Signature restaurants for toddlers?

[DeniseR]

Have any of you taken toddlers (2.5 years old ish) to the signature restaurants like Yachtsman, Narcoossees, etc? Is it awkward? I mean, do you worry about them there disturbing the peace (for lack of a better word) or are these restaurants Disney friendly like others?

 

[mjkacmom]

Personally, I wouldn't. I like kids, but if I'm dropping that much on dinner at a restaurant with an adult atmosphere, I'd be much less tolerant of noisy kids.

 

[DeniseR]

Personally, I wouldn't. I like kids, but if I'm dropping that much on dinner at a restaurant with an adult atmosphere, I'd be much less tolerant of noisy kids.

Well I guess that "adult atmosphere" was what I was asking about. We will be on the dining plan and would like to use some credits that way. Guess we will just wait and see how they do.

 

[laughinplace199]

We've brought little ones to Narcoossee's, Jiko, Artist Point, Citricos, and Brown Derby. It's never been an issue. One meal at Jiko, DS was about 5 months old and started to fuss, so I took him out. He fell asleep as I walked around outside the restaurant, then I went back in and he slept through the rest of the meal.

As long as kids are well behaved, it's fine.

 

[DeniseR]

We've brought little ones to Narcoossee's, Jiko, Artist Point, Citricos, and Brown Derby. It's never been an issue. One meal at Jiko, DS was about 5 months old and started to fuss, so I took him out. He fell asleep as I walked around outside the restaurant, then I went back in and he slept through the rest of the meal.

As long as kids are well behaved, it's fine.

Well that's good to know. We will have 4 adults with us for those two kids in sure someone can take one out if things go South!

 

[SwimMom2]

My youngest son was 15 months old and we visited WDW 5 times before he turned 3. We eat in lots of signature restaurants and adore them. I am not one for quick service dining and would rather eat one upscale meal a day plus snacks. I prefer those at resorts to those at the parks, but have eaten in both many times.

All of the signature restaurants that I ate in were great with little ones. They have kids menus that have coloring pages and waiters will often bring the kids a small toy. You can also purchase small toys to bring to the restaurant for the novelty from the resort gift shops. Also, the ambient noise in these restaurants allows for coverage of normal kid sounds. To me, the ability to bring children to nice restaurants is one of the major reasons to visit WDW. Where I live, children are no longer welcomed in fine dining establishments (did not used to be the case 20 years ago, but is now).

I did notice that there was typically a specific area in the dining room where families were seated, although it was not separated or in any way segregated from the rest of the room. I think the servers tried to put quiet couples in an out of the way location and families in the middle of the action. For example, in Jiko, we sat right next to the open kitchen and could watch the food preparation.

WDW is family-friendly.

 

[DeniseR]

My youngest son was 15 months old and we visited WDW 5 times before he turned 3. We eat in lots of signature restaurants and adore them. I am not one for quick service dining and would rather eat one upscale meal a day plus snacks. I prefer those at resorts to those at the parks, but have eaten in both many times.

All of the signature restaurants that I ate in were great with little ones. They have kids menus that have coloring pages and waiters will often bring the kids a small toy. You can also purchase small toys to bring to the restaurant for the novelty from the resort gift shops. Also, the ambient noise in these restaurants allows for coverage of normal kid sounds. To me, the ability to bring children to nice restaurants is one of the major reasons to visit WDW. Where I live, children are no longer welcomed in fine dining establishments (did not used to be the case 20 years ago, but is now).

I did notice that there was typically a specific area in the dining room where families were seated, although it was not separated or in any way segregated from the rest of the room. I think the servers tried to put quiet couples in an out of the way location and families in the middle of the action. For example, in Jiko, we sat right next to the open kitchen and could watch the food preparation.

WDW is family-friendly.

All also very good information and I appreciate your input! Makes me feel better about making some ADRs!

 

[Thing 1]

We pretty much took our kids anywhere we went as toddlers so yes, they were use to eating at nice places. A few tips that help.
-Go a bit earlier. more families, less couples looking for quite and romance, kids less tired.
-Let the waiter know you are on toddler time. With DH only, I like a long slow meal....kids?,,,,,, nope. Be ready to order, consider skipping apps etc.
-Make sure the kids are hungry, but not starving. Have a few crackers along or ask for something.
-Get a booster but don't use it till the food come. You only have so much containment time.
-Order then walk. Take your toddler outside in the lobby or just outside to let them walk a few minutes while waiting for food, or between courses.=
-Take entertainment that does not disturb others. Stickers, small toys etc. I am not opposed to handing a toddler a phone or i pad with NO volume to allow the adults dessert and a glass of wine. Others disagree.
-Make restaurant rules. At two they were simple, stay on your bottom, use your fork or spoon and use inside voices.
-Remove immediately if necessary. Did not have to do this many time, but its important. Find an out of the way place and give a time out or whatever you use.

