Dining with a 2 year old

[faberj]

Looking for suggestions on where to take a 2 year old for meals both counter service and sit down meals. I have a few character meals booked so far as he loves Mickey and Pooh. He is 19 months now and loves the fur mascots in our area and does really well when we go out to eat.

Thanks!!

[Disney Goof]

Chef Mickey and Crystal Palace are the two obvious character meals if he likes Mickey and Pooh. Both are buffets so you can get food pretty fast which really helps keep the kids content.

Casey's Corner is a great Quick Service because they play old Disney cartoons in the seating area.

The Quick Service in France is great too. Definitely great desserts and the sandwiches are good too.

That is a just a few quick ones. Enjoy your vacation, that is a great age to visit.:mickey:

[SBETigg]

With my kids, I found sit downs to be easier than buffets. The getting up and down for food was disruptive. Yours might be different. But in that case, I think Garden Grill and 'Ohana are good choices. 'Ohana has characters for breakfast and the food is served right to your table. Garden Grill has a similar service style and characters.

But also, if he is only two and well behaved at meals, you might want to choose some that will appeal to you and know that he will be happy anywhere. Sanaa has good food and service, and bonus if you are seated with a view of the animals outside. The World Showcase restaurants are all interesting and different. In general, I like Chefs de France, Via Napoli, Rose & Crown, Grand Floridian Cafe, and Kouzzina. If you do like buffets, Biergarten is great with little ones, too. No characters, but there is an oompah band and the chance to get up and dance. Good way to work out some of that energy.

[AgentC]

With my kids, I found sit downs to be easier than buffets. The getting up and down for food was disruptive. Yours might be different. But in that case, I think Garden Grill and 'Ohana are good choices. 'Ohana has characters for breakfast and the food is served right to your table. Garden Grill has a similar service style and characters.

I agree with this. Garden Grill was one of the first meals I did with both of my children and it was great. I really like the Ohana's breakfast too. I've done both Crystal Palace and 1900 Park Fare for Pooh. If you can do an early ADR. Crystal Palace can be nice for the early access to MK. LIberty Tree Tavern for lunch also worked well for us.

My son is really limited in what he is willing to eat so counter for us is based on who has peanut butter and jelly or pizza. :)

[WDWForever]

I've got two very picky daughters (4 and 2). We normally do sitdown meals because of the variety and accomedating since we've always been able to get buttered pasta wherever we go. We also like buffets too since there's no waiting and you can eat right after being seated. I guess it is to one's own preference.

[Janmac]

We took my sister's granddaughter - at 25 months - to every restaurant we went to, including Marrakesh, San Angel Inn, Biergarten, etc. We made sure we had some small toys for her to entertain herself during the meal. As she ate off her mother's plate, we asked for an extra plate. At least once she was asleep in her stroller while we ate. We've had that happen with other toddlers - they sleep through a meal. At least they aren't making too much noise!

Jan

[sixshot19]

We took twin 2 year old boys last year. We stuck to counter service places, only because you have that feeling of being in charge, not waiting for things to be brought to you. They can get impatient quickly.

We found that the counter service eating areas were a little less informal and were louder (ya I know looking for louder place sounds weird), but when one acted up a bit, we didn't stand out as much.

Also the characters were to distracting for them and they usually didn't eat anything. Hope it helps.

[nfrustaci]

We took twin 2 year old boys last year. We stuck to counter service places, only because you have that feeling of being in charge, not waiting for things to be brought to you. They can get impatient quickly.

We found that the counter service eating areas were a little less informal and were louder (ya I know looking for louder place sounds weird), but when one acted up a bit, we didn't stand out as much.

Also the characters were to distracting for them and they usually didn't eat anything. Hope it helps.

i so agree with the counter service !!!! we went last year and had at least 1 adr a day. by the time we got there for dinner my son was beside himself with exhaustion.... not a pleasant eating experience at all. breakfast adrs were much better but he again did not eat because of the characters so we just took a little something out with us so he would snack on it during our travels through the park.
this year we are doing counter service only !!! trying that for a change. my son is not a big eater to begin with, can never eat an entire meal at once. usually eats throughout the day. we call it grazing. hope this helps.

[Kairi_7378]

We are going to be in the minority here... but this past trip we took our 3-year-old to Artists' Point, Sanaa, and the CA Grill. He is very good in restaurants and did well in all of them. (I think that CA Grill might have been a little long for him but he slept through the fist half of the meal and enjoyed the views after dinner.) My DH wanted to use the meal times as relaxing times from the parks. I think that Sanaa was DS's favorite of the 3. Even if you don't get a view of the Savannah from your table you can wander into the viewing areas between courses or before and after your meal.

[faberj]

We are going to be in the minority here... but this past trip we took our 3-year-old to Artists' Point, Sanaa, and the CA Grill. He is very good in restaurants and did well in all of them. (I think that CA Grill might have been a little long for him but he slept through the fist half of the meal and enjoyed the views after dinner.) My DH wanted to use the meal times as relaxing times from the parks. I think that Sanaa was DS's favorite of the 3. Even if you don't get a view of the Savannah from your table you can wander into the viewing areas between courses or before and after your meal.

Do they let you bring your stroller to the table if you child is sleeping?? I don't know how else my DS would sleep if I had to take him out once we got to the restaurant.

[Kairi_7378]

At the CA Grill, we had to get a tag for the stroller when we checked in. (DS had fallen asleep on the monorail.) They let us roll the stroller right up to the table. They also brought him a fancy plate of Goldfish crackers for when he woke up!