The Disney Traveler

13 opinions for Disney Bans Children Under 10 from Victoria & Albert’s

• Charlyn
  Jan 8, 2008 at 1:15 pm

  I totally agree. Besides, the 10 year old limit seems arbitrary. I sat next to a couple of 12-year-olds at a Universal Orlando restaurant over the Thanksgiving holidays who were extremely ill-behaved the entire meal. A couple of policies about taking screaming children outside until they can calm down (as common sense as leaving a restaurant if you must take a cell-phone call) would likely have done the trick.

• Susan
  Jan 8, 2008 at 1:53 pm

  Charlyn,
  I think your approach makes much more sense for Disney than a complete ban of children, and you’re absolutely right that age and behavior are not necessarily always directly related. I think Disney made a poor choice on this one.

• alyssa
  Jan 9, 2008 at 1:05 pm

  i dont see a problem with it the dinners start at over 100 a person. and its the only resturant besides the clubs at pleasure island that wont allow anyone under 21. if Disney had more than one resturant baning kids then id say start a petition. but its only one place and hey they don’t want kids then so be it

• Diana
  Jan 13, 2008 at 5:37 pm

  Susan,

  Have you, by any chance, seen the commercial for Burger King where they tell people that BK is no longer selling the whopper? And,of course, people “freak out” at this news. This is eerily reminiscent of that commercial…the bad thing is this is for real and the commercial was all in fun.
  I imagine Disney will have some very disappointed customers.

• Susan
  Jan 13, 2008 at 6:04 pm

  Diana, I have seen the Whopper Freak Out commercials, and I can see some angry, wealthy customers because of this change. Your comment also made me think of another situation where Disney is not always family-friendly. Before my triplets could walk well, there were a number of pavilions in Epcot that my husband and I couldn’t take them in because strollers were not allowed. I explained that my husband and I couldn’t carry three toddlers, but we were denied entry (e.g., the American Pavilion, The Living Seas Pavilion). I even visited guest services to see if there was anyway we could enjoy all of the Disney attractions since we had to bring our stroller(s) with us. Let’s just say, after speaking with more than one guest services cast member, more than once, we were denied access because we couldn’t carry all three of our kids. I felt like we were being discriminated against because we had triplets. As much as I love Disney, I’ll never forget how I felt when we were turned away from some buildings and activities because we had to use a stroller. It still makes me sad to think about it. :(

• Diana
  Jan 14, 2008 at 11:51 pm

  Wow, Susan, that is really sad. And adding insult to injury, lettting you guys leave the park with those kinds of memories. :(
  I am also a huge Disney fan but these types of situations are extremely frustrating to parents. It’s so hard to find places where children are welcomed with open arms. You would think Disney would be better than this.

• Celebrate Valentine’s Day at Walt Disney World
  Jan 26, 2008 at 12:19 am

  […] the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, the 5-star Victoria & Albert’s restaurant will offer a very special and romantic dining experience to help couples celebrate […]

• Belinda
  Jan 29, 2008 at 2:28 am

  I think your disappointment is ill-placed in this instance. We just returned from a Disney World vacation last month, which included an amazing anniversary dinner at Victoria & Albert’s. As I just posted about this on my own blog, I cannot imagine ANYONE wanting to bring a child of any age to this particular restaurant, when there are 97 other restaurants to choose from, including several in the resorts themselves!

  Honestly: Our meal, for the two of us, cost around $400 with gratuity–and we do not even drink. The seatings last about 3 hours, with lengthy pauses between each of the 7 formal courses (and the 2 or 3 “mini” courses like the amuse bouche, coffee, and final sweets). It’s so quiet you could hear a pin drop, even with the gentle harp music. The food is very upscale, and caters to a far more sophisticated palate than children have. Seriously–take a look at the menu, and imagine the response of the typical kid. Our daughter likes a lot of foods, but there is nothing that we ate that night that she would have enjoyed–not even the desserts.

