I was tempted to look up the word “irony” in the dictionary when I heard about Disney banning kids from one of its theme park restaurants. Because that’s where you’d expect to find that kind of news. But it’s true: the happiest place on earth has closed the door to children under the age of 10 at Victoria & Albert’s, an upscale restaurant at the Grand Floridian resort.
A disclaimer or two before going any further. I’m a very frequent guest of the Disney theme parks. My family has annual passes and are there every other weekend. Just check out my photoblog if you don’t believe me. It’s all Disney, all the time.
And apart from some mild criticism here and there, I remain a big fan of the mouse.
But ban kids from a restaurant? How could they?
Then I though about it. I’ve been to Victoria & Albert’s, and it’s a first-rate, five-diamond establishment where men are required to wear jackets and women must wear dresses or pantsuits. As the Orlando Sentinel points out in its balanced write-up of the ban:
Virtually nothing about Victoria & Albert’s, which opened in 1988, is designed to appeal to children … The crystal-and-linen dining room typically seats no more than 100 patrons. The hushed atmosphere features live harp music. The menu, which changes daily, offers programmed, seven-course dinners that can last as long as three hours. Prices start at $125 a person.
Kinda makes you wonder why Disney didn’t ban kids any sooner.
This isn’t the first time Mickey has barred younger guests from some of his facilities. Pleasure Island at Downtown Disney has been adults-only in the past. And Palo, the upscale restaurant on its cruise ships — which, by the way, I highly recommend — are off limits to junior.
Saying “no” to kiddies isn’t such a bad idea. After all, the adults need their own playground, too.
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Who *would* try and bring kids in there, anyway?
Matt – there is always SOMEBODY – right? Its THOSE people who spoil it for the rest of us who have to put up with ever more restrictive and idiotic rules because some joker cannot see the obvious right in front of them. . .
Finally. Albert & Victoria’s is so good it could be a destination by itself. To have it ruined by some ill-behaved parents whose even more ill-behaved children can’t contain themselves would be just awful.
I think the more appropriate question is whether it is smart of Disney to engage itself with places that are inherently kids-unfriendly. I understand the need for parents to escape their childeren, but that it what the world outside of Disney is for.
What seems to be happening here, is that Disney is letting it’s core business/family value go by, to make a couple of bucks on upscale dining. Disney = kids = family.
It kinda feels like McD suddenly introducing a $15 burger made of real beef and between real bread patties, and saying it wants to get in the market of Ruby Tuesday. Sorry dudes, it’s not your business. Same for Disney.
On the other hand, with their golf courses, they seem to have gone down that path a long time ago.
Considering the size of the Disney parks, I don’t think it’s such a huge move for them to say “no kids” in one restaurant. As the Sentinel pointed out, there are 97 others for families to try. V&A doesn’t have a children’s menu and it’s a safe bet most kids wouldn’t touch the type of cuisine served there. $125 down the tubes per child. Or can you imagine parents bringing in a drive-thru bag with McNuggets for the kiddies? Absurd.
I also don’t think it’s contrary to the Disney image for parents to have one dinner by themselves out of a six-day vacation.
I recognize there are places I really don’t need to be as an adult without children. Chuck E. Cheese Pizza, for instance. That’s a place for kids. Just as I’m not insulted as an adult that the aforementioned place really isn’t meant for me, it is also not some sort of insult to Kiddom everywhere to say, “This place is a little too sophisticated for five-year-olds.”
You know, as much as I like kids, (I go to Disney on a regular basis and one of the most fun things is watching a kid get excited about meeting Mickey!), if I am dropping $125.00 on dinner I *don’t* need to be having a 3 year old flinging chicken nuggets at me.
Don’t forget that there are plenty of families out there with kids *over* 10 years old. The best time my family had at Disney was when I was 16 and my sister was 12, and byt the new standard we’d be welcome in, and far more appreciative of, Victoria’s and Albert’s. It’s not like V&A is going 18 and over.
It’s one of the finest restaurents my wife and I have ever been to. Keep the kids out until they can appriciate it. Maby their 45th or 50th birthday!
What a sour apple! Complaining about the one child-free oasis in the “Whiniest Place On Earth”. Almost all of the Disney kingdom is geared toward kids, as it should be, but please don’t begrudge the beleaguered chaperones a place to find comparative peace after the kiddies are in bed.
Hurrah!!! We need more adult only places. I am a parent with two now adult children. I understood there were many child friendly/child themed places to take my boys and it would be inconsiderate to force them onto adults who were paying good money to enjoy a peaceful evening.
I am disappointed that Las Vegas has now gone so “family friendly” and I am even seeing small children late at night in the lounges on cruise ships. I think it boils down to being selfish and feeling “entitled” to do what one wants without consideration of others.
The whole point of the decor and the price of meals was to make parents feel that kids do not belong in that type of establishment. 90% of parents don’t bring their small children.
Also, since it’s at the Grand Floridian, the most expensive resort on WDW property, it provided those who are more fine dining oriented, somewhere to go.
At the time this resort was created (1971) this was the only adult oriented place on property to go. Now families have hundreds of places to take their small children within the 43 square miles of the park.
