Resort Restaurant with a Play Area

[HopperFan]

I'm not American, and where I come from there are restaurants (other than fast food joints) that have dedicated spaces for kids to play. Vacation resorts often have these spaces, too. Sometimes it's an area in the restaurant itself or else some play equipment situated near the outdoor seating. Anyway, I was just making an innocent enquiry (I'm new to the forum) to help our family fine-tune our planning, and make our dining experience as pleasant as possible for the three of us. Let's leave it at that. The point about not confusing Fort Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge has been noted. Thank you.

Folks reacted as they did because what you have available where you live and what is here is very different .... and it gets complicated here. We are a very litigeous society so many businesses, if they used to have play areas, have eliminated them. There are some playgrounds and play areas at every resort and park, so you little guy should have no problem burning some energy each day. The water splash pad at your resort will be awesome, I'm sure he'll love it! (you too)

And ........ his age is what I consider perfect for Disney magic so have a wonderful trip.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

I'm not American, and where I come from there are restaurants (other than fast food joints) that have dedicated spaces for kids to play. Vacation resorts often have these spaces, too. Sometimes it's an area in the restaurant itself or else some play equipment situated near the outdoor seating. Anyway, I was just making an innocent enquiry (I'm new to the forum) to help our family fine-tune our planning, and make our dining experience as pleasant as possible for the three of us. Let's leave it at that. The point about not confusing Fort Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge has been noted. Thank you.

Sa a PP said, I think the confusion comes from the fact that US restaurants don't really offer that. The expectation in almost all restaurants is that children stay at the table with their parents.

 

[piccolopat]

You should know that unlike other places, letting your child play alone while you watch him from inside a store or restaurant is usually problematic here in the United States, especially at that young age.

 

[WantToGoNow]

I would practice going out to eat before your vacation - with him sitting at the table with you for the entire meal. I would also do this at home. When my children were small I never had a problem taking them to Disney table service meals because they were used to it and knew they had to stay in their seat at the table until we were finished. My 2 year old grandson is the same now - he sits until we are finished.

 

[megsher]

I think people are misunderstanding the question. There are plenty of places like this in America, most near vacation spots. We go to lots in Bethany Beach, DE and Ocean City, MD. And there are a few smaller ones (cornhole and such) where we live on Long Island. You don't leave your kid there during dinner. It's more like we have a 30 minute wait till we can get a table so my son plays while we watch him. Then we all sit down and order our food. My husband or myself will take turns watching him play at the play space till the food comes. Then we all sit and eat together. No one is dropping their kids there, and these aren't fast food places.

 

[AngiTN]

Add me to the list that has never seen a play area for children at any sit down dining restaurants anywhere. Not have we ever needed it. DD and now DGD could always sit still and quiet long enough for everyone to eat a meal. We do eat out a lot so I guess it's something they just grew up doing. Restaurants do usually provide a coloring page and crayons. That has always been enough to occupy them till food came.

 

[dismomkc]

We have lots of places like this near us where you can eat on the patio while kids play on the playground. In fact there is a BBQ, Mexican and Seafood resteraunt less than 10 minutes away from us that all offer this. But you know what they say everything is bigger and better in Texas!

 

[NicoleLarson]

Does anyone have any suggestions for a good restaurant at a WDW resort/Disney Springs that has a children's play area (jungle gym, slide, swings, etc.). My husband and I will be traveling with our very active three and a half year old son who struggles to sit still for very long! We're staying at POFQ. This would be for one of our non-park evenings. TIA!

For what it's worth, I think whispering canyon cafe in Wilderness Lodge would be a great fit for your family. They do have a very small play table in the waiting area that has Lincoln logs and of course the stick horse races while you eat.

 

[mouserrificmom]

Are you set on a sit-down restaurant? Many of the resorts have outside play areas close to the quick service options where you could carry out your meal and allow your son to safely explore while you are eating. One of the best, unfortunately, was Caribbean Beach which is currently under construction....but it had a HUGE patio area where there would be staff members with hula hoops, playground chalk, etc. that the kids would have a great time with while enjoying their meals. There are also usually plentiful options ..... not as good and by no means as elegant as a "sit down" meal in a nicer restaurant, but certainly pleasant enough and engaging enough for your son to play while eating. We have stayed and many of the resorts in each category, and most if not all had an outdoor area with activities going on near the quick service spots.

 

[MagicPlanning]

Universal had this concept at a couple of their resort restaurants. It was awesome when the kids were younger.

Do they still? If so, which restaurants? I'll have to check one out!!