It really is worth the trouble to train the kids to enjoy and appreciate nicer places. DS now 8 was about three when we stopped for a rare fast food lunch once and he wanted to know if he could order calamari for his appetizer.

 

[DeniseR]

We pretty much took our kids anywhere we went as toddlers so yes, they were use to eating at nice places. A few tips that help.
-Go a bit earlier. more families, less couples looking for quite and romance, kids less tired.
-Let the waiter know you are on toddler time. With DH only, I like a long slow meal....kids?,,,,,, nope. Be ready to order, consider skipping apps etc.
-Make sure the kids are hungry, but not starving. Have a few crackers along or ask for something.
-Get a booster but don't use it till the food come. You only have so much containment time.
-Order then walk. Take your toddler outside in the lobby or just outside to let them walk a few minutes while waiting for food, or between courses.=
-Take entertainment that does not disturb others. Stickers, small toys etc. I am not opposed to handing a toddler a phone or i pad with NO volume to allow the adults dessert and a glass of wine. Others disagree.
-Make restaurant rules. At two they were simple, stay on your bottom, use your fork or spoon and use inside voices.
-Remove immediately if necessary. Did not have to do this many time, but its important. Find an out of the way place and give a time out or whatever you use.

It really is worth the trouble to train the kids to enjoy and appreciate nicer places. DS now 8 was about three when we stopped for a rare fast food lunch once and he wanted to know if he could order calamari for his appetizer.

Yes, also agree with everything you said! I appreciate the advice too. These are twins (boy/girl) and my grandkids and I will have to say the most well behaved 2 year olds because there are two of them and they have to be! My daughter and son in law do those things that you talk about and I feel like it will be fine. I just haven't been there in 10 years and don't remember ever eating at the nicer places back then. Thanks for your help!

 

[myrtleturtle]

I would just have mom and dad check the menus before you go. My 2.5 year old twins are very adventurous eaters, but toddlers can be finicky.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

For me, it would depend on:
1. Do you take them to nice restaurants at home? Are they used to sitting quietly there?
2. If not, are you willing to enforce the standards of behavior expected at a nice restaurant, leaving if necessary if the child is disturbing others?

If so them , yes. If you aren't willing to get up and leave if you child becomes a disturbance for others, them no.

We almost always took DD with us when we went out to eat. I ate a few of those meals out of go boxes at home when she was little, but she learned how to behave in a restaurant and by the time she was about 4, we could take her anywhere and count on her behaving.

 

[DeniseR]

For me, it would depend on:
1. Do you take them to nice restaurants at home? Are they used to sitting quietly there?
2. If not, are you willing to enforce the standards of behavior expected at a nice restaurant, leaving if necessary if the child is disturbing others?

If so them , yes. If you aren't willing to get up and leave if you child becomes a disturbance for others, them no.

We almost always took DD with us when we went out to eat. I ate a few of those meals out of go boxes at home when she was little, but she learned how to behave in a restaurant and by the time she was about 4, we could take her anywhere and count on her behaving.

I'm not sure how many restaurants they have been to at home (if any) that are of the price range of these signature restaurants. They are two and don't sit perfectly quietly anywhere usually. However, they also eat and we take distractions and things for them to do when we do take them out to eat. I tend to think the food that you get at Disney is overpriced anyway to be honest as compared to what we would pay in our area for the same meal. All that said, we would of course take them out if they were disturbing the peace whether we were at Narcoossees or at a less expensive place there. I don't think just because the meal costs more that it would be okay to let them disturb other diners at a place that was less expensive. I guess I was just making sure that people DO take kids to these restaurants and that we wouldn't be the only ones there with toddlers. It sounds like that is not something I need to worry about though. I do like the suggestion of eating earlier though if possible and will work to get ADRs that are earlier rather than later, both for their benefit (need to be in bed at a reasonable hour) and the other diners that would be eating later in these places.

 

[LilyWDW]

As long as you are willing to remove them from the restaurant to keep them from bothering other diners if they start to act up and will make sure they stay in their seats otherwise, then take them. Then again, I think that should happen no matter the level of restaurant, in Disney and out of Disney.

 

[SwimMom2]

This is also worth mentioning, since you mentioned you are grandparents:

Children follow the lead and expectations that are set for them by the adults around them.

