WDW Restaurants not for kids?

I would agree that most of the time, it is background noise.
However, I have been in several restaurants, most recently California Grill (we always brought our kids there when they were young), and watched several tables let their kids run around the restaurant, bother other tables, nearly trip the servers, while the parents totally ignored what was going on. Thats not the kids fault.

But, I think this kind of behavior leads to the OP original question. If the kids are behaving, you have things for them to do, and pay attention to them, there is no problem. Kids will make noise in a restaurant, and we all expect that, especially at Disney.

Instead of asking what restaurants dont favor toddlers, should be what restaurants dont favor irresponsible parents!
Coloring books, cheerios and a nice conversation about their day should control most situations.
 
Well behaved children are welcome everywhere

However, if your child cannot handle 90 minutes at a table, then there is your decision

Your trip is 10 months away. As you get closer, you will have a better idea of where your child is patience wise

Children that cannot handle a long ts are a nightmare when guests are trying to enjoy a nice meal. If I pick CP, I expect kids everywhere and loud

If I choose ff, I expect to enjoy a nice meal w my husband. Not misbehaving children running in circles around my table. Nothing worse than dropping a couple hundred $$ and having your dinner suck.
 
We took our kids who were almost 2 and just turned 4 to Tiffins and California Grill. We did California Grill at fireworks time which split up the meal and that helped with the extended dining time. We found Tiffins to be a bit long of a meal for my youngest. She wasn't screaming, just very restless and hopping from lap to lap by the end (Grandparents were with us). Just know that they pace signature meals to be longer. Tiffins took just under 2 hours and California Grill was about 2 1/2 hours. Tiffins had coloring menus for the kids, but California Grill did not. When my 4 year old complained (politely) to the waiter about the lack of crayons he brought them pens and paper menus and let them go to town. They were happy.

Edited to add that all of the 1 credit table service meals we went to were full of kids and were set up for kids with coloring menus and plenty to see and a quicker pace.
 
But, I think this kind of behavior leads to the OP original question. If the kids are behaving, you have things for them to do, and pay attention to them, there is no problem.
This is the main thing. Every time I see a child misbehaving at any restaurant it is an attempt to get the adults to pay attention to them. Babies are babies, but any typically developing child over 3 1/2 will be thrilled to engage in conversation with the grown-ups at a nice restaurant and cause nary a bit of trouble.
 


Babies are babies, but any typically developing child over 3 1/2 will be thrilled to engage in conversation with the grown-ups at a nice restaurant and cause nary a bit of trouble.

This! Since my kids could talk, I would ask them about their day at the dinner table. Even before they could say much, I would ask lots of questions, even if they could only answer yes or no (Sometimes they didnt know the answer, but would still say "Yes" ! What color is the sky? Yes !!! Is the sky red? ... Yes!.... No, its blue, silly! "

I only have 1 left at home but every night I ask her 2 main questions..1) What was the best part of your day 2) What was the worst part of your day. Both lead to more questions, and usually a fun story or a way too resolve an issue. Not a days goes by that I dont have the answer to these..and shes 15 now.

Read your child a menu, dont just pick something you know they like. At Disney there is so much to talk about! Their favorite ride, what they liked about the ride/show, the best part of the vacation thus far, a character experience, how they felt when they saw Mickey etc.. Helps them remember all the great memories too if you keep talking about it.
 
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We are comfortable taking our three kids to signature restaurants at Disney and we have been treated well. Here is my son at the Yachtsman. They gave him a free birthday dessert. He was 1 and pretty tuckered out. We set most dinners for 5:30.

Screenshot_20190714-205157.png
 
I took a 20 month old to the following restaurants:
Ohana-breakfast
Le Cellier
50s Primetime Cafe
Teppan Edo
Garden Grill
Be Our Guest
Tiffins
Raglan Road

Yeah she wasn't out of place at any of them.

I will say, schedule your meals EARLIER than you eat at home.
 


Families with kids in restaurants at WDW should be expected and understood. That being said...

It's the parents of unruly kids that drive me nuts more so than the kids themselves. You know the kind...
"Ugh, what's little Bobby doing now?" or multiple "If you do that one more time, I'm gonna (insert faux punishment here)". Good parenting generally result in good kids. When I'm in a family park, I expect a certain level of "kids being kids"; but I also expect the parents to step up their game when required.

They say "It takes a village to raise a child"; well, during vacation, I'm not from your village and I'm not raising your child...
 
If you are considerate and attentive parents, then your party (with young children) are welcome everywhere except V&A where they actually have a minimum age restriction. We have been going to WDW with our triplets since they were 3 and have been to all spectrum of restaurants there. We talk to our kids, engage with them, and they know how to behave in restaurants. Unfortunately there are disaster parents out there who let their kids do whatever they want (run around restaurants, use electronic devices w/o headphones, etc.) that ruin experiences for all of us - but this happens outside of WDW too.
 
If your one to let the child wonder around, throw food on the floor, fuss and whine I would not take them to Shula, Blue Zoo, or Sanaa. If your kid is well behaved go to any of them. I can say this as I have raised 2 already. Unfortunately last time we were at California Grill a couple let their child run the show. You should have seen the mess under the table and they never picked anything up themselves. I felt bad for their waitress.
 
Thanks very much for all the replies and experience.

I had a suspicion that V&A was not a place for kids, and hadn't really considered it anyway.

The one on the list that seems to be a little bit debatable, that we are considering is Shula's. Our kid is usually fairly quiet, so I'm hoping it'll be fine.

Thanks again.
Saw many many MANY families with children waiting to enter Shula's when we ate at bluezoo last Christmas evening (also lots of kids at bluezoo). V+A will be fine once your little one reaches the age of 10. Took DGD to V+A for a Thanksgiving Day meal soon after she turned 12, and she loved it and would like to return again. Gotta see that HS diploma first though;).
 
