Best Dinner Experience with Toddler

[zandalis]

We are traveling mid-February, arriving late on Thursday night and are staying at the Coronado Springs. We are traveling with our just turned 2 year old son. We plan on spending Friday just hanging out, not going to force a park on a little sleep.

What are the best dinner options for dinner. I am looking for somewhere in Disney Springs or one of the other reosrts that is worth the trip.

 

[Buck Wheelie]

Most DS restaurants are very busy and like most anything you would find in a big city. I don't know what one you would like the best but with little kids I would avoid Planet Hollywood because it is very loud. Olivia's at Old Key West is a nice quiet place and you can dine inside or outside.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

We are traveling mid-February, arriving late on Thursday night and are staying at the Coronado Springs. We are traveling with our just turned 2 year old son. We plan on spending Friday just hanging out, not going to force a park on a little sleep.

What are the best dinner options for dinner. I am looking for somewhere in Disney Springs or one of the other reosrts that is worth the trip.

T-Rex. Plain and simple he will love the lights and sounds and they are used to small fries. They will also be quick with the drinks if mom and dad need them too. I would request a booth if you can and hold out for it.

 

[DVCakaCarlF]

Sanaa @ AKL Kidani

 

[gobstoper27]

I think it depends on your little one but when my guy was that age he did really well at the Boathouse..another fan fav is Splitsville. Decent food for everyone and interesting things to look at! I think the louder restaurants are great for concealing the fussy moments as well

 

[Hockey89]

I think it depends on your little one but when my guy was that age he did really well at the Boathouse..another fan fav is Splitsville. Decent food for everyone and interesting things to look at! I think the louder restaurants are great for concealing the fussy moments as well

Not really. No one wants to spend that much and listen to a fuzzy kid. No one. But selfish parents will ruin it for everybody at Disney. Shame

 

[Weather_Lady]

[Piggybacking on @Club Cooloholic's T-REX recommendation]:

If you want to try out Disney Springs with a toddler, my advice would be to:
1 - Sign up for Landry's Select Club. (It costs about $25, I think, but they give you a "welcome reward credit" in that amount that you can use the first time you visit a Landry's restaurant, so it costs nothing in the aggregate.) Having the card entitles you to priority seating at any Landry's owned restaurant -- at WDW, that means T-REX and Rainforest Cafe at DS, and the other Rainforest Cafe and Yak & Yeti at AK. https://www.landrysselect.com/
2 - Make an ADR (especially if you're going during a busy time, like on a weekend night -- COVID restrictions may impact how many Landry's Select guests they can accommodate spontaneously), or try for a walk-up, with Landry's Select Club card in hand either way, at T-REX or Rainforest Cafe at DS. Both are very loud, so people won't be staring daggers at you if your toddler fusses, and very family-friendly, with fun animatronic animals to check out. The priority seating generally ensures you won't have to wait around so long to be seated that your toddler will get bored and "start to turn."

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

[Piggybacking on @Club Cooloholic's T-REX recommendation]:

If you want to try out Disney Springs with a toddler, my advice would be to:
1 - Sign up for Landry's Select Club. (It costs about $25, I think, but they give you a "welcome reward credit" in that amount that you can use the first time you visit a Landry's restaurant, so it costs nothing in the aggregate.) Having the card entitles you to priority seating at any Landry's owned restaurant -- at WDW, that means T-REX and Rainforest Cafe at DS, and the other Rainforest Cafe and Yak & Yeti at AK. https://www.landrysselect.com/
2 - Make an ADR (especially if you're going during a busy time, like on a weekend night -- COVID restrictions may impact how many Landry's Select guests they can accommodate spontaneously), or try for a walk-up, with Landry's Select Club card in hand either way, at T-REX or Rainforest Cafe at DS. Both are very loud, so people won't be staring daggers at you if your toddler fusses, and very family-friendly, with fun animatronic animals to check out. The priority seating generally ensures you won't have to wait around so long to be seated that your toddler will get bored and "start to turn."

