What kind of restauraunts for small children?

[Wrigley]

We are trying to get a rough idea of where we want to eat on our upcoming trip. Our DD will be 2, turning 3 on our trip. When you bring your children this age, what kind of restaurants do you eat at? Do you do mostly character meals? CS? Other TS? I'm just worried that if we decide to go with someplace like Le Cellier, she may get antsy and disruptive while waiting for our meals. I'm leaning towards more character meals, but I'm also worried she'll be afraid of the characters-she's very shy and is afraid of alot of things!!! But, I guess we can try and if it's a problem cancel the rest of our meals???:mickey:

[FaithTrustPixieDust]

At that age, you never know if she will love the characters or be terrified of them. You are probably very safe with the princess meals. Younger kids tend to be more comfortable with the "face" characters who look like regular people.

If you do want to try some other character meals, you might schedule them at the end of the trip. That will give your DD more time to get comfortable with seeing characters in and around the parks before the character meal. And if you see earlier on that she is petrified of the big-headed characters, you have plenty of time to cancel the reservation and make another one.

Other fun restaurants that I'm looking forward to trying are Whispering Canyon and O'Hanas. They have fun activities for the kids that she might enjoy.

[chefmickey3]

Another suggestion is to look for restaraunts that offer family style service as opposed to buffet. When we have taken small children, it is hard to juggle their plates with ours and someone always needs to stay at the table. Then the characters come... We found the buffets unenjoyable with children under 3 because we were never seated! Something like Ohana's or Liberty Tree (won't be characters anymore) are nice because the food is served to the table family style, so it comes fast (less waiting time) but you don't have to get up to get it. We also really enjoyed Whispering Canyon. It is nice to have a couple of TS meals during vacation but the CS have a lot to offer as well.

[ThanxForNoticin]

Other fun restaurants that I'm looking forward to trying are Whispering Canyon and O'Hanas. They have fun activities for the kids that she might enjoy.

I agree 100%. Both these restaurants are very kid-friendly, and offer good food and service. 'OHana is one of our favorites, and our kids always love it there.

[wendy*darling]

We like the Family Style and buffet meals with kids. There is less waiting and more going on in general.

If you are not sure about character meals- don't worry too much. Try this:

Make sure the server knows this is your first character meal and you do not know how DD will react.
Sit your DD on the side of the table so that she facing where the characters will approach. Do not let her sit so the characters approach from behind- that is too surprising and scary for little ones. Being able to see who is coming and how close they are, PLUS having the table between her and them is a huge help.
If she is terrified, the characters "know" and will maybe just wave and walk on by. They do not impose on a scared child.
It may take a while for her to warm up to them, but most likely she will be fine, as long as she doesn't feel pushed into it or threatened.
And if she loves them right away- you can move her seat closer to the action if that's where she wants to be.

Our family has always done 1-2 sit down meals each day- even when the kids were little. It gives us a nice, welcome break from rushing around in the heat and crowds.

[r4kids]

1900 Park Fare, Akershaus (Norway), Cindys Castle, Liberty Tree Tavern, Tony's, Sci Fi, and Coral Reef all have great atmosphere.Tony's is ok but neat to be in. Le Cellier is fun too and very good, I would not be to worried about her behavior at Le Cellier, there are kids there ALL the time.

[prshell]

We just took ours for their 1st trip (4, 3, 15 mos.) They REALLY liked Hollywood & Vine at the Studios. They have Little Einsteins there, with JoJo and Goliath. There was a lot of interaction with the characters, and they danced with the kids. They also liked Mexico at Epcot.

