Please critique my dining choices

[have2getaway]

I know this should be posted on the dining forum, but I specifically wanted feedback regarding how our hfa son (4 1/2) might make out. I know every child with autism is different. Our son's primariy issues are with waitin, excessive crowds and too much noise. He also doesn't like surprise noises, like say from a parade.

Saturday--arive at 6:00 - counter service & relax at the room
Sunday--Boma
Monday--Chef Mickey's (I have called with the intent to cancel and every time I have called they suggest we at least check it out since ds likes Minnie, but I am VERY SKEPTICAL)
Tuesday--Concourse
Wednesday--Coral Reef
Thursday--CRT
Friday--1900 Park Fare

We also have character breakfasts scheduled at CP, Cape May, and the Playhouse Disney one. Cape May is day one and if it does not go well, we plan to cancel the rest of our character experiences.

We are considering trying to do Artist Point one night while we leave him at the Lion's Club.

Please give me an suggestions. I know I am running out of time to make adjustments!

Jennifer

 

[Laurajean1014]

I take it that you really like Character meals.

Concourse - Would you be willing to change to Shula's Steak House, Yachtsman, Flying Fish or CA Grill?

Otherwise, take lots of pics of the characters!

 

[mamaminnie]

I'll just say that if your dc doesn't deal well with noises you may want to re-think some of those character meals. To me they always seem to be very noisy inside, and there is usually fairly loud music playing at some point during the meal.

Other than that they sound great, have a great trip!

 

[have2getaway]

We were rethinking most of the breakfast character meals, but we went with the ones for dinner primarily for buffet style (to avoid waiting issues) and location. Should we just rent a car to drive to quieter places to eat? DS is convinced we DON't need a rental while I am convinced we DO! Our son does not wait well, especially at meal times. If it's quiet, we can bring his leapster with headphones and this will work some of the time, but I know it won't work every time. Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[BCV23]

Our experinces with Disney Dining is that the meals in table service restaurants come out quickly at most restaurants especially if you are dining with young ones.

But the lines to be seated at the buffets are often long and involve more waiting than getting served in restaurants with full service.

I guess it all depends on what kind of waiting is hardest for your son.

Good luck with your planning.

 

[Selket]

Concourse can be very loud cause you are right next to Chef Mickey's - so you get all the noise from there with none of the fun

Boma can be crowded right out front in the waiting area - perhaps someone could take your son outside to wait (around the pool - nice out there or in the lobby) if that is a problem.

I would suggest making the dinner reservations on the early side if you can (like before 6 pm) - sometimes that cuts down on the wait. My younger son is diabetic and we have done that to facilitate a quick entry. I will say that we were there Spring Break so VERY busy and some of our dinners were scheduled at the most busy times possible (say 6:45) and we hardly ever waited. I didn't see others waiting either really (unlike my other trips) so It can't hurt to tell the person when you check in that your child has autism and would appreciate being seated asap. Perhaps they would even note in on your ADR's beforehand if you call.

Some parts of the restaurants seems less "busy" and noisy than others - perhaps ask to be seated in that sort of area could help too.

Good luck!

 

[MarieS]

We had character meals at CP and Chef Mickey's. For both of these we had the first/earliest seating to minimize waits and noise. Also, I requested a table next to a wall so my oldest could sit with his back to the wall ( or closest to) so he wouldn't be surprised by any characters. We found that for our first experiences with characters he did better if he could just observe. As the week progressed and he got used to them he did better. You may find your son will do better with the character meals later in the week after he has had time to get comfortable with seeing them.
Have a great trip!

 

[have2getaway]

Thanks everyone for all the tips. We have decided to go out twice during our stay alone and try to leave our son with one of the children's clubs. Mealtimes are his worst time so it really will benefit him as well. We are definitely doing the Club's Den one night and eating at Artist Point, and we are still deciding on another. We canceled Chef Mickey's--I just know he won't enjoy it. We are sticking with Boma, 1900 Park Fare, Coral Reef, and CRT the other nights and we plan to go early. Thanks again!

 

[JohnnySharp2]

We have booked Cape May in August for our son's 1st CB - he is Autistic too, figured it would be quieter than many of the others.

 

[sameyeyam]

How about doing your meals during off hours, when the restaurants are not so busy? That way the crowds will be almost non-existent and you can eat anywhere you want.

We are from the West Coast (3 hours behind Florida), so we accidentally discovered this.

We eat breakfast in our room. The go to parks when they first open (around 9am). We get a snack around 11am, then meet up for lunch around 2-2:30. The counter service restaurants are very slow at that time. If you want to do a character breakfast, then choose the absolute last sitting (once again, not that busy).

We then go back to hotel for swim or nap (parks are getting hot & crowded). We have a more substantial snack (cup of noodles, fruit, etc.) around 5pm at the hotel. Then we head back to the park around 7pm, for our 8-9pm dinner reservations. Once again, the restaurants are clean, buffets restocked, servers take more time, restaurants are nearly empty.

We always enjoy our meals at Disney, but mainly because we eat during the less busy, off hours. My nephew is autistic and we have great success with him during the off-peak dinner hours at Disney as well.

 

[tacomaranch]

We have also booked at coral reef. I hope your son also likes the fish. I think our DS will or maybe too much. They might be plastered against the tank!

Hunter loved the Charater meals at Crystal palace and other than breaking a glass bowl and everyone staring, it was nice. Buffet makes the wait time nothing and we could leave DH, go outside and then back in. I can't say enough about it. Tigger even went under the table with our DS. As already stated, it can be very noisy!

Good luck, tell us how it goes.