Signature restaurants with young children

[elump1]

I am in the process of planning a trip for a group of 8 - 5 adults and 3 kids The kids will be ages 8, 4, and almost 2. We would like to try some signature restaurants and I was wondering if there were some that were more "kid friendly" than others. We are planning CRT, but other than that we wanted to try one or two more if possible. The kids are well behaved and so far have done well eating out, including our last trip to disney in feb. We have never eaten at any of the signature restaurants and just wanted to know if there are typically kids at them or if they are usually mostly adults. Since we have so many adults if there is a problem one of us can always leave with the kids but I didn't want to plan for the whole group to go and then feel uncomfortable having the kids there. I am particularly interested in Jiko, because we are staying at AKL and would like to eat there.

 

[BlakeNJ]

My kids at the time were 6, 4,& 1. We ate Thanksgiving dinner at Jiko with the kids and really enjoyed it! We also ate at California Grill but with out the kids. We did see a table two little girls but they were so tired and cranky, there was no way the parents were enjoying themselves. I think at one point, the youngest girl fell asleep on her mom I would say Jiko was more kid friendly.

Now, on the other hand, I think that if I got an early ADR at Cali Grill--say when the restaurant first opens--I would have no problem bringing my kids. That being said, only you know your kids and how they will behave. A long day at the park isn't going to make for a fun dinner. I'd plan my day accordingly and enjoy your dinner!!

 

[elump1]

Thanks for the reply! We are definitely going to try to plan one "date night" for my husband and I to try a signature place and leave the kids with the grandparents! We typically do our park touring in the morning (the kids are up, so we get to the parks at rope drop), eat lunch, and then head to the room for naps, swimming, and relaxing. Then we get freshened up and head to dinner. This pattern has worked well with us so far, but you never know what the day may bring when you have young ones! We try to be flexible with our plans. We would rather go back to the room and eat pizza than try to sit through a meal with a cranky 2-year old!

 

[llqool]

we tried Artists Point w/our then 2 yr old and 4 year old daughters. I would *not* recommend that place for children, even though they have a good children's menu. We felt out of place. On our date night, we went to California Grill, and we actually saw many more children there and b/c of the open kitchen, the place was a lot louder. I told my husband we should have brought the kids *there* and gone to AP on our own. And at CG there is the viewing deck where you could take restless kids if you wanted.

We went to Jiko on our date night this past December... i have to say I don't think it is particularly child friendly.

For non-signature dining, we really like Kona....it's open and loud and child-friendly, and the food is really good!

 

[goofygal531]

I've heard Jiko is not child friendly as it's very quiet in there.

I think Narcoossee's is very child friendly as it's loud and pretty casual. Plus the food is just amazing!

Brown Derby is wonderful and very child friendly, it's in DHS. No dress code, very loud and they have large booth seating that can be fun for the little ones. My DS2 feels less confined in a booth than siting in a high chair for two hours.

I think if you're considering Cali Grill, I'd dine early. I wouldn't try to schedule a fireworks seating with little ones.

 

[Pakey]

I've eaten at all of the signatures on several occasions. Well behaved children are fine at any of them. The meals will take close to 90 minutes (although we've experienced Jiko to be closer to 2 hours but then we enjoy the slow pace).

There are generally more children at Brown Derby, CG and Narcoosees but that doesn't mean they are the only ones where children fit in. I do think that Artist Point, Jiko and Yachtsman are the quietest but I've seen children at all of them, especially earlier in the evening. I've honestly never been at a signature where I have noticed any children who were misbehaving or bothering my dining experience in any way.

 

[MissionMouse]

Our kids have always dined with us at Disney Signature restaurants. There are only two that are not kid friendly: V&A and Bistro de Paris.

We always dined earlier as young children do better dining early as they tended to get tired when we dined after 6:30

 

[abc999]

Our kids have eaten at Narcoosee's and Yachtmans and we were fine.

 

[shellybaxter]

As long as your children are well behaved they will be welcome by both staff and patrons at pretty much any Disney restaurant (except Vic and Als). However, if the children are not well behaved you might receive some dirty looks from the patrons. I never mind well behaved children in restauarnts (even though its usually just me and my DH) but I hate rude parents who think their ability to bring their children is more important than my ability to enjoy a restuarant. We've run into a few rude parents at the signature restaurants. A child who didn't want to hold still, but was being held on an adults lap, kicked my husband in the back at Narcoosees. At Jiko their was a family with a toddler (around 18 to 24 months) who kept screaming and fusing. They would let him fuse for about 5 minutes and then take him outside to walk around. The problem was that they repeated that pattern several times while we were eating, so their was disruption with the screaming, disruption with the getting him to go outside and that went on and on. In my opinion those parent should have gotten their meals to go and left the restaurant

 

[Uncleromulus]

Pakey has pretty much stated the case. California Grill and Narcoossee's draw lots of kids due to the fireworks. Both are loud restaurants. Brown Derby draws kids due to Fantasmic. It's now a loud restaurant as well.

 

[Hopefully]

You will find children in all WDW except V & A. As stated, you know your children best. The key is can they sit quietely and behave for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Personally I think Jiko is more adult oriented. That said, I did go with my 4 and 6 yo grandchildren and they were great. On our last visit with DH, and adult DS we did not see a single child in Jiko during our meal. It was quiet and a wonderful meal. Perhaps you want to leave that as your "date night" dinner.
Also when we ate at the Yachtsman's Steakhouse there were few children there.
We tend to eat a bit later so that may account for some of what we have experienced.
Have a Great Trip

 

[laughinplace199]

Jiko is a must do for us on every trip. We just ate there on Tues night with a 9 yr old, a 7 yr old, and a 2 yr old. We always get an early ADR (5:30/6:00) and have never had any problems. There were lots of kids there on Tues and everyone was very well behaved.

 

[Doogan]

CG is our favorite restaurant. We were a little concerned the first time we went with our young kids, especially our ADHD 4 year old boy. Meals at CG can last pretty long. However, the wait staff at CG is fantastic and has always figured out how to do everything possible to meet our needs. They've brought piles of coloring pages and crayons. To our delight, they brough goldfish crackers which are our son's favorite. For desert they brought out rice crispy sushi! Add in the fact that they encourage getting up and going to talk to the chef's and going out on the roof and it's really not a problem to get through dinner there. It was probably near the top of our kids favorite dining experience, too.