Meals with a toddler...

[nittanyliongirl02]

Hi everyone....so after almost 20 trips to WDW, I'm finally going with a child of my own! My DD will be 2.5 for our trip in October. We plan to do 2 days before our Disney Cruise, and 1 day upon return.

I'm thinking of dinner the first night (hoping to do MNSSHP the next), but was wondering if Disney frowns upon you not ordering a kid's meal, and just feeding your child from your own plate?

My DD eats a variety of food, but most of the time when we go out to eat somewhere, we end up bringing most of it home. Sometimes I find it easier to just get her an appetizer, or we share food with her. But I'm not sure if that is frowned upon or not?! I don't mind spending the money to eat, but I just don't want to have this extra food laying around as that would be a waste.

And on that note, any suggestions of OUT OF PARK restaurants that your toddlers enjoyed? Not sure how she will feel about characters by then, so I'm thinking character meals may be out....still open to character meal suggestions though!

TIA!

 

[ErinTwinmom]

Kids under 3 are welcome to eat off your plate and are free at buffets.

 

[nittanyliongirl02]

Thank you! That is good to know!!

 

[TOBS2010]

We took my oldest at 2.5 and the servers always asked us if we wanted to order something for my DS. He was generally a big eater by then and we almost always got him his own lunch. At buffets you can take a plate for them. Anyone under the age of 3 is free at buffets. However, watch your bill because we did have an issue at Chef Mickeys where they did charge for him and I had to get the waitress to fix the bill.

 

[nittanyliongirl02]

We took my oldest at 2.5 and the servers always asked us if we wanted to order something for my DS. He was generally a big eater by then and we almost always got him his own lunch. At buffets you can take a plate for them. Anyone under the age of 3 is free at buffets. However, watch your bill because we did have an issue at Chef Mickeys where they did charge for him and I had to get the waitress to fix the bill.

Good to know, especially because I literally JUST MADE a reservation at Chef Mickey, lol!

 

[monorailsilver]

I ordered my under 3 kids their own food, we mainly ate QS. My older 2 always had leftovers but the youngest not so much. I always had a little cooler with an ice pack and zip lock bags so would put their leftovers in that. They would eat that for the next meal, sort of like home.

 

[unrequited23]

I would say 2.5 yrs old is the best time to dine with a toddler at dinner. They are free at buffets and AYCTE places, so you are not paying $25 for them just to eat a roll. It is perfectly acceptable to ask for an extra plate and share your food with them. When we went sometimes my boys (2.5 & 5) and I would share an adult CS meal or we would get 3 kids meals and bring the extra fruit/carrots/cookie with us as a snack for later. I did always have some snacks with us (goldfish, fruit snacks, granola bar) because my youngest could go from happy to hangry in 2 seconds. Both boys really enjoyed T-Rex in DS--they ended up going twice. It is loud, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be after reading the boards. I would suggest you try to make ADRs about 30 mins before you normally eat at home. Sometimes it takes awhile to be seated and for your food to arrive. If you have a Chick-fil-a or a Chuck E Cheese nearby it might be worth a trip to see how your little one reacts to the characters.

 

[CharissaOKC]

Our first trip was a year ago and our son was 2.5 and he shared with us everywhere we ate. No problems at all. At Ohana they even brought him out Mac and cheese and his own dessert even though he wasn’t a paying dinner guest.

 

[KeepCalmAndCarryOn]

My nephew (and our kids) liked the buffets: Chef Mickey, Crystal Palace, and we also had luck with family style at the Garden Grill. (So I would also think Cape May and other buffet or family style meals might work well.) It reduced the wait time and allowed lots of options to ensure that everyone had full bellies. Biergarten and Raglan Road were also fan favorites thanks to the music and dancing.

 

[Thing 1]

One trip my then 5 year old shared every meal with me....no issues. Not buffets or AYCE obviously. He decided he was not a “kid” that year and was not eating kid meals. No way was I buying him adult meals so he ate off my plate. Much better, heather food and saved money. Win win.

 

[mjkacmom]

Lol on our last trip I’d share meals with my mom. My family of 7 had the DDP, my parents didn’t, we could usually just use the DDP (obviously not buffets). It was a lot of food.

 

[FireflyTrance]

I would pick a buffet or two where they can eat whatever they want and you don't have to pay for them

But to answer your question, in my experience none of the waiters seem to care if your child shares a meal with you. Once my daughter was 3 I continued to share meals with her at QS locations.

 

[Lilsia]

They are very nice about bringing an extra plate so you can share. My kids are a year apart and we always ordered them an adult meal to share and they even most of the time split them up and brought them out on 2 separate plates already. Just let the server know what you want to do.

 

[Maggie at the Fort]

Sharing is definitely ok! And if your family likes more adventurous foods, consider Sanaa. My daughter was amazed to watch animals from our table by the window.

 

[nittanyliongirl02]

Sharing is definitely ok! And if your family likes more adventurous foods, consider Sanaa. My daughter was amazed to watch animals from our table by the window.

My husband and I have actually eaten there twice, and my DD does actually eat Indian cuisine, however, I think the times available were later, and I know once it gets dark, there is nothing to see. We do love it there though!