Even if the children have never eaten in a nice restaurant (mine never do at home- I like to cook), children will always follow the lead of their adults and are amazing adept at people reading. If you are holding your breath, waiting for them to act out, looking around the room to read others' reactions, etc., they will pick up on it and act out. Yes, even at 2. If you act happy, casual, and comfortable, then the kids will most likely follow suit. I have gone to these restaurants with both sets of grandparents. With my in-laws, my kids are angels, but my in laws relax and are not at all self-conscious. My own mother, on the other hand, I have had to walk around the restaurant with so that she did not stir the kids up because she gives off certain social signals if she isn't satisfied with something (the food, the service, the weather, the kids, the decor....). I am glad it is not my in laws who do this or I would have to make up some excuse not to dine with them, as I would not feel I could discuss this issue with them frankly.

Relax. You're going to Disney. It is multigenerational heaven. The kids will love it. You will love it.

 

[Alexle2007]

We've been taking DS8 to the signature restaurants since his first trip when he was 2. We never hesitated to take him since he always goes out to eat with us at home. He is very picky but as long there is pasta on the menu we are fine. We love Yachtsman Steakhouse and go there every visit.

 

[lucyddr]

As a parent of 2.5 year olds who are super well-behaved, I wouldn't personally recommend many signature meals. We have taken our children to nicer places several times, but the experience is really not enjoyable for us as a couple. Keeping the kids perfectly quiet requires a ton of effort on our parts and if the meal drags on beyond 90 minutes, things get MUCH harder. Usually, we leave the restaurant feeling like we just ran a marathon! When we went last year, we just did table service meals. We ate at all of the character buffets, Olivias, Boatrights, and TRex. Those places were enjoyable for all of us!

We are going next week, but have decided to stay off site this year. Because of that, the dining plan wasn't an option. We are paying full fare for every meal at Disney, and there's no way we would spend the $200-250 for signature meals as we simply wouldn't be able to enjoy them while trying to keep our children happy and "perfectly behaved." We plan to return to WDW in 2017. At that point, we will do the signature meals nightly and expect that our children will enjoy them as we continue to expose them to those meals!

For us, a trip to Disney is about family time and celebrating with our children. In light of that, we don't care to take them to places that create misery for them. And for toddlers, 90 minutes in a place where they have to sit and be quiet, isn't for them. Just something to think about, though I realize that for many...it's not all about the kids! (We spent years and many many thousands to get pregnant with ours and another 81 days after they were born to get them home...so Disney is a celebration trip focused on them and us as a family. For fancy meals, we hire sitters or family helps for my husband and I to enjoy!)

 

[LadyLaLa]

Great thread. I was wondering the same thing because I really wanted to eat at Le Cellier and I was worried my, usually well behaved, son would have a freak out moment and ruin someone's $50 steak.

 

[crisi]

The thing with taking them out of the restaurant is that someone leaves a $50 meal on their plate to eat cold or warmed up. We never did it at that age because I love good food - and its a shame to eat a good steak out of a styrofoam container. But no matter how family friendly Disney is, letting a toddler fuss in a signature restaurant for more than a few minutes before removing them isn't appropriate.

That said, kids are different. A lot of kids are really overtired at Disney. That can mean a normally squirmy kid pretty much zones through an hour and a half dinner and is fine, and it can mean a normally fine child feels that this is the time to express that overtired toddlers have lung power.

 

[westie55]

Each time I've dined in a signature restaurant, there have been small children/toddlers/babies. I agree with others that Disney is family friendly and as long as you make a point to remove your child if he/she disturbs others, you should be fine. DH and I also enjoy signature dining & we will have DS with us for the first time next trip. I'm interested to hear others' experiences as well because I'd love to be able to take DS to some signature restaurants with us if we think he'll be up to it by then!

 

[dsneygirl]

As a parent of 2.5 year olds who are super well-behaved, I wouldn't personally recommend many signature meals. We have taken our children to nicer places several times, but the experience is really not enjoyable for us as a couple. Keeping the kids perfectly quiet requires a ton of effort on our parts and if the meal drags on beyond 90 minutes, things get MUCH harder. Usually, we leave the restaurant feeling like we just ran a marathon! When we went last year, we just did table service meals. We ate at all of the character buffets, Olivias, Boatrights, and TRex. Those places were enjoyable for all of us!

)

This is why we don't I want to enjoy my meal and entertaining my 3 year old takes away from that for me. Last year we did CG and it was a nice, leisurely meal with apps and desserts over 2 hours. There were other kids there but I didn't want mine with me