Must-do ADRs with young kids?

[Lindymom]

Play and Dine at Hollywood and Vine is definitely on the list. Any other ideas for table service places the kids (they'll be 4 and 1 when we go) will love? The 4-year-old is an insanely picky eater, so it's more about the fun and atmosphere than the food. We're doing the DDP for the first time.

We'll be staying in the Contemporary so I'm up for any of the resorts nearby and we'll be spending time in all four theme parks. I'm probably not willing to go to the farther resorts since we'll only have 4.5 days.

I haven't done many table service meals in the parks before.

What about Wilderness Lodge or Polynesian... would it be worth the trip over from the Contemporary and the time out from the parks?

Thanks!

 

[Pixiedust34]

You can easily do Chef Mickey's at The Contemporary. It's a fun atmosphere!

 

[TheDizMom]

Chef Mickey's for sure since you are staying at the resort. Crystal Palace in MK and 1900 Park Fare at the GF.

 

[bless7ings]

Crystal Palace w/Pooh and the gang. My 11 daughters favorite. My critical mother and my husband voted Crystal Palace almost at # 1 for the lunch buffet.(My mother liked Yachtsman the best)

The kids would like to go back to Liberty Tree Tavern. There is Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and Chip and Dale. The atmosphere is nice and it had the most interaction w/characters that we went to. I would like to try the Garden Grill because I heard the same thing about there. Anyone know? At the LTT we saw the characters at least 4 or 5 times! That was the only character restarant where that happened, all the others were just once.(Cinderella's Royal Table, Storybook in Norway, and Crystal Palace)

I will try Chef Mickey's next time. Do you only see the characters once there also?

Oh yeah, they do a parade at Crystal Palace. I have heard they do something at Chef Mickeys.

Is there any other character meal where you see the characters multiple times? Maybe I will ask on the dining board.

 

[TheDizMom]

You are right about the princess meals in Norway, but we saw the characters 2 and 3 times at Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey's and 1900 Park Fare . I don't know if this is the norm , but at Chef Mickey's at least all three times we have been there we have had them come to our table 2-3 times. At Crystal Palace it took a lot longer but we saw each character 2 times. Maybe we are stopping to smell the roses so to speak longer than most people when we go to our eat . I hate to rush through my food and my DD is like that too.

 

[BarbWB]

Crystal Palace is great, especially for picky eaters b/c the food is good and you can even make your own pb&j. The Pooh characters are favorites, but the time with characters is so-so.

LTT food is so-so, but we had great character interaction. But, the characters are traditional characters (Chip, Dale, Pluto, Minnie, Goofy). The kids might be more familiar with Pooh.

Chef Mickey we did for breakfast. This was our worst character interaction. Very limited (though Donald did visit us line). But, we were there at a very busy time of year. Again, it's a buffet, so good for picky eaters.

O'hana was so fun, but better for older kids who can do the games. Also, it isn't great for picky eaters b/c some of the food was weird. OUr oldest was a picky vegetarian eater. The server tried to convince us to get her to try stuff before ordering specially. Aren't we the parents?? We're were on vacation and I just didn't see it as the right time to have a fight over food!

Donald's-breakfast-o-saurus was really fun for us. We got the latest sitting and had a TON of character interaction. Our server was funny, too. The only problem was that we were seated very far from the hot buffet line, so hopping up to get something quick for the kids wasn't easy. The food is okay, but they have a cold buffet with fruit and cereal, so your picky eater can probably find something.

We LOVE 50's prime time diner. It's really groovy and and a good time with the kids. The food is YUMMY, too. Very good for picky eaters.

Our favorite, which is way under-rated on the fun factor, I think, is the Biergarten in Germany. If ds will eat sausages, then it is great for him. They have ckn nuggets, too. WE love the band and dancing around after our meal. Plus they have lots of good beer for the parents!

Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue is a blast, too!! All of our kids liked it. My 2yo loved the show. Pretty good food for picky eaters, but they have rolls, so you can always get by with that in a pinch.

HOpe that helps some!

 

[dismom301930]

Crystal Palace in the MK is great - both the food and the interaction with Pooh and friends. The Storybook dinner in Norway at Epcot is great for Princess interaction. We thought the food at Chef Mickey's was just okay, but my kids loved meeting Mickey and friends. My girls also love eating at the Rainforest Cafe after a day in the Animal Kingdom.

 

[LBKMAMA]

In MK we love LTT and CP was also lots of fun.

We are trying CP for breakfast in Sept. LTT for dinner. I've heard lots of great things about Garden Grill and Biergarten so we are venturing over to Epcot to try both of those. Staying at Poly so we'll also ck out Ohana's and Kona. I think with kids buffets are excellent...my husband and I would probably enjoy something a little nicer, but family harmony at dinner on vacation is key in my book!

