Dining with a 14 Month old
Our baby is now four months old, and I am planning our trip for November. Since he is our first, I have several questions before I make my ADRs:
1) I am assuming that by the time he is 14 months he will be eating the food we eat. Are we required to order something for him off of the children's menu or can we share our meals with him?
2) Is there any WDW restaurant that is "off limits" to little ones?
3) Are sit down meals difficult at this age (are we better off with counter service?)
4) Will we be best off with early ADRs if sit down meals are ok?
Thanks for your help...
:blush:
14 Month old Schedule and Eating
We have taken our two kids several times beginning when they were five months old. My suggestion is just be flexible. Bring your own stroller and when your child needs to nap, they will nap. When they are fussy and need to get out of the stroller, get him/her out of the stroller.
Make the reservations that you want to make. Disney is prepared to expect that you will bring children and they will all have different behaviours at dinner. Practice now taking your child out to restaurants when you can. Show your child the expectations that you have as they grow toward 14 months. Bring snacks and small toys to the restaurant.
Make reservations at the times you want to eat (early is better) and if your child falls asleep, wheel the stroller up to the table. There are obviously more kid friendly restaurants (ones with character greetings). The really fancy ones like Victoria and Alberts do not allow small children but you wouldn't want to bring them there anyway. Children can share your meals or often the restaurants let you get something off of the children's menu at no charge since they don't yet qualify for the dinning plan.
We bought a small clip on high chair at Babies R Us that folds up and we took it with us everywhere. Our child was used to it and it made for a more enjoyable dinner experience.
Just plan to take your time and be guided by what your child needs on that day.
As long as you don't make a rigid schedule with a whole bunch of "must-do's" you will be pleased by what you can do.