New here and some dining questions

[Rory607]

Hello! I am new to the board and planning our family’s first Disneyland trip. We have done WDW several times, so this will be a new experience! We are traveling to the West coast for another reason, so I convinced my H to tack Disneyland onto the end of our trip We have a DD, 8, and DS, 4. My dad, stepmom, brother and niece, 13, will also be with us.

My questions right now are about table service restaurants. We will have four full park days, which is less than we usually do at WDW, so I’m trying to determine how much time we want to spend sitting and eating. All three kids want to do the Surf’s Up breakfast and my niece wants to do lunch at Carnation Cafe(she has been to DL with her mom and this is her favorite).

My brother is also interested in Blue Bayou and the World of Color dining package at Carthay Circle. My issue is that my DS is, well...4. He is in the picky eater stage and has a hard time sitting still. I don’t want to pay for expensive meals if he’s being difficult, not eating, etc. How is Blue Bayou for kids? Would Carthay Circle be a disaster? My DD will eat lots of things and would be well behaved, so I’m not too concerned about her.

He’s also scared of fireworks so my dad has offered to take him back to the hotel before WOC. But again, it seems like a waste of money because they wouldn’t be using their fast passes. Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[Disney_Alli]

Hello! I am new to the board and planning our family’s first Disneyland trip. We have done WDW several times, so this will be a new experience! We are traveling to the West coast for another reason, so I convinced my H to tack Disneyland onto the end of our trip We have a DD, 8, and DS, 4. My dad, stepmom, brother and niece, 13, will also be with us.

My questions right now are about table service restaurants. We will have four full park days, which is less than we usually do at WDW, so I’m trying to determine how much time we want to spend sitting and eating. All three kids want to do the Surf’s Up breakfast and my niece wants to do lunch at Carnation Cafe(she has been to DL with her mom and this is her favorite).

My brother is also interested in Blue Bayou and the World of Color dining package at Carthay Circle. My issue is that my DS is, well...4. He is in the picky eater stage and has a hard time sitting still. I don’t want to pay for expensive meals if he’s being difficult, not eating, etc. How is Blue Bayou for kids? Would Carthay Circle be a disaster? My DD will eat lots of things and would be well behaved, so I’m not too concerned about her.

He’s also scared of fireworks so my dad has offered to take him back to the hotel before WOC. But again, it seems like a waste of money because they wouldn’t be using their fast passes. Thanks for your thoughts!

World of Color is not a fireworks show it's a projection show on water screens... would that still bother him? I'd check out some videos on youtube to see if you think he'd be okay

 

[gottalovepluto]

WELCOME!!!

4 days is nice at DL. You have enough time to do a TS each day if you want. Blue Bayou is something I think everyone should try once, but if your 4yo is a problem I would book it for the rest of the group and you or your DH could take the 4yo to a CS and a ride or something while everyone else does BB maybe at lunch. DLR is so small it would be very easy to meet up after.

The 4yo would deal with BB better than Carthay imho. At least at Blue Bayou there are boats going by to kinda distract him, nothing like that at Carthay. Wine Country Tratorria has a package too I think and it’s pretty easy to leave and come back from there if you need to take a break with your kid and then return to the meal. A waste of money for kid & grandpa? Yes. But it will give that better standing section to the rest of the group so I suspect that would make it worth it

 

[DizneyMommy]

I personally wouldn’t take a young child to Carthay Circle, especially one who you already know might not sit through the meal. Of course there are families there but it has a very adult feel to the setting. If I’m going there, it’s without my kiddos, for my own sake and that of the other diners ;-)

 

[Gamora]

I vote for Blue Bayou. It's such a fun experience. It has a naturally calming atmosphere. You can watch the boats, the "fireflies," listen to the crickets. Also they have drinks with cool glow cubes, and Mac and cheese is on the kids menu.

 

[katejc]

I agree with the opinions here--Carthay Circle is expensive and you want to relax and enjoy it! All the restaurants are used to having kids, but Blue Bayou is probably easier than CC and more of an atmosphere kids would enjoy I think. Carnation Cafe is very family friendly and you can also sit outside and watch people go by on Main St.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Check the DLR menus on allears.net. You'll be able to see if there are things on the kids menus that will work for your son. Remember that you can also ask for things to be adjusted/altered, so if something will basically work but needs certain things left out or put on the side or substituted, just ask to see what the kitchen can do. Disney is pretty good about working with picky eaters.

 

[mel2014]

We did the Carthay Circle WOC lunch with my kids when my son was 4 and my daughter was 6. They both did fine and I actually felt like the WOC package for kids was one of the better "values" for an upcharge event. If you figure the WOC access has a value of $10, you're getting a 3-course meal with drink for your kid at Disneyland for $13. The pasta is a pretty basic dish, but I'm sure they'd make something special if he didn't want that (we went with my mom, who is a vegetarian and didn't want to eat fish on the WOC menu, so the chef made her a special vegetarian pasta dish that she loved). The push pop by itself is something they'd charge $4 at one of the ice cream shops. I thought the adult lunch was overpriced by comparison, but still good.

 

[cruisehopeful]

My issue is that my DS is, well...4. He is in the picky eater stage and has a hard time sitting still. I don’t want to pay for expensive meals if he’s being difficult, not eating, etc.

Honestly, I wouldn't bother with it. I'd just use that time to spend one on one time with my son while everyone else ate their meals there. While WOC isn't a fireworks show, it is still very loud and has flames that can be very stimulating.

As far as paying for the meal and not using the FP being a waste of money, it really isn't when compared to the cost of normal meals. We spend a lot more without doing the WOC packages when we eat at Carthay Circle.

 

[Rory607]

World of Color is not a fireworks show it's a projection show on water screens... would that still bother him? I'd check out some videos on youtube to see if you think he'd be okay

YouTube is a good idea, thank you! He’s mostly afraid of loud noises, so I wasn’t sure exactly what it was like.

 

[Rory607]

Check the DLR menus on allears.net. You'll be able to see if there are things on the kids menus that will work for your son. Remember that you can also ask for things to be adjusted/altered, so if something will basically work but needs certain things left out or put on the side or substituted, just ask to see what the kitchen can do. Disney is pretty good about working with picky eaters.

That’s a good point about asking for substitutions. When we’ve been at WDW we have done mostly character meals with lots of kid-friendly choices, so it’s never been an issue. Thank you!

 

[hlbtimes2]

I havent tried it, and maybe someone else can confirm if it can be done, but can part of the party do WOC at Carthay and the others that aren't going to watch WOC, just order off the menu? I'd call Disney dining and ask. No point in paying for it and be stuck with the limited menu if I you don't need the WOC passes for a couple of people.