[Wrigley]

Thank you so much for all of the good responses. Definately some great information to take into consideration:)

[kemps@wdw]

If you like dinner shows, don't pass up the Hoop-Dee-Doo. The food is great and the show is wonderful.:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[jenny1976]

Akershus
Cindy's
1900 Park Fare
Cosmic Ray's
Whispering Canyon
Crystal Palace
Hollywood & Vine
Toy Story Pizza Planet
Pinocchio VIllage Haus
Liberty Tree
Restaurantosauros
Coral Reef
Cape May Cafe
Chef Mickey
O'Hanna's
Rain Forest Cafe
Planet Hollywood
Pizzafiri
Flame Tree BBQ
Electric Umbrella
Main St. Bakery
Casey's Corner

Hope it helps and that you have a WONDERFUL trip!!!:party:

[ElenitaB]

I think that Garden Grill is a great place for little ones for a variety of reasons:

there's changing scenery
they don't see the characters from afar and then have to wait patiently until it's their turn (at Chef Mickey's and at Cape May Cafe we ended up with other families' children in our pics)
the characters will play as much or as little as your child likes
if your little one is afraid, you can tuck them along the railing if seated at a table, or towards the back of the booth
food is served family style, which I've found to be easier with small children


Another fave character meal of ours was Liberty Tree Tavern as it is sectioned off into rooms and also served family style. Alas, it will no longer be a character meal.

'Ohana is a great, kid-friendly (but non character meal).

Enjoy!

[KAT1811]

Okay we're talking about WDW so I would say to take your DD wherever you want. I have yet to be in a restaurant in WDW and not see a child, and most likely an antsy one at that. Don't worry, the CMs are great and there are a few things you can do to make your dining a bit easier. On our last trip our DD #3 was 10 months and getting tired near the end of our dinner at Le Cellier. We were part of a party of 15, the CMs were wonderful. One of the hostessess really took to her and carried her around the restaurant (I could see her at all times) giving us and DD a break. We were able to enjoy the rest of our dinner. I don't think she wanted to give her back. Now I'm not saying that all CMs are going to be that helpful, just that they are used to antsy kids and are for the most part very helpful and understanding.

Some of the things we do to help make dining a bit easier:


Bring a DVD player and a few movies. This allows our DDs to take a break while eating and rest a bit.
Bring a new toy of some sort. On one of our trips we bought princess tracing plates with markers at a gift shop before we went to eat and DDs had a blast playing while we enjoyed a great meal. (We did this at CG)
Order DDs food right when you put in your drink order then she'll be occupied and not waiting around for her dinner forever (or what seems like forever to a 3 year old). Then get her dessert when you get your entrees.
Pick fun restaurants wtih something going on to entertain her or somewhere she can get up and move around.
Character meals are great if she is not scared of the characters.


I've been at restaurants when the kids have just had enough and the CMs were great and a big help. On our last trip the two babies (2 1/2 and 10 months) had enough and there was no way they would have made it through dinner. We ordered their dinner and mine they ate theirs (kid food tends to come out rather quickly) and then I had them wrap mine to go and back to the resort we went while everyone else enjoyed dinner. That way both of us were happy. My advice is to be ready to adapt. She may be fine some nights and over stimulated others. Just go with the flow. There is nothing saying you have to eat anywhere. I would just stay away from restaurants that require deposits (CG, HDDR, Luau, CRT, etc.)

Some great ideas for kids are:

Crystal Palace (Pooh and Friends)
Chef Mickey's
'Ohana (conga line and coconut races for kids)
1900 Park Fare
Whispering Canyon Cafe
San Angel Inn
Garden Grill
Beaches and Cream
50's Prime Time Cafe

[Mickey91]

Honestly you just have to remember one thing. You are at Disney World. People who vacation there "should" remember that there will be little ones and they don't always act the way we would want them to. With that in mind, don't worry so much about her bothering others. Yes, you want to try to have as little disruption for other guests as possible, but not let that dictate your choices. Also, most all but the more adult signature dining places are really good about accomodating little ones.

That being said, here is my list of character places that should be a lot of fun for her:

Chef Mickeys - breakast
Crystal Palace - breakfast
Akershus - breakfast
Cinderella's castle - breakfast
1900 Park Fair - breakfast - Mary Poppins, Alice
1900 Park Fair - dinner - Cinderella and step sisters
LTT - if traveling before Jan '09
Garden Grill - dinner

You will have a great time!! Be sure to tell them it's her birthday!!

Our DD went not long before her 3rd birthday. She did real well around the princesses and girl characters such as Minnie and Daisy etc. She was shy, not scared around the boy characters like Mickey. We helped her warm up to Mickey by telling her he owned the place.