 

[elaine amj]

For what it's worth, I think whispering canyon cafe in Wilderness Lodge would be a great fit for your family. They do have a very small play table in the waiting area that has Lincoln logs and of course the stick horse races while you eat.

Exactly what I was going to suggest. They also have a pile of toys in the middle of the lobby (surrounded by cushy couches) to play with while waiting for your table. My kids were sad when our table was ready.

 

[elaine amj]

Do they still? If so, which restaurants? I'll have to check one out!!

Pretty sure the restaurant in Hard Rock Hotel has a kids dining room. Its a very small room with tables (I think only kids sit in there), a TV and a few toys that opens up to the main dining room. I believe it works better with slighltly older kids (6/7?) who can eat independently.

 

[MarBee]

OP, though I do not know of any restaurants like this in Disney (it would be awesome, though!), I just wanted to share my two sense. When my DS was 2.5 we took our first trip. We didn't dine out much prior to our trip bc he was pretty much a nightmare in a sit down restaurant unless we had some sort of screen in front of him. I was so nervous for our trip because we'd be eating out every day. We did a lot of character meals (we had the dining plan), and we were amazed at how well he did. He was so intrigued with characters that my husband and I were both able to chew our food while Jt was hot at the same time! (This was the first time this had happened since my oldest was born!)
So for peace of mind you may want to look into character meals like this. Chef Mickey, Akershus, Crystal Palace, and The Disney Jr breakfast all gave the kids a chance to get up and dance or march in a "parade" too while eating. Hopefully these will work for you the way they work for us. (Btw, that was 3 years ago, and we are now able to eat as a family like civilized humans FINALLY! You guys will get there too )

 

[AngiTN]

Pretty sure the restaurant in Hard Rock Hotel has a kids dining room. Its a very small room with tables (I think only kids sit in there), a TV and a few toys that opens up to the main dining room. I believe it works better with slighltly older kids (6/7?) who can eat independently.

Now that you mention that, I saw a room like you describe at RPR, in the Island something or other Restaurant, where they have the Breakfast Buffet. It's on the 1st floor, there off the pool. We didn't dine in there but we saw it as we were walking out of the restaurant and I commented that I'd never seen anything like that. It was recent too, just last month.

 

[Minnesota!]

I think people are misunderstanding the question. There are plenty of places like this in America, most near vacation spots. We go to lots in Bethany Beach, DE and Ocean City, MD. And there are a few smaller ones (cornhole and such) where we live on Long Island. You don't leave your kid there during dinner. It's more like we have a 30 minute wait till we can get a table so my son plays while we watch him. Then we all sit down and order our food. My husband or myself will take turns watching him play at the play space till the food comes. Then we all sit and eat together. No one is dropping their kids there, and these aren't fast food places.

Huh. Seriously - I have never seen a place like this (unless fast food...). Not even the Joe's by us has it (as of the last time I was there 4+ years ago..)

OP - another suggestion, to build on something someone else said. Fort Wilderness, they have take out at the restaurant - fried chicken and sides - you can get it, eat at a picnic table, and let your son play on the playground right there..

 

[Lilith]

Thanks to all for the input. It has been interesting learning about American restaurant culture. I've been to the States a couple of times, and the only differences I noticed then were that people eat out a lot more than we do, and that waiting for tables at popular restaurants is the norm. This was, of course, before becoming a parent. Now we don't eat out without googling 'child-friendly restaurants' first, or going to our tried and trusted restaurants that we know have designated play areas.

I think people are misunderstanding the question. There are plenty of places like this in America, most near vacation spots. We go to lots in Bethany Beach, DE and Ocean City, MD. And there are a few smaller ones (cornhole and such) where we live on Long Island. You don't leave your kid there during dinner. It's more like we have a 30 minute wait till we can get a table so my son plays while we watch him. Then we all sit down and order our food. My husband or myself will take turns watching him play at the play space till the food comes. Then we all sit and eat together. No one is dropping their kids there, and these aren't fast food places.

Thanks for this. We weren't looking for a place to drop off our son or set him "loose". He's always in eyesight and supervised by us.

For what it's worth, I think whispering canyon cafe in Wilderness Lodge would be a great fit for your family. They do have a very small play table in the waiting area that has Lincoln logs and of course the stick horse races while you eat.

Exactly what I was going to suggest. They also have a pile of toys in the middle of the lobby (surrounded by cushy couches) to play with while waiting for your table. My kids were sad when our table was ready.

Whispering Canyon Cafe sounds like a great option, too. We're not used to waiting for tables, so that's also good to plan for. Thank you. I've gone ahead and made a tentative ADR here just to cover our bases. Chances are we'll probably end up staying at the resort for that particulatar night on our itinerary. We'll see how the trip and our other dining experiences go.

