WDW w/15 month old - less sit down dinners?

[arizonacolbys]

Next December will be our first trip with a little one - Maddie will be 15 months old on her first trip. We are staying in a BWV & are planning on doing most breakfasts in the room. Hubby & I used to pretty much plan on one sit down meal a day at WDW & another meal would be counter service - we mostly would eat those 2 meals at off times & then a snack or two.

I'm just starting my planning & wondering how many sit down meals we should plan with a 15 month old? I'm not sure if it would be a good way for her to have a break from the parks, or if it will be difficult to plan on many sit down meals with a little one. We would like to at least eat at a couple of our favorites & are planning at least 2 character meals.

Do those of you that have travelled with little ones this age do many sit downs, or are less much better? TIA!

 

[trasor]

Last Dec, I brought my DS when he was 16 months old, did 2 TS dinners and with him, that was enough. I think alot will depend on your DD's temperment.

I wouldn't plan many TS meals and character meals are a good idea for keeping her entertained. Also be prepared not to sit down right at your ADR time and be prepared in case of slow service.

 

[DisFamily01]

We have traveled a few times with our toddler and haven't had any issues with the sit down resturants. We have a portable DVD player that we always bring, it keeps our son occupied while we eat Chef Mickey's is one of our favorites as far as Character Meals are concerned!!

Have fun!!

 

[Jennia]

We took our dd in November at 15.5 months and had a sit down meal every day. For us, it was a great time to relax and just sit, plus she loved looking around at everything and, of course, eating. We found that we didn't even need to go back to the room, since after she had that time to calm down and fill up, it seemed very easy for her to fall asleep afterwards for a nap in her stroller.

 

[SmallWorld71]

I think it will depend on how she is at that age. DS9 was great in restaurants at that age, DD5 was O.K., and DS13 . Since you will want to make ADR's ahead of time, you may want to make the ones you would like to do and then as it gets closer to the trip, adjust to suit you own family.

 

[MnMomW3Boys]

It depends on your child's temperment...ds#1 we were able to go and do anything with him at any age, ds#2 15 months later made it nearly impossible for us to sit down and eat, we found it easier to just go back to the room and eat. Now with ds#3 he was 5 months last time we were at Disney and he tolerated everything. My boys loved Whispering Canyon at Wilderness (sorry I am new and not very good with all the acronyms) and all the activity kept the babies attention all through dinner.

 

[skhermsmeyer]

We were at Disney for the 1st time Dec 14-20 with our DS 15mo. We did a sit down dinner every day and he did just fine (five of the dinners were character). CP was probably his favorite because the characters seemed to make it around to our tables more often than other restaurants. Like some of the other posters said, go ahead and make your ADR's and then you can always change them when it gets closer to your trip. It's better to have them and cancel a few days in advance than want them and not have anything available.

 

[Minniemouse07]

To be honest I would be MORE likely to schedule sit down meals w/ a toddler...just make them buffets.

We love doing buffets w/ dd and ds when they were toddlers because there was a wide variety of foods to choose from (both adore veggies over nuggets and fries).

In fact they ate BETTER at the buffets than at the CS meals!

 

[Miss LD]

The thing I love at Disney is that the restaurants are geared for kids. We went this summer when DS was 4 (but very high maintenance) and our baby was 3 months. We're going back when they are 5 and 15 months.
We are definitely doing the sit down meals.
I've never in my life felt so at ease at a sit down meal.
The character meals were great, like PP's said, because the kids can get up and move around. The buffets are also designed to have kids running around.
We tend to lean towards buffets so there's more action.
But, there are so many other families there that no one glares at you when your child can't sit still or has a meltdown.
(I don't mean to imply I let my son run wild)

 

[Doogan]

Kim Wright Wiley's "Disney with Kids" book has a very handy guide to the "kid friendliness" of each restaurant at Disney. I've found it to be spot on, even when I was skeptical. For instance, she list California Grill as kid friendly. Having eaten there with just my wife, I really thought our ADHD 4 your old would be a terror at a 3 hour meal. However, the wait staff was more than up to the challenge. The brought goldfish crackers (one of my son's favorites) and coloring pages. Also being able to take him out on the catwalk to view the MK from 15 stories up took up some time between courses.

The book is also helpful for choosing rides. She has a "fear factor" rating for all the rides that helps give you some idea which rides your child is likely to be able to handle. It's well worth the purchase price, especially for your first trip with a child.

 

[Disneychix]

We had sit-down dinners planned for everyday but after the first 2 nights I quickly tried to change them to lunches. By dinnertime DS was just a fidgety mess. We did keep dinners at the same time we eat at home too. Character dinners were better as he was kept occupied but next time I will do more breakfasts and lunches and maybe only 1 or 2 sit-down dinners at the begining of vacation.

 

[Tiffany_MommyOf3]

We make every meal a character dining lol. We love TS and its sooo much easier for us with 4 kids under 5. The kids stay entertained waiting and looking for characters lol. I cringe when thinking of CS meals with my kids - but that may just be because I have a lot of kids lol

 

[disneybridetobe]

I'm going to second the character buffet meals! We took DD last September, she was 14mo.

 

[cogero]

It honestly depends on your child. We went in July DD age 6 and DS age 9months and did loads of table service including the yachtsman.

This trip dd is 7 and ds will be 15 months and have sit downs arranged. I just try to do them earlier in the day for Easter dinner we have the first reservation at tutto Italia since that was the only non charachter meal we have.

 

[PrincessTigerLily]

We went with DS at 15 months, and he was one of those who did not do well at mealtimes. We found greatest success with buffets at lunch and leaving our counter service meals for dinner (we used the dining plan). He wasn't too overtired, and we could eat as quickly or leisurely as he required. Have fun!

 

[*Seanaci*]

We just got back the end of last month with our 15 month old. We did 1 character/sit down breakfast and that was it. The rest of the time it was counter service and little snacks. Me made sure our son got a good breakfast in, then did the same for lunch and dinner. It gave our feet a rest to go sit on a quiet bench or in a counter service restaraunt to feed our son.

So long as your daughter gets 3 meals a day, and naps if needed, you should be ok doing pretty much anything.