[donnah77]

We have a big buffet breakfast at the hotel, then usually stick to counter service at the parks. We travelled with 4 kids last year, and it was much easier to have quick & easy service. Plus the food selections are really great these days. Our favorites are MK - Cosmic Ray's & Columbia House, Epcot - Seasons (#1 fave in all of WDW).

We also do 2 charcter meals per trip - usually princess and Chef Mickeys. The kids have a great time and we get great pictures, but I can't say a whole lot of eating gets done by kids or adults! By our second kid trip we learned to eat an early hotel breakfast BEFORE our character breakfast :eat:

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

We took my 4 year old nephew to everything including LE Cellier and he was fine. But he's used to going out to restaurants too so that might make a big difference. Just bring books or small toys to keep them occupied. Something not too heavy to carry!

[bigbabyblues]

This is our list of ADRs for November:

--the Plaza at MK (new for us, sandwiches and ice cream type place)
--Whispering Canyon (repeat, tons of fun, loud)
--Teppan Edo (DH & I have been, first time for our boys)
--Tusker House breakfast (character meal)
--Sci-Fi (new for us, burgers & onion rings, etc)
--Coral Reef (new for the boys, aquarium wall in the restaurant)
--Cape May breakfast (character meal, new for us)
--50's Prime Time (favorite of ours)
--Crystal Palace breakfast (character meal, favorite)
--'Ohana dinner (repeat, we liked it)
--Chef Mickey breakfast (character meal, favorite)
--Boma (3rd time for us, we all enjoy it, the boys like trying the different things)
--Marrakesh (we've been once and really liked it)

I think that's all of our ADRs....

[GhostHost999]

How about Ohana?

Not too expensive, they give you your choice of meats brought to table, and a fun atmosphere.

They even have a coconut rolling contest for little ones that your kids might find very fun. :)

[irish1967]

I didn't read the entire thread, so I apologize if this advice is repeated.

We successfully took our younger children to all sorts of TS restaurants at WDW. Our basic approach was to get a fairly early ADR (early enough that our meal would finish BEFORE their normal bedtime - in our own time zone, not Florida time. :mickey:) Then, we would leave the park a few hours before the ADR, go back to the resort and take a break (short nap then short dip in the pool) before going to the ADR.

We replicated this approach with my 16 month old niece this summer and every meal was a wonderful experience from the 68 year old grandpa down to the baby!

[FaithTrustPixieDust]

Another suggestion is to look for restaraunts that offer family style service as opposed to buffet. When we have taken small children, it is hard to juggle their plates with ours and someone always needs to stay at the table. Then the characters come... We found the buffets unenjoyable with children under 3 because we were never seated!

This is a really great point!!! Mom and Dad do a lot of running back and forth. You also run the risk of missing a character as they come by.

[Momto3littlemice]

Hi there,

We took our then 2 and 3 year olds to all our sit down meals last year and they mostly did really well. They seemed welcome at all the restaurants except for Cali Grill to which I would never return (for various reasons but it was NOT kid friendly).

Our kids talk about Chef Mickey's all the time still and also loved Crystal Palace. The one piece of advice I would give is to make dinner ressies EARLY on in the day. In other words, pick a time like 4:30 or 5 so that you can eat in a hotter part of the day and your child will be less tired. If you go back for a nap in the pm, you could make it 5:30 or 6. We had a few ressies around 6:30 or 7 and those are the ones our children enjoyed much less!

[GoldenDreams]

Hi there,

The best thing for our family was to read all the menus ahead of time and then have a list of what would work for our family. My son prefers mac & cheese or pasta and we found those pretty easily. We were able to take him to Restaurant Marrakesh because even though the food there is exotic, they have spaghetti for kids. At Le Cellier, he loved the tall breadsticks. But usually we just ate at counter service locations and those worked well for us. They also have fruit kiosks around the different parks so you can pick up grapes or an apple. The Disney resorts also have a lot of choices for kids now at their food courts, so that is really helpful.

[GaDisneyGal]

My DD(3) was a little timid around the characters and looked a little shell-shocked in quite a few pictures from our trip last year. One meal she absolutely loved was Play and Dine at Hollywood and Vine. They sing and dance and since The Little Einstein's and Jo Jo's Circus are the characters there, she came out of her shell very quickly. :dance: