Dining Recommendations For a 1 Year Old

[JSparrow]

I'm planning a trip to Disney World in February '17 and we will be taking our son who will be 14 1/2 months at the time. I realize this will be a whole new experience compared to my other Disney trips and I don't plan on making many reservations for dining because it may be hard to plan with a young child.

Does anyone have any dining recommendations for a 1 year old? Obviously we'd like to do 1 or 2 character meals. Which ones would you all choose?

Thanks,
Jay

[Basket Mommy]

Chef Mickey's seems to be very popular with families. To me it's a little loud and chaotic, though. I prefer the quietness of Garden Grill. You can meet "Farmer" Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale. If you go at a less crowded time (right at 1130, or closer to 2 pm), you might get to see them twice. They also do breakfast and dinner, but we like the lunch there the best. Then there's my kids' all time fave, Crystal Palace. My kiddos are 11, 13, 15 and 18 now and we always have to eat at least one meal at CP. There's just something they love about Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet and Tigger. Lunch there is our favorite. Breakfast is standard fare, but the lunch is really good, we think.

[faline]

As long as your little one isn't afraid of the characters (You might want to test this out before heading into a restaurant with characters), Crystal Palace is a terrific character breakfast. Chef Mickey's was also fun when we went with a 2 year old. As for other dining, Be Our Guest is quite a noisy venue which might fit well with having an active (or impatient) little one.

[Arielfan98]

I would second Garden Grill since it is not noisy. Also, I heard the O'Hana breakfast with lilo and stitch is fun.

As for regular meals, kid-friendly places might be Tony's, Liberty Tree Tavern, Kona Cafe, Coral Reef is fun, or you could try Be Our Guest (but it's noisy). My favorite restaurant when I was a toddler was Akershus (not sure how it is now).

Best of luck! :thumbsup:

[Zippy 1]

Cape May Cafe has a character breakfast that is much quieter than most. It has Mickey, Donald,and I believe Goofy in thier beachware. We have really enjoy this one. We also enjoyed the breakfast with charcters at the Grand Floridian. I can not remember which restaurant this was. But it was very nice

[cspenc28]

We went when my little one was just a year old. We had a blast. he loved the rides! He wasn't too fond of the characters though. But we did 3 character breakfasts (my son was in a much better mood in the morning at that age than any other time of the day), Crystal Palace, Tusker House and Cape May. Like I said, he wasn't too fond of the characters but was ok as long as we were holding him and stood between him and the character.
We took him back last year right before Christmas (he was 2), and he LOVED the characters, talked Mickey's ear off, asked Chip for more blueberries, it was a totally different experience.
That said, last year we went to Garden Grill for breakfast, and it was my most favorite character experience ever! We are going again this year, and already have reservations. I may actually see if we can squeeze in a lunch or dinner there this year too.
Biergarten (while loud) is also a favorite of ours, my 2 year old loved dancing to the music, and my husband enjoyed a nice beer.
We plan Cape May for breakfast every year, because we stay at Beach Club, breakfast is the only character meal, dinner is a Clam Bake. This year we are trying a few new places, like 1900 Park Fare for dinner.

[Basket Mommy]

Cape May Cafe has a character breakfast that is much quieter than most. It has Mickey, Donald,and I believe Goofy in thier beachware. We have really enjoy this one. We also enjoyed the breakfast with charcters at the Grand Floridian. I can not remember which restaurant this was. But it was very nice

Minnie is also at Cape May. We like that one, too, but it might be a little out of the way if you're not in the Epcot area already. The 1900 Park Fare is the one at the GF. I believe that one is Alice in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter & Mary Poppins.

[deedee73]

I think it really depends if your little one is familiar with any characters. If so choose a location based on that. At that age, my toddler knew & loved Mickey, Donald and Pooh & Friends. Another decision is whether buffets are doable without stress or if a family style meal would be preferred ('Ohana, Garden Grill). We love the family style ones bc no one has to juggle child & plates nor do you miss any characters while at the buffet. Despite that fact our favorite buffets all things considering (noise, character interaction, food selection) are 'Ohana, Crystal Palace & 1900 Park Fare.

[Pirate Granny]

Agree, we prefer family style to buffets, never fails one of the characters is coming to out table, just when we (all ten) need to get up. But I did like Cape May cause it's a smaller venue and it seemed less crowded. Liberty tree no longer has characters, Hollywood and vine is buffet, but has the Disney Jr. Characters I think for breakfast and lunch. Agree, although nice, I didn't care for Chef Mickey, too noisy, big and the food was mediocre for that price. There are no characters at Be our Guest.

[lawgirl]

My kids (4 and 6 now) were both pretty scared of the characters at that age- they are both pretty sensitive to their surroundings. That said, they have loved Garden Grill, Cape May Cafe, and Ohana. And they both LOVE the San Angel Inn. Garden Grill is one of my absolute favorite places to eat. And Cape May is prob my favorite breakfast place. Chef Mickey's was loud, service was terrible every time we've been. And its ridiculously expensive. We've never really had a good experience there...food is mediocre, service was awful- waiting 30 minutes for drink refills with little kids is never fun. Once, the characters were super late in getting to our table, and both my kids were just ready to go. Very disappointing considering the price. And 2 years ago, they were both terrified of Be Our Guest...it was just too much noise and darkness. I've kinda figured out that its just a lot less stressful if we don't make many dining reservations at all. Garden Grill and Cape May would be my exceptions. For now:)

[Dulcee]

We took our 1 year old last year. As another thought we found late dinners, after he had passed out in the stroller, worked great for us. We'd feed him early. He'd fall asleep and we could wheel him right into any restaurant. He'd sleep soundly and we were able to enjoy a calm, quiet dinner!