Help plan dining for 20 month old.

[bvkramer]

Hi! just to get started I'll give you a little back ground. Our family consists of Me -Veronica My DH- Bryan and our DS Logan 17 months. My husband and I went to disney on our honeymoon. He'd been before but it was my first trip and I fell in L-O-V-E. What the heck had I been missing?? Thanks mom and dad... not! LOL.

Anyways, we're taking baby on his very first trip to WDW February 11-17, 2011. I know he's young (he'll be 20 months at time of travel) but this will by no means be his only trip to THE WORLD so why not start early?

My DH and I had some great dining experiences on our honeymoon (Liberty Tree Tavern when there were still characters, Coral Reef, California Grill, Boma). However our last WDW trip was for adults and now I'm trying to figure out how to do it with a toddler.

I'm open to suggestions. Mainly picking between lunch at Coral Reef or Whispering Canyon Cafe. I'm not sure if the big aquarium or the rowdy(from what I hear) atmosphere would be best for the little guy. Oh the reason I have two reservations for lunch on the same day is because the WDW site lost our CR one so I took it as a sign and booked WCC only to have CR reappear several days later.

So here they are:

Friday 2/11 (Arrival Day) MK: Dinner at Crystal Palace: CM

Saturday 2/12 AK: No ADR thought about dinner at DTD T-Rex since AK closes early

Sunday 2/13 DHS: Mama Melrose Lunch Fantasmic Package

Monday 2/14 Epcot: Coral Reef Lunch, Whispering Canyon Lunch, Garden Grill Dinner: CM

Tuesday 2/15 MK: Dinner at Chef Mickey's: CM

Wednesday 2/16 DHS: Hollywood & Vine Lunch: CM

Thursday 2/17 (Departure Day) unknown park, probably MK. No ADR figured we'd CS

I tried to make several Character Meals to keep Logan entertained, but some of you DISers who've been with small kids can give me some insight on whether he'd enjoy it, or maybe some restaurants I've missed!
Thanks a bunch for the help! Glad to be part of a community that loves WDW as much as I do.

 

[Fabooliss]

With a child that young, I'd be looking at places you can get in and out fast. A lot of places are an hour plus, that's a lot of waiting for a little one. If you book a buffet, you can eat at your own pace, and leave before he gets to overtired/excited... at this age he won't know if he misses a character.

We did Coral Reef last time DS (2.5) loved it, I don't think your DS will "get" WC, but it is good and noisy (which is how we picked family restaurants when our kids were that age... the theory being if everyone else is noisy, won't notice mine being loud! ) He also loved Ohana's, he and I participated in the coconut races, and the limbo.

Wondering if the Biergarten would be good because there is an opportunity to dance and move around.


Have you been out to dinner with him at a regular restaurant, can he sit through a long meal at a "regular" restaurant like Hollywood and Vine or Mama Melrose?

 

[Jen_in_NH]

We took my son last winter when he was 2 1/2. Chef Mickey's breakfast was a huge hit. He also really liked the Biergarten. With both, one of us could stay with him while the other went to get food.

He really hated WCC - the amount of noise and chaos around him just freaked him out, and we were really excited to leave.

The one he asks to do again is Tangerine Cafe - there was a drum group across the path from where we were eating, and he loved that

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Where are you staying?
You may want to consider having your dinner adr's a bit later than you think. We have been here for a week now, leaving tomorrow, and my 2 littlest ones are taking long naps everyday. We are getting out of the room to go to our evening activities later than I expected. I figured we would want our dinners early b/c they would be hungry, but they are more tired than hungry, so we have been letting them sleep as long as they want and are not getting out of the room until around 6pm each evening.
I know that doesn't answer your question, but just a heads up

 

[glk2009]

Hi! just to get started I'll give you a little back ground. Our family consists of Me -Veronica My DH- Bryan and our DS Logan 17 months. My husband and I went to disney on our honeymoon. He'd been before but it was my first trip and I fell in L-O-V-E. What the heck had I been missing?? Thanks mom and dad... not! LOL.

Anyways, we're taking baby on his very first trip to WDW February 11-17, 2011. I know he's young (he'll be 20 months at time of travel) but this will by no means be his only trip to THE WORLD so why not start early?

My DH and I had some great dining experiences on our honeymoon (Liberty Tree Tavern when there were still characters, Coral Reef, California Grill, Boma). However our last WDW trip was for adults and now I'm trying to figure out how to do it with a toddler.

I'm open to suggestions. Mainly picking between lunch at Coral Reef or Whispering Canyon Cafe. I'm not sure if the big aquarium or the rowdy(from what I hear) atmosphere would be best for the little guy. Oh the reason I have two reservations for lunch on the same day is because the WDW site lost our CR one so I took it as a sign and booked WCC only to have CR reappear several days later.

So here they are:

Friday 2/11 (Arrival Day) MK: Dinner at Crystal Palace: CM

Saturday 2/12 AK: No ADR thought about dinner at DTD T-Rex since AK closes early

Sunday 2/13 DHS: Mama Melrose Lunch Fantasmic Package

Monday 2/14 Epcot: Coral Reef Lunch, Whispering Canyon Lunch, Garden Grill Dinner: CM

Tuesday 2/15 MK: Dinner at Chef Mickey's: CM

Wednesday 2/16 DHS: Hollywood & Vine Lunch: CM

Thursday 2/17 (Departure Day) unknown park, probably MK. No ADR figured we'd CS

I tried to make several Character Meals to keep Logan entertained, but some of you DISers who've been with small kids can give me some insight on whether he'd enjoy it, or maybe some restaurants I've missed!
Thanks a bunch for the help! Glad to be part of a community that loves WDW as much as I do.

