Signature resturants and 4 kids?

[mandymommy4]

Hi all, some expert dining help needed! My family is spending a week at WDW in March to celebrate my fathers retirement. We will be eating on the deluxe dining plan and have ADR's for 3 signature restaurants, California Grill, Jiko, and Narcoossee's. I was appointed the task of making all the ADR's for the entire week and thought the nicer restaurants would be a good way to get away from all the characters. Enter my children: DS 5, DD 4, DD 3, DD 2. I made my ADR's on 9/11 and now that the trip is a little closer i'm second guessing my plans. I have poured over the boards doing my research about each restaurant and have read that some people feel like these place are not for children. Our ADR's are for 5:30 for the nicer places, I figured they may be less crowded and thus my children may not disturb those coming to the restaurants for a nice romantic evening. My kids are well behaved but they are young and those of you with kids know that even the best behaved children have their moments. So what do you think? Are we doomed, is this going to be a misrable experience? I would love to hear from those of you that have dined at the nicer places with young kids! Thanks!

 

[jwfla422]

No, you're not "doomed". If your kids aren't up and running down the aisles or jumping on the tables you'll be fine.

March is a fairly busy time so the busier the restaurant the more noise overall so other guests won't even notice if anyone's having a meltdown. And, quite frankly, it is Disney, which is a family resort and kids are everywhere.

We've dined at all the restaurants you've planned to go to and we always see kids there (not to mention I have one of my own who is now 9 who always accompanies us and always has since she was 2-we had our share of meltdowns when she was younger so we just took some walks of course I'm sure 4 kids can be just "a little" more stressful).

But really if one of the kids is having a "meltdown" at any time then just take a walk with that child for a bit. I do recommend though a nap or down time in the afternoon so they're not totally wired. Would make it easy on everyone involved if you know what I mean! ENJOY!!

 

[Booyakasha]

I have dined at most of the Signature's with my young (under 10) kids. My kids are very used to dining in nice restaurants outside of Disney so it no big deal for us.
I am sure your kids are well behaved (arent' everyones). If you have taken them to nice restaurants where a meal can take 2 hours + in the past and they have enjoyed that you have nothing to worry about. If they have little or no experience with this type of dining then it could be a bit stressful. Let alone having 3 dinners. Do your kids like food? Will they enjoy this type of dining? These are upscale restaurants so although they are beautiful and may have beautiful views they are not something that most kids 5 and under can appreciate.

Dinner does not have to last 2+ hours your sever can help with that but it seems a shame to rush through the experience. It is good that you are going early so your kids won't be too tired.

Only you know your kids and know how they will react to these dinners. This is Disney World and kids are welcome every where but that should not be used as an excuse to take poorly behaved kids to these restaurants (not that yours are). My advice would be if you have done this with your kids before and it has worked and they enjoy then go for it! If it is a new experience for them give 1 reservation a shot and see how it goes. IF you are doing this just so the adults can have a nice meal and you are "dragging" the kids along, you might be asking for trouble.

Good luck and enjoy!

B.

 

[Pakey]

We're an adults only group of diners who eat at the signatures while at the World. We do not go to Narcoosies because there are too many kids there--our choice. Ca Grill is noisy anyway, we go because we love the food and we expect noise and kids. And I feel this way about MOST of the places on property.

JIKO though, I expect a quiet nice dinner there. The ambiance is very different. It's a darkened restaurant with the focal point being the glass enclosed wine room with all of the bottles. This is adult--the place boasts the wine selection and an eclectic menu that would not appeal to most young diners. We take our adult kids/spouses and pay OOP for the 8 of us and we'll split a couple of $300 bottles of wine. I'm not going to be happy paying $1000 for a dinner if the table next to me has a bunch of crying kids sitting there. If the kids are well behaved, fine, but I don't want to listen to "meltdowns" at a fine restaurant whether I'm at Disney or anyplace else.

I only feel this way about a handful of places on property. Like I said, I don't care if you are there with your children but I expect them to behave and be quiet enough so that they don't interrupt the dining pleasure of the mostly adult diners who will be in a place like this.

 

[shellybaxter]

All restaurants in WDW (with the possible exception of V&A) welcome children. The question isn't whether Jiko, Cali Grill, or Narcoosees are kid friendly. The question is whether the children are restaurant friendly. We ate at all three of those restaurants on our last trip. There were children at all three restaurants. Most of them were delightful and behaved just fine. You might hear them make a loud exclaimation or laugh out loud from time to time, but you hear those things from adults too. No big deal.

However at Narcoosees there was this one family that was rediculous. They had three children who appeared to be under four. The children were exhausted. They whined and cried, crawled under the table and eventually ended up in their parent's laps half sprawled out into our table area. Those children didn't need to be in a restaurant and it was selfish of the parents to keep them there.

