I am 16 days out from doing my ADR’s so need to finalize my list for calling in.
We are Papa, Granmommy, Daddy, Mommy, 5 year-old Henry and 3mo old Griffin(coming January 2018!). Each grandchild gets a Disney trip focused on them before they start Kindergarten. None of our planned restaurants were on our list last year with grandchild #1 and we’ve not travelled with infant before.
I have 2 main concerns about my meal planning: :
Will any of these restaurants be difficult with an infant and all his stuff(stroller, carrier, bags)?
Would 75 minutes be appropriate for each TS in my plan or are some much more/less time?
Here’s the plan:
Day 1 - MK (Fantasy Land / Tomorrowland)
Be our Guest - earliest possible breakfast
Tony’s Time Square Dining Plan, 1:30 - to get parade seating
QS dinner/snack at Arts of Animation after swimming/afternoon naps
Day 2 - Epcot
QS/snack breakfast - A of A or Sunshine Seasons
Akershus - early lunch
Restaurant Marrakesh - dinner 7pm after swimming afternoon naps
Day 3 - AK
Quick Service Breakfast - A of A or Satu’Li
Flame Tree BBQ - QS lunch
Tuskers with Rivers of Light Package for dinner after swimming/afternoon naps
Day 4 - grandparents day off with baby while others go to Universal
Day 5 - Hollywood Studios
QS/snack breakfast at AofA
Sci Fi Dine Inn - early lunch
Mama Melrose with Fantasmic and Music of Pixar package - dinner, after swimming/afternoon naps
Day 6 - MK (Frontierland / Adventureland)
QS/snack breakfast at AofA or Sleepy Hollow
Peco Bill for lunch - QS/snack, no reservation needed
Colombia House dinner - QS/snack, no reservation needed
Day 7 - Disney Springs before leave for 6pm flight
QS/snack breakfast at AofA
TREX lunch
You will not have any problems with children/infants at restaurants. TRex may be loud. Make sure you include everyone in the ADR count.
A couple of things:
Is the Festival of Fantasy Parade going back to 3:00?
I believe Satu’l Canteen stopped serving breakfast recently.
I also thought the Music of Pixar was just for summer?
Sounds like we will only get Fantasmic after Mama Melrose.
Good to know I need to plan 3 hours before the Fantasmic Show. May need to switch Mama Melrose and the Sci Fi Dine Inn.
I’ll change my plan to just eat breakfast at AofA on Animal Kingdom day.
Will use the 90 minutes for the ADR meals and one hour for BOG.
Will assume 3pm Parade time.
I’m taking it that you mean that I should be making reservations for six even though the infant will not be eating. That makes enough room for us to have a space for him then.
The only issue I can think of with an infant is that you cannot bring a stroller into restaurants. Some babies don’t like being in a carrier while the adult is sitting, so practice whatever you plan to do at the restaurant at home since the baby will be too young to sit in a high chair. You may consider bringing the infant car seat and snapping it into a stroller. You can then take the car seat into a restaurant and sit it in a booth or baby sling. The downside to that is carsests are hotter than a stroller would be so definitely bring a stroller fan and a cooling towel for the baby.
Very good points!
My DIL has told me she expects to be using the car carrier in the stroller so I can see bringing that in to the restaurant.
Hadn’t thought about the fan or the cooling towel. Starting some extra Christmas shopping now!
Although you usually can’t bring strollers in, we had lunch at Sci-Fi and DD (nearly 1) had just fallen asleep in her stroller and they let us bring it in with no problem at all. So, plan on not having the stroller for meals, but I think they’ll work with you if it’s really needed and the layout of the restaurant allows for it.
And of course, don’t forget to have the bag with the things you’ll need for the meal handy. Obvious, I know, but on more than one occasion, in the rush to get the stroller parked and arrive on time, I left needed items in the stroller.
We stayed at AOA in 2016, loved it! We would grab the snack pack (yogurt, nutrigrain bar, goldfish, carrots, and a mini water) the night before. We would eat the yogurt and goldfish in the morning and take the rest with us to the park. It wasn’t too much food before our breakfast ADRs. Enjoy your trip!!
We had a 3 mo… old us during our trip in June. We had not included him in the count for our adrs since he was not born at the time we made them, and the reservration system required us to input the ppls who would be dining. We walked up to every reservation and told them we also had a baby, born since the reservation was made and there was never an issue.
@clfrericks Be aware the parade viewing area for the Tony’s package is by the flagpole - in the hot sun! Others can advise whether there is seating for everyone, or some, or standing room only.
There have always been pretty good about limiting the parade view area so that everyone can be at the curb. I watched from that area in April and although it is full sun and can be hot it is am amazing viewing area. It is not someone I have to watch from again, but everyone should at least once.
What kind of stroller will you have? I personally would not recommend having your baby be in the car seat for any extended amount of time at Disney World. The car seat position isn’t really super ergonomically friendly and they can be way too hot. Have you thought about a soft sided carrier or infant wrap? (Ergo, Tula, Lille, etc.) I would recommend that over a car seat if you aren’t with the stroller. You can also wear them on many rides. However, as others have mentioned, you may have limited success at times with restaurants allowing in a stroller. You just can’t be in a rush as you might have to wait for an out of the way table. We were allowed to bring our stroller into Tusker House because my son was sleeping, but otherwise they do prefer you leave them outside due to fire codes. Disney also has a small supply of infant high chairs that you can inquire about.