The Disney Resorts offer a variety of dining experiences including a number of higher-end, fine-dining restaurants. What’s a parent to do? Take the kids along? Have a night out without the kids? We asked the Parenting Panel this week: How do you prepare your children for a nicer meal? What do you do when you want to go to a nicer meal? Do you take the kids or get a sitter or use a Kid’s Club?
Mary Kraemer is an avid Disney fan and travel consultant with CruisingCo/MouseEarVacations who loves to travel with her husband and children to Disney destinations as often as possible! Mary writes:
Maybe it’s our parenting style, but my husband and I seldom go out to dinner without our children. Consequently, our kids have grown up going to nice restaurants, and they seem to enjoy it. Even when they find the pace of a meal a bit more leisurely than they’d like, they are generally good sports about it. We always make sure that we commend their behavior and talk about what they liked (or didn’t like) afterward.
Our girls like to dress up for a fancy meal, especially when we’re onboard a Disney cruise ship. Not too surprisingly, they like to dress up much more than my husband or sons, and we’ve packed formal dresses and even elbow-length gloves for their ensemble (OK, I’ll come clean—the elbow-length gloves were an attempt to cover up one daughter’s cast so she wouldn’t feel so self conscious at dinner). I have no problem indulging their desire to go all out and look great for a nice dinner because I’m happy to have their company and feel like it’s a good way for them to gain positive experiences. How will they know how to behave in a nice restaurant otherwise?
That said, my husband and I look forward to a nice dinner at Palo when we’re on a Disney ship. Our kids are old enough to be independent and get their own dinner at one of the more casual dining locations, such as Topsiders, but families with younger kids will appreciate that the kids’ groups can have dinner together. One of our kids’ favorite things to do when we go to Palo is to order room service! They think that is the height of luxury.
At Walt Disney World, I can think of two occasions where we went to dinner without the kids. The first time, the kids were 3 and 4, so a Fairy Godmother took care of the youngest one while the twins were at the Neverland Club at Disney’s Polynesian Resort. My husband and I had dinner at Victoria and Albert’s at the Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, which was a wonderful dinner experience (and now, kids aren’t allowed at V&A, so if you want to eat there, the kids have to be somewhere else). On another trip several years later, the kids wanted to go to the Neverland Club so much that my husband and I had to console ourselves with dinner at the California Grill. Honest!
Now when we go to Walt Disney World, picking where we eat dinner is a family project. Yes, although we like some of the fun places such as the ’50s Prime Time Cafe or T-Rex, it’s just as much fun to have the kids branch out at someplace like Sanaa, where they can try new things.
Parenting in the Parks columnist Adrienne Krock’s three boys are now 12, 9, and 6. They’ve been visiting Disneyland since they were each just weeks old and Passholders since their 3rd birthdays. Adrienne shares:
Our children are fairly well behaved in restaurants, but we carefully consider our choices, keeping budget and time in mind. With a family of five, taking all of us to a nicer restaurant while on vacation is first a budget consideration. Even on the dining plan at Walt Disney World, nicer restaurants often “cost” double credits. Because nicer dinners tend to take longer, they also test our children’s patience more, too.
We have the luxury of living local to Disneyland. As MousePad readers know, my husband Doc and I are especially fond of Napa Rose, the very fine restaurant at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa at The Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. My eldest hopes to finally eat at the Napa Rose one day. Because of our dining style and the atmosphere at Napa Rose, we usually spend at least two hours eating a meal there if not longer. That can be a long time for our sons to sit nicely. For now, we have left Napa Rose as a goal for our son. When he earns it, we will plan a special first time trip.
On our trip to Walt Disney World, we wanted to have a very special night out with our friends. We love our kids to pieces, but 11 nights in a hotel room together gets a little tight. We could all use a break from each other. With the option of taking the children to a kids club, we took the opportunity to have a night out without the boys. The boys had a good time at the club. Our youngest, 5 at the time, played with the same toy the entire time at the club, but that gave him some wonderful one-on-one time with one of the care providers there who reported that they had a good time. It was actually nice for my son, because he had some down time. All of the boys enjoyed relaxing without mom and dad around watching over them. My husband and I were glad to know that they were well taken care of while we had fun, too.
