Best 5-6 Options for 2 year old Lunch/Dinner

[Alex Baker]

Hello,

Will be our first trip with a little one! Ive been to Disney multiple times but never with a little one. Seeing where other families with 2 years enjoyed that I might not be thinking of?

Thinking Coral Reef is a must because she loves fish. Thank you in advance for any advice or suggestions.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

My little one was 2.5 the last time we went (2019), and we are headed back soon with the now 5 year old and our almost-2 year old. My kiddo loved any and all character dining (which is a taller order these days, I know). Biergarten was also a hit - loved the music and the ability to get up and dance and move was a nice plus. San Angel Inn was fun because we were seated right on the "river" and she liked waving to the people in the boats as they went by.

 

[Aimeedyan]

My two year old is at the stage where dining out is a miserable experience for us all so we limit our TS while at Disney... We have had the most success at character meals, and even more success at Chef Mickey's because the monorail is his favorite and he could watch it coming and going. Given the option, he'd choose monorail over characters.

'Ohana, when seated near a window for breakfast, gave us boats and monorails so that helped a lot.

 

[3gr8boys]

My boys loved the Garden Grill character interaction when they were little. I know it may still be more distanced when you travel ...but I think what made it special would still be intact.

 

[Disturbia]

Our little one surprisingly enjoyed Hollywood & Vine and now screams out Goofy. We were seated near the exit and Minnie played peekaboo behind the pillars. Shes rarely seen Disney junior and had no experience with high chairs before that (due to the pandemic).

Oga’s cantina was a surprising hit as well. The first time we went with her (around 1), we were seated at a booth and she didn’t care for the atmosphere. The second time we got a standing table with a direct view of the DJ. Her and her 5 year old brother sat in high chairs (he’s in the 50th percentile) and danced to the DJ. Now that the plexiglass divides tables and you’re squeezed on one side with another family in one booth, the standing tables are even better. I wish they would have some bigger chairs for kids who cant reach the table but are too big for high chairs.

Our kids enjoyed the Space220 atmosphere (food ok; took 2.5 hrs) and BOG (around 6 pm they take 30-40 mins to seat) atmosphere as well. Ohana was a big let down (late dinner, cold meats; we were die hard fans, so if you know what it was like pre pandemic, skip it until they serve hot meats from skewers again). Steakhouse71 was a big hit as the chef went above and beyond with allergies; assured us the cake had no cross contamination with nuts and our son (dairy/egg allergies) got Tofutti ice cream! We might skip BOG to dine here twice on our MK days.

I wanted to try Story Book Dining and Cinderella’s Royal Table (have done it many times with our now teen and will try with the younger kids once all the princesses return.) We have Topolinos breakfast booked for the characters one day (extremely difficult to get).

 

[FencerGirl]

My little one liked Saana. We were seated by a window and we could corral them between the table and the window and they could look at the animals.

 

[Anna131517]

It depends on whether the child is afraid of characters. Usually I would say Liberty Tree (MK), Hollywood and Vine and Sci-Fi Theater (HS), Tusker House (AK), and Garden Grill (EP).

 

[Kerr84]

Transportation was a huge hit! Skyliner, buses, monorail, and boats. She absolutely loved the Country Bear Jamboree too.
Na’vi River Journey, Under the Sea, Small World and Frozen EVER After were the favorite rides. Philharmagic and Disney Junior show were great too.

 

[Kerr84]

Forgot to add that she loved the Polka band at Biergarten, the room after the figment ride, and the play area at Dumbo.

 

[sponica]

I really think it depends on the kid. When we went in 2018, my then 20 month old was used to eating out. So we didn't have a problem anywhere. Garden Grill and Ohana (both character bfasts at the time) were probably the easiest though?

Flash forward to this year, where we're bringing a 5.5 year old and a 20 month old. We have a lot of table service booked, but we're also going to make an effort to get them back into restaurants over the next 6-7 weeks (we stopped dining at restaurants during the winter/omicron surge).

 

[Alex Baker]

Thanks everyone!