Depending on when you are going the Gala Dinner at GF may be in a different rest. the interaction for that the last two years was very good.

enjoy!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

My kids favorites:

Chef Mickeys
Crystal Palace
Ohana (Breakfast and dinner!)
Liberty Tree Tavern
Sci-Fi (for lunch - great burgers!)
Coral Reef (food only so-so but my kids loved the huge fish tank)
CRT
Princess Storybook Breakfast
Cape May Clambake Breakfast

Hope this helps!

 

[tinasquirrel]

I highly recommend Chef Mickeys especially if you are staying in the Contemporary. We did dinner, and I thought great character interaction. They came around 2 to 3 times. It was my DS' 4th birthday and they brought him a cupcake and Mickey came to celebrate at our table with the whole "napkins waving in the air" thing. Even DS was swirling his napkin in the air, so cute!

We also did Play and Dine for lunch on that trip (boys were 2 and 4). We went for a really early lunch, so the buffet had both breakfast and lunch available. It was not crowded at all, but I found that a negative. The characters came by too many times! And the boys really did not like them as much as the classic characters. They also do these really loud song/dance numbers that I just found annoying. And this is coming from a mom who watches Playhouse Disney every morning! Personally, I would not do it again, even though my boys LOVE Little Einsteins. They just did not really enjoy that experience for some reason.

We've also done CP, which was a great meal and good character experience. I probably won't do it again though because the boys are outgrowing Pooh. I think we are going to try the Liberty Tree Tavern this time if I can get ADRs. I'm probably too late though since we are leaving on Sunday!

 

[bless7ings]

Crystal Palace is great, especially for picky eaters b/c the food is good and you can even make your own pb&j. The Pooh characters are favorites, but the time with characters is so-so.

LTT food is so-so, but we had great character interaction. But, the characters are traditional characters (Chip, Dale, Pluto, Minnie, Goofy). The kids might be more familiar with Pooh.

Chef Mickey we did for breakfast. This was our worst character interaction. Very limited (though Donald did visit us line). But, we were there at a very busy time of year. Again, it's a buffet, so good for picky eaters.

O'hana was so fun, but better for older kids who can do the games. Also, it isn't great for picky eaters b/c some of the food was weird. OUr oldest was a picky vegetarian eater. The server tried to convince us to get her to try stuff before ordering specially. Aren't we the parents?? We're were on vacation and I just didn't see it as the right time to have a fight over food!

Donald's-breakfast-o-saurus was really fun for us. We got the latest sitting and had a TON of character interaction. Our server was funny, too. The only problem was that we were seated very far from the hot buffet line, so hopping up to get something quick for the kids wasn't easy. The food is okay, but they have a cold buffet with fruit and cereal, so your picky eater can probably find something.

We LOVE 50's prime time diner. It's really groovy and and a good time with the kids. The food is YUMMY, too. Very good for picky eaters.

Our favorite, which is way under-rated on the fun factor, I think, is the Biergarten in Germany. If ds will eat sausages, then it is great for him. They have ckn nuggets, too. WE love the band and dancing around after our meal. Plus they have lots of good beer for the parents!

Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue is a blast, too!! All of our kids liked it. My 2yo loved the show. Pretty good food for picky eaters, but they have rolls, so you can always get by with that in a pinch.

HOpe that helps some!

I totaly agree with you on the first two! I couldn't have said it better. Thanks for the other reviews they are helpful, especially since I totally agreed with you assessment of the first two. Biergarten, I also agree that the entertainment was fun, and I think it is what you make of it. I just didn't care for the food much and found little that I cared for. For a buffet I thought it was small and the worst variety.(for what I like)

 

[LisaNJ25]

these are my adrs for august.. i have a 14yo, 8yo, 2yo and 1 yo
8/21-Chef Mickey

8/22-Liberty Tree Tavern

8/23-Hollywood & Vine

8/24-Whispering Canyon Café

8/25- Le Cellier

8/26-‘Ohana

8/27-Akershus

 

[ANNFMUR]

The Garden Grill is great less noise and chaos than some others, Awesome character interaction it felt like we were the only ones there!

We loved Lilo and Stitch but we are Big Poly/O'hana fans.

Was not crazy about Crystal Palace. The interaction was not good that day. However, when I told a CM about it they made sure our girls got some time with Pooh.


I really don't like buffets in general but we are going Chef Mickey's and Park Fair on our next trip. It will be our first time at Mickey's. My girls loved Park Fair and the little one loves Cinderella.

I told myself I would not do as many characters this time but my kids love them and that is what it's all about! Take Care and have fun

 

[Tumblwd501]

Outside of the Character Meals, I think Whispering Canyon is great for atmoshphere and fun! Both times we've gone (both for dinner times), the atmosphere was loud, rowdy and fun as the servers were really interacting with all the guests. And our DS3 really likes the horse on a stick parade around the restaurant! Although, I have read on this board, that lunch times can be hit or miss with the fun factor.