Let’s face it. When you’re in Disney World or Disneyland, eating out for nearly every meal, eventually there’s going to be some waiting around — waiting for your table, waiting for your food, waiting for the check.

In an ideal world, you’d pass the time by making polite conversation with your family. But in reality, that may be a tall order after several days of togetherness, forced sibling cooperation, and minding of manners. And for a younger child, patience and conversation making are simply developmental milestones that have not yet been reached.

Given all these challenges, how do you get through a Disney meal with happy, content, occupied kids? And how do you make sure of the following?

1. Everyone (children and adults) gets to eat at a comfortable pace,
2. Everyone sits at the table when they’re supposed to,
3. No whining or complaints, and
4. No one bothers guests at other tables.

It’s possible! First, we’ve got some things to consider when making your Disney Dining Reservations.

Then scroll down for ideas of how to keep the kids occupied and entertained at the table!

The First Step: Choose the Right Restaurants

Before making your dining reservations, take an honest look at your family. If your children are patently incapable of sitting still for a meal at your local diner, then you may want to save extended signature dining for another visit.

If your kids are generally OK at restaurants at home, but sometimes get a little squirmy, you may want to focus your dining on restaurants where noise and movement are the norm. These include buffets, character meals, and meals with entertainment.

No one will notice if Junior needs to get up and stretch if everyone else in the restaurant is jumping up to [Read more…]