Hi Erin! Nice to hear from another Carolina gal! Walt Disney World has so many great restaurants; it can feel a little overwhelming to decide which ones to try. I recommend you start by browsing the menus of the various restaurants either on the Disney website or at a site like www.allears.net to find restaurants with food that appeals to your family. Once you've found some restaurants with the type of food your family enjoys, you can narrow down your choices by reading the reviews of other diners at allears.net or on the "Restaurants" forum at a site like www.disboards.com. When the park hours for January are posted online, use that information to decide which parks you'll visit each day of your trip, and then plan your dining accordingly. Maybe one day you'd want to schedule a character breakfast before the park opens; on another, you may want to reserve lunch at a table-service restaurant so you'll have a midday break. Or perhaps, you want to maximize your park time by eating a quick-service lunch and saving your big meal for the evening.
With a four-year-old, I recommend you schedule at least one character meal, such as Chef Mickey's, Cinderella's Royal Table, or Donald's Safari Breakfast. Some other restaurants my family enjoys are 'Ohana, which has tasty food and fun activities for kids, Teppan Edo, which has Japanese food cooked table-side, and the Sci-Fi DIne-In, where you can watch campy drive-in movies while you eat in your "car." For finer dining, we like Le Cellier, the California Grill, or Jiko.
Hope this helps! Please don't hesitate to visit me again at the Moms Panel if you have more questions. Have a magical vacation in January!