Restaurant Recs for 4 Year Old

[trauva]

I'm taking my son at 4 to Disney for the first time, and I'm trying to make lists of "must do" restaurants. The problem is that he's super picky... PB&J, Mac and Cheese, Pizza, Chicken Nuggets -- He does pancakes for breakfast, but he's not a super eater... We're staying at the Contemporary but not doing a dining plan since I'm overlapping the trip with a conference.

I'm open for suggestions in any of the parks or hotels -- Just things to make sure we do.

 

[disneygals10]

I would book at least one character dining, if you can. Which characters does he like?

My kids are super picky as well and had no problem eating at Disney.

 

[mandis77]

Character Meals are perfect for the little ones. Chef Mickey's in your resort is great! Most places have a kids menu that has all the foods he would like (you can also look at menu's online beforehand).

 

[Thing 1]

Those food are pretty much available most places, especially most CS. If you are just looking to get fed, that might want to be the focus of your plans. With the exception of the WS place and a few others like BOG, you can pretty much find at least a couple of those things anywhere. DS at that age liked pizza planet CS the best. For sit downs at four, he enjoyed character meals a lot. Buffet ones are a bigger hit with him than family style, though the character interaction at Garden Grill is fantastic. Chief Mickey, Crystal Palace, and The Donald Duck one at AK that I can not remember the name of right now were favorites. He also liked Rain Forrest Cafe and T Rex cafe and Trails End Buffet. AT four he was fine to eat anywhere except V & A . We mix up the fun and loud places with the Signature type places. For some reason he really likes the Wave. If there is nothing you see on a menu he likes, always ask if there are any other child friendly options. Many times they can get or fix other things though never count on it.

 

[kboo]

Our 3.5 yo is not a picky eater, but pretty much every TS restaurant has a kids menu or kid friendly options like pizza/pasta, burger, chicken fingers, mac and cheese. Most of the buffets have at least some (if not all) of these options too. Character meals are pretty much guaranteed to have all of these options. Our favorites on our last 2 trips with an almost 3 (Aug 2014) and a 3.5 yo (May 2015) have been:

Crystal Palace (Pooh characters)
Tusker house at AK (Donald Duck et al)
Chef Mickey's is convenient but I thought the food was only so so
Garden Grille (the revolving one at the Land pavilion)
The princess dinners are also a lot of fun - we went with 3 yo B/G twins in May to Akershus and in all the pictures, the boy looks like the cat who ate the canary. CRT was also a lot of fun but if your son isn't that into proncesses, AKershus is a little cheaper (the food, pictures, setting and ambiance at CRT is much nicer though)
DH took her to Trattoria al Forno (on the Boardwalk) and she loved it - Italian + pizza so you will have lots of options (I too overlapped this trip with a conference!)
Be Our Guest (reserve as soon as you can - it's in the Beast's castle and the only place you can meet the Beast AND the only place you can get beer and wine in MK)

You can see menus at allears.net, here are some other restaurants we really enjoyed with our daughter.
Boma
Sanaa
California Grill
Flying Fish Café
Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar (more intimate, felt more adult, had wine flights, but also had kid friendly options)
I wouldn't necessarily NOTgo to any of these just because you're concerned your son might not eat the food there. There are always kid-friendly options, and these were restaurants we really enjoyed as grownups too.


We have also been to Via Napoli and Marrakesh in Epcot and while they both have their pluses (good pizza and coolers // belly dancing that the kids get in on), they also have their drawbacks (slow service // so so food) so I would give them a pass for your first trip.

Counter service is always good and pretty much guaranteed to find something your son will eat, but don't expect fine cuisine!

Hope this helps!

 

[kboo]

Those food are pretty much available most places, especially most CS. If you are just looking to get fed, that might want to be the focus of your plans. With the exception of the WS place and a few others like BOG, you can pretty much find at least a couple of those things anywhere. DS at that age liked pizza planet CS the best. For sit downs at four, he enjoyed character meals a lot. Buffet ones are a bigger hit with him than family style, though the character interaction at Garden Grill is fantastic. Chief Mickey, Crystal Palace, and The Donald Duck one at AK that I can not remember the name of right now were favorites. He also liked Rain Forrest Cafe and T Rex cafe and Trails End Buffet. AT four he was fine to eat anywhere except V & A . We mix up the fun and loud places with the Signature type places. For some reason he really likes the Wave. If there is nothing you see on a menu he likes, always ask if there are any other child friendly options. Many times they can get or fix other things though never count on it.

I liked that Garden Grill was a bit more low key when you're revolved on the inside - and the way the seats are set up - it was just nice to take a break from the crowds and the noise. It's easy to get overstimulated at WDW. Also, the character interaction is great (especially if you're sitting on the lower level) because the characters come to your table and it's not really easy (or encouraged) for other people to crowd the character when they're visiting with you.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

My son's favorite at four was Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom with the Pooh characters. We did Trex Cafe and we weren't really impressed, but our niece who is in love with dinosaurs thought it was amazing, so if he loves dinos that would definitely be on my list.

 

[Linda M]

We just finished a six day trip with our five year old granddaughter last week. Every restaurant had a children's menu with a good selection for kids, e.g., pizza, mac and cheese, chicken, spaghetti and meatballs, etc. We ate, with her, at Mama Melrose's, Jiko, Citrico's, Rainforest Café, Gasparilla, Chef Mickey's, Cinderella's Royal Table at the castle, Coral Reef at Epcot, Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show. Never a problem with good choices for all of us.

Breakfast with Mickey at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary was great. The character visit every table and make it special for the kids. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto. And the food was pretty good, too! We also did the lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table, which was also lots of fun.

 

[laughinplace199]

I agree with the others who suggested a character meal. Your DS is the perfect age for it and there's a lot of variety as far as food goes. There's Chef Mickey's right in your resort. My kids also really like Crystal Palace (MK) and Tusker House (AK) for character meals, especially for breakfast.

For non-buffet restaurants, I suggest checking out the menus at allears.net. You'll be able to see each restaurant's adult and child menu and that way you can be sure to find places with food that your DS likes.

Have a great time!

 

[AshleeH]

My younger son (who we were worried about his reaction to the characters on his first trip at 4) loved them! Character meals are now a must. I highly recommend Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, and Hollywood and Vine - great fun for the preschool crowd.

 

[LifeTheDisneyWay14]

At Epcot, Sunshine Seasons will have something familiar for him and something more exciting for you! In general, food courts should be great for you guys (and groups of travelers with different needs, overall).