Help-Need Advice for Dining with Kids

[bdklein]

We (me, wife, and 3 and 6 year old girls) are going for 1 week in May at the Polynesian. Besides Ohana and Kona, plus Cinderella breakfast, what other ADR's should we make, and what other restaurants should we eat? What about any of the dinner/shows? We don't want to overplan and not be spontaneous, but we don't want to miss anything that would really be fun. Thanks in advance for any assistance.

 

[lovmy2girls]

The Sci Fi get mixed reviews here on the boards, but my girls 6 and 7 at the time, really liked it. They liked the movie clips and thought it was neat to eat in a car.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

My almost 3 yo dd loves 1900 for dinner...and dh and I LOVE the food!! CP for breakfast is another family tradition. All of our children (including 5 yo and 13 yo ds) enjoy WCC for any meal -- especially when bottomless milkshakes are included. CM is always fun. I prefer breakfast there. (That's where the kids chose for our Christmas morning brunch this year.) Honestly, I think the kids prefer cs restaurants. The food comes quickly, and eating is very informal. After years of battling this (dh and I do NOT like cs food!!), we are starting to give-in to our kids. It helps that the quality of WDW cs food has really improved in recent years!!

 

[Sleeping~Beauty]

My children are 2.5 and 15 mths, and my nieces and nephew are 7,5, and 15 mths. We went as a big group and they all really enjoyed the Crystal Palace Breakfast with Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore.

It's a huge buffet, and there is a wide selection of foods to choose from. The characters made their rounds to all the tables, so you could get autographs and pictures. They had little parades every 15 minutes or so where the kids could get up and march with the Pooh gang.

 

[iliketoby]

The Crystal Palace at breakfast! It is so lovely, especially if you go first thing in the morning. On non-early entry days, you can schedule a breakfast up to one hour before the park opens. The characters there are great (unlike the rushed atomosphere at some other character meals...are you listening Chef Mickey?) And the food is Yuuuuummmy!

We love the Hoop-Dee-Doo. It is really fun. There is singing and dancing and silly (but funny) jokes, a little bit of romance, and at the end everyone "plays" a washboard with a spoon. One time my son (12) wasn't participating, and one of the actors came to our table and shamed him into it. Nobody's "too cool" at the Hoop-Dee-Doo! We think it is the best thing at WDW.

 

[TwingleMum]

HDDR is a little late for my guys 3 boysunder 5yrs old so I don't know about that. They love Chef Mickeys, character interaction is great and Mickey is guarenteed!! You also have great souvenir pictures taken by a CM who brings them around during your meal for you to look at. My guys love AKL and watching the animals and hearing the stories so we do Bomas at least once a trip. They enjoyed CP.

 

[sara74]

We (me DH, DD4 and DS1 1/2) are going for 6 days at the end of April and made these ADR's so far.
Sun - none yet
Mon - Rose and Crown dinner
Tues - CRT breakfst 8:25 ?California Grill
Wed - Chef Mickey's 5:30
Thurs - thinking Boma?
Fri - Crystal Palace lunch 11:50

How am I doing so far? DH really wants to eat at Boma and I would like the California Grill. Are either of these kid friendly? Should I keep the CP early in the day or make it for dinner? I thought the dinner food would be better and we could kind of use it as a 'carrot' for the kids all day.
I am a scheduling fool. I love planning things and I know that they won't necessarily be what we planned but I am having fun just thinking about it!

Also , is it really true that the dining plan credits cn be used by any one f us? So DH and I can really pay for a kids meal for DD and use her TS credit for the CRT? That sounds too good to be true.

 

[the kabuki]

Crystal Palace has good food, a buffet area just for kids, and the Pooh characters, one of our family's favorites.

And no matter what anyone says, we all like Sci-fi. The food is good, the atmosphere is awesome.

Chef Mickey's is another good pick, and with two girls a princess breakfast is a good choice.

 

[Terri C]

Hello...my DD12 and DD8 both agree that Sci-Fi Dine in was their favorite.
They both had the burger and fries. My DH and I liked it as well.
I hope this helps!

Terri

 

[hockeybabe]

In Epcot, try Biergarten. It's a buffet (great with kids, no long waiting for food to arrive), the food is great, and the kids can get the standard kid food if they don't feel adventurous (but they will like the pretzel bread There is a family-oriented show that runs every 30 minutes that is fun, with interesting musical instruments and great entertainers, including a dance floor so you and the kids can get up and dance the polka! It is a really great feel-good family place in the World Showcase.