TS meals and SN kids - would love your advice

[Infamousmare]

Now I'm stewing about our upcoming WDW trip after posting another question in the transportation forum (thanks to everyone who chimed in over there!)

I'm in charge of planning a huge family reunion trip and the consensus from the adults was that they wanted the DxDP. The WDW reps I spoke with also assured me that TS meals would be much better for the kids than CS because we'd be guaranteed a table/seat (no waiting in line, wandering around for a table, etc.)

I did explain to the reps that my ds3 has autism (he's high functioning, but gets overwhelmed easily/has multiple sensory issues) and my dd5 has a feeding tube (read: she's not going to be eating much!).

Now that I've read more about experiences with TS dining (slow service, etc.) I'm beginning to worry about my kiddos and how they'll do.

Here's what we're doing:
*Most days we are doing a character breakfast (Crystal Palace, Supercalafragalistic, Cinderella's Castle, Grand Gatherings character b'fast, etc.) and a TS dinner, leaving lunch open for CS meals.
*Each day's restaurants are contained within the same park so that we don't have to park-hop
*We have NO resort meals, except for a dinner at our hotel's restaurant (WC at the WL).

Do you think it was a mistake for us to do DxDP with our kiddos? What are your experiences doing TS meals with SN kids? Is my son going to be completely overwhelmed (esp. with noise levels)?

 

[Bugsmom73]

ds has autism too. What I do is to pack headphones, an MP3 and some sort of electronic toy, that way if he does, he can zone out easily if needed.

 

[persimmondeb]

My DS is much older (15), so the issues are somewhat different, but we found he was much better behaved in TS restaurants. We only did one character meal, but he was so entranced by the appearance of Tigger that he bolted from the buffet line with his plate as I was trying to put whipped cream on his waffle. The TS meals made a nice break, and the CS places tend to be large, open, and kind of noisy, which doesn't work as well for him. He does like to eat, so anything that involves food tends to get his approval, but the difference in behavior was marked. I would advise you to pick restaurants with a little care (especially if you're not sure how your son does with characters) but I think TS is easier to manage, as a general rule.

If you can book the Wishes dessert party at MK that might work well, too. My DS likes the fireworks, but finds the crowds kind of difficult. Sitting at a reserved table in an uncrowded and relatively quiet area, eating chocolate and drinking iced tea was his idea of heaven. The desserts were good, but the peace and quiet was worth every penny. We were not the only family with a kid on the spectrum, either.

 

[MSSANDRA]

just one word of warning, WCC at the WL has over the top noise levels!!! They create noise as part of the "theme", Picture beating on metal trays. There is a lot of yelling too. Fun for a lot of kids but maybe not for your child. WL as a whole is a great not too loud resort but I would sub artist point for WCC .
Also remember there often is waiting even with a ADR. Maybe only only a few minutes but sometimes even a half hour or more. No real answers but maybe some more info to help you plan.

 

[Infamousmare]

If you can book the Wishes dessert party at MK that might work well, too. My DS likes the fireworks, but finds the crowds kind of difficult. Sitting at a reserved table in an uncrowded and relatively quiet area, eating chocolate and drinking iced tea was his idea of heaven. The desserts were good, but the peace and quiet was worth every penny. We were not the only family with a kid on the spectrum, either.

You are about the third person who has told me this (some friends just got back from WDW and raved about Wishes!). I am kicking myself for not booking this. I *wonder* if it's too late. I'd read mediocre reviews and decided to skip it; however, I *think* we can do this as part of Grand Gatherings. I'm going to call tomorrow.

 

[Infamousmare]

just one word of warning, WCC at the WL has over the top noise levels!!! They create noise as part of the "theme", Picture beating on metal trays. There is a lot of yelling too. Fun for a lot of kids but maybe not for your child. WL as a whole is a great not too loud resort but I would sub artist point for WCC .

If it's too much for ds, will they allow us to get our food "to go"?

 

[kaytieeldr]

Often no, but possibly. But there's a 'side' room that a lot of people don't like, because they miss out on a lot of the antics and activity. Ask if you can be seated in this quieter area if the wait won't be long.

 

[poohnpigletCA]

I was worried about WCC when we stayed at the WL but my SN dd loved it. They did not bang on metal pans or anything when we were there. I do not want to say it was tame but there really was not that many antics. They went around the restaurant on wooden horses and to my surprise she participated in that. They also took ketchup to tables and she also liked that as well. We stayed at the WL so I just pointed out the WCC to her when we were in the lobby.

I think she did much better at TS than many of the CS. TS gives you a nice cool place to relax. That being said next time I think I would only book service restaurants not buffets and also I would only do one TS a day as they are very time consuming.

 

[thej]

DS(9) has Aspergers, and sensory issues so he doesn't deal well with crowds or unknown situations. He is the only child I've ever met that didn't want to go to WDW... until he got there. Now all he wants to do is go back!

On our first trip with him a couple of years ago we did the DxDP for many reasons, but partly because we thought he would do better with sit-down meals. Based on our experience, TS meals are quieter and calmer (even the character meals) than most any CS place. TS meals turned out to be a great break for DS, and now we plan them to break up the day even if we are going OOP. If your SN kiddo(s) do OK in regular restaurants, they will probably do better with TS than CS at WDW.

On busy days the CS places can be very chaotic & loud (Cosmic Ray's is the poster child for this). You might want to seek out some of the quieter spots for your CS lunches. Upstairs at the Colombia Harbor House & Pinocchio's Village Haus in MK are less busy. for AK there are quiet tables at Flame Tree, and if you wander all the way to the back at Pizzafari, it can be less busy. HS is tough... we almost always have lunch at Sci-Fi and avoid the CS there, but outside is not too bad at the trio off sunset blvd. Epcot can be tough too, but some of the outdoor spots around future world and the Electric umbrella can be less noisy. Sunshine seasons can be a terror at lunchtime for somebody with sensory issues.

If there is an issue with waiting for a table, don't be afraid to ask if there is a quieter spot to wait. Sometimes there is!

 

[hastingsmom]

My ds is SN too. He has sensory and processing issues as well as epilepsy. I find the TS meals are exactly what he needs to get a break from the busy parks. He finds CS meals way too loud and chaotic.
I would think that character meals and buffets might be more on the busy side...I would recommend more resort meals as the resort restaurants are often quieter and away from the chaos of the parks.