Kiddies verboten at Disney World restaurant
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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10 Responses to “Kiddies verboten at Disney World restaurant”
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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.