At Jiko there was a toddler (around 18 to 24 months) with a large party of adults. They tried to keep him happy but they didn't succeed. He would whine and cry. They would try to entertain him for a few minutes unsucessfully and then take him out for a walk. This happened over and over again for our entire 2.5 hour meal. After about the sixth time of it not working I wanted to say, "please remove your son and don't bring him back. He is ruining my meal," but I didn't.

If your children behave like these children please remove them from the restaurant and don't let them ruin the meals of everyone else. If they are like the children I described at the begining of my post; by all means bring them and enjoy your meal.

BTW - Each of the parents/adults with the difficult children looked miserable. If you aren't having a good meal because of your children chances are no one else is either.

 

[Tess'smom]

Wow! Children 5, 4, 3 and 3 yr old. You must be amazing! I am not sure that the kids are going to enjoy an extended meal period, which of course means you won't enjoy yourself. If you are concerned that it may not work out, maybe an in-room sitter might be worth considering.

Many people won't care if the kids have a short tizzy fit, because we have all been there. But, if the kids are unhappy for an extended period of time, surrounding folks may be justifiably miffed.

 

[Booyakasha]

.... there was this one family that was rediculous. They had three children who appeared to be under four. The children were exhausted. They whined and cried, crawled under the table and eventually ended up in their parent's laps half sprawled out into our table area. Those children didn't need to be in a restaurant and it was selfish of the parents to keep them there.......

If your children behave like these children please remove them from the restaurant and don't let them ruin the meals of everyone else. If they are like the children I described at the begining of my post; by all means bring them and enjoy your meal.

BTW - Each of the parents/adults with the difficult children looked miserable. If you aren't having a good meal because of your children chances are no one else is either.

Well said. We often run in to other families like the above and use them as examples to our kids as how not to behave.

B.

 

[momtoBrandon&Jacob]

Given the young ages of your kids I would likely stick to character meals and such. There is no way I would attempt the signature restaurants. My boys are 5 and 6 and generally behave well in restaurants but they are still kids and to me it would be selfish to make them sit through stuffy dinners. Not only would they not enjoy it, but neither would we and it would probably be a waste of time and money for all of us.

 

[DisneyKidds]

I'm sorry, but responsible parents with well behaved children need not be relgated to character meals and lesser dining experiences. We have kids age 9, 6, and 4. We do love character meals, but we also enjoy dining in nicer sit down restaurants, including Narcoossee's.

Only you know your kids, and whether they are capable and willing to sit through a 1 1/2 to 2 hour dining experience. If they are generally ok in restaurants, and you are willing to take a walk with one of the kids should they make a big fuss, go and enjoy yourself without worry. At 5:30, many of the signature restaurants won't be that crowded either. We were at the GF last week and when watching 6:00 Wishes from the dock we could see that Narcoossees was half empty. The sig locations tend to get a later crowd.

FWIW, we always make our Narcoossees ADR's for around 8:30. Our boys (6 and 4) are always sound asleep in a stroller by then. That's one way to not have to worry about them making a fuss .

 

[sss]

Hi,
We've brought our girls to Jiko on two separate trips. The first trip they were 3 (twin girls) and 14 months. Our very first trip to Disney was when the twins were 14 months but we did not make a trip to Jiko, I don't remember why though. The second trip they were 4 and 2 and almost 2 months. We are sticklers for sticking to their schedules as much as possible so our ADRs were always around that 5:30 time....we have had a great time with them there both times....the staff was wonderful and the girls found more than enough things to eat, try and to color. Infact, oh you doubters of good behavior of the young child, on our second trip there a complete stranger went out of her way to compliment us on the good behavior of our girls. Moral of the story is this...are signature restaurants for every child...probably not but the fact that it is a signature restaurant does not automatically mean adults only. We have also brought them to flying fish, ca grill, and Artist Point (where the waitress scooped one of our twins up and was walking around with her for a while)...you have to be honest with yourselves about the ability of your children to sit and behave in that kind of atmosphere...it's like anything else, some do it better than others. Do we take them to fancy places every night, no way, that's asking too much but once or twice on a trip is a great treat for all of us. We are going back in October 2008 (twins will be 6 and youngest will be almost 4) and are very excited about another meal to Jiko.
And btw, if you are looking for a grown up only meal...I'm wondering whether expecting that at any restaurant on Disney property is realistic.
HTH
sss

 

[DisneyCrazyX5]

We have ate at nicer places but not the ones you chose. We at at Les Chef and the meal was paced very slow for our sons age 7,7, and 12, we all enjoyed the meal, but I do not think we could have if the twins had been a few year younger. My boys love Boma, Teppen Edo, and the Beirgarten (they have music, but not characters). My boys have always been well behaved restaurants, but I think expecting them to sit for more then an hour is just pushing my luck. But after an hour I am ready to get moving too.

