays. It also depends on where you are having your TS meals. Are you planning on ordering meals or doing buffets?

 

[Pakey]

OP, we recently went with a 3 year old and followed your thoughts. We did the earliest lunch seatings at 11:30 or the latest breakfast seatings at 11:00 (to get in some character meals), went back to the resort, did CS dinners after returning to the parks. It worked perfectly. Only one night did we do a TS, we did Crystal Palace for dinner. It was definitely not as good of a day as the others. Even with a nap, he just wasn't interested in sitting through a TS dinner.

 

[tinkandpan]

We usually do a character breakfast or two on a trip since it is the time the kids are the happiest- then on other days we might use a TS for lunch and grab something light for dinner. This is actually why we have never done the plan, i used to have to play it day to day with my littlest one in regards to the nighttime- some days there was a nap, some days none and other days sound asleep in the stroller at 4pm. I just never knew.

 

[JaimeK]

I think it depends on your kids! We go out to eat every other week at least so mine are used to sitting through dinner, waiting, staying in their seats. I actually don't have any TS lunches planned, just breakfasts and dinners. 2 early pre-opening character breakfasts, one very late character breakfast (will double as lunch) and the rest are dinners.

 

[MelanieC]

When our kids were younger we just booked earlier dinner and lunch times, we still ate at TS just as often as we do now. We would just be prepared to have one of us walk with them if they got rammy.

 

[wishtdream]

We book our ADR's so dinner is hitting the table around our regular dinner time. We also go out at home so kids know what to expect and how to behave.

 

[goofygal531]

It depends on your kids completely.

My DS2 napped thru so many lunches the last two trips. I had to grab him a CS meal after he woke up. It was inconvenient at times since it took away from our park time. It was like two separate lunch times.

We're on the DxDDP. We do mostly character TS meals which both boys love. We discovered by having dinner a little later, just past our normal dinner time DS2 is hungry and more interested in his food.

We take midday breaks/naps. You can never plan it completely. With the hot summer sun, it really knocks the littles one out. He's nap much longer than normal.

I'd plan on using your TS meals at dinner, you'd get the best value for the meal.

 

[Darcy03231]

I took my niece (4) last fall and we did mostly dinners. I planned them for earlier in the evening (between 4:45 - 5:30 pm). We did Coral Reef, Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace and 1900 Park Fare for dinner and then the Askerhaus Princess breakfast. I found it worked out well for us. We got up early, had breakfast and went to the parks. Had counter service for lunch and went back to the resort around 1 pm for a swim/rest. Got ready, had dinner and then spent the rest of the evening in the parks.

 

[jana616]

Thanks for the replies! We have 7 TS, and are planning to do 4 character meals and 3 non (O'Hana, Boma, and WCC maybe?) so pretty high energy places. One thing I was concerned about was getting my YDS back to the resort before he conks out (he won't go from car to bed and still sleep). So I thought if we left after lunch, he could make it back to POP (we'll be driving). Plus I felt like if we did lunch TS, then we had total flexibility which park to go to after our break, because we weren't tied to any plan. And I thought lunch ressies would be easier to get during free dining (and since it's free I'm not so worried about getting best value-best value will be whatever makes us happier, you know?) I'm thinking maybe we'll aim for a few days with lunches and a few with dinners (I'm not even sure if all of our places have lunch-I think several don't, so that takes the decision on those away!). At least that way we're covered no matter what way works better!

 

[CoolPool]

When I was taking my then-5 year olds they were great at dinner T/Ss. I think we wore them out at the parks and then they'd sit like zombies, mechanically eating. It was great.

 

[KristiMc]

If you are getting up early to hit EMH your kids might be a little tired by 11:30 to enjoy a TS. Since you are planning on going back to your room for a rest, you might enjoy the TS better after you go back when everyone is rested.

 

[jenseib]

We've never done a lunch yet. We took DD at 2, 3 and this year...4. We did one breakfast this year. A very late on, and the rest dinners. Most of them were early, only because DH asked to go earlier so he didn;t go to bed bloated. LOL! The last 2 years though, we did late dinners. Alot of times the last ADR of the night. But DD likes to sleep in, so that worked for us. We never have problems with her in a restuarant, but that depends on the kid.

 

[Wondrmom]

I have a 5 yr old and a 2 yr old and most of our TS credits are for dinners. We did schedule 2 breakfasts because our kids are always the most happy in the morning. I tend to not schedule lunches b/c that is when my kids are starting to get cranky and tired, since we usually get to the parks early. We like scheduling early dinners around 5:00-5:30 because are kids usually are rested from nap. We too have scheduled a lot of character meals because I too feel that they are high energy and are apt to keep our kids behaving. We are also doing (WCC, Ohana, and Teppan Edo) and hopefully they will be entertaining as well.

 

[Faldred]

With a (not quite) 4 year old an 2 year old twins, we just got back from going 7 nights on Deluxe DDP, using mostly TS meals. On the whole, I preferred our TS lunch days to the couple we did at CS -- standing in line at a CS place and fighting for tables is not my idea of fun.

Of course, we stayed in the park all day, as the twins did very well napping in the stroller after lunch. That made it much easier to get away with it.

 

[SmallWorld71]

Thanks for the replies! We have 7 TS, and are planning to do 4 character meals and 3 non (O'Hana, Boma, and WCC maybe?) so pretty high energy places. One thing I was concerned about was getting my YDS back to the resort before he conks out (he won't go from car to bed and still sleep). So I thought if we left after lunch, he could make it back to POP (we'll be driving). Plus I felt like if we did lunch TS, then we had total flexibility which park to go to after our break, because we weren't tied to any plan. And I thought lunch ressies would be easier to get during free dining (and since it's free I'm not so worried about getting best value-best value will be whatever makes us happier, you know?) I'm thinking maybe we'll aim for a few days with lunches and a few with dinners (I'm not even sure if all of our places have lunch-I think several don't, so that takes the decision on those away!). At least that way we're covered no matter what way works better!

We like to mix it up. I find all lunches or all dinners to actually be more tiring than varying it. But, that's just us. 2 years ago we did all but 1 dinner and it was exhausting for us. This past year I threw in a couple of lunches and we liked that better.

***Keep in mind that some places (including the ones you mention) are not open for lunch. You may want to book these places for right when they open for dinner as it keeps your wait time to a minimum. I generally make my reservations for sometime between 5 and 6 and have never had to wait more than a few minutes anywhere.