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I fully expect to see children of all ages in any restaurant at WDW. I only have an issue if they are running around, standing on chairs, banging on the table, screaming, or generally behaving wildly. I have seen all of this behaviour in various restaurants at WDW and it is fully the parent's fault IMO. As long as you are mindful of your children and keep them in check, I see no reason why you wouldn't go anywhere that you want, keeping in mind that some kids just have a limit on patience and long dinners may be too much for them.

Obviously, V&A is an exception; not only is there an age limit but I can't imagine too many kids being interested in the food and 3-4 hours for dinner is way too much to expect a young child to put up with anyway. I do remember being in V&A once and there was a table of 6-8 people with a girl about maybe 12 years old. Towards the end of the evening, the staff put a pillow on the table for her and she put her head down and clearly fell asleep. I felt quite badly for her. She was the only kid at the table and they'd been there for at least as long as us - 3 hours or so. She must have been bored out of her mind and up later than usual. I get that the adults wanted a nice dinner but it really didn't seem fair to her.
 
People here who are condemning parents for unruly kids would do well to remember Disney has a lot of over stimulation and otherwise well behaved at real world restaurants frequently break down at the end of the day as a result of all the excitement and florida heat.

Our solution to this was to have long sit down meals at lunch in the AC time , take afternoon breaks. and schedule dinner EARLY (6pm is the absolute latest we will do). An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. But way back when we were disney world rookies, I definitely had to take a screaming baby out of Cali grill to calm down, followed by said baby falling asleep on my chest, allowing me to return and awkwardly try to eat a few bites without waking him, so I have a lot of compassion for the parents who don’t know better. He was totally the world’s best behaved baby at nice restaurants at home leading up to that fateful night. Go easy on parents who are having a rough night — they will learn.

That said, we found Tiffins and pretty much all the signature restaurants to be very kid friendly. It is Disney World: almost every table has kids and/or babies. And if a kid is having a hard time, I always see cast members pitching in to help cheer them up. If Disney wanted to create more adult only spaces it could, but they want families to be able to enjoy a fine dining experience with small kids. There are a million non-kid-friendly vacations you could take if you don’t like to see or hear kids on your vacation. Disney is one of the very few places in the world where kids are welcomed everywhere: perfect behavior or no.
 
People here who are condemning parents for unruly kids would do well to remember Disney has a lot of over stimulation and otherwise well behaved at real world restaurants frequently break down at the end of the day as a result of all the excitement and florida heat.

Meltdowns, babies crying, occasional misbehaviour is going to happen and I think everyone understands and expects that. I just feel sorry for the poor mom who is trying to have a nice dinner but baby is crying endlessly or their little one is just really ready for bed even if they won't admit it. But I don't feel sorry for the parents who are pretending that their kid is not standing on the chair screaming at the top of his lungs and jumping up and down and then running through the restaurant playing tag with a sibling. It's not surprising at WDW if kids go a little crazy and act out in ways they don't normally but it's when the parents seem completely uninterested in what's happening and simply allow it to go on without any attempt at intervention that I have a problem. I don't expect perfect behaviour but I do expect some parental supervision and correction (even if it doesn't always work - at least they're trying). I think that's all people are trying to say.
 
Outside of Victoria and Alberts you'll be fine with kids at all other restaurants at WDW. We've taken our kids to most of the signature restaurants (and we all LOVE Tiffins btw) and there have always been other kids in every restaurant we've been to at Disney. They are expected and welcomed.
 
People here who are condemning parents for unruly kids would do well to remember Disney has a lot of over stimulation and otherwise well behaved at real world restaurants frequently break down at the end of the day as a result of all the excitement and florida heat.

Our solution to this was to have long sit down meals at lunch in the AC time , take afternoon breaks. and schedule dinner EARLY (6pm is the absolute latest we will do). An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. But way back when we were disney world rookies, I definitely had to take a screaming baby out of Cali grill to calm down, followed by said baby falling asleep on my chest, allowing me to return and awkwardly try to eat a few bites without waking him, so I have a lot of compassion for the parents who don’t know better. He was totally the world’s best behaved baby at nice restaurants at home leading up to that fateful night. Go easy on parents who are having a rough night — they will learn.

That said, we found Tiffins and pretty much all the signature restaurants to be very kid friendly. It is Disney World: almost every table has kids and/or babies. And if a kid is having a hard time, I always see cast members pitching in to help cheer them up. If Disney wanted to create more adult only spaces it could, but they want families to be able to enjoy a fine dining experience with small kids. There are a million non-kid-friendly vacations you could take if you don’t like to see or hear kids on your vacation. Disney is one of the very few places in the world where kids are welcomed everywhere: perfect behavior or no.

Why are you even starting that type of conversation? Not one person on this thread has said anything about kids not being welcome, everyone says they expect to see children at restaurants.
 
We ate at Boma with our then 2.5 year old, it was one of the best choices because it is a buffet, thete is no waiting for Food and we walked aroun the hotel before dinner.
 
I'd say short of Victoria and Alberts, everywhere on Disney property should be perfectly accommodating and fully expecting to serve young guests. They got kids menus and the staff are all in full expectation that they are serving families. So don't let that scare you off from signature places.

Now each parent needs to decide if their kids would function well at some of these places- some just aren't really themed for youngsters at all, and the experience would probably be none-too exciting for them, but if your kid(s) do well eating out, you have nothing to worry about. I certainly wouldn't bring my kids to someplace Shulas (knowing what their general behavior/noise level is, particularly when bored), but I've got no issuing bringing them to pretty much any of the regular table services and even signatures around in the parks/properties.
 

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