Kid friendly restaurants???

[andee515]

I know this is disney, and you would assume kid friendly, but looking at some of these menu's and high end food and prices; I was wondering are there any restaurants people would not take small children to?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Tinker_Belle]

I don't think that children are allowed at Victoria & Albert's anymore, but I believe that all of the other restaurants are child-friendly. Most have kid menus too. After all, this IS Disney!

 

[kathie859]

LeCellier is rather confining and may not be the best choice for a younger child. Also, Jiko is a bit subdued in atmosphere and may not be suitable for young children. I've been to meals at both with a young child (2 1/2 at the time) and found that the environment was too restrictive and unstimulating to hold his attention the length of the meal (and the service at LeCellier was slow, slow, slow!) Service @ Jiko was superb; however, there's just nothing, other than eating, to entertain a child. Surprisingly (at least to me) was that Chefs de France was a real hit with the youngun. As soon as we were seated, the server (Michele--a very sympathic young man) realized that the baby was hungry and immediately confered with his mother and quickly produced food for him while allowing the adults to review the menu and take a breath before ordering. Needless to say, Michele scored major points with our party and a major tip, too!

On our last trip, we had DGS (age 4 1/2) and DGD (age 1) with us. They seem to enjoy meals where there is something to look at or do. Akershus lunch with the princesses was a hit; Garden Grill lunch with the characters was fun (except a the little one isn't real sure about the big head characters); Ohana dinner provided entertainment (using the term loosely ) and Boma was just so bustling and so many people moving around, it held their attention.

The UG has a nice section about meals at WDW---you may want to check it out.

Have fun planning...

 

[PrincessPoohsMom]

As PPs have said, it is Disney World, so technically all restaurants are "kid friendly" with the exception of Victoria & Albert's, which requires children be at least 10 to dine. That being said, and having traveled to WDW extensively both with and with out young children in the party, there are a few places I would personally hesitate to take my DD (18 months) to. Off the top of my head: California Grill, Jiko, Flying Fish, Citricos, and Bistro de Paris top the list. It's not that these establishments wouldn't welcome children. It's just that they have a more "adult" feel to them, as is reflected by their menus & interiors. And as the PP pointed out, there's typically not much going on to hold a child's attention. Now, they all offer children's menus, and if you really wanted to give them a try, my recommendation would be to shoot for a very early ADR. If you're eating at 5:30 pm you're probably less likely to feel self-conscious if the children are a little rambunctious or loud (as can easily happen in an exciting restaurant) as the dining room more likely to not be full and there are more likely to be a number of other children. I think overall you'll find any restaurant in WDW is very accommodating to young children, which makes for such a wonderful experience for Mom & Dad: A chance to eat a really nice meal and share a great dining experience with their children without being made to feel as if they walked into the place with a cage full of live chickens!

 

[danielle782001]

I would not take my kids to the Yachtsman Steakhouse at the Yacht Club... You can... I just know they would not enjoy the atmosphere and they would likely get loud... We always choose places that they would enjoy food wise and atmosphere...

They actually did really well in Le Cellier... They were only 14 months and not yet 3 years when we went... They liked the food and were very well behaved... Thank goodness for small favors

 

[shellybaxter]

I would disagree that all Disney restaurants are "kid friendly". Sure, most all of them (except Bistro de Paris) have children's menus and accept children (except Vic and Als), however I would not consider several of them "kid friendly". To me, kid friendly would mean that the restaurant is designed to stimulate and keep children entertained. Some examples of kid friendly restaurants in my opinion are WCC, Sci Fi, Prime Time 50, all of the character meals, Ohana, LTT, etc.

I think most, if not all, of the signature restauarants are not kid friendly. They are subdued and supposed to be quieter. I also wouldn't lable LeCellier, Grand Floridian Cafe, Concourse Steakhouse, Captian's Grill, Spoodles, Boma or Mama Melrose as kid friendly. Certainly children are welcome and most will do fine, but there aren't a lot of things to keep them busy and engaged. In restaurants like this children need to be restuarant friendly, meaning they need to be able sit nicely and eat a meal without yelling, screaming, crying, running around, or kicking and hitting the people next to them.