How do you all do the DDP with little kids?

[bellelab]

We are going with two 3 year olds and a baby. DD is pretty good to sit at a restaurant for the min. time required, meaning we usually order right away, get our entree, and no appetizer or dessert. How do you manage to keep your young kids entertained in the time it takes to eat an appetizer, entree, and dessert? Do you get any of these to go? I'm a little scared of how it's going to be already, not only with DD, but with my niece and nephew both of whom are pretty restless. Thanks!

 

[bicker]

We weren't eligible for the Dining Plan the last time we brought the little ones (it was before they started offering it to DVRers) but we were talking about it on the airplane and concluded that we probably wouldn't have purchased the Dining Plan with the little ones anyway, for just that reason. The littlest one is coming up on four, so I think maybe NEXT time we would consider it -- she'll be old enough by then.

 

[daandcb]

We went last year when my boys were 4, 3 (turned 3 while we were there) and an 8 month old baby. They were great but I think it helped that we did a character meal everyday. While yes they can create problems with some not eating, with my kids they loved seeing the characters. It worked for us as we were in no rush, they could get a little energy out getting up to meet the characters, and they knew they had to eat between characters (we told them that they characters would come if they saw them eating). My kids love to eat out as it is so that helped. If your at a place with no characters and you have to wait for the food, have them color a picture about what they did or their favorite thing so far....talk about what you did and what you will do next...we also would go thru the pictures on the digital and their autograph book and talk about that.

 

[Tam1067]

We've done character meals, generally 3 or so per trip.
Buffets are easier with kids who can't sit still.
Family style places work well also.
We eat early for dinner, no later than 5:30 which helps us get seated faster and out the door faster.

But by the end of the trip, even my school aged son was sick of waiting and told me he never wanted another dessert at dinner! You can always get the dessert to go if you would like, too.

 

[Barbers2005]

Try eating at places that are already pretty rowdy. Hopefully your kids will be entertained, and if not, their wiggles and noise will go unnoticed. Other than character meals, I would suggest WCC, Ohana and Biergarten. The noise level is a little higher at these places and the kids are actually encouraged to get up and dance/run around as part of the entertainment. You could have your kids practice being good for a full restaurant meal at home before your trip (maybe Denny's, Fridays or somewhere else casual). I also second bringing toys with you. Dh and I went to walmart and bought a bunch of really cheap toys ($1 or less) and whipped them out whenever dd4 got restless at WDW. Since the toys were totally new to her, they kept her busy for quite awhile.

 

[DumboDash2006]

I agree with the character meals and/or loud and busy restaurants.

Not as young as your children but my dd and dn were five and six last year when we went. We ate at CP and LTT and obviously those went swimmingly. We also ate at San Angel Inn and were right next to the balcony overlooking the ride so they were entertained. Dd had no problems, my nephew had one or two minor issues. I can't even remember what they were, just remember my sister being a bit ticked at him lol.

Chefs de France was the hardest. No entertainment and a quieter restaurant. They didn't have any major problems, but they were not happy and we heard some whining about being bored there and we were a bit nervous as we worried about them knocking over the glasses or another table being annoyed by the whining.

 

[brymolmom]

DD was almost 2 when we first went for free dining...and quite a handful. I learned quickly to bring some things to entertain her in our bag. I would bring little Disney figurines and a pad of paper and a couple crayons/markers. For being a place for kids many of the TS restaurants don't really have too many specific distractors for really young kids. Also, don't forget the old 'go for a walk' - this works well just after ordering - come back to the table 5 - 10 minutes later and the app is there already and then there is less time needed to distract.

Good luck and enjoy!

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

We went twice last year and our son was 18 months and then 23 months. We did mostley buffet type places such as Boma, Crystal Palace, and Ohana's. This year at 35 months we are following the same plan but adding Chef Mickeys, Little Einstiens breakfast, and WCC. This seems to cut down on the acutal meal time and the places are more kid oriented. It worked great for us and we also ate early at 5:30 for most meals.

 

[bellelab]

Thank you all so much for the replies. I changed a few ADR's around and this is what we have:

1900 Park Fare
Boma
Tony's
Coral Reef
Play 'n Dine

The only ones I worry about her being bored now are Tony's and Boma. We've done the Play 'n Dine and it was great so no worries there. The only reason we're repeating it is for my nephew who hasn't done it yet. I did forget about the plastic figurines you can buy in the parks. DD will be totally entertained by those, especially if they are new toys. Thanks again everyone!