Some Dining Questions...

[Jo-Anne]

We will be travelling with another family and have asked to have our reservations linked, so we'll have the same dining time/tables. There will be 6 children in total ranging in ages 4-14...which rotation are we likely to get? Also, are you truly seated for 1.5 hours in the restaurants, and the whole restaurant follows the same courses at the same pace...or can your own table follow it's own pace and be done earlier? Also, just wondering if the kids could eat quickly at the beginning of the meal and then I could take them to the Club for the 7:00 activities and I could return to finish up dessert? Thanks, Jo

 

[granna]

After the first night, when servers have gotten acquainted with your party, they bring drinks right away and take children's orders as quickly as they can. children get their dinner at the same time as adults get appetizer, I think. I have noted somewhere on this board that it would be great if there were kid friendly appetizers to tide them over. (Maybe fruit and cheese.) You could bring your own little snack from the fruit bar on 9.

We had late seating. My daughter sometimes took my 3 yr. old GS to the club with a friend. Although he didn't really care for the evenings. Usually a movie and quilts on the floor.

 

[Suecot2000]

I have "linked" dinner seating arrangements for as many as 4 other couples and have always been accomadated. When making my ressies, I have been asked what is my seating preferance...early or late. Dinner really didn't seem to last 1.5hours, except on maybe the special nights like Tropical or Small World. So I would think that kids leaving early shouldn't be any problem at all.

Hope this helps out some.

 

[MBFergie]

When I went on the DC 3 years ago I had late seating. We loved it....what we did was go to the early show, order kids room service dinner, then went to dinner with kids but when we got our appetizers the kids received their desserts. Before our main meal we ran them over to the kids clubs.

When we go on the 7 day cruise in July we will probably do this 3 or so times and have the kids eat the full meal with us 3 times...and of course our one night at palos they will just get room service or eat with kids club.

 

[Masonpips]

Younger kids tend to get APL rotation (mine were 3 and 5 and that's what we had). We went to dinner as a family, once the kids finished they begged to go to the club. We either waited on the main course or dessert and ate that alone (bliss, I tell you, pure bliss).

One night my kids wanted to eat in the club so we ate completely alone (non-Palo) night.

There is a club transition from 6:15-6:30 if I remember correctly so sometimes they would be done with dinner at 6:20 and wanting to leave, but we had to wait until the club had sign-in going again (they were coming back from dinner themselves).

For the most part our groups of tables serviced by our servers were pretty much on the same schedule as to appetizers, dinner, dessert. One night one of the tables came about 15 minutes late and we were able to eat before them. It worked out well each time.

 

[ToDisney]

Originally posted by granna
I have noted somewhere on this board that it would be great if there were kid friendly appetizers to tide them over. (Maybe fruit and cheese.)

Actually, they do have kid friendly appetizers such as fruit or soup.

We had the APL rotation with a 3 yo, 9 yo and 12 yo. The 12 yo only ate with us once. The nights we forced the 9 yo to eat with us, he left early to go to the club. After a few days, we gave him privileges to check himself in and out of the club.