Just a word of warning about characters... some kidlets don't like them. My DD loved them at 17 months, but at 28 months, she took a little time to warm up to them and then was in love with them.

We loved all of the character meals you listed above. The best was Garden Grill since 1) they bring the food to you and 2) it was really low-key with great character interaction.

We also like Hollywood & Vine... not sure if it has changed w/ the new characters, but they used to have singing & dancing every 15-20 minutes so it was great for our DD to be encouraged to get up and expend some energy during our meal.

Can't help you with deciding between WCC and CR, but we are planning to go to CR next trip since DD loves fishies.

Have a great trip!

 

[bvkramer]

We did Coral Reef last time DS (2.5) loved it, I don't think your DS will "get" WC, but it is good and noisy (which is how we picked family restaurants when our kids were that age... the theory being if everyone else is noisy, won't notice mine being loud! ) He also loved Ohana's, he and I participated in the coconut races, and the limbo.

Wondering if the Biergarten would be good because there is an opportunity to dance and move around.


Have you been out to dinner with him at a regular restaurant, can he sit through a long meal at a "regular" restaurant like Hollywood and Vine or Mama Melrose?

I think you're right about WCC. Maybe when he's older and can understand the chaos. We had a really good experience at CR last time we went but were way in the back away from the aquarium. I think a little wait to request a table right by the window would be worth it. :] thanks so much for your input!

 

[bvkramer]

I think you guys have a great point about all the noise at WCC being scary. He did really well with adult-sized characters yesterday for Halloween and we eat at sit down restaurants a lot and he does well there so I think those will be fine. It's so hard to plan based on other people's experiences because each child is so different, but the insight defitintely helps! We're staying at POP this time. We figured the giant characters and fun atmosphere would be more suited to a toddler than a more hush-hush adult themed resort. I love exploring in the deluxes, but I don't think a hollering baby would add fun to anyone else's atmosphere lol. Thanks so much for the tips. I had never even though of the Biergarten for this trip but it sounds like a great idea!

 

[rapunzels]

We always eat at Flame Tree Bar-b-q when at Animal Kingdom. Seating is outside and there are ducks walking around looking for food. Some kids (and adults) may not like the duck thing, but my 23 month old DD loved it when we ate there 3 years ago. Your DS may like the freedom to walk around, and look at the ducks. For our daughter at that age, T-rex might have been to much. And after toting a child around for a few days, you may be glad to have one night to relax - since Animal Kingdom closes early.

 

[peachydreamyxx]

You are going to have so much fun on your trip! We just got back in September, and it was our sons (whos name is Logan also!) first trip to WDW. When we traveled he had just turned one, and loved every minute of it. As far as meals went, we skipped making lunch ADRs because his nap schedule was crazy there.. we let him fall asleep when he wanted to instead of forcing him to take scheduled naps. It worked well for us, he never "freaked" on us once. We chose early breakfasts/dinners. As far as your choices, they seem really good! I would also look into Tusker House breakfast, our son LOVED it and the food was really tasty. We also really loved Ohana, the food came our fast, their were a lot of options and DS enjoyed every minute of it. Even San Angel in Mexico, I know it gets mixed reviews, but Ive never had a bad meal there, and the whole atmosphere kept our son very involved. If you have any other questions feel free to ask! It really will be such a magical trip =)

 

[Colleen27]

It really depends on the child's personality, I think.

Our daughter was 15mo on our last trip and we ate pretty much everywhere we would have without her, including California Grill, Jiko, and Narcoosees. She was great in the signatures, but she's a pretty mellow kid by nature and loves food so she's not one to act up at the table.

The restaurants she had the hardest time with were the really noisy places; Yak & Yeti was the worst, with that echo-y dining area that magnifies everything. Based on that, I'd steer clear of WCC (and Ohana, and Rainforest Cafe, and T-rex, and anywhere else where "loud" is part of a theme a toddler just won't "get"). Coral Reef, on the other hand, is fabulous! The aquarium is built-in entertainment.

Character meals were great because she was much more comfortable with the characters coming to her in her highchair than she was with walking up to giant furry animals! However, character meals also tend to be buffets and I'm not a fan of those with little kids simply because it isn't relaxing for me, so we limit ourselves to just a handful per trip. Garden Grill is the exception to this and I'm really looking forward to trying it; as much as DD loved Chef Mickey's, that place is a little on the crazy side for my tastes.

 

[candielips]

Where are you staying?
You may want to consider having your dinner adr's a bit later than you think. We have been here for a week now, leaving tomorrow, and my 2 littlest ones are taking long naps everyday. We are getting out of the room to go to our evening activities later than I expected. I figured we would want our dinners early b/c they would be hungry, but they are more tired than hungry, so we have been letting them sleep as long as they want and are not getting out of the room until around 6pm each evening.
I know that doesn't answer your question, but just a heads up

This is what we did for our last trip and regretted our decision so much. We had all late ADR's and it made for very cranky children in the morning. Oh my, it was hard some days. Our children were 3 and 9 months. But everyone's children are different. Mine are pretty adaptable though.

Next time we go, we are going to try to schedule as many lunch ADR's as we can or very early dinner ADR's so we can have our evenings free to do whatever.

Enjoy the rest of your trip!