Trail's End, while it sounds wonderful for children, does seem a bit off the beaten track.

OP, though I do not know of any restaurants like this in Disney (it would be awesome, though!), I just wanted to share my two sense. When my DS was 2.5 we took our first trip. We didn't dine out much prior to our trip bc he was pretty much a nightmare in a sit down restaurant unless we had some sort of screen in front of him. I was so nervous for our trip because we'd be eating out every day. We did a lot of character meals (we had the dining plan), and we were amazed at how well he did. He was so intrigued with characters that my husband and I were both able to chew our food while Jt was hot at the same time! (This was the first time this had happened since my oldest was born!)
So for peace of mind you may want to look into character meals like this. Chef Mickey, Akershus, Crystal Palace, and The Disney Jr breakfast all gave the kids a chance to get up and dance or march in a "parade" too while eating. Hopefully these will work for you the way they work for us. (Btw, that was 3 years ago, and we are now able to eat as a family like civilized humans FINALLY! You guys will get there too )

Thanks for this - I was beginning to feel like a bad parent. I thought my child was just a normal, busy boy more interested in physical play than sitting still at a table for a long period of time, but started to doubt myself after reading about how everyone else's kids sat through meals! We already have an ADR at Crystal Palace - my son loves Winnie the Pooh, so hopefully this will keep him entertained. I didn't know there was a Disney Junior breakfast. My son loves Jake, Doc Macstuffins, etc. I'll look into it. Thank you for the suggestions! And thanks for the encouragement - I look forward to enjoying a meal out in peace again, without having to manage my son's restlessness!

Finally, we also have an ADR for California Grill, as a special treat to ourselves. But don't worry fellow diners, we'll bring out the big guns for this one (iPad time!) so that we can celebrate our first ever trip to Disney with some signature dining!

 

[unrequited23]

Thanks for this - I was beginning to feel like a bad parent.

You are a thoughtful parent who is trying to meet the needs of her child, the adults of the family and the other patrons in the restaurant.

 

[HopperFan]

I'm not American, and where I come from there are restaurants (other than fast food joints) that have dedicated spaces for kids to play. Vacation resorts often have these spaces, too. Sometimes it's an area in the restaurant itself or else some play equipment situated near the outdoor seating. Anyway, I was just making an innocent enquiry (I'm new to the forum) to help our family fine-tune our planning, and make our dining experience as pleasant as possible for the three of us. Let's leave it at that. The point about not confusing Fort Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge has been noted. Thank you.

I think people are misunderstanding the question. There are plenty of places like this in America, most near vacation spots. We go to lots in Bethany Beach, DE and Ocean City, MD. And there are a few smaller ones (cornhole and such) where we live on Long Island. You don't leave your kid there during dinner. It's more like we have a 30 minute wait till we can get a table so my son plays while we watch him. Then we all sit down and order our food. My husband or myself will take turns watching him play at the play space till the food comes. Then we all sit and eat together. No one is dropping their kids there, and these aren't fast food places.

No I don't think folks misunderstood. OP was not looking for a playground for waiting, although that will be a plus for her because we have waits she isn't used to. OP is looking for a play area within the dining space, or dining within the outdoor play area so that their son can play while they can see him from their table. I think we've all come across play areas for our kids to use while we wait for our tables but dining & playing at same time will be a rare find. The OP has these available in her country, but other than fast food I think tables in play areas are more rare here. She is looking for those types, for sure she won't find it on property.

She got lots of good info on play options while waiting and entertaining meals that he might enjoy.

 

[sweetmama17]

T-Rex at Disney Springs has a Dig play area out front (very mini version of the dig area at the boneyard at AK). It's been a couple years since I've been but it did keep the kids occupied while waiting. Disney Springs restaurants and other outside the World restaurants are really the only restaurants you would have super long waits for since most sit down Disney restaurants now require reservations thus eliminating the long walk up waits.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

In a lot of countries overseas it appears that play areas inside restaurants, where the children go while the parents eat, is a bit more acceptable. In Iceland people would go into stores and leave babies in carriages outside. That would be unheard of here in the US. In fact it would probably be considered negligence, as it's seen as unsafe.

Over here, it's not typical to have an area at a dining establishment where a child can play while the parents eat, and have those areas be in close proximity or within the same building. There are a few exceptions like Chuck E. Cheese, which is generally considered for the children. People without children don't go there at all. Most of the time, in restaurants that do have play areas, a parent would actually have to leave the restaurant with the child in order to have the child play in a play area.