Strollers in restaurants?

[graysmommy]

We will have a less-than-3-month-old baby when we go to WDW this fall. We are flying and taking ME so not planning on bringing an infant car seat.

Can we bring the stroller into the restaurants for the baby to lie in? He will be too little to sit in a high chair.

Thanks in advance!

 

[North of Mouse]

Have seen some that will allow it, others not. It may depend a lot on how close together the tables are and if it will be in the way of others and servers. But I do know some have definitely not allowed it.

 

[graceesmom]

Most restaurants do not allow strollers inside nor is there room for them in the restaurants. That said, I have seen exception to this and it was for us.

Our daughter fell asleep in her stroller on the stroll from WS to Biergarten for dinner. We had a little time and we thought she would probably wake up before our ADR, but she didn't. We informed the reception desk at the restaurant when our name was called that we hated to leave, but I also didn't want to wake a sleeping toddler and risk her being cranky tired in the restaurant particularly since you share a table with others in that restaurant.

The CM asked us to wait one minute and came back to say that he would seat us in an area where we would be able to get park the stroller next to the table. We were in a back corner where the stroller could be placed out of the way of the servers and other guests. They were very nice about it, but it wasn't very easy to navigate the stroller back there and there is no way they would have been able to accommodate us if there had been others wanting to do the same thing.

 

[Tropical Wilds]

Most of the places we ate not only didn't encourage it, but actually had stroller parking outside, and in some cases, the stroller parking was not right in the immediate area. When we were at Coral Reef, somebody asked to bring a stroller and they were told there was no way they could bring it to the table. We also heard the same at 50s Prime and Tusker.

 

[graysmommy]

Hmm his could definitely be tricky... Wonder if I called he restaurants they could give any suggestions?
I will be wearing him in an Ergo or similar baby carrier most of he time I imagine, but it would be nice to be able to eat without being afraid of spilling on his head!

 

[Tropical Wilds]

If you do CS meals, they are more lax with that sort of thing. Perhaps the answer is more CS meals, less/no TS meals.

For what it's worth, I have a friend who went with her first child and said they were often willing to bend the rules, especially in the off season. But when she went 7 years later with her second, absolutely nobody flexed on the stroller issue onseason, and only some flexing off.

As an aside, with a 3 month old, I'd strongly consider taking the little bucket seat. The plane can stow it (some are OK to be used on a plane if you pay for an extra seat), and even on something like ME and the DT, it's just safer to have an infant in a bucket seat, especially if it's crowded on the bus.

 

[graysmommy]

If you do CS meals, they are more lax with that sort of thing. Perhaps the answer is more CS meals, less/no TS meals.

For what it's worth, I have a friend who went with her first child and said they were often willing to bend the rules, especially in the off season. But when she went 7 years later with her second, absolutely nobody flexed on the stroller issue onseason, and only some flexing off.

As an aside, with a 3 month old, I'd strongly consider taking the little bucket seat. The plane can stow it (some are OK to be used on a plane if you pay for an extra seat), and even on something like ME and the DT, it's just safer to have an infant in a bucket seat, especially if it's crowded on the bus.

Yeah. It's totally a safety hazard to have strollers IN the restaurants, and I know that. I also know that carseats get thrown around by the baggage people and that damages them, so I'd rather not check it on the plane

Maybe I'll have to look into renting one. The other thing I thought of was we may purchase the bassinet for our stroller, which is removable and could easily be put on the floor right at my feet under the table or on a bench seat (like in a booth).

I think a lot of our meals will be CS, but I want to do at least one Character meal and one nicer dinner as we are going for my in-laws 40th anniversary....

 

[pooh4evr]

I hate to say it but the bassinet might not be a great option either, I would be worried about having the baby on the floor, the restaurants are very busy with lots of servers and guests milling around in tight spaces and if you plan on using a chair or a seat in a booth for the baby make sure you include them in the ADR count, otherwise you might run into space issues, or have to wait longer to accommodate for a larger seating area.

 

[purple figment]

if you plan on using a chair or a seat in a booth for the baby make sure you include them in the ADR count, otherwise you might run into space issues, or have to wait longer to accommodate for a larger seating area.

Actually you need to include everyone on all the ADRs regardless of age because of fire code/capacity counts.

 

[SecretPoohLove]

But in nov 2010' my 11 mo slept through most dinners in his stroller...including le cellier. It was a smallish stroller, but we would not have gotten through some meals if we couldn't, especially dinner.
I think we asked when we checked in for the ADR. there were others, like CM or CP where we just parked it, but that was breakfast.

 

[TDC Nala]

You should be prepared for the restaurants where strollers are not allowed to tell you that they will not make an exception. Some might, but some will probably not.

 

[Tropical Wilds]

Yeah. It's totally a safety hazard to have strollers IN the restaurants, and I know that. I also know that carseats get thrown around by the baggage people and that damages them, so I'd rather not check it on the plane

Maybe I'll have to look into renting one. The other thing I thought of was we may purchase the bassinet for our stroller, which is removable and could easily be put on the floor right at my feet under the table or on a bench seat (like in a booth).

I think a lot of our meals will be CS, but I want to do at least one Character meal and one nicer dinner as we are going for my in-laws 40th anniversary....

With the buckets, at least with Southwest, they always check them differently, right at the gate, as you board. That is if you don't want to have the baby in the extra seat (though if there's space on the plane, at least Southwest is nice enough to allow you the option to put the little one in the spare seat near you, if you seat yourself at the very back).

Then, if you bring that, you don't have to worry about safety on the buses and you can get a regular high chair for your infant.