Jiko with a kid?

[pinkxray]

The reviews and all the pictures of the food at Jiko have been amazing lately. I am thinking about shuffling my ADR's to make room. I have a five year old girl who is pretty good in restaurants. Are there other kids there or should I look into Simba's clubhouse childcare for her. What would I do with her two table service credits if she doesn't come?

Also what would you drop to make room for Jiko? I have never been to any table service meals so I have many of the must try once meals everyone recommends
Chef Mickeys Breakfast
Akershus Breakfast
Le Cellier Dinner
Mama Melrose Fantasmic Package
WCC dinner
Crystal Palace Breakfast
Ohana Dinner

 

[Pakey]

Only you know if your child will be happy and well behaved through a 2 hour meal (the amount it usually takes to dine at one of the signatures). Yes, we have seen many well behaved children dining at the signatures, especially earlier in the evening. Jiko is one of the quieter restaurants but children are welcome there and many dine there.

I would definitely drop WCC. We've eaten at almost every Disney restaurant and it's one of 2 on the do not return list.

 

[DisneyFamily123]

We went to Jiko with our DS4 after a day at Animal Kingdom and it was a wonderful experience. Superb food and service. DS4 was fine, our waitress Michelle (great waitress! and knew her wines too) talked with him during each visit to the table and brought his favorite foods - we ignore the kids menu and just ask for what we know he will eat so he is happy... usually peas, strawberries, apple sauce, fries, whatever....

I found that the signature restaurants were very flexible to prepare whatever our son wanted to eat instead of being stuck to the kids menu... as they should for 2 DDP meal credits.

We were going to have dinner in AK Park, but decided to go to AK lodge for Jiko, then take a cab back to the Polynesian Resort. Jiko was only a few minutes on the bus from AK Park.

Hard to say what I would drop... would depend on my park schedule.

 

[TillyMarigold]

The one piece of advice I would give is to ask for her food to not be brought until yours is. When I ate there, there was a girl about her age at the table next to mine who was behaving very well, but they brought her whole meal about the time they brought the adults' appetizers, so she had already finished eating by the time the adults got their main course. It's a lovely restaurant and she was fascinated by the changing lights (the wall represents a sunset so the lights change to reflect it) but she got pretty bored by the time the adults were halfway through their meals. I felt like she would have been much happier if she had been eating when the adults were.

 

[Silver Queen]

I think it's great that you're considering bringing your daughter to Jiko. We had dinner at Citrico's last weekend and were impressed with the number of families who brought there children there for dinner. They were all very well-behaved and apparently accustomed to going to restaurants with their parents. We enjoyed their presence.

 

[nemofans]

Our DS has eaten at Jiko when he was 19 mos old & 2.5 yrs old. It's one of our favs! We eat at alot of signature restaurants b/c we find the food there so much better & we always bring our kids with.
I would skip WCC. I have never eaten there, but have read reviews that the food isn't as good.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

We took our son when he was 2 and when he turned 3. He did great. I schedule our dinner meals the same time we would eat at home. Enjoy your trip. We are going back to Disney on his 5th birthday and I'm scheduling 3 signature meals.

 

[shellybaxter]

We took our 4 year old neice to Jiko - a favorite of ours now. She was good - the kids menus was great - the waiter was great with her - even had Goofy call her on the phone.

Fast forward 1.5 years and we are planning our next trip. I ask Dniece where she wants to eat -her answer "anywhere but that restaurants with the birds flying on the roof". That restaurant is Jiko. She had been great but hated having to sit nicely for that long. Since then she goes to Simbas while we eat and LOVES it.

 

[TJA]

Our kids are well-behaved and will be going to Jiko next April, they are age 6.

From your list, the ADR's that I'd keep for sure are Chef M, Crystal Palace, and Ohana dinner. Those will be GREAT experiences for your child as well as the adults.

As far as what I'd drop, we'd drop WCC in a heartbeat. We love the WL and the atmosphere at WCC, but we're not wild about the antics there. It's just not our thing. We did not care for the food at Akershus, but the princess experience is nice. We love the mushroom filet mignon at LeCellier. Mama Melrose we're not wild about, but I understand you are doing that as a Fantasmic package. If there is any way you could eat CS the day of Fantasmic, then I'd consider dropping that one as well.

 

[milmore104]

We took our 2 kids there this past Oct. One just turned 9 and the other was 9 months. Our older DD LOVED JIKO. It's one of her favorite place to eat now. Our baby slept thru dinner in her stroller. There were other children in the place. So I think you should be fine. Have a great time.