Jiko - is it kid friendly?

[mommyoftwo08]

Just curious if you have been before if it is a child friendly atomosphere? I know they have a kids menu. I have an almost 3 year old and a 5 year old who are well behaved and would be entertained throughout the dinner with coloring sheets and cars, etc. But I don't want to ruin some one else's dinner. Thoughts?

 

[TDC Nala]

It is not designed or operated with children foremost in mind.

But as with any other Walt Disney World restaurant other than Victoria and Alberts, it will most likely be loaded with young children.

 

[richardsa98]

It is Disney, with the exception of Victoria and Alberts, unless your kids are having a really badddd day, enjoy! I think it is just up to the parent to use their best judgement and while a reservation had been made, if their child is going to have a meltdown in the middle of the rest. make another choice for dinner. Noone should go to a restaurant on property and expect kids not to be there

 

[BillSears]

If you look at this picture from my visit to Jiko you'll notice some children at the table behind me. I didn't even know that they were there until I got home and saw the picture. If your kids can pass that test then I'd say bring them on in.

The point is that it's not the restaurants that need to be kid friendly, it's the kids that need to have proper restaurant behavior.

 

[mommyoftwo08]

Thank you for the picture! That helps us SO much since we've never scene a photo. My children are usually extremely well behaved and we pack a good bag of items to keep them busy, so we should be fine.

Thank you for the quick responses. Worst case we'll cancel the reservation and order it thru room service. The menu looks too good to miss!

 

[CamColt]

We dined at Jiko in July. From what I had heard here, I thought it was sort of adult oriented. I was shocked when we walked in about 6:30/7:00 on a Saturday night and almost every table had kids at it.

 

[tedisney]

We were there a month ago with DD2, who is generally well-behaved, but is definitely a spirited two year old. It was an early seating on a Monday, so it wasn't very crowded, but we felt fine with her there. The server was very friendly and playful with her, too, just like at other WDW restaurants.

When she got antsy near the end of the meal (we were there for a while), DW took her out to walk by the pool, so it worked out perfectly.

 

[BillSears]

Thank you for the picture! That helps us SO much since we've never scene a photo. My children are usually extremely well behaved and we pack a good bag of items to keep them busy, so we should be fine.

Thank you for the quick responses. Worst case we'll cancel the reservation and order it thru room service. The menu looks too good to miss!

That sounds great! Enjoy your meal, it's a wonderful place to have dinner!

 

[crisi]

We went several years ago and found it not to be kid friendly at all. We were seated in a quiet side room where our children were the only children, but there were obviously couples out for a romantic evening. The service was lousy and took forever, plus they brought out the wrong food TWICE which meant that a long dinner (we plan two hours for signature dining) took longer - which meant the kids ran out of patience. And the waiter had an attitude, and it seemed particularly directed at the kids.

 

[CarolA]

Coloring sheets fine,

CARS??? It's a nice resturant not a race track.

Toys that require noise, space etc are not really appropriate. So if your child is going to want to race the cars across the table or floor leave them at home.

 

[MEM]

We went several years ago and found it not to be kid friendly at all. We were seated in a quiet side room where our children were the only children, but there were obviously couples out for a romantic evening. The service was lousy and took forever, plus they brought out the wrong food TWICE which meant that a long dinner (we plan two hours for signature dining) took longer - which meant the kids ran out of patience. And the waiter had an attitude, and it seemed particularly directed at the kids.

Wow! we had a totally different experience. Our kids were 7 and 8 the first time we went and the server treated DD7 like a Princess - special sprinkles on her ice cream and a phone call from Mickey himself!! He made her feel very, very special.

 

[Booyakasha]

We have dined with our kids at Jiko many times starting at about 4 yrs of age. Our kids are very well behaved and used to longer dinners so it was no big deal for us. Like everyone else posted it is really about how well your kids can handle themselves. Remember even if you rush the wait staff it is going to be a longer than average dinner. Jiko is relatively quiet so any noise (like cars on a table) will stand out and be distracting to other diners. I say if your kids will enjoy and appreciate the dinner and you will be able to relax and enjoy it with them there then by all means go. IF you have doubts, save yourself the money and the stress and go to Boma.

B.

 

[crisi]

Wow! we had a totally different experience. Our kids were 7 and 8 the first time we went and the server treated DD7 like a Princess - special sprinkles on her ice cream and a phone call from Mickey himself!! He made her feel very, very special.

Yeah, I've had one of the few not great experiences at Jiko. And we had 5:30 reservations, too - so it wasn't the 9:00 "adult hour."

My husband loved the food - I didn't like what I ordered, but I think that had more to do with me ordering wrong than food quality (I don't like pistachio, have never like it, why would I order it....). And it really was the service that made the experience not good.

 

[liamsaunt]

I'll be there tomorrow night with my 7 year old niece and 9 year old nephew. They've eaten at California Grill, Artist Point, Flying Fish, etc. before so I am sure they will be fine. They actually really like going out to eat and behave well at the table (Please, PLEASE don't let this sentence turn out to be "famous last words" for this trip!! ).

I am sure your kids will be fine. Based on prior dining experiences there, you should plan on at least an hour for the meal, or longer. If they do act up, you just have to be prepared to take them out of the restaurant.

 

[Inkmahm]

Thank you for the picture! That helps us SO much since we've never scene a photo. My children are usually extremely well behaved and we pack a good bag of items to keep them busy, so we should be fine.

Thank you for the quick responses. Worst case we'll cancel the reservation and order it thru room service. The menu looks too good to miss!

You will be fine. We love Jiko's and eat there at least once each trip. There are always kids there and we rarely notice them as most are well behaved. We take our nieces/nephews there when we have family with us.

Be sure to watch the back wall. Tell the kids to pay attention to the color changing. Our 9 year old nephew thought it was the coolest thing and kept telling me each time the wall changed colors so that I'd be sure not to miss it. He is also a VERY picky eater and he LOVED the sweet potato strings at Jiko's. The waiter brought him a whole bowl full and he ate every one.

 

[jenjersnap]

We had a wonderful experience with our 3 boys last month, great food and attentive service. Jiko has the best kid's menu at WDW, IMO.

 

[Pakey]

We've eaten here many times and I can't honestly say if I have any of the other diners; its' always been very quiet, we were there 3 hours for our last meal there. We are not taking my 3 year old grandson there in January because I know he would hate having to sit that long and be quiet with only coloring to entertain him.