ADRs with an almost 3yo!

[expatcat]

I am in the midst of planning our next trip! We will have a 6yo and another LO who will be a month short of her 3rd birthday. This means we don't get meal credits for her (or have to pay for a park ticket ) however she can eat free at buffets or off our plate at TS restaurants (IIRC).

So, we will be staying 6 nights at WL for the boat ride to MK and will not have a car, so I have tried to make ADRs that are 1) easy to get to and 2) the least stressful with active children! These are the ADRs I am going to try for...

WCC - dinner
Ohanas - dinner
1900 Park Fare - Character dinner
Tusker House - Character breakfast
Chef Mickeys - Character dinner
Crystal Palace - Character lunch

We are starting the holiday with a 3 night cruise, and will have done more 'adult' meals on the ship, and will hopefully have met the Princesses on board too, so I am not going to try for CRT.

What do people think?

 

[momofsamandeden]

This is almost what I did and then I realized I would be in character overload. We will have a 5 and 3 year old one month from her birthday and the more I thought about it the more I realized that it would not be enjoyable to be at the buffet the whole time. I would considering places that Whispering Canyon that have an all you can eat family style skillet brought to your table and the restaurant is fun and exciting for the little ones. Also Garden Cafe has a character meal that is sit down family style Thanksgiving type. 1900 Park can be disappointing where you end up in a cramped hallway. Now after all my research we are not doing the dining plan so I am REALLY looking at prices and bang for your buck.

 

[grace&philipsmom]

With 5 and almost 3 year old (what we had last fall), you can never have too many character meals! We had a character meal every day and the kids loved it. It is a totally disney experience.

We found buffet and family style great with a not quite 3 year old.

You might also want to consider 'Ohana breakfast. It is family style with Mickey, Pluto, Lilo and Stitch. This was my kids favorite.

 

[shawnh199]

I agree. You can't have too many character meals.

We did 6 character breakfasts and one dinner (Garden Grill) on our trip in December. My girls, DD2.5 and DD6 never got tired of meeting the characters, even if they met one at a previous meal. (Usually Mickey, so who gets tired of seeing Mickey anyway?)

We also didn't have to wait in long lines to meet those characters at the parks if we didn't want to.

If you want to see the Princesses again anyway, try Akershus at Epcot. We eat breakfast there every trip and love it. (We are too "cheap" to eat at CRT)

We did Ohana and Whispering Canyon for dinner. Both girls loved them both. They were not really into some of the food at Ohana, so they brought them mac and cheese to eat instead. Our server brought food for the little one also without charging us for her food. (I think chicken nuggets are also an option.) We ordered the skillets at WCC so the little one ate off of that just fine. I don't know how many pieces of corn she ate, but they kept refilling everything we needed, even if she was eating most of it (like the corn.)

Enjoy the cruise. If you eat at Palo's, don't make the mistake I made. Get the chocolate souffle (don't know how to spell). My DH did and I ate most of it. Don't get me wrong the tiramisu was good too, but the other was way better!

 

[quinnc19]

Try to get an 8 am ressie for Tusker House - so fun to be at AK before it opens!

 

[pauly's girl]

I loved the character meals when the kids were younger....if you are going to do them do them now while the kids are youne....my kids are 8 and 12 and they don;t want to do them this year when we go. The ones you have chosen are really good ones with different characters. The only thing.....most of the buffets have the same foods so it does get a little old by the end of the week!! Good luck and have a great vacation!!