Kids and Dining on Disney Cruise

[AZMermaid]

How long does dinner normally last? My kids will be 17 months and a little shy of 3. My older one is 19 months now, and dinner is well, challenging. We are planning on sending them to the nursery 2-3 nights for all of dinner to give us a few peaceful meals. But, I sort of feel bad taking them there every night with them being so little. But, if the whole thing is a battle, maybe they would be happier eating and then playing!

 

[heidibilotti]

How long does dinner normally last? My kids will be 17 months and a little shy of 3. My older one is 19 months now, and dinner is well, challenging. We are planning on sending them to the nursery 2-3 nights for all of dinner to give us a few peaceful meals. But, I sort of feel bad taking them there every night with them being so little. But, if the whole thing is a battle, maybe they would be happier eating and then playing!

The other thing to consider is AP is a show dinner and is great with kids and it really holds their attention. Also pirate night in the restaurants is also quite entertaining especially if your family dresses up.

 

[helenb]

Have you tried Hanna Anderson beach pants?

http://www.hannaandersson.com/style.asp?from=SC|18|6|8|10|3||&simg=38719_12C

This is what my son wears to dinner on warm weather cruises. They are easy to pull on and very 'breezy', yet just long enough to be considered pants rather than shorts. We usually bring 2 pairs of these on a cruise and my son will alternate wearing them at night (since he only wears them during dinner/evening show, we just use the same 2 pairs all cruise).

HTH!

 

[Dislaney4n6]

The only pants he liked this year were those shiny basketball type pants. I think those actually look worse for dinner than nice khaki shors! But, given a choice, even in PA, my son would wear shorts year round. We had a very mild winter this year, so there weren't a lot of days that he wore pants. It only snowed here onece this year and he wore shorts under his snow pants. He's a hot-blooded kid! and he hates jeans. But, he seems to change his "style" every year, so maybe I'll get lucky and next year he'll be into pants and polo shirts!

Let the stoning begin...
I think a nice pair of khaki shorts for a boy is more than appropriate for dinner and look a lot nicer than a pair of jeans. Although it does not 'adhere to Disney's policy', I rather the kids I am with to look good and be comfortable.

 

[Weedy]

This summer will be our 10th cruise and my kids will be 14 and 16. We have always done late dining and my kids love the clubs . So some nights we would feed them early. Either picked up pizza or hamburgers by the pool deck. (There is fruit and milk available there also.) Or ordered room service. Room service is free except you need to tip. We brought the food back to our cabin and they ate as we got ready for the show and dinner. We would all go to the show and then drop them off at the kids club. They had fun and we enjoyed a nice dinner together.

 

[labdogs42]

Have you tried Hanna Anderson beach pants?

http://www.hannaandersson.com/style.asp?from=SC|18|6|8|10|3||&simg=38719_12C

This is what my son wears to dinner on warm weather cruises. They are easy to pull on and very 'breezy', yet just long enough to be considered pants rather than shorts. We usually bring 2 pairs of these on a cruise and my son will alternate wearing them at night (since he only wears them during dinner/evening show, we just use the same 2 pairs all cruise).

HTH!

I like those! He might even consider wearing them! Thanks for the link. I can't buy them now, since our cruise isn't until August 2013, but I'll keep the link for sure! Thanks!

 

[labdogs42]

This summer will be our 10th cruise and my kids will be 14 and 16. We have always done late dining and my kids love the clubs . So some nights we would feed them early. Either picked up pizza or hamburgers by the pool deck. (There is fruit and milk available there also.) Or ordered room service. Room service is free except you need to tip. We brought the food back to our cabin and they ate as we got ready for the show and dinner. We would all go to the show and then drop them off at the kids club. They had fun and we enjoyed a nice dinner together.

These sound like good strategies, too. Thanks!

 

[helenb]

I like those! He might even consider wearing them! Thanks for the link. I can't buy them now, since our cruise isn't until August 2013, but I'll keep the link for sure! Thanks!

They put these out every year. The colors can change, but they always have basic beige, and usually an olive or grey color. My son considers them like shorts, especially since he can wear sandals with them!

 

[micheleq]

We recently cruised on the Magic and had Late Dinner seating. It worked out fine for us. My girls ate around 5:30-6pm each night on the pool deck (pizza, chicken tenders, burgers, hot dogs, fruit, wraps) and swam in a near-empty Mickey pool a few nights (we tried to get to the 6:15 shows a few nights as well). A few nights they came with us to dinner and had just dessert & then went to the Oceaneers Club or Lab. Other nights, they went to the Club before we went to dinner alone. I think on one night they each had a second dinner in the MDR!

I wish we had taken them to Topsiders one night for dinner, probably the night DH & I went to Palo would have been best.

 

[MCBWHITE]

They can also just eat dinner in the club instead of with you if you are comfortable with that. My dd did that on CC, they bring all the kids the same tray, she just ate what she liked.(ckn nuggets, fruit, ect..)

I wasn't aware of this - good to know!

It does make me wonder, though.....Do the kids clubs offer snacks/drinks at all (during non-meal times) or are the parents responsible for sending a little something with the kids? Our kids are little and this is our first cruise, so I'm still trying to figure out what to expect!