Toddlers and Dining...

[diz4me]

Hi all! What can I do with my two year old during dinner? I know she is too young for Oceaneer's Club, but also know that she will have trouble sitting through a many course meal. ANy suggestions or information you can pass along?

Thanks in advance!

 

[atigeg]

For some of the meals, you may want to feed her early (room service or fast service) and then put her in Flounders Reef so you can enjoy a long meal by yourself. But availability in Flounders is limited, so that is not an option for every night. You can eat together from room service or fast service, but then you won't get to try out the diningrooms.
Personally, I would suggest that you try eating with her in the diningroom the first night. You may be surprised at how child-friendly Disney is, and if you have a good serving team, they will be happy to hurry things along for you. On our 1/4 Magic cruise, they emphasized every night that we should let them know if we wanted them to go faster or slower. And even if she gets fidgety, you will not be alone. We don't have kids, so we are usually on the 'adult" rotation, but a couple of times we have started in Animators and have gotten a great deal of amusement from watching the little ones. There was one little toddler boy who we nicknamed Houdini...we watched each night to see how long it would take him to wriggle out of his seat. Then he would run for parts unknown until an adult swooped in to retrieve him. it was hilarious! So it might not be as bad as you think to eat with your little one at the table.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[meab]

when my DD was just about 17 months old, we went on 2 cruises, nearly back-to-back. The first was a 3-nighter with family... on the first night, she was perfect and sat still and entertained herself through the entire meal (sorting out the sugar packets, eating the rolls, playing with silverware, etc). The second night, she started getting antsy around dessert time and wanted someone to climb up and down the stairs with her. By the third night, she was ready to go after we got our appetizer. it wasn't too bad, though, as we had family to rotate stair-climbing rotation with.

the second cruise was a 5-nighter, which we had to fly to the port of embarkation. we flew up morning of, assuming she would get some extra rest on one of the car rides to/from the airport, or even on the plane. WRONG! so we woke our little darling up at 5:30am to start the day, and she refused to sleep after that (too much stimulation). This set the tone for the rest of that cruise, and we were only able to eat in the dining room on one or two occasions. This was not a particularly kid-friendly line (no babysitting, and i think only a handful of little ones on that sailing), so they weren't too good at hurrying things along either. After the first 2 nights of trying to eat at a multi-course sit-down meal, we ended up just opting for the casual buffet or room service.

We are cruising on the Wonder shortly, and DD will be 20 months. We are also traveling with other kids her age, so I'm hoping they'll entertain each other at the meals. We are definitely going to attempt the dining room all 3 nights, and one of those nights we are hoping to try her out in Flounder's Reef and go to Palo's alone!

My advice is that you make sure your child is well-rested before boarding, and bring along some things to keep her occupied in the dining room. Definitely do your best to make it to all dining room meals. Your DD might just surprise you. Also, the staff is generally very friendly to little ones. On one cruise, some staff saw my DD getting really fidgety during dinner, so he crafted some little origami paper frogs that could leap around the table! Most of the staff (on my previous cruises at least) have children at home, so they understand. And generally, they try to help you out also.

Hope this helps. This is our DD's 4th cruise coming up (first on DCL), so I will be happy to answer any other questions you might have about cruising w/ little ones.

 

[Gillian]

I don't know what little toys they have for girls, but for us, the DCL bus & boat die cast set was a lifesaver! Best $10 I've ever spent! 5 months later, they still keep our 2 year old amused when we eat out.

We also try not to let DS snack any time even close to dinner. If he's hungry, he behaves better because he's busy eating. We don't like his food rushed out either, because it's harder to keep him happy when he's full & ready to go play somewhere.

 

[meab]

I agree with Gillian...try not to let your child get full before you get your main course!

 

[peg2001]

DD3 spent at least half of every meal sitting in my lap. She could not sit still for the whole meal in her own chair. We would bring her to dinner hungry and she would devour the bread and butter and then not be hungry for her meal. She also didn't want to stay in the kids club by herself. It was a bit more challenging that I had hoped. Part of the problem was that DH wanted a sit down meal for EVERY meal so that he could have his Coke addiction satisfied. That is a lot to ask of a young child.