 

[MAKmom]

IMO it would be a waste of money for me. There are some very good restaurants you can go to that are not character meals that the kids will blend into better.

Fun
Sci Fi
PrimeTime
Ohana

Very Good Food
Le Cellier
Chef de France
Spoodles

Cool
Mexico
Mama Melrose

 

[MOTHERGOOSE3]

We're an adults only group of diners who eat at the signatures while at the World. We do not go to Narcoosies because there are too many kids there--our choice. Ca Grill is noisy anyway, we go because we love the food and we expect noise and kids. And I feel this way about MOST of the places on property.

JIKO though, I expect a quiet nice dinner there. The ambiance is very different. It's a darkened restaurant with the focal point being the glass enclosed wine room with all of the bottles. This is adult--the place boasts the wine selection and an eclectic menu that would not appeal to most young diners. We take our adult kids/spouses and pay OOP for the 8 of us and we'll split a couple of $300 bottles of wine. I'm not going to be happy paying $1000 for a dinner if the table next to me has a bunch of crying kids sitting there. If the kids are well behaved, fine, but I don't want to listen to "meltdowns" at a fine restaurant whether I'm at Disney or anyplace else.

I only feel this way about a handful of places on property. Like I said, I don't care if you are there with your children but I expect them to behave and be quiet enough so that they don't interrupt the dining pleasure of the mostly adult diners who will be in a place like this.

$300.00 bottle of wine. I'm 40 and well behaved can we go to to dinner with you?

 

[Belle5]

Make sure they have napped and are slightly hungry so that food is entertaining. Bring crayons and new and exciting coloring pages. Practice sitting quietly for long periods of time with a book and take similar picture books along. (This is how we trained our kids to sit through church service when they were little) Only you can determine if will be human torture for your children to be made to sit through long, quiet dinners. It is probably important to your dad that they be there since this is a celebration, right? There is in-room babysitting available if you are on property. We have eaten at Cali Grill and Jiko when at least one or more of our kids was very young. Jiko was more "comfortable" to me with the kids. Much more. We also dined at AP with a few small ones and that went well and wasn't too miserable for the kids. The servers are used to dealing with young ones.

 

[PrincessPoohsMom]

As PP have said, it all depends on the children. My DD will only be 18 mo for our next trip, so I've decided to skip a lot of the restaurants we would typically enjoy...I just feel like that age is a little too unpredictable, even under the best of circumstances. However, with your youngest being 2, that's a whole different ball game. My parents were famous (or infamous) among the family for "daring" to take my brothers and I to very nice restaurants when we were very young. They never had a problem; in fact they tell all sorts of stories about total strangers complementing them. It all came down to the fact that we were trained at home about good table manners, right from the beginning. If you take your children out regularly and don't have problems, then I wouldn't worry. Of course, WDW can do a number on even the best behaved child, so keep a sharp eye out for how they do the morning/afternoon leading up to dinner. A parent can almost always tell when trouble is brewing; my mother used to have a sixth sense. Having been part of adult-only parties for years before my child came along, I'm definitely sensitive to those who are looking for a quiet, relaxing meal after a day of dodging strollers in the parks. However, I don't see the need to deny your children the experience of eating in a "nicer" restaurant if they can handle sitting in their seats, using their indoor voices, and eating their food politely. The only way to teach children how to eat out is to let them do it. You know yours best; give them an honest assessment and do what you think is best!

 

[mandymommy4]

Wow the first couple of post were a little harsher than I expected.... but I did ask for it!

Anyways, Just an update. I talked to my Dad and sister and we decided to drop our Jiko ADR to go to the Hoop - Dee - Doo music review. We have heard it was a lot of fun and figured the kids would love it. Plus, we are locals and can drive over anytime and enjoy one of the nicer places and leave the kids at home!

My parents 1st choice in celebrating his retirement was a 7 day Disney cruise. They love the DCL and my kids, husband, and I have never been so they so wanted to take us. Unfourtunantly my Dad has been sick the past year and is unable to hop on a ship, he's not suppose to travel further than and hour from his doctors care. We are blessed to have the WDW resort less than an hour from our front door. Even though DH, kids, and I are passholders we have never stayed over night. Can you believe that? And we NEVER buy food when we are at the parks, we brown bag it. Something about paying $40 for burgers and fries just doses't seem right! My dad just wants to spend a week watching his grandkids enjoy Disney 24/7. And he knows the most magical part of the trip for me and DH will be the Grand Floridian and eating the food we wiff while we eat our sandwiches! And my dad, eating at the really nice places are important to him because he loves fine dining! A family friend is driving over and staying in the hotel with the kids so we can eat at V&A. So we are gonna give to nice places a try, we'll let you all know how it goes in a couple more months.

WARNING! If you are coming to WDW in March stay away from CG and Narc's on the 10th and 12th! 4 little ones will invade and plan on ruining your meal

Thanks, I have loved reading everyones input!