Table service with a toddler?

bcbmommy

DIS Veteran
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Feb 2, 2009
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We have had the dining plan both times we've been to WDW, but our kids were old enough to sit and wait for a while. Now that we have a toddler again, I'm thinking our dining choices may be different. I'm seriously considering not doing the dining plan this time. I just don't know how well she will sit through a meal at a table service restaurant. I told my older kids that we would try to do a couple TS meals, but for the most part, we need to have quick meals. What do you think? Should we just pay out of pocket? My 3rd child is also just barely a Disney adult now, too, and he eats like a bird.
 
Well, we don't do the dining plan but we usually do a TS each day or most days. How old is the toddler in question?

IME, a lot of it is timing, planning and expectation. Eating earlier than the typical family - 11am for lunch, 4pm for dinner, helps a lot. The kid isn't starving yet, the wait will typically be shorter, etc. We allow coloring and and some interactive playing at the table but no electronic devices. We ate out, almost all TS, on a 2 week European trip w/ 4.75 year old and a 22 month old. I can only think of one meal that was really challenging. You have to have realistic expectations - don't go to the California Grill for a 6pm or later reservation w/ small kids. Don't go to lunch at Le Cellier right at 12:30pm, etc.

Pick your times and meals wisely AND do a few trial runs before the trip. We find going out to breakfast is the best meal for our kids, but again those early lunches or dinners work, too.
 
Great ideas, thank you! May I ask why you don't do the DDP? Just trying to be sure of what to do, and it helps hearing other's ideas. For our 6-day trip, the DDP would cost us $1800.


Well, we don't do the dining plan but we usually do a TS each day or most days. How old is the toddler in question?

IME, a lot of it is timing, planning and expectation. Eating earlier than the typical family - 11am for lunch, 4pm for dinner, helps a lot. The kid isn't starving yet, the wait will typically be shorter, etc. We allow coloring and and some interactive playing at the table but no electronic devices. We ate out, almost all TS, on a 2 week European trip w/ 4.75 year old and a 22 month old. I can only think of one meal that was really challenging. You have to have realistic expectations - don't go to the California Grill for a 6pm or later reservation w/ small kids. Don't go to lunch at Le Cellier right at 12:30pm, etc.

Pick your times and meals wisely AND do a few trial runs before the trip. We find going out to breakfast is the best meal for our kids, but again those early lunches or dinners work, too.
 
I just don't find it be that great of a real for us. It used to be, once upon a time. My kids don't eat a lot of kid menu food for starters. Once I make reservations I do re-calculate whether the DP would be a good deal for us on that trip or not. So far, it's only been a good deal once.

Little things add up - we rarely get soda at a counter service or even sit down meals, we never get dessert at counter services, we don't do refillable mugs, etc.
 

We don't do the DDP now because it is more than we would pay OOP. The other thing to consider is now the ADR have a 24 hour cancellation policy. We have a 14 month old now, and there are days we have something planned that she is just not up for and we have to change plans.
 
With an unpredictable little one in the mix I also worry if you aren't able to keep an ADR that you will get the $10 a head charge for not canceling early enough. If you want dining plan I recommend the quick service dining plan. We did it when our kiddos were 3 & 5 and it worked well for us. If you want your kiddos to share meals though because they don't eat a lot then it may just be cheaper to pay OOP instead of commuting to meal plan. It worked great when we used QS plan because they used to let you turn in a QS meal for 3 snacks but alas, no exchanges any more.
 
I didn't realize that about the ADR's. they must've changed that since the last time we were there. Does that apply to people not on the DP?

I'm hoping this will be a good fit for us. My oldest dd (16) is a little bummed because she loves going to fancy restaurants. I told her we can still go to a couple.
 
We always do table service with our girls. The older was 15 months when we first brought her. We plan them early, no later than five if we can help it. We like the break and we get to see characters without waiting on line.
As for the cancellation policy, as long as one person shows you won't be charged. So if your toddler won't make an adr, you can have someone take him back to the room and everyone else eat.
We do the dining plan. But dh is a big eater and we like to use the kid snacks for him.
 
I didn't realize that about the ADR's. they must've changed that since the last time we were there. Does that apply to people not on the DP? I'm hoping this will be a good fit for us. My oldest dd (16) is a little bummed because she loves going to fancy restaurants. I told her we can still go to a couple.
Yes. All ADRs are now secured by credit card and there is a $10 per head penalty for no shows or cancelations made less than 24 hours in advance of your reservation. Some ADRs also require payment in full at time of booking if you aren't on the dining plan.
 
I've been taking my boys out to eat since they were tiny, so they're familiar with what's going on and what's expected of them. My youngest is 2, so we planned our meals around his nap time when we went in September, and we generally ate at off times. We would have lunch before noon and eat dinner in the late afternoon, or have a late (or super early) breakfast and a really late lunch and do a quick serve dinner. Have things for you little one to do and a small individually portioned snack for while they're waiting, don't debate forever on what to order (I have a relative who takes so long to pick out meals that she often sends the waiter away three or four times before he can take her order...) and don't go anywhere super fancy where the food is going to look strange.

Somewhere on one of the many wdw sites there is a list of particularly kid-friendly restaurants, you might be interested in googling for it. I would link it, but I can't remember where it was. I'm sure there's a similar dis post, though.

Also, they don't charge the fee if part of the group arrives. During our week long trip, we had two meals where the little one wasn't feeling it (once was asleep, once was just grumpy) so my grandma who travelled with us stayed at the cabin with him while we took the older boy to dinner. If she hadn't been with us, Daddy would've stayed behind while Mommy went to eat.