And don't forget about the $25 Birthday credit for your birthday month.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

[Piggybacking on @Club Cooloholic's T-REX recommendation]:

If you want to try out Disney Springs with a toddler, my advice would be to:
1 - Sign up for Landry's Select Club. (It costs about $25, I think, but they give you a "welcome reward credit" in that amount that you can use the first time you visit a Landry's restaurant, so it costs nothing in the aggregate.) Having the card entitles you to priority seating at any Landry's owned restaurant -- at WDW, that means T-REX and Rainforest Cafe at DS, and the other Rainforest Cafe and Yak & Yeti at AK. https://www.landrysselect.com/
2 - Make an ADR (especially if you're going during a busy time, like on a weekend night -- COVID restrictions may impact how many Landry's Select guests they can accommodate spontaneously), or try for a walk-up, with Landry's Select Club card in hand either way, at T-REX or Rainforest Cafe at DS. Both are very loud, so people won't be staring daggers at you if your toddler fusses, and very family-friendly, with fun animatronic animals to check out. The priority seating generally ensures you won't have to wait around so long to be seated that your toddler will get bored and "start to turn."

Landry's card worked great last time, there was a line of 8 people just waiting to put in names for ressies, I went up after them, handed them the card and was placed at priority for next table. Again, if you don't like the table let them know, we were seated in a very heavily trafficked area with guests and waiters coming within inches of us constantly and with COVID...I was not comfortable, they did accommodate us to a booth after I tried the table out for about 15 mins and saw I would not be comfortable.

 

[gobstoper27]

Not really. No one wants to spend that much and listen to a fuzzy kid. No one. But selfish parents will ruin it for everybody at Disney. Shame

As WDW is a family vacation destination you will encounter children. It's not selfish for people to bring their kids to dinner. Not all dining locations are appropriate for kiddos but most are.

I would hope that if a young child is having a full blown tantrum, that the parents would remove the child.
1..because it's embarrassing
2..not to cause further disruption
Personally speaking, we were were lucky to have had a such a chill, easy-going little one that dining out was never an issue.

I would hope that most people expect to encounter kids while dining and if not, expectations should be adjusted.
Everyone should be respectful while visiting the parks and dining

 

[danyoung56]

I can report from first hand experience that this isn't always the case. I was enjoying a quiet dinner at the Coral Reef a few years ago, gazing out into the big ol' blue from my table right by the glass, when a 4 year old girl had a meltdown at the table across from me. She schlumped down to the floor under the table, and then screamed non-stop for the next 20 minutes. I really didn't blame the girl - I blamed the idiot parents for first allowing this, and then trying to ignore the noise and carrying on as if there wasn't a problem. Needless to say, everyone around, including the restaurant staff, shot a lot of dirty looks in their direction, but they were oblivious.

 

[NelleBelle]

I can report from first hand experience that this isn't always the case. I was enjoying a quiet dinner at Coral Reef a few years ago, gazing out into the big ol' blue from my table right by the glass, when a 4 year old girl had a meltdown at the table across from me. She schlumped down to the floor under the table, and then screamed non-stop for the next 20 minutes. I really didn't blame the girl - I blamed the idiot parents for first allowing this, and then trying to ignore the noise and carrying on as if there wasn't a problem. Needless to say, everyone around, including the restaurant staff, shot a lot of dirty looks in their direction, but they were oblivious.

Been there, done that. I was always mortified if either of my boys acted up. Either myself or my DH quickly removed the "guilty" party before it ever erupted into full-blown meltdown, but I'll admit, there were occasions where we didn't quite catch it in time. Usually this happened because 1) child was hungry 2)child was tired 3) child was bored 4) child was some combo of the previously mentioned three!

We generally have no issue with dining with kids and expect it at the Disney Parks, even the more upscale locations. What does get annoying, is when the child does act up and nothing is done. As a parent, I've been there. But trust me, no one appreciates, no one thinks it's cute, and everyone is secretly applauding when a parent takes the crying/screaming child out of diners' earshot. Attention is going to be drawn to that table more so than the parent who quickly removes the child.

 

[DisAl]

When the toddler is with a baby sitter at home.

 

[ilovelabs2021]

My husband or I always removed one or both of our girls when they were little from restaurants if they were “acting up,” as my mom would say, lol. Luckily it didn’t happen too often. We started taking them to restaurants as babies, so they grew up knowing how to behave for the most part. However, we adjusted how we approached it; for example, we were very aware of our kids’ bedtimes and wouldn’t be at places too late b/c tired, hungry kids are not fun! Was it always a time we as adults wanted to eat? No, but we wanted to have a pleasant experience and not make other diners listen to our whiny kids.