Of course, our children learn manners by practicing them, so we do look for opportunities to expose them to nicer restaurants. Disney parks and resorts feel like safer places to do this. I have found a few tips to improve our chances of success whether at a Disney resort or on any vacation:
- Make earlier reservations. With an earlier meal, our boys are less tired and fussy… and less hungry! Becoming too hungry and too tired increase the potential for disaster with kids.
- Most Disney restaurants will have children’s menus with activities but not all do. We try to keep pens and paper in our packs just in case.
- Finally, we talk to my children to prepare them ahead of time with a good old-fashioned conversation. The better prepared our children are, the better behaved they seem to be. We set the expectations by interactively reviewing proper restaurant manners. We ask them to describe for us what good behavior looks like. Doc and I will often suggest bad behaviors and then they giggle and tell us “NO!” We remind them ahead of time that yes, the meal will be long and the service may not be as fast. We reinforce that we know that they are great kids and we know they can step up to the plate. I thank them during the meal for being such gentlemen so that we can have such wonderful opportunities with them, because of their cooperation! Lots of positive reinforcement goes pretty far with our boys!
- The boys are learning to appreciate nicer restaurants. We typically restrict sodas and desserts. They boys know that the chances of a Shirley Temple and dessert greatly increase when we take them out to a nicer restaurant. A little temptation goes pretty far with our boys, too.
Chris, also known as GusMan, is always planning his next family trip to WDW and loves to help others plan their trips as well through sharing his experiences. Chris writes:
Dining at a Disney park or resort can be a big part of the vacation experience. Whether it is a character meal or a trying something a little different than what you might find at home, there is something for everyone. The bigger question is: How do you prepare the children for such a dining experience?
Over the past few years, we decided that we were going to try places that we never tried before on each trip. That was not really a problem for my older daughter, but for my son, it caused me to think ahead a little. After all, my son, being younger, dining out sometimes means that there is a level of unpredictability that has the potential of making an experience not-so-magical.
When it comes to dining, this is where some “practice” comes into play. This is especially the case for us since we do not dine out at sit-down places on a regular basis. However, we found that, about a month out from our vacation, we will pick a local restaurant that serves the same type of cuisine as a table service eatery that we will visit while at Disney and dine there to review certain table manners and behavior. (Granted, we can do this at home, but sometimes the setting itself makes the point come across easier.) We make it fun by using it as one of our vacation planning sessions, talking about the different restaurants we plan to visit while there.
Here are some general thoughts and ideas that we use quite often when dining out at Disney:
- Consider the time of day that you would like to dine and if it suits your children’s dining needs. Some of our more difficult meals were when my son was over-tired or over-hungry and we had a later reservation.
- Going along with the thought above, sometimes a table service meal for lunch can meet your needs—and be cheaper at the same time. Granted, your mileage may vary on this one, depending on where you have your heart set to dine, but most places have lunch menus that are very similar to their dinner menus.
- Only you can determine if your child is ready to handle a more upscale meal. There are no real guidelines for this, but going along with our “practice meal” idea above, if they can’t sit still at your local steakhouse, you might want to consider bypassing an experience at Le Cellier Steakhouse in Epcot’s Canada Pavillion.
- Sometimes, dining can take time. With the average menu-based table service experience taking between 60 and 90 minutes, the activities on the back of the kids menu can only keep them occupied for so long. Books, a game on a cell phone or iPod (with headphones, please…), or even pre-planning some engaging discussion topics, can really make the time go by quickly.
- If your child does act up, be prepared to leave the table promptly and discuss his/her behavior issues calmly and in as private a place as possible. It happens to all of us and sometimes it is needed to help keep the peace.