I'm could def be wrong, but I thought they only charged the fee on reservations that you have to enter your cc number to make, too, so that wouldn't even apply to all places.
 
I've been taking my boys out to eat since they were tiny, so they're familiar with what's going on and what's expected of them. My youngest is 2, so we planned our meals around his nap time when we went in September, and we generally ate at off times. We would have lunch before noon and eat dinner in the late afternoon, or have a late (or super early) breakfast and a really late lunch and do a quick serve dinner. Have things for you little one to do and a small individually portioned snack for while they're waiting, don't debate forever on what to order (I have a relative who takes so long to pick out meals that she often sends the waiter away three or four times before he can take her order...) and don't go anywhere super fancy where the food is going to look strange. Somewhere on one of the many wdw sites there is a list of particularly kid-friendly restaurants, you might be interested in googling for it. I would link it, but I can't remember where it was. I'm sure there's a similar dis post, though. Also, they don't charge the fee if part of the group arrives. During our week long trip, we had two meals where the little one wasn't feeling it (once was asleep, once was just grumpy) so my grandma who travelled with us stayed at the cabin with him while we took the older boy to dinner. If she hadn't been with us, Daddy would've stayed behind while Mommy went to eat. I'm could def be wrong, but I thought they only charged the fee on reservations that you have to enter your cc number to make, too, so that wouldn't even apply to all places.
They recently changed it and now all ADRs are secured by credit card. I made mine and only three required it at first but when you go into MDE, Disney takes your credit card and applies it to ALL ADRs now. There was a bit of a ruckus about it on the boards a month or so ago. Apparently this is their new all around standard to completely stop no shows and double bookings. At first they were stating a 48 hour cancelation policy but then it dropped back to 24 hours. Thank goodness! Like someone knows if they are going to be sick or an emergency arise at 48 hrs in advance. The policy may not last forever but they are sticking it to people right now to get the point across. There was even someone on the boards upset because they moved up their dinner reservations on the day of by a couple hours and because they didn't show back up a couple hours later for their original reservation Disney charged them $40! Yikes! So...be aware.
 
We chose to 3 sit down meals during the week we were there with our almost 3 yo. Initially we were only going to do 2 meals, but we were having a good day and I managed to get a last minute Garden Grill ADR. Toddlers (at least mine) can be so unpredictable from day to day and hour to hour that I didn't want to have the stress of trying to keep him happy at ADRs constantly and also worried about being charged if we couldn't keep the ADR.

I think by toning down the number of sit down meals we had we all appreciated them more and since the ones we did do were character meals DS was very captivated by the experience.

One other thing to note is that even if you show up at the restaurant for your ADR if you choose to leave because the wait is too long (they tell you it will be a 45 minute wait and you decide to leave) they will charge you the no show fee. Considering your situation with a toddler, a Disney adult who doesn't eat much, I would just plan for your meals out of pocket and or look at the QS plan.
 
We did about 1 TS meal a day with DD, who had just turned 2 before our trip. We did favorite restaurants and restaurants DH and I wanted to try and didn't stick to "kid" restaurants, most everything at WDW is at least somewhat kid friendly. I brought little toys in my purse, and most restaurants had crayons/coloring pages to keep her busy. The last morning we wanted to enjoy a leisurely breakfast and she was antsy, so we did let her watch a cartoon on DH's iPhone, but that is the exception and not the rule for us.

When we let her get her own meal (which really depends on how shareable/spicy our meals are) I try to give her 2 or 3 choices. I bring snacks and/or order her meal first. We do eat out regularly at home, so I wasn't overly concerned. She did a great job, and I think one of her favorite parts of the trip was being eye-to-eye with a giant bird while eating lunch at Saana.

You know your kid best, if they are having an off-day or don't usually tolerate restaurants, proceed with caution. We tried to avoid anything around naptime, and made sure DD never got meltdown-hungry (even if that meant getting her a CS meal an hour before dinner).
 
Table service meals both at WDW and at home have always been a part of our lives so it just became part of the boys lives very early. The good thing about WDW is there are tons of fun TS meals where there is so much going on that if a little one is a bit louder it's really not a huge deal. We also do more signature type places but the more family friendly/fun places might be a good match for you. Any of the character meals, 50's prime time, t-rex or RFC, WCC, or Coral Reef would be good choices. We fine at WDW, even little ones enjoy time to sit and enjoy relaxing and eating together. My boys did enjoy buffets too when they were toddlers.
 
We did plenty of table service meals when we took DS as a toddler. We were actually complimented at the Yachtsman Steakhouse by several couples on how well behaved he was. Just taking things to keep her entertained during the meals- crayons and paper, iPad, etc. Meals out at Disney are no different than going out at home. And there's always character buffets that you can use the TS credits on.
 
We just got back with kids ages 5,5, and 3. We did at least two TS meals per day.

We did some buffet / character meals which have never been an issue with the kids.

Most of the time the kids were fine. Because we went to Narcoossee's a little later at night than when they normally eat (actually closer to their normal bedtime) and it is considered a Signature or fancier meal at Disney, we let them play games (muted) on our phones and took an iPad.

The majority of the time they are fine sitting there or with colors. I am not a proponent of electronics at meals and think if they are used they should be muted so as not to disturb others. I do know the limits of my children and there are times (like at Narcoosee's) where I knew that for our enjoyment and to preserve the atmosphere of other guests, we were better having the electronics option if needed.
 



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