So I think the move to make that “mature” oriented is appropriate.
And let’s face it, not everyone can afford it. Let alone families on a budget.
I’m considering going to that restaurant! I’m celibate (not intending to marry) and 19 years old! When I have an uber-lucrative job, I would go there mainly because of the whine-free aura!
Oh, and Eillott, I went to Palo’s on the DCL’s DIsney Wonder last summer, when at that time I was 19 (a year above minimum age requirement)! It’s an excellent oasis for child-free travelers and the food was great! It’s a great way to divert myself from brats! Thanks for mentioning and recommending that restaurant!
My husband and I live in Mexico; before we moved here we lived in Florida, about an hour from Disney, via the backroads (no traffic). We always had season passes for Florida residents. Our now-grown daughter and granddaughter want to visit Disney during our annual North of the Border trip.
When we left Florida there were no nice places to dine at Disney without children in tow. Our granddaughter is 13 now and very grown up, so she and her mother and we grand-parents have planned an evening at Victoria and Albert’s.
We expect to be spoiled rotten and to eat some of the best food on the planet. We also plan to spend a ton of money on that dining experience. Food as art: what a scrumpious idea.
What we will most appreciate is the silence, besides ‘ooohs’ and ‘aaahs’ and blissful sighing, of a place completely kid-free.
Disney may be the happiest place on earth but American children are completely out of control. They yell, they scream, they pitch fits and they generally behave badly. I NEVER see Mexican children behave that way, unless they have spoiled parents who allow the children to behave like American kids.
I know, I know, I’m like a year late on this post but I never thought I’d see that place again, so thanks for letting me say my piece.
Kathie
PS I can remember the old days when downtown Orlando consisted of a two-lane blacktop road bisecting the Orange County Seat. Chris, you were probably a little kid at the time.
@ whizkidforte: Uh, I hope you’re not planning on having kids…at least not happy ones.
Well, here it is a week or so before Christmas and I’m writing my review of Victoria and Albert. That’s just so you can drool on your keyboard.
We four were expected, welcomed by name and led to our table.
We were each presented with a personalized menu, with our names and the date. Call it a souvenir, because I still have mine.
The service (impeccable, of course) preferred that we each order our entire dinner at once. So after a few minutes of thinking we gave our perferences to the waiter.
We began with Amuse Bouche, or amuse the mouth, little morsels each indoividually presented. They were an exquisite sample of the chef’s devotion to taste and presentation. Divine. The wine was Pommery Royale Brut NV.
We had a choice of three appetizers. I chose Prosciutto Wrapped Gulf Shrimp with Florida Melons and Jamon Iberico. You also could have 1/2 or 1 once Kazakhstan Wild Northern Caspian Sea Caviar with Traditional Garnishes, which made the entire dinner either $190 or $$380. No one at the table cares for Caviar, so no one ordered it. The wine with my shrimp was Dr. ZenZen Riesling Auslese 2003.
The fish course I chose was the Monterey Abalone (I love abalone) with Toasted Capers and Meyer Lemon. The wine was Bissan Bianchetta Golfo del Tigullio, Genova 2007.
Next up was the Poultry course. I picked Duck Breast Sausage and Confit with Salsify, Cherry Sauce. Salsify is a vegetable, not commonly found (never in groceries) but easily growable at home. The wine was Toad Hall Levener Hill Pinot Noir, Carneros 2006. Don’t you just love the name: Toad Hall?
As an Entree I chose Marcho Farms Veal Tenderloin with Marble Potatoes, Ramps and Sauce Soubise. Ramps are a vegetable with a flavor of onions and strong garlic. Sauce Soubise is a white or brown sauce containing pureed, strained onions. The wine was Cesari Mara Ripasso Valpolicella, Veneto, 2006. I LOVE Valpolicella.
My fifth course was Colston Bassett Stilton and Cheescake, Coach Farms’s Goat and 36 Month Ages Parmigian-Reggiano and the wine was Quinta do Crasto Late Bottled Vintage Porto 2002.
The dessert course was Meyer Lemon (the chef must have had a bunch of then that day) and Blood Orange Purse with Blackberry-Violet Sherbet. The Lemon and Orange purse was a tiny pastry bag with the fruit in it, with the blackberry-violet sherbet on the side.
Finally, we had Celebes (a coffee from Sulawesi, in Indonesia) accompanied with Friandise, a baked or fried cookie.
Okay, it was DIVINE! It was twice as divine as I had thought it would be because there were NO CHILDREN in evidence. Quiet, hushed, perfect service and wonderful food. The harpist was very, very good: talented, but never ostentatious in a ‘look at me’ sort of way.
I was right: the only noises I heard were blessful sighs and ooohs and aaaahs of appreciation. I will never, for the rest of my life, forget that meal. It was worth every single dime. And I’d do it again tomorrow.
Kathie in Mexico
PS As a mother of three and the grandmother of five I am firmly of the belief that the little beasts should be kept at home until they are reasonably civilized. There is no way on earth to keep an 8 or 10 year old quiet for 3 hours. Yes, expect to spend the evening there.