- If you are just starting to see what kind of table service dining is best suited for your young ones, try dining at a buffet eatery first. Afterward, work your way “up” to places that are more upscale. This can be done over multiple trips, or even over a single trip, possibly saving the best dining experiences for last.
I have also had the experience of dining alone with my wife at some wonderful places. And while we have not used any of the kids clubs or babysitting services in order to dine alone while we are traveling as a family, it is surely an option. Additionally, there have been times where we would split up as a family and try something different with one of the kids for a certain meal. I know that may go against the “family vacation” idea, but we think of it as a rider-swap for meals.
Overall, I think Disney does a great job catering to families at all of their table service restaurants. After all, they know that this is a place for families to both play and dine together. With a little bit of preparation and planning, I don’t think any on-property restaurant is out of reach.
MousePlanet columnist Chris Barry his wife Diane, 11-year-old Samantha, and twin 8-year-olds, Casey and Alex, live on Long Island and are all major Disney and Walt Disney World fans. Chris offers:
As far as dining is concerned, we’ve experienced Disney three different ways. My wife and I went on our own last spring, so that doesn’t really count here, but boy it was nice. We’ve gone with just my daughter when she was ages 4, 5 and 6. When our twin boys hit 4, we started bringing them along, as well. Disney restaurants are part of the experience and we’ve always dined at sit-down meals with them. We’ve never left them in the room with a sitter or in a kids club. Now obviously, The Magic Kingdom’s Crystal Palace with Pooh and his pals and Chef Mickey’s at Disney’s Contemporary Resort are sit-down meals, but they don’t really count in this discussion either. There’s built-in entertainment at places like that, so parents have little to worry about.
If I look back, I think the only fancier restaurants that we have been to with the kids are the California Grill on top of the Contemporary and Artist’s Point at The Wilderness Lodge. California Grill was just with my daughter, who was probably 5 at the time. It was my wife’s 40th and we made later reservations so we could watch the fireworks from the outside balcony. Putting the whole proud father thing aside, it should be noted that my daughter has always behaved in restaurants and public places. She was a dream. Still, we knew we would be in a nicer restaurant later than usual to catch the 10 p.m. Wishes fireworks show, so we planned accordingly that day. She got a bit longer of a rest at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort that day and she was fine.
Artist’s Point was with all three kids and the boys were probably 4. Now, I’m not going to slam my boys here, but they can be more of a handful. I think boys naturally are and twins tend to just magnify the situation. That said, I don’t have any memories of misbehaving kids at that meal. We have always made sure to have some entertainment in my backpack. When they get tired of coloring the kids menus at Disney, I pull out the backup coloring pages that are usually found in the Disney hotel lobbies. I always grab a handful of these after checking in and keep them handy for restaurants. My boys are seriously into what they call “guys.” Small PVC figures from the parks or from home are their favorite toys and I always keep a handful in my backpack to keep them busy.
We frequently eat in the San Angel Inn in Epcot’s Mexico Pavilion, but once again, the ride and the volcano seem to hold their interest. The same idea works with Epcot’s Coral Reef. The fish tanks are a great distraction. The great thing is that if the boys get a little antsy in their seats and are overtired, they’re not alone. Most Disney restaurants are teeming with kids, even the nicer eateries. When my wife and I were at Citricos at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa on our adult’s only trip, we commented about how wonderful the restaurant was, and how it was nice to sit and take our time and enjoy it by ourselves. But we also commented on how many kids were there. The obligatory statement, “It’s Disney, there are kids everywhere,” really does ring true.
One thing we’ve always done is to enforce a standard of behavior no matter where we are. They need to understand that they have to behave whether they’re in Pecos Bill’s Tall Tale Inn at the Magic Kingdom or if they’re in Artist’s Point. If you stay consistent and reinforce that they are in a restaurant and they have to behave, they don’t know the difference how fancy it is.
It’s your turn—keep the discussion flowing!
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