{2025} The Ultimate Guide to Disney Dining with a Toddler

Planning a trip to Disney World with your toddler? Wondering what on earth they'll eat? Let me share my findings from our first trip to Disney World with a two year old!

Lunch with Pooh at The Crystal Palace (JSB)

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Planning a trip to Disney World with your toddler?

Maurice's Amazing Popping Machine (sells snacks in Magic Kingdom) (JSB)

Lucky you! We just returned from the most phenomenal trip with our 2.5 year old daughter. I was worried, going into it, that she'd be too young to understand, but it was actually *the perfect age.* The pure joy on her face throughout our trip will stay with us forever. At each character meal, she trembled with anticipation as her favorite friends made their way toward out table. She twirled in the middle of the Magic Kingdom in her princess dresses.

On the meal front, I'll say that we learned a lot. Since next year she will need a meal plan (she'll be 3), I wanted to be sure to share my toddler Disney dining learnings with you all!

​And while you're here, I hope you'll check out my other new Disney World content!

• {2025} 8+ Secrets You Need to Know about Disney's New Lightning Lane System
• {2025} A Mom's Guide to Practical Disney World Outfits

Disney Dining for Toddlers, Frequently Asked Questions

The Crystal Palace, Magic Kingdom (home of lunch with Pooh Bear)

How does the Disney Dining Plan for work two year olds?

 Disney Dining Plan rules are always changing. But, currently, children under three years old cannot even get a dining plan if they wanted one. This is a blessing and a curse!

So if you want to order food for them, a 'kids meal' with a couple sides, is around $8. Or you can buy a side or mac and cheese or fruit for closer to $6. 

Where is the best character dining for toddlers?

I thought my 2.5 year old might be afraid of the characters, but she surprised us all and LOVED character dining. I actually rearranged my dining reservations after our first character meal.

I'd say select the character dining that has the characters your kiddo likes most. For us, that's Aurora, Pooh Bear, and Mickey/Minnie. Aurora is a bit hard to find, so we ended up eating at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in Epcot, next to the Frozen ride! It was lovely, though weirdly Anna and Elsa are not in the princess rotation here. She got to meet 5 princesses and the food was delicious. Mickey and Minnie are easier to find. We ate at Hollywood & Vine in Hollywood Studios and Tusker House Restaurant in Animal Kingdom to meet these guys. I think our favorite character dining experience was lunch at The Crystal Palace. Food was delicious and meeting Pooh and Piglet was so sweet.

I will note that we SKIPPED two popular character meals on this trip. The first is Be Our Guest. Interestingly only The Beast is in residence there and baby girl is not a fan. Additionally, she's not quite old enough to appreciate that she's "in the castle" the same way she can appreciate literally hugging Aurora. So, we're keeping Be Our Guest for next year. We also skipped Cinderella's Royal Table. It's really expensive and I want to have something to look forward to on our next visit.

Akershus Royal Banquet Hall (Epcot) (JSB)

Tucker House Restaurant (Animal Kingdom) (JSB)

Is breakfast the best meal for character dining with a toddler?

As any parent knows, there are no "ideal" meal times with a toddler. They have a hard time sitting, get bored easily, and are unpredictable.

I scheduled our character meals for either lunch as our last activity before going home for nap time, or an early dinner. I did this for a few reasons:

• No one in our family eats big breakfasts, so it wouldn't be a great use of our dining credits.
• I like to rope drop rides when on-property guests have access to the parks at 8:30 AM. A big breakfast doesn't fit into that schedule.
• Baby girl has tons of energy in the morning and doesn't want to sit.

Obviously everyone has their own familiar idiosyncrasies, but the common wisdom of doing "character breakfasts" isn't ideal for everyone.

{2025} Disney Dining Toddler Tips

Character dining at Hollywood & Vine (Hollywood Studios)

Here's what I learned over four days of Disney dining with a toddler:

• Kids under 3 don't need a meal plan. So if you want to order food for them, a 'kids meal' with a couple sides, is around $8. Or you can buy a side or mac and cheese or fruit for closer to $6. 
• While you do have to pay for a kids meal, they do come with sides (usually 2) and a drink (usually milk or a little water bottle)
  
• Some snacks are worth much more than others. Don't, as I did, use a snack on a banana. Save it for a dole whip, which costs significantly more but is still "One Snack Credit."
• Kid snack pouches are available at various places throughout the hotel. Obviously bringing them with you is more budget-friendly, but if you need one in a pinch, they are available.
• If your kids are as picky as mine, remember that not all Quick Service restaurants have good kid options. Most do, but I would strongly recommend checking the menu for...mac and cheese...before you commit.
  
• You still have to tip on expensive table service meals, even though you're using your dining plan. So it's worth looking at the meal costs in dollars, not just dining credit cost.
• On that note, our toddler loved character meals. Some character meals, such as most breakfasts, are only 1 Table Service Credit, whereas others (Be Our Guest, Cinderella's Royal Table), cost two Table Service Credits per person. 
• For my wine moms...Alcohol is included in some of the meals in Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom (Tusker House Restaurant and Hollywood & Vine, during this visit for us). I literally can't drink during the day at Disney, but for dinner it was great!
• Refillable mug 3 minute rule: Disney is very concerned about people purchasing a reusable mug and then using it for multiple people, to get endless free soda. Each member of your party with a meal plan (so not your toddler) gets a refillable mug included in your dining plan. They have sensors in them. But you cannot, as I learned, mix two types of drink together within 3 minutes. The sensor assumes you're filling cups for multiple people. Annoying. You also, obviously, can't fill up the cup and then immediately dump it into your kid's cup and refill yours.
• Another note on the refillable mugs: You can only fill them at your resort. We generally just used ours in the afternoon for a coffee or iced tea during nap time, or occasionally to transport water to the parks with us. But you cannot get free beverages at random in the parks.

Thanks for stopping by!

Dessert selection at The Crystal Palace (Hundred Acre Woods themed) (JSB)

Dole Whip at The Polynesian (JSB)

I hope some of my Disney dining for toddlers musings have been helpful to my fellow Disney moms! Next year girlfriend will have her own dining plan, but we made the most of the year she needed neither that nor a park ticket! Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below! xx