  I think that Disney World has done all their patrons, especially the children, a favor with this rule, and I even wish they’d extend it farther, not with more “bannings,” but with maybe some warnings about some of the other restaurants’ suitability for young children. The California Grill atop the Contemporary Resort was splendid for us, but looking around the dining room at the many children who were there, including our daughter, they were antsy and miserable after the first hour, and that meal is designed to go on a long time, too, being built around the fireworks shows. It’s not about not knowing how to behave–our daughter is very well-mannered at restaurants–it’s a question of what is appropriate to require of a young child.

  Our daughter was much happier staying in our rooms at the Grand Floridian with her grandmommy, eating chicken-noodle soup and sandwiches from room service in her bathrobe and slippers, than she would have been with us that night, believe me.

  I suspect that most, if not all, of the people who are getting up in arms over this move by Disney Resorts have never set foot inside Victoria & Albert’s. Give it a try–it’s a memorable experience that you’ll remember for a long time, and you’ll quickly see why it’s “not for kids.”

• Susan
  Jan 29, 2008 at 10:10 am

  Hi Belinda,

  Thanks for sharing your experience. I actually don’t think there is anywhere on Walt Disney World property that I haven’t been. I’m there at least twice a week. :) I even know one of the chefs who works at Victoria & Albert’s. He’s my husband’s boss’s son-in-law and he makes all the food at the annual Christmas party that my husband’s boss throws at his house. I should add that his food is amazing!

  In terms of Disney banning children, my gripe is not that there are some places that aren’t appropriate to bring children on Disney property but rather that banning children from anything Disney-related runs completely counter to everything the brand stands for. Perhaps I’m overly sensitive to this because my career is in marketing and branding (I even write the branding blog for b5media), but to me banning children from anything on Disney property is completely the opposite of what Walt Disney originally planned for the Disney theme parks. I’m certainly not saying that Victoria & Albert’s is the best dining choice for families with children, but banning children seems extreme for a vacation place that’s mission is to provide a place for parents and children to enjoy together.

  A Disney spokesperson stated that only a couple of guests with children ate at Victoria & Albert’s each month, so it seems like a heavy-handed, negative publicity generating choice given the few children who stepped through the doors of the elite restaurant to begin with.

• Belinda
  Jan 29, 2008 at 1:16 pm

  Yeah…it still seems like a tempest in a teapot to me. I just don’t see the problem, when there are nearly one hundred other options. (And if you spend some time reading a lot of the anti-banning posts and their comments, you’ll find that most of them *are* written by people who have never been to that restaurant, which I found odd!)

  Whereas, your experience with your triplets I feel is quite a legitimate gripe! After all, people are not forced to get out of their wheelchairs to get into any of the attractions. I suppose the fear is, “If we let you, we’ll have to let everyone?” I don’t know, but it does seem counter-productive on their part.

  It’s a colossal pain in the butt to do the transferring, but maybe you could have from one to three slings with you? That way you could take the wee ones out of the stroller and “wear” them into such places. I love babywearing, but I was never too thrilled about transferring my daughter from sling to stroller and back…much less times THREE! Heck, I can’t even imagine how you manage to get out of the house, much less go on vacation! Brava to you.

• Susan
  Jan 29, 2008 at 10:47 pm

  Luckily, I live about 20 minutes from Disney World, so I’m there all the time. If I had to travel on vacation with 3-year old triplets, I don’t think I’d be there as often.

  I’m also lucky that we made it past the stroller stage. All three walk everywhere we go now, including through all of the Disney parks and then some. While it’s nice to not have to worry about strollers anymore, I miss being able to confine them. They’re very fast these days! :)

• Mike
  Mar 13, 2008 at 7:17 pm

  Actually I disagree about the banning running against everything Disney stands for. Walt was very big on adults having fun too and sometimes adults have the best fun without kids around.

• Joe
  Sep 11, 2008 at 2:58 pm

  Susan,

  I think that your editorial comments are WAY off base. I have 3 immediate thoughts…

  1. Disney World has evolved to be a playground for adults also, so adults should have the rare adults-only place that they can go to be away from children if they are on an adult-only vacation.

  2. Is there really any need for very small children to be in a 5-star restaurant?

  3. Even if I have children with me, I may want to leave them with a relative or with childcare to have one meal away from them.

  Your comments showed very little imagination and more of agenda against Disney. It’s not good journalism.

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