Peggy

 

[jel0511]

I really didn't encounter any problems with my DS 18 months, at the time of our first cruise. They did (DD 4 also) start to get a bit antsy after about an hour, but our servers did a GREAT job trying to keep them happy and bringing their food out early. My kids eat a little slower than DH and I, so our servers brought out their dinners with our appetizers. It helped keep them entertained, and they usually finished when we finished our main courses. Now, my kids are used to eating out, we go out at least once per week, usually more. If you're concerned, take some test runs in local, kid-friendly retaurants. Your child will get used to eating out, and then it won't cause too much of a problem.

 

[OurDogCisco]

More for selfish reasons. We really wanted to dine alone. Our dd was in the nursery every night during dinner and it made dinner very pleasant. Even our 5 year old didn't want to dine with us. She hung out at the kids club. The way I look at it, you'll be spending all day with your kids and eating breakfast and lunch with them that you need a break. I think, expecting them to sit for 1 1/2 hours is too long. OUr dd (20 months) can last about 1 hour at a restuarant. She isn't the type to sit still for very long she is very active. Even when we eat out now, it is one parent watching her while the other shovels food in their mouth. It was funny on our last cruise in August, a family was next to us with their 13 month old. The 13 month old was climbing all over them. It was actually very comical.

BTW, we feed her dinner at topsiders or plutos prior to putting her into the nursery. We went to the show with her which she loved the shows. Then, after the show we went back to our cabin to change for dinner. On the way to dinner we dropped her off in the nursery. After dessert we picked her up. She was happy as a clam. Plus the nursery has some really neat toys for them to play with. Lots of kids in the nursery.

Good luck with your decision!

Tina

 

[Mommypoohbear]

Hello OurDog Cisco,

Did you have the late seating for dinner ?

We just booked our cruise and have the late seating (waiting list for the early), yet I am starting to wonder if we really want the first seating. We have a DD(5, will turn 5 on cruise) and DD(3, just about 4 at time of cruise), and I here alot about the children not wanting to leave the club and sometimes eating dinner there.

What you say about being with them during the day, for breakfast and lunch, etc. that quiet dinners may be nice. Also I feel that there is more of a chance that they will be awake for the shows at 6:30.

Any advise on this would be great.

 

[diz4me]

Thanks to all for the good advice and for sharing your experiences. I will try to get Flounders for the little one (DD2) and hope that my DD4 will eat and hang with us for a while. If I do use Flounders for a meal or two, what restuarants or nights do you recommend? Are there restaurants or evenings (besides Palo's) that my DH & I would enjoy alone more than others?

Thanks! You guys are the best!

 

[atigeg]

Lumiere's/Tritons is the most formal, so that would be a good one to do alone. Animators has the show, so that would be the one you want to bring the kids to. If you are on a 7-day, Tropicali/Mexicali is also a good one for kids due to the singing/dancing/conga line, and Captain's Gala and the formal night would be a good time for Mom & Dad to enjoy dinner alone.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[OurDogCisco]

Hi MommyPoohBear,

Yes, we did have late seating. It worked for us because late seating was 5 pm ish our time. We weren't early risers either so, we slept in until 9 or so which was 6 am our time.

As for the shows our 15 month old at the time loved them. She loved all the music and lights. She did however, fall asleep during Mousekeers show. We missed first night show. We were only on a 3 night cruise so, I don't know how this would apply to a 7 day cruise. Our 5 year did not go to any of the shows because she wanted to be in the club. We even tired to get her to see Lilo & STitich but she said no way. Our 15 month did love Lilo & Stitch too. The shows were generally during her nap time so, it was more of quiet time for her anyways.

Typically, our days were the same each day. We spent the morning with breakfast and stuff. On Nassau day, we went into town and then, came back for lunch and swim at the pool. Then, went to room to get dd5 ready for the club. She ate dinner with them and did the nightly activity. She paged us usually during dessert time. We did the same thing on Castaway Cay day. We didn't get off the ship until around 11 am. We hung out on the beach all day that we missed the Kids Club Show (opps)... But we were having too much fun. Finally, they kick us off the beach.

Also, note we did spend the prior 6 days at WDW which might have had influence on how tired the kids were. Now, that I think about it our dd 15 month old was in rare form. She was not fussy or cranky the whole trip.

Whatever you do you'll have a great time.

Tina