Toddlers and dining?

[PollyannaMom]

As others said--it's Disney. Kids are welcome at nearly every restaurant.

Think about what time of day is best for your kids. For my family (my littles are 3 and 4), it's breakfast. The kids are always great for breakfast--well behaved and ready to eat. Least predictable is dinner. It's when they're most likely to have a melt down, and it's amplified at Disney. It took us 2 trips for this to finally sink in. In planning the next trip, we'll still reserve a couple of dinners, but for the most part, we'll stick to quick service.

Also, think about how far into the trip you are. We've found that if we're going to do a table service dinner, it's better toward the beginning of the trip. I think everyone's just tired by then end, so we keep it flexible. We had dinner at Artist Point on arrival day, and the kids were fantastic! I think everyone was well-rested and excited to be there. We'd also been showing them pictures of the kids dessert--a piece of chocolate that you paint. They knew what to expect and were excited about it.

I agree with other commenters about the buffets. You have more control over timing. And there's always a good variety. I prefer family style meals though--like Ohana or Garden Grill (side note--I think this is a great, underrated character experience, and there's a good chance you can get a reservation within 30 days). I like not having to get up and down. You're either dragging the kids to the buffet line or someone has to stay with them at the table. I feel like I never actually get to eat. With family style, it's just all right there.

Can I "like" this one twice? Excellent advice!

 

[Moana of Motunui]

We did a lot of sit down restaurants but the best two that accommodated a crazy 2.5 year old were Via Napoli and Liberty Tree Tavern.

At Via Napoli, my 2.5 year old cousin threw a glass plate and it shattered. The team there swept it up and did not mke a scene out of it.

At Liberty Tree Tavern, he was about to have a massave melt down. We were seated almost a half hour late (5:30 reservation, seated at 6) and he's used to eating around 5 so he was so hungry! The server saw the melt down coming and grabbed Mac and cheese and some buns for him even before we ordered. She was a great server I wish we knew